Arubabookwoman Tackles The TBR In 2022

Hello all. I'm Deborah a member of LT since 1-1-2009 (so today is my Thingaversary), and a member of Club Read for 11 or 12 years. In the middle of the first covid year my husband and I relocated from Seattle, our home for more than 30 years, to the beach in the Tampa Bay Area. We hoped that our 5 kids who are scattered across the country would visit more often, and so far it's working. In the middle of that first covid year, I hit 70, and for the first time realized I couldn't consider myself middle-aged any more--I was entering the realm of the elderly. However, despite a few aches and pains, I consider my mind to be still quite young.
I read a mix of fiction and nonfiction, and I try to read as much translated fiction from around the world as I can. I generally don't read horror, romance, self-help, YA, celebrity memoirs, or fantasy, but other than that anything goes. See some of my 2021 reading stats in >6 arubabookwoman: below, and something about 2022 plans in >7 arubabookwoman: below.
Welcome All!

First Quarter

JANUARY

1. The Ten Thousand Things by Maria Dermout (1955) 208 pp 3 stars
2. The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen (2013) 180 pp 5 stars
3. The Big Cheat by David Cay Johnston (2021) 304 pp 4 stars
4. The Morning Star by Karl Ove Knausgaard (2021) 684 pp 4 stars
5. Ellis Island by Georges Perec (1994) 65 pp 3 stars
6. The Way to the Cats by Yehoshua Kenaz (1991) 325 pp 3 1/2 stars
7. The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araujo by Germano Almeida (1991) 152 pp 3 stars
8. Madame de Treymes by Edith Wharton (1906) 100 pp 3 stars
9. White Shadow by Roy Jacobsen (2015) 272 pp 4 stars
10. The Anomaly by Herve Le Tellier (2020) 399 pp 3 stars
11. The Man With the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren (1950) 368 pp 4 1/2 stars
12. Memed My Hawk by Yashar Kemal (1955) 351 pp 3 stars
13. Foregone by Russell Banks (2021) 318 pp 4 stars

FEBRUARY

14 Unthinkable by Jamie Raskin (2022) 444 pp 3 stars
15. The Survivors by Alex Schulman (2021) 227 pp 2 stars
16. The White Darkness by David Grann (2018) 142 pp 2 1/2 stars
17. The Quiet People by Chris Cleave (2021) pp 2 1/2 stars
18. Katalin Street by Magda Szabo (1969) 249 pp 4 stars

MARCH

19. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (2014) 342 pp 4 stars
20. Something to Hide by Elizabeth George (2022) 701 pp 2 stars
21. New Pompeii by Daniel Godfrey (2016) pp 2 1/2 stars
22. Fruit of the Tree by Edith Wharton (1907) 521 pp 4 stars
23. Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban (1975) 3 1/2 stars
24. High Rise by J.G. Ballard (1975) pp 3 1/2 stars
25. Uncle Paul by Celia Fremlin (1959) 1 1/2 stars

Second Quarter

APRIL

26. A Children's Bible by Lydia Millett (2020) 3 1/2 stars
27. Calibre by Ken Bruen (2005) 3 stars
28. No Such Creature by Giles Blunt (2009) 3 stars
29. The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda (2005) 3 stars
30. The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante (2006) 3 stars
31. Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe (2021) 4 stars

MAY

32. The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (1875) 5 stars
33. Cutter and Bone by Newton Thornburg (1976) 322 pp
34. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (1911) 105 pp
35. Sickening by John Abramson
36. The High House by Jessie Greengrass (2021) 268 pp
37. Sandy Hook by Elizabeth Williamson
38. Heaven by Mieko Kawakami (2021) 187 pp
39. How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu (2022)
40. The Dry Heart by Natalia Ginzburg (1947)
41. Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (2005)
42. Axis by Robert Charles Wilson
43. The Far Land by Brandon Presser
44. Slough House by Mick Herron
45. The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins
46. Axis by Robert Charles Wilson

JUNE

47. Plainsong by Kent Haruf (1999)
48. Eventide by Kent Haruf (2004)
49. Atoms and Ashes by Serhii Plokhy
50. Love by Roddy Doyle (2020)
51. Reptile Memoirs by Silje Ulstein
52. The Reef by Edith Wharton
53. Sleepwalk by Dan Chaon
54. Good Behaviour by Molly Keane
55. Bad Actors by Mick Herron (2022) 345 pp

Third Quarter

JULY

56. The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena (2016) 316 pp
57. Benediction by Kent Haruf (2013)
58. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (2022) 226 pp
59. This Will Not Pass by Jonathan Martin
60. Zorrie by Laird Hunt (2021) 159 pp
61. The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston
62. Cabin Fever by Michael Smith (2022) 260 pp
63. My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout (2016)
64. Deep Storm by Lincoln Child
65. Sunshine State by Sarah Gerard
66. The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron
67. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (2021) 70 pp

AUGUST

68. Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin (1967) 282 pp
69. What Artists Wear by Charlie Porter (2022) 320 pp
70.Watergate: A New History by Garret M. Graff (2022) 823 pp
71. A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
72. Blitz by Ken Bruen
73. The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm
74. Vixen by Ken Bruen
75. A White Arrest by Ken Bruen
76. Cop Hater by Ed McBain

Fourth Quarter

My 2021 Reading Year--Stats and Info

I read 147 books in 2021. My 5 star reads were:

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Earth by Emile Zola
Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody
The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson
Howard's End by E. M. Forster
Lady With Lap Dog and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

My 4 1/2 star reads were:

Spring by Ali Smith
The Darling and Other Stories by Chekov
The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas
The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector

I also read 24 4 star books, so all in all a good year.

Statistics:

Female authors--64. Male authors--80

Fiction--110. Nonfiction--35

So in 2021 I read a slightly lowere percentage of female authors, and a slightly lower percentage of nonfiction than my normal year.

Reading World Literature

Most of my reading remains US/Canada/Great Britain authors, but I try to read from around the world. Here are the countries I read from:

US--63 (quite a few, maybe all, of my NF reads are US)
Great Britain--35

France--8
Japan--7
Australia--4
Russia--3
Brazil--3
Finland--2
Norway--2
Israel--2
India--2
South Africa--2
Holland--1
Vietnam--1
Austria--1
Portugal--1
Cuba--1
Hungary--1
China--1
Germany--1
Italy--1
Switzerland--1
Korea--1

For year of original publication, the stats are:

Pre-1900--6

1900-1950--15

1950-2000--24

2000--2010--15

2010-2021--82

Finally my goal last year was to read fewer library book and more from my own shelf. In 2020, 99% of my reading was library books. (In my defense many of my books were packed away for a large part of 2020). In 2021 I read 79 library books and 68 of my own books, so I made a huge improvement. I hope to continue the trend in 2022.

I did not, however, reduce my TBR pile (unread books I own). According to LT my library starts the year with 2240 books tagged TBR. At the start of 2021, it was 2164. Realistically I have no hope of reducing the TBR number if I read any library books, but maybe I can make the increase a little smaller😊.

2022 Plans

I am very good at making reading plans, but very, very horrible at following through on those plans. But one goal is to read more of my own books. After all, I chose them, and at the time I bought them liked them enough to pay for them.
A real problem for me, though, is I have so many, and I want to read them all equally; I am drowning in riches and I often find I can't choose what to read next. So to help me choose this year I listed a few hundred of my TBR books I wanted to read most ( at the time I made the list). I will use a random number generator every couple of weeks to choose several Kindle books and several physical books. My reading for the next two weeks will be chosen from those books.
Sooo, for January 1-15, my TBR books will be chosen from the following list created by the random number generator. I won't be able to read them all, but will try to read at least 2 or 3:

Kindle books:
The Journey by H.G. Adler
Mandarins by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
Evening of Long Goodbyes by Paul Murray
The Man With the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren
Of Men and Angels by Michael Arditti
A Widow's Story by Joyce Carol Oates
Penance by Kanae Minato

Physical Books:

Hindoo Holiday by J.R. Ackerly
Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcon
Forever Flowing by Vassily Grossman
The Way to the Cats by Yehoshua Kenaz
The Sorrow of Belgium by Hugo Claus
Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa Thiongo
Anna Edes by Dezso Kosztolanyi
The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araujo by Germano Almeida

Right now I'm not feeling like a tome, so Sorrow of Belgium and Wizard of Crow are probably out, but do any of these compel you to recommend it? I have started The way to the Cats and I am liking it.

Then there are the "required" reads (for things I signed up for. The NYRB Book Club book for January is The Ten Thousand Things, which I have almost finished and which will probably be my first book of 2022. And for the Asia challenge in the 75 group, the country for January is Turkey, and I have started Memed My Hawk by Yasar Kemal, which is quite good. For the Litsy Wharton buddy read, I am reading Madame de Treymes. I also hope to participate in the Victorian group here, and for the first quarter I have que'ed up Lady Audley's Secret and David Copperfield.

All of this is not to mention the following library books due within the next 2 weeks:

The Unseen by Roy Jacobson--nearly finished
Portobello by Ruth Rendell--started
Idaho by Emily Ruskovich
Black Water Lilies by Michel Bussi
The Fabric of Civilization by Virginia Postrel
The Big Cheat by David Cay Johnston
The Morning Star by Knausgaard
Ellis Island by Georges Perec
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn--a reread.

Back later to fill in. I have actually completed all my review for 2021 reads, unless I miraculously finish something tonight.

And I think I'm going to do something this year I've never done before: track my purchases. Maybe that will reign me in a bit and help reduce the TBR pile.

2022 PURCHASES

Congrats on finishing all your 2021 reviews! I am still working my way through your last batch. I always come away from your thread with a slew of books for my wish list.

Happy New Year, and may 2022 be a good one for both you and Gil.

>9 arubabookwoman: i did this last year. The bad news is my buying dropped off. The good news is my tbr flattened. Between my reading and buying, I only added 3 books to my tbr. (But i also need to buy two books soonish.)

Happy new year!

>9 arubabookwoman: Well, good luck with that. It's been my experience that there always is some great, perfectly logical justification for buying books (For example: I don't drink alcohol; I haven't been on any trips for two years; my therapist retired so saving $100 per month there; the kids are all doing very well so we can spend their would-have inheritance; the stock market is up again....are all samples. I have learned to love a healthy and robust (and overflowing) TBR pile, all those possibilities whispering to me....

I'll be following your thread this year. Interested to see if tracking your purchases keeps them under control!

Happy reading 2022 :-)

Happy New Year! Looking forward to following along with your reading in 2022.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Deborah. I look forward to following your thread this year, and the additions to My TBR.

I have now filled in some thoughts on my 2021 reading at >6 arubabookwoman: and some thoughts for 2022 at >7 arubabookwoman: for anyone who has already visited and wants to go back to check. (also my intro).

>10 labfs39: Thanks Lisa--and Happy New Year to you too!

>11 dchaikin: Hi Dan. My TBR went up almost 200 books this year to 2240. I don't expect to reduce the TBR, but I hope that the increase will be less. At least nowadays most of my purchases are Kindle/Audible books, since shelf space is becoming scarce around here.

>12 Julie_in_the_Library: Thanks for visiting Julie and happy new year to you too!

>13 avaland: Hi Lois. It's just that a TBR of more than 2000 makes me nervous. I fully anticipate buying a healthy number of books (especially Kindle deals). I just want the TBR to increase by a fewer number of books this year than it has in past years.

>14 DieFledermaus: Hi deF--I'm so glad you're back with us this year. I've missed your reviews and look forward to seeing them again.

>15 Ameise1: Happy New Year to you too Barbara.

>16 AlisonY: Hi Alison. I'll be following you too.

>17 Dilara86: Hi Dilara--Happy New Year to you too.

>18 markon: Welcome Ardene. I'll be following you too.

Happy Thingaversary, Deborah! Dare I ask if you will be gifting yourself 13 books, or are you sticking to your TBR reduction resolution?

>6 arubabookwoman: Seeing that Spring made your "best of" list, I am almost tempted to forget my disappointment over Winter and continue on. I did like Autumn after all.

>7 arubabookwoman: I like your method of queueing books from your TBR. As for suggestions, I liked Everything Flows by Grossman (as well as everything else I've ever read by him). I checked and this is the same book as Forever Flowing. Interesting nuance difference between the two titles.

>9 arubabookwoman: That's too scary to contemplate!

Since you are the person who consistently comes up first on my 'Members with your Books' list, I will be following along once more to see what you are reading and thinking.

>21 SassyLassy: you are the person who consistently comes up first on my 'Members with your Books' list

Interesting. I checked my profile, and Deborah is very high on my weighted list, but I couldn't figure out the algorithm. It's obviously not raw numbers, but it's also not percentage of her books that I also have. Do you know?

>20 labfs39: Hi Lisa--re the Ali Smith seasonal series, I read Winter first, and found I liked it ok, but not enough to continue the series. Then in 2020, Summer came my way, I read it, and loved it. That compelled me to go back and read the rest of the series. Both Summer and Spring were 5 star reads. I wasn't blown away by Autumn and Winter, but they were decent reads. I was surprised to learn that there are lots of interconnections among the books, since I had previously thought they could be read independently of each other. If I had my druthers, though, I'd read them in order for a better reading experience.
I've read Grossman's Life and Fate and it was one of my top reads for the year I read it, so I'm looking forward to Everything Flows/Forever Flowing.

>21 SassyLassy: Hi Sassy Having followed your reading thread a few years, I think our reading tastes overlap quite a bit.

>22 labfs39: I have no idea how they figure out those algorhythms. I know I said in my intro that I feel young in mind still, but that does not include computer stuff.

ETA I can't even spell algorithm.

>23 arubabookwoman: Interesting about the Ali Smith books. I'll hunt down your reviews. Maybe I'll give her another try. I liked the relationship between Daniel and Elisabeth in Autumn.

LOL. I feel young in mind, but mainly because I forget so much that everything seems new and fresh!

>24 labfs39: I also enjoyed several (3 of 4) of Smith's seasonal quartet. I believe Mark (Thorold) also read (twice?) & reviewed the series.

Hi Deborah. I’ve starred your thread and will be following along.

Good luck with reading from your shelves, Deborah. I have a similar number on my TBR list. I only read 39% from my shelves last year. I hope to do better this year as well. Those shiny new library books can be so hard to resist.

I'm trying to read the Smith quartet in order as well. I've read both Autumn and Winter when they were first published and reread Autumn last autumn. I hope to finish the series this spring.

>7 arubabookwoman: Deborah, you are certainly an ambitious reader. Nine library books due in the next two weeks and you are still looking for others to add?
I see that you have Clarice Lispector on your 4 1/2 star reads from last year. I have never read anything by her, but am curious. Have you read others of her books?

>28 Linda92007: I'm interested in Clarice Lispector suggestions too. I'm interested in trying one of her books. They aren't commonly found in used bookstores, so, I'll have to be more purposeful about choosing the first one.

>25 ELiz_M: I'm curious, Liz, which is the one you didn't like?

>6 arubabookwoman: >28 Linda92007: >29 dchaikin: I'd like to read more Lispector. I read Apprenticeship or The Book of Pleasures in 2021 and found her writing style to be singular and challenging - both good things.
>29 dchaikin: My copy was by Penguin.

Hi! You and I have lots of books in common. You are the only person I’ve found who also read Memory Monster.

I abandoned a Lispector book last year The Chandelier, but I also think I was not in the right frame of mind for dreamy, esoteric and stream of consciousness so it may have been my fault. I would like to read The Hour of the Star but unfortunately it's not available from the libraries I use.

I finally finished reading and enjoying your 2021 thread. I didn't post there, because it feels old news now. But I did want to say that I enjoyed your serendipitous find of the word widdershins in the Rendell book.

Nice to see all the interest in Clarice Lispector. I ended my review of The Hour of the Star by saying I was definitely going to search out and read more of her books. My copy of The Hour of the Star was purchased used in 2009, so it took me 12 years to take it down off my shelf. What I most liked about it was that she says what she is going to say in an innovative, unusual way. At my age, and having read so much all my life, I'm finding a lot of books to be just plain boring and repetitive, so I really appreciate finding fresh writing. I have one more of her books on Kindle, having purchased it in 2019, so that will probably be my next Lispector read.

If anyone here has a Kindle, Amazon has several of her books on sale in the $9.99 range, which used to be the standard cost of a Kindle book.

Speaking of Amazon, I was checking on something else and just happened upon a number of Kindle books on sale ($2.99), so I bought a few. I will list them shortly. Then, just for fun, I decided to check out my Amazon wishlist, and ended up dumping a bunch of books in the cart. I haven't pulled the trigger yet on purchasing them, but it looks like I may be buying some Thingaversary books after all. One good thing is that some of the books dangling in the cart are art/quilt books, and I don't tag those TBR, so they won't add to the increase in my TBR pile.

>25 ELiz_M: I join Lisa in wanting to know which of the Seasonal Quartet you didn't like, Liz. My least favorite was Winter.
>26 NanaCC: Hi Colleen. Thanks for visiting.
>27 BLBera: Hi Beth. Slightly less than half my 2021 reads were from my shelf, not as much as I wanted. I hope to do better this year. Re the Seasonal Quartet, I liked the last two, Spring and Summer, best--both were 5 stars.
>28 Linda92007: Hi Linda--The Hour of the Star, was my first (and only, so far book by Lispector. I own one other by her, and hope to read it soonish. Regarding the library books, I'll be lucky to read 3 or 4 before they have to go back. I almost always have the maximum of 25 checked out, for a 21 day term, so I'm starting to resign myself that I'll never read them all. If I'm interested enough, I'll put another hold on the book.
>29 dchaikin: Hi Dan. Not sure if you have a Kindle, but as I said a lot of her books are available on Kindle. I find that most kindle books are also on audio, so your library might have some in audio. (Not sure how well she'd do in audio though).
>30 labfs39: Hi Lisa--see above. I want to know too.
>31 SassyLassy: I agree--the thing that impressed me most was her writing style, so it's good to know it carries over into her other work. I'll have to check to see whether that's one of the ones available on Kindle.
>32 dianeham: Hi Diane. What did you think of The Memory Monster? >34 labfs39: Lisa, didn't you read The Memory Monster too?
>33 ursula: Hi Ursula, glad to see you back this year. I wouldn't describe The Hour of the Star as dreamy or esoteric. It was a little bit stream of consciousness, but not in a way I ever felt lost, which I often do in such books. Though the writing style was innovative and fresh, it was very straight forward and easy to understand.
>34 labfs39: Thanks for plowing through all those reviews Lisa. This year I hope to not have to write 100 reviews in the last 2 months of the year! Yes, I was shocked to come across the word widdershins in actual usage so soon after first encountering it and thinking it was an imaginary word. Makes me respect Ruth Rendell all the more.

And, believe it or not I have already finished my first book of 2022, The Ten Thousand Things (speaking of dreamy and surreal). I don't think I've ever completed a book on 1/1 before, even ones I had started well before the new year. I only started this one New Year's Eve, but I had to read it fast because it's the book for the Litsy NYRB Book Club and the discussion is this afternoon. (I thought it was next week, which is why I started it so late). I will report on it after the discussion.

Happy New Year, Deborah!
Needless to say that I've starred your thread.
>7 arubabookwoman: I am very good at making reading plans, but very, very horrible at following through on those plans.: you read my mind. I'm happy I'm not the only one. This year I try to read without any plans or goals, but maybe that will prove to be too minimalistic and now I'm tempted when reading all these lovely plans.

The Sorrow of Belgium by Hugo Claus is a classic in Flemish Belgium, but I do not like the author's style. So, mixed feelings about this one.

I am also Lispector-curious. I have The Hour of the Star but haven't read it, and I thought I had the complete stories but I don't see it anywhere so I might have made that up.

>30 labfs39:, >35 arubabookwoman: My least favorite was Spring.

I've read two books by Lispector. I thought The Passion According to G.H. was brilliant and unique (her syntax is unusual). It is also has one of the most disgusting incidents I've read about so I don't like to recommend it.

I'm surprised that her works are hard to find. New Directions reissued several of her books in 2010-2012. Maybe they're just popular in NYC. :/

>35 arubabookwoman: - Thanks. Audible has a six stories/novellas by Lispector (they run 1, 2, 3 5 & 6 hours). There is also a collection of her stories (which runs 22 hours). Personally I would prefer text (including ebooks).

I also loved The Hour of the Star. I have The Passion According to G.H. on the shelf, but now I'm a little worried after >38 ELiz_M:....

I'll be interested in your comments on The Ten Thousand Things. I really enjoyed that one--agree with the dreamy and surreal.

I started reading Lispectors Complete stories last year, and enjoyed what I read, but found it difficult to comment on them. I enjoyed her playfulness/sense of humor. I think these are arranged chronologically, so I'm probably still in her younger years. If anyone wants to join me in reading, I'd love to have company.

Edited link to Lispector's Complete stories.

>22 labfs39: I've spent time trying to figure out how they do the weighting here, but have never been successful. The LT wiki says that " 'weighted' puts more emphasis on sharing obscure books" however LT defines those (probably back to raw numbers in LT for that particular book).

Looking at 'raw' arubabookwoman would come in at #17 for me, not #1, but looking at the two lists, I think the weighted one is of more value (and she is still #1 there!). The raw data list had a lot of people who may sell books, or who have huge wish lists included in their count, so probably not as reflective of true shared books.

>42 SassyLassy: I think you are on to something. When I hover over the word weighted (when I'm in raw), it says "Weighted by book obscurity and library size."

>42 SassyLassy: and >43 labfs39: What I find strange is that I'm #1 on Sassy's list, yet her library does not even appear on the top 30 or so similar libraries on my profile page. If my library is similar to hers, why isn't hers similar to mine?
My #1 similar library (weighted) is LizM. Defledermaus and wanderingstar are down in the 20's or so, and I don't recognize most of the other names. (Rebecca is down in the 20's too).

>44 arubabookwoman: Hmm, thinking out loud. If I have books a, b, c, d, e, f, and you have a, b, c that would be good, you might be #5 on my list. But you have books a, b, c, g, h, i, and Sassy has g, h, but g and h are obscure. So even though you and Sassy only share two books, if they are obscure and are weighted heavier, Sassy could be your #5 and I could potentially sink off your list. Does that make sense?

>44 arubabookwoman:, >45 labfs39: Presumably the size of induvial libraries is important:

SassyLassy = 30 books, shares 6 with ABW (20%)
Labfs = 34 books, shares 5 with ABW (15%)
Eliz = 36 books, shares 12 with ABW (33%)

While ABW has 66 books, so the percentages of her library shared with each person are:
SL (9%)
Labsf (8%)
Eliz (18%)

So, while a large part of SL's library is in ABW's library, those books are a much smaller part of ABW's total library. Hence ABW is #1 on SL's list, but SL is further down ABW's list.

>46 ELiz_M: Exactly so. ABW has 6500 books, whereas you, Sassy, and I each have roughly half that. Our shared books represent a much larger proportion of our libraries than hers. The page did say that both obscurity and size were factors, but when I hastily compared my number of books with ABW, I took the wrong number from her page. I thought we were very close in library size, whereas she actually has almost twice as many books. Interesting. Thanks!

>44 arubabookwoman: Deborah, you are #3 on my weighted list, behind #1 which is my husband (yep, he and I have separate libraries online). You have twice the number of books he has....

>45 labfs39: >46 ELiz_M: I'll take your word for how this works. I don't think my brain works that way.
>47 labfs39: >48 avaland: The more accurate figure for my library is the "My Library" collection, which is books I actually own (about 4600). The approximate 1900 difference is made up by the roughly 700 in my "Wishlist" collection and 1200 in the "Read But Not Owned" collection.
And of course when we moved I gave away maybe 1/3-1/2 of my books (not really sure-this could be wildly off, but it was very difficult and it felt like a lot). If I'm ever bored and looking for something to do, I need to go through my library and move the books I gave away from the "My Library" collection to the "Read But Unowned" collection.

I have finished another book (already!), and it may be my first 5 star book of the year (ALREADY!!!--I don't give many of those. The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen. Somehow I get on with books set on lonely, rocky, bleak northern islands. This is the first of a trilogy, and I immediately checked the second out of the library. The third is not scheduled to be translated until the spring. I will try to review my first 2 books (and any others I finish) by the weekend, the goal being to review once a week and keep reasonably current.

I then started another library book, The Fabric of Civilization by Virginia Postrel (subtitle: How Textiles Made the World), but quickly discovered it wasn't what I was interested in. Its focus is the historical, commercial, industrial, technological etc. I am more interested in the artistic/creative aspects. (I have a couple of books on my shelf that may be more like what I am interested in, Threads of Life by Clare Hunter and Color by Victoria Finlay. Before abandoning it, though, I decided to skim the rest and look at the pictures, and I'm glad I did. I discovered there is a company (also online) named Spoonflower, which digitally prints fabric to order in lots as small as 1 yard. They also have some really unique looking prints for sale. I haven't explored the site in detail, but it looks really interesting. Any other fabric lovers here (looking at you Lois >48 avaland:) aware of/interested in this?

After abandoning The Fabric of Civilization last night I started another library book (by David Cay Johnson-his newest, The Big Cheat, it's about all the ways Trump, his family and cabinet etc. enriched themselves financially during his presidency), and I'm finding it informative but a bit shrill. Not sure I'll finish it because in my library books I read/start them in order of due date, and I really want to get to Knausgaard's The Morning Star.

>49 arubabookwoman: I think "read but unowned" should count, because for me it's the reading that's important, not the owning.

>50 arubabookwoman: Congrats on finishing your first book! And a five star one at that. I can't wait to read your review.

I applaud you for abandoning a book and moving on. Too many good books out there.

>50 arubabookwoman: You've just dug another rabbit hole for me with Spoonflower! What a wonderful idea. I wonder how good their colour reproduction is from custom orders. Otherwise, their colours look fabulous.

I've read Threads of Life and found it really interesting. It's not all about textile art though. The author has a long career as a community activist, and she discusses her efforts to integrate the two.

Definitely taking note of Colour and think The Fabric of Civilization might be of interest too, as I like to know how thing got from there to here.

>50 arubabookwoman: I read a trump book by David Cay Johnson. It was horrifying...but, oye, Johnson's own arrogance is a little rough too. I saw him on a news show once and he's the same on tv. Curious about The Unseen.

I loved reading your posts and both your stats from last year as well as current reading plans!

>50 arubabookwoman: The Unseen sounds like a great novel and I love the cover. I've added it to my wishlist.

Hi, Deborah, I'm here dropping off my star, and getting started with my own thread.

I don't even know what you all are talking about with "weighted" lists!

Happy New Year!

>50 arubabookwoman: I read The Unseen last year and LOVED it also. I will say, though, that I didn't really like the second one as much. I actually didn't even finish it. I'll be curious to see what you think of it.

>50 arubabookwoman: Looking forward to your review of The Unseen, but I've already added it to my wish list, on the basis of its being translated literature set on "lonely, rocky, bleak northern islands" - an irresistible combination.

Deborah, Happy New Year (again).

Just to let you know you'll be able to find me over here too. (Thread not up yet).

Loving the stats as you can imagine.

>50 arubabookwoman: I love Spoonflower—I don't sew, sadly, but a few yards of really cool funky fabric make a great gift for someone who sews, quilts, or crafts.

>49 arubabookwoman: Oh, this only counts the "My Library" collection? That could explain the weird results/lack of results I got. I own only a handful of books at this point (okay maybe more like 2 boxes' worth), so everything is in my "Read but Not Owned" collection.

I need to go through my library and move the books I gave away from the "My Library" collection to the "Read But Unowned" collection.>

Same.

Hello all, and thanks for visiting!

>51 labfs39: Hi Lisa. I think the "Read but Unowned" is an important category too, (though a clunky name). For the last 5 or so years, ever since I discovered Libby, much of my reading has been from the library and this is the category my library reads go into, mostly newer and "easier" reads. It also includes the books I've owned and read, but given away. As I said, that portion of the collection is woefully out of date, since I haven't removed many of the books I've given away over the past several years from the "My Library" collection.

>52 SassyLassy: I still need to get back and explore Spoonflower. I can't believe that I've been doing fiber art/quilting for 25+ years and I am just learning of this. I hope to get to Threads of Life soon.

>53 dchaikin: Johnston is a bit rough, and I've seen him many times on TV too (MSNBC). I first heard of him many years ago when I was a practicing tax attorney. I don't think he is an attorney, but as a journalist he focused on tax and economic issues (this was in the early 2000's). He won a Pulitzer for his reporting on loopholes in the Internal Revenue Code. I came across his reporting in that context. He first began reporting on Trump back in the days of Trump's casino fiasco, and has been following Trump's career of shame since the very early days. All of which is to say that for the most part I'm fairly confident in Johnston's knowledge and reporting.

>54 MissBrangwen: Thank you for visiting MissB. Review of The Unseen to follow shortly.

>55 sallypursell: Hi Sally. I'm with you in not understanding these algorythms and weighted categories etc.

>56 japaul22: Jennifer it may have been your review that led me to put a library hold on The Unseen. I have the second one out from the library now, and I'm sorry to hearthat you did not like it. I will still go ahead and give it a try.

>57 Linda92007: That combination is irresistible to me too Linda, which is why I end up reading so many Scandinavian books I guess. The review follows shortly.

>58 PaulCranswick: I'm very glad to see you in Club Read Paul. At least here I am pretty sure I will always be 100% up to date on your thread, whereas in the 75 Group I despair of keeping up with the massive numbers of posts on your thread there.

>59 lisapeet: Hi Lisa--as I told Sassy I can't believe I've been doing fiber art so many years and hadn't heard of this. However, I have a vague memory of a class I took on Designing With the IPad in which I think I may have heard some discussion of a place that would print your design on fabric (which may or may not have been Spoonflower), but I was so lost and discombobulated by the computer(iPad) stuff that it slipped my mind.

>60 ursula: Hi Ursula. I really don't know what all it counts, but I'm pretty sure it's not just the "My Library" collection I set up. Not everybody on LT has such a collection. I've looked at some of my "similar libraries" in the past, and some, for example, consisted of just a list of the books on the 1001 list. I think as Lisa said, "Read but Unowned" is important, but somehow, some way, I think they're using all of your collections in comparing libraries. Just an uneducated guess.

So now onto a few reviews for week one.

Off My Shelf (Owned since 2002, so one of my older books)
Dutch Author
Read for Litsy NYRB Book Club

1. The Ten Thousand Things by Maria Dermout (1955) 208 pp

"She sat quietly in her chair, they weren't a hundred things but much more than a hundred, and not only hers; a hundred times 'a hundred things,' next to each other, separate from each other, touching here and there flowing into each other, without any link anywhere, and at the same time linked forever...."

After her husband left her, Felicia returns with her young son to the island in the Dutch East Indies where she grew up to live with her grandmother in a house in a lush garden near the tropical inner bay. There's a bit of magical realism here (though only distantly-related to the more well-known Latin American magical realism), and from the beginning we know the garden is inhabited by ghosts, in particularly the ghosts of three small girls who died there. The prose is dreamy and surreal as we follow the day to day lives of Felicia and her grandmother, as Felicia's son Himpies moves through an idyllic childhood to young adulthood.

Then a little more than half-way through the book the focus changes and there are three short-story-like chapters, each focusing on a new and seemingly unrelated character and events, while still being set on the island. This bothered a lot of the readers in the Litsy Book Club, and at first I thought that perhaps the book was not a novel, but actually a novella and short story collection. But in the end, I think it is all tied up fairly well.

The setting of the book is an important part of its appeal, and it is also apparently based in large part on the author's life, as she too grew up in the Dutch East Indies, and returned as an adult. For me, some parts were evocative of my childhood growing up on a tropical island in the Dutch West Indies. This is one I recommend, but it for some reason was not one I was constantly thinking about when not reading it, or one I felt compelled to keep reading.

3 stars

FIRST LINE: "On the island in the Moluccas there were a few gardens left from the great days of spice growing and 'spice parks'--a few only."

LAST LINE: "Then the lady of the Small Garden whose name was Felicia stood up from her chair obediently and was looking around at the inner bay in the moonlight--it would remain there always--she went with them, under the trees and indoors, to drink her cup of coffee and try again to go on living."

Library Book
Norwegian Author

2. The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen (2013) 180 pp

This is the first book in the Barroy Trilogy, and it was shortlisted for the 2017 International Booker. It is the story of the Barroy family eking out a living on bleak rocky island of the northern Norwegian coast, an island that bears their name, and on which they are the only inhabitants. The focus is on Ingrid, who is mere toddler when the book opens and a young woman coming into her own when the book concludes. You could call it a coming-of-age story, yet it is so much more.

The island's other inhabitants are Ingrid's mother and father, Maria and Hans, her grandfather Martin, and her aunt Barbro, who is mentally "not all there," but whose capacity for physical labor makes her an important member of the group. Every winter, Hans goes away for months to fish, and in the summer he often goes to the mainland as a laborer to earn cash for the improvements he hopes to make on the island. This means that much of the island work must be done by the two women, the elderly man and the child. So their days are filled with plowing, sheep-tending, cutting peat, and yes, fishing and salting and drying fish. As Ingrid grows up, it seems like very little is happening, yet each day is filled, and we learn all that is involved in eking out an existence in a hostile environment. The weather in particular can suddenly turn and destroy a day's or a week's work. Jacobsen brings this all to life, and I came to love this taciturn, stoic family. This was a great reading experience (I've already checked volume 2 out of the library). I've been wavering between 4 1/2 and 5 stars, but I'm going to go ahead and give it:

5 stars

FIRST LINE: "On a windless day in July, the smoke rises vertically to the sky."
LAST LINE: "Then it is as though they have had their working day halved or been given a whole new day within the old one, and can set to work on the scythe again."

>63 arubabookwoman: Great review, Deborah. I'll see if my library has it.

Library Book

3. The Big Cheat by David Cay Johnston (2021) 304 pp
Subtitle: How Donald Trump Fleeced America and Enriched Himself and His Family

Journalist David Cay Johnston has been reporting on Trump since his days as the owner of an Atlantic City casino. He has written 2 previous books on Trump. In the first, published shortly before the 2016 election he laid it all out for us to see--the corruption and the scamming, the lies, the lack of business acumen that is the real Donald Trump. Unfortunately, the electorate did not listen or care. His second book, published in 2018 focused on some of the Trump administration's policies, and how harmful they are to America. The book was aptly titled, It's Even Worse Than You Think. Johnston's reportorial focus over the years was tax and economic policies, and I first came across his work when I was a practicing tax attorney in the early 2000's. He won a Pulitizer for reporting on tax loopholes in the Internal Revenue Code. With his background and expertise, I generally trust his reporting.

In this his latest book, while there is some discussion of Trump's harmful policies, and his lies regarding those policies, the focus in on how and to what extent Trump, his family and certain members of his administration personally enriched themselves over the four years of the Trump presidency and scammed the American taxpayer. Johnston provides a massive amount of detail, and in most instances the conclusions are incontrovertible. In some cases, however, where the known facts are skimpier, Johnston may provide the known facts, and ask us to draw conclusions based on those facts, plus what we know about Trump's character. So, many of the cases of "self-enrichment" can be said to have been established beyond a reasonable doubt. Those that are not conclusively established, however, certainly rise above a mere suspicion.

Some of the issues covered in detail, each in a chapter devoted to the subject include: the family's charitable foundations and self-dealing; the inauguration donations largely unaccounted for, the illegal "emoluments" received by Trump businesses; the conflicts of interest and the continuing overseas business development despite Trump's promises to the contrary; the scam of the Trump tax cuts; dealings with William Koch; the "build the wall" fund-raising scam. One item I found interesting was relates to the PPP Program. In the first covid relief bill passed by Congress it provided for "Payroll Protection" loans--forgiveable loans intended to keep people employed. Throughout his remaining presidency Trump resisted making available information about who received these loans and how much. Various news organizations sued, and finally, 7 weeks before the Biden inauguration we learned that Trump and Kushner family interests received more than $3.6 million of these loans. (Ivanka and Jared seem to have made out extremely well during the Trump presidency in their respective businesses). There are also separate chapters on Elaine Chao and Wilbur Ross who also particularly well in their respective roles as Secretary of Transportation (and Mitch McConnell's wife) and Secretary of Commerce, respectively.

All in all the book is very informative, although as I mentioned elsewhere, occasionally it sounded a bit shrill to me. But we tend to forget what an aberration many of the things Trump did really are, and how rampant and widespread his misconduct was. When there is so much there to decry, it's bound to feel a bit over the top.

4 stars

Great reviews, Deborah. Both The Unseen and Ten Thousand Things are now on my WL. Sorry, I can't read about Trump; your review is enough for me.

Reading Plans for the next week:

I am almost finished Memed My Hawk by Yasar Kemal.
I am almost finished The Way to the Cats by Yehoshua Kenaz
I will finish the Litsy Wharton buddy read Madame de Treymes by Edith Wharton
I will continue a chapter a day of David Copperfield (just finished Chaper 6)
Last night I read one week of entries of Anniversaries by Uwe Johnson; I will read another week of entries this week
I started Hindoo Holiday by J.R. Ackerly, for a random TBR read; based on the introduction I pulled from the shelf and read a bit of The Hill of Devi by E.M. Forster, which covers a similar subject matter. I will definitely work my way through Hindoo Holiday this week, but The Hill of Devi may not turn into a full-fledged read yet.
Of the library books listed in >7 arubabookwoman:, I was able to renew Portobello and Black Water Lilies, so their due dates are no longer pressing. So last night I started The Morning Star by Karl-Ove Knausgaard, which I am loving, and which is constantly calling me (and a good thing because it is due in 3 days, and it is long).
I may pick up one of the randomly generated TBR books on my Kindle, probably The Man With the Golden Arm to start this week.

Have to go put dinner on, but I still need to report on (confess to) the books I have bought so far in 2022. It somehow ended up being more than I was really entitled to for my Thingaversary.

three great reviews. The Ten Thousand Things reminds me that I would almost certainly really like the NYRB Litsy group. Not sure why I have hesitated to join (although right now isn't a great time... and maybe I've told myself that before). I'm certainly intrigued by The Unseen. As for The Big Cheat...I get a little sick just thinking about all this stuff. Very frustrating (but your review post is terrific)

ETA: >67 arubabookwoman: I could write up a post about myself very similar to that. To think there were times recently when I was reading just one book.

What a nice idea putting in first and last lines. Great reviews. Have you stopped being angry about Trump?
When I am in my library I read the first para of the book and that decides whether I want to take it out.

>62 arubabookwoman: - Good to see your comments on The Ten Thousand Things. I enjoyed it, and the dreamy atmosphere has stayed with me even though I read it more than 10 years ago, although I forgot some of the more concrete plot points.

>65 arubabookwoman: - This one sounds like a worthwhile read, although my appetite for Trump books (which all sound like "It was worse than you thought, and you thought it was horrible") is pretty low right now.

Also enjoyed your reading plan.

I will be interested to see what you make of Memed the Hawk, Deborah.

>63 arubabookwoman: Interesting review. I've not read Scandinavian authors for a long time, so this sounds a good way to rekindle with literature from this part of the world.
And after a quick check, it’s available in French in a paperback format!

>65 arubabookwoman: Michaei is reading this now.

Just lurking. Looking forward to yr review of An Evening of Long Goodbyes. Read it some years ago and liked it. I like that you are rereading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. One of my five-star favorites.

>65 arubabookwoman: As Lois noted, I'm slowly reading this one. Kind of numbing how much malfeasance Trump committed. And he might yet be reelected.

>62 arubabookwoman: You must be the first person that I know who read a book by Maria Dermoût.
This is one I recommend, but it for some reason was not one I was constantly thinking about when not reading it, or one I felt compelled to keep reading. I recognise that. Sometimes I wonder if it's the book or my mood.

>63 arubabookwoman: Excellent review. I think I borrowed it from the library but had to return it before I got a chance to read more than a few pages. It starts with that christening, if I'm not mistaken?

>67 arubabookwoman: How do you manage to read so much?

>65 arubabookwoman: Great review! And I admire you for actually reading a book like that. I couldn't go through with it, I don't have the strength and stamina!

>65 arubabookwoman: Great review, Deborah. I don’t think I could read it, but I appreciate that you have given us a detailed account.

>65 arubabookwoman: For some reason, this is the first book about Trump that I am inclined to read. Maybe it was your review!

This thread is terrible for my wishlist! I've just added The Unseen and will be coming back to see what you thought of half a dozen other titles...

>63 arubabookwoman: The Unseen moved from my wish list to my Kindle before you even wrote your review. I'm so glad that you loved it!

>67 arubabookwoman: Memed My Hawk sounds like a must read for me and The Morning Star most likely also. Great reading, Deborah.

I have only a few minutes, but feel I must post my January purchases before I chicken out or the list gets too long. I will be back soon to respond to visitors and post my reviews for the week (finished Madame de Treymes, The Way to the Cats, The Morning Star, Ellis Island, and The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araujo, so lots to review!

So the first books I bought, which I will consider my Thingaversary books, began with some cheap Kindle deals:

1. At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop-Kindle
2. Gerta by Katerina Tuckova-kindle
3. The Afflictions by Vikram Paralkar-Kindle
4. Daily Rituals: Women at Work by Mason Currey

Then I proceeded to some wishlist books:

5. Howards End Is on the Landing
6.Annihilation by Piotr Szewc
7. The Book of Lamentations by Rosario Castellanos
8. Maidenhair by Mikhai Shishkin
9. The First Century After Beatrice by Amin Maalouf
10. Artistry in Fiber--Volume 1 Wall Art
11. Color: A Workshop by David Hornung
12. Making Quilts With Kathy Doughty (There's one I want to make for my grandson)
13. The Children's Crusade by Marcel Schwob (forward by Borges)
14. Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences by Lawrence Wechsler--impulse buy

Then I had to buy the next read for the NYRB book club (not on Libby):

15. In the Freud Archives by Janet Malcom

The rest are mostly cheap(er) Kindle buys, many after reading someone's review here on LT. If you read one of these in January, it was probably your review that made me click on the Buy Now button.

16. Book of the Dead by Dostoevsky
17. The Black Rose by Thomas Costain
18. Marion Fay by Trollope
19. David Copperfield-for Victorian read-along after discovering I gave away my copy
20. The Book of Forgotten Authors by Christopher Fowler
21. The Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor
22. The Wild Palms by Faulkner
23. A Prayer for Katerina Horovitzova by Arnold Lustig
24. In the Days of the Comet by H.G. Wells

I don't usually buy so many books in 2 weeks (at least I don't think so). So much for expecting that listing the books I buy will provide restraint or accountability.

>83 arubabookwoman: All I can say is “Wow”! 😊

>83 arubabookwoman: But it's your Thingaversary. I say, Happy Reading!

How fun! The Children’s Crusade appeals from title alone. (The link took me to Slaughterhouse-Five 🤔)

>83 arubabookwoman: In the Freud Archive sounds really interesting.

>83 arubabookwoman: Hoping to hear about all of those books. This group is a bad influence on me. I’ve bought 4 physical books in the past 2 weeks - mostly because they aren’t on kindle and one because it’s poetry. Then I saw another copy of that book in my lt database so I must have it here somewhere. I have to make room on my bookshelves or I’ll lose these 2. There’s a book I bought a couple years ago that has disappeared in the bedroom, unread.

>83 arubabookwoman: - Love seeing other people's hauls. And that's a lot of books finished!

Looking forward to your review of Madame de Treymes. I'll probably read it for my next Wharton if both you and Dan like it. I have Annihilation but it's somewhere in the boxes--not sure where. In the Freud Archives was a very interesting read, even though it firmly solidified my dislike of Freud. What prompted you to get the Marcel Schwob book?

Also - was hit with two book bullets, Gerta and The Afflictions.

>83 arubabookwoman: Nice haul, Deborah! I loved Howard's End Is on the Landing and the follow-up Jacob's Room Is Full of Books although the first one is my favorite of the two.

>83 arubabookwoman: What fun!! I tend not to need an excuse to buy books :-)

What a haul! Now you just have to find room for them . . .

>83 arubabookwoman: I love Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences—read it a while ago, and I’m thinking it’d be a great reread.

Well, I was hoping to do my reviews and report on my reading at least weekly on the weekend, but this past weekend was a wash--for a good reason though. On Sunday I went to a workshop at the art center here, and spent most of Saturday getting my stuff together and preparing. This was the first time since covid I've gone to any public gathering type of event. I was disappointed to find that some of the participants were not wearing masks, despite the guidelines stated by the art center on line. However, we were a fairly small group, 12 in all, in a large room and were able to spread out, so I ended up staying despite the maskless people. Hope that doesn't turn out to be a mistake. I'm not concerned for myself, but my husband, despite 3 shots, is like an unvaccinated person with a poorly functioning immune system. Anyway, before my reviews I'll respond to my lovely visitors:

>68 dchaikin: Dan, I think the NYRB Litsy Book Club is pretty open and would welcome your participation anytime they're reading a book that interests you and you want to read along and chime in. Only "official" members get to nominate the books (3) which are voted on by the members to arrive at the choices, so you would have to be an "official" member to do that. This month we're reading In the Freud Archives, which Barbara has already read and reviewed on her thread. It sounds very interesting.

>69 baswood: Hi Barry--I am still angry about Trump, though it's probably more accurate to say I'm angry at all the Republicans who have gone along with him, enabled his corruption, failed to convict him (twice!) after he was impeached, and basically tried to out-Trump Trump. Beyond angry, I am sickened and afraid about where this is all going. There are several recent books out on the topic of whether the US is headed to an authoritarian dictatorship or a civil war, which I'll probably be sampling at some point.

>70 DieFledermaus: Hi DieF--if you read The Ten Thousand Things 10 years ago, it had already been on my shelf for 10 years or so--I acquired it in 2002. It only took me 20 years to get to it! Better late than never.

>71 PaulCranswick: I am somewhat stalled on Memed My Hawk Paul, but I will plod on to the end. I had checked My Name Is Red out of the library, but had to return it. If I get a chance to read another book from Turkey this month, it will probably be one I own, and if it is to be one by Pamuk, it will be The Black Book. However, I suspect I will only finish the one Turkey book this month--I've bitten off more than I can chew, I think. I do have my eye on a couple of books from Israel/Palestine for February though.

>72 raton-liseur: I'm glad that a copy is availablefor you. I hope you like it. I have the second volume out from the library now, but I'm a bit concerned because Jennifer (jpaul) did not like it.

>74 avaland: I'll check your thread for Michael's comments when they appear.

>75 nohrt4me2: I'm glad you liked Evening of Long Goodbyes. It's next in the queue if I can ever get through all the books I'm currently in the middle of.
I remember loving A Tree Grows in Brooklyn many many years ago when I read it, which is why I checked it out of my library for a reread. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get to it before it had to go back--so my reread will have to wait. There have been other books I've reread that I loved the first time around but that didn't retain their magic for me on rereading them. Has that ever happened to you. One in particular I remember is The Mists of Avalon, which I loved the first time, but had problems getting into the second time around.

>76 dukedom_enough: Hi Michael. It is indeed numbing. And it's unfortunate because everybody should be outraged and consider his activities absolutely unacceptable for one in high office. I am so fearful that he will be reelected, so I am waiting with bated breath for a criminal indictment (not that an indictment would make much difference to his supporters).

>77 Trifolia: I'm not sure it started with a christening, but it did start with a visit to the island from the pastor, and his taking back with him a back of eider down. I think the book is worth tracking down to complete your reading of it.
In terms of my reading, I think I'm only an average reader here on LT. I am retired and my kids are gone, so I have more time to read than in the past. However, I usually don't read much during the day, and mostly read just at night after dinner. (The only time I read during the day is when I'm reading a book I absolutely can't put down, and which is due back at the library soon--this is what happened with The Morning Star, a tome that was due in 3 days, but which was also unputdownable. I am trying to get into listening to Audible books during the day while I'm sewing or doing something else, but I have a hard time with interruptions, and losing track of what I'm listening to.

>78 MissBrangwen: I think a lot of people on Club Read can't bring themselves to read "Trump" books. Unfortunately, I feel compelled to read them, as if my reading them will help save the country.

>79 NanaCC: Hi Colleen--Well you confirmed what I said right above in response to >78 MissBrangwen:. Reading these books is just something I feel I have to do. Reading the facts is unpleasant, but I actually find them fairly easy reading, not hard to follow, and they keep my interest.

>80 sallypursell: It's a good one to read because:1. The author is competent and reliable; and 2. It's not focused on the political but on the corruption, graft and crimes. Even a Republican should be able to grasp that a lot of the things he has done are illegal.

>81 Dilara86: Thank you Dilara. I hope you like The Unseen when you get to it.

>82 Linda92007: Hi Linda. I hope you too like The Unseen. I've been stalled in Memed My Hawk, unfortunately. It's turned into somewhat of a "chase" novel, although a chase novel with brigands and agas in the Turkish mountains. On the other hand, I raced through The Morning Star and loved it. (Review to follow).

>84 NanaCC: Hi Colleen. Have you read the new Elizabeth George yet? There's a 14 week wait at my library, so I'm debating whether to buy it. As you know, I have nothing else to read in the meantime. (Haha!)

>85 labfs39: Yes--and most of the additions have been cheap Kindle deals and used books, so the bank isn't broken (yet).

>86 dchaikin: Thanks Dan. I fixed the link. I became interested in the children's crusade when I read Operation Wandering Soul by Richard Powers years ago. This is a very short novella by a French author, and I had never heard of either the author or the book before coming across it while browsing.

>87 lisapeet: Barbara has read and reviewed In the Freud Archives on her thread. I have another week or 2 before I have to get it read for the LItsy NYRB book club discussion.

>88 dianeham: This group is indeed a bad influence. This is where I get most of my recommendations. Most of the books I buy are on Kindle, too, other than the occasional art/quilt book.

>89 DieFledermaus: I should be reviewing Madame de Treymes shortly. It's good, because it was written by Wharton who is a wonderful writer, but I don't think it is one of her better books. It's very short, and I think she left a lot unexplored. I was disappointed. I think Dan has already reviewed it and gave it 3 stars.
I am looking forward to In the Freud Archives, which I should get to by the end of the month.
As I mentioned above, I got the Marcel Schwob book because I was interested in the children's crusade after reading Operation Wandering Soul. I'd not heard of either the book or the author before coming across this while browsing. Have you read it, or anything by this author.

>90 BLBera: Hi Beth. Howard's End Is on the Landing has been on my wishlist forever, and it is not on Kindle--so I finally broke down and bought it. I'm glad to hear that it is your favorite of the 2 books.

>91 avaland: Well--I also don't usually need an excuse--except when I buy a ton of books like here. Then I'll point to my Thingaversary, or that it was a special bookstore trip (Powells or the Strand), or that I'd been looking for some of the books forever, etc. etc. etc.

>92 markon: Hi Ardene--I mostly buy Kindles luckily, and I got rid of so many physical books when we moved I should be able to find shelf space for my new books.

>93 lisapeet: Hi Lisa--I've taken a peek at some of the pictures in the book so far, and it looks intriguing. This was an impulse buy, I'd never heard of it or the author. How did you come across it?

Wow. That was a marathon answering all my visitors. I almost have no time left to get to the reviews, but I will at least make a start.

Library Book
Norwegian author

4. The Morning Star by Karl Ove Knausgaard (2021) 684 pp

Epigram: "And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and Death shall flee from them."

First line: "The sudden thought that the boys were asleep in their beds inside the house behind me while the darkness descended on the sea was so pleasant and peaceful that I wouldn't let go of it at first, but tried instead to sustain it and pin down what was good about it."

Last line: "It means that it has begun."

This novel takes place over two days over which we follow in turn the stories of a dozen or so characters, each generally narrating their sections in the first person. Some of the characters have several sections devoted to them, a couple appear in only one section, and most of the characters have two sections. Some of the characters are related, sometimes only subtly, and appear in each other's sections, but some have apparently nothing to do with any of the other characters. What connects them all, however, is that on the evening of the first day each sees the appearance in the sky of a giant luminous star that has never been there before. Some view it as a natural phenomenon. Others think it is a sign or omen of something. For the reader, however, as we move through these characters' stories, the star is a massive forboding presence, and we sense and dread that something (good or bad, we don't know) is about to happen. And along with the star, all the characters, as they go about their day-to-day lives experience other unusual events. Many of these involve animals--a herd of crabs crossing the road, thousands (maybe millions) of ladybugs landing on a verandah, a fact-to-face soul-searching encounter with a deer. Others have strange human encounters--a mentally ill man previously unable to communicate tells his health aide, "You are doomed." A strange man in McDonald's tells a young woman, "I am the Lord," and his touch on her head electrifies her. A priest looks into the coffin of the deceased (who passed away several days before) whose funeral she was conducting, and sees the man who accosted her at the airport the night before. Several see faces or creatures that don't seen human. And so on, and so on.

Now all of this might ordinarily have annoyed me and made me impatient, and I wouldn't have believed in the world the author was creating. I'm thinking in particular of a book in which the author was attempting to create a sense of dread and forboding by having her characters experience all kinds of unusual, disconcerting, and yes, unreal, events. I hated that book, Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam, and yet I loved this one. Why? I don't know if I have a satisfactory answer, but one big difference is that Knausgaard's characters are so real, and they act and react in ways that are inherently consistent. If we have difficulty in understanding some of these weird things that are happening, we can understand these characters. They react in ways we would expect, based on their characters as presented to us. In Leave the World Behind I found the characters to react randomly, without rhyme or reason, in ways that made no sense.

It has been said of Knausgaard that he takes the mundane (in great detail) and makes it mesmerizing. I agree. I think Alison said in her review something along the lines that when she reads Knausgaard, he makes even his descriptions of loading the dishwasher fascinating. And in this book, I found the accounts of the two days in the lives of these dozen or so characters mundane details, and oddball events, mesmerizing.

Now, what I didn't like. There is a definite lack of resolution to the book. We are left hanging in the air as to several of the characters. And there is no information/resolution as to what the morning star (which appears each evening) is. But maybe we have a hint, in the last line of the novel, quoted above, "It means that it has begun."

The other thing I didn't care for is an issue that was raised on another thread re Knausgaard in general, his philosophizing. In his other books I've read, I didn't recall this as being an issue. However, in this book, there is definitely a lot of philosophizing, particularly in the sections relating to Katherine, the priest, and Egil, the documentary film maker, who is also the "author" of the final essay, "Death and the Dead." I will admit to not having read these parts as closely as I should have.

Despite these two dislikes, overall I loved the book. It was "unputdownable," and I read it compulsively. Highly recommended.

4 stars

Library Book
French author

5. Ellis Island by Georges Perec (1994) 65 pp

Life A User's Manual is one of my desert island books, so when I came across this short book in the library I checked it out. Perec collaborated with documentary filmmaker Robert Bober, and in 1978 accompanied him on a visit to Ellis Island. The book begins with a short factual introduction giving a brief history of Ellis Island followed by a "prose poem" by Perec about Ellis Island and his visit. Access to America was more or less free until 1875, and then gradually restrictive measures were added. Still, between 1892 and 1924 16 million people passed through the Ellis Island reception center: "Essentially Ellis Island was a sort of factory for manufacturing Americans." I learned the difference between E-migrant (leaving a country) and I-mmigrant (arriving in a new country), which I had never thought of before.

Here's a brief excerpt of the prose poem:

This was the golden door
right there, in sight, almost at hand,
was the America of a thousand dreams,
the land of freedom where all men were equal,
the place where everyone could finally have his chance,
the new world, the free world,
where life could start over again

but this was not America, not yet,
only an extension of the boat,
a remnant of the old world
where nothing had yet been assured,
where those who had left
still hadn't arrived,
where those who had given up everything
had so far obtained nothing

This was a slight book, but I enjoyed it.

3 stars

Off My Shelf
Israeli author

6. The Way to the Cats by Yehoshua Kenaz (1991) 325 pp

Yolanda is a retired Tel Aviv school teacher who has broken her leg and ends up in a rehab facility for nearly a year. This novel is the story of her stay in rehab, a closed society with a group of individuals in various states of illness, as well as some sharply drawn staff members. (One of the blurbs compares the book to The Magic Mountain in this similarity of subject matter.) The staff includes the head nurse, named "Satana" by Yolanda, after she believes Satana tried to murder her early in her stay in the facility by pushing her wheelchair down a steep garden path where it overturned. The young tech/aide Leon, is a gigolo of sorts, and is constantly hitting on Yolanda. We get to know Yolanda's roomates, as well as a handsome artist from the male ward she develops a friendship with.

The book often seems a comedy (and I can't help but wonder how accurate its depiction of the Israeli health care system is--some of it seems pretty surreal). But I think in actuality it's a pretty grim depiction of old age and loneliness hiding behind the humor.

First line: "From the side entrance, Mrs. Moscowitz could see a lawn and standing in the middle of it a lofty, broad-boughed tree with big dark green leaves.

Last line: "Like glittering eyes they shone above her like pure eternally young eyes, contemplating themselves in an infinitude of love, and redeeming nothing with their gaze."

3 1/2 stars

Somehow this review seems inadequate to me. I liked the book a lot. I was attracted to it by the blurbs on the dust cover from authors I respect, which included these (they were longer, these are excerpts):

Philip Roth compares Kenaz to Malamud and Appelfeld
Amos Oz--"a masterpiece"
A. B. Yehoshua--a small subject--a sick old woman--but a drama of emotional depth, "one of the best books I have read in the past decade."

Off my shelf
Cape Verde author

7. The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araujo by Germano Almeida (1991) 152 pp

First line: "The reading of the last will and testament of Sr. Napumoceno da Silva Araujo ate up a whole afternoon.

Last line: "But then he woke up and said I must have been dreaming but he stayed in that half-sleep and the following morning I came into the room to open the window and he didn't say Good Morning as he usually did and I thought that maybe he was still sleeping and only when I opened the window did I see he was sleeping the sleep of the angels."

The book opens with the reading of the will of Senhor da Silva Araujo in the city of Mindelo on the island of Sao Vicente in the Cape Verde archipelago. Senhor da Silva Araujo is believed to have led a chaste and unimpeachable life. He is one of the wealthiest men in the city, and his nephew Carlos, who has worked side by side with him in his business, is expected to be his sole heir. Then, as the reading of the will begins, it becomes apparent that Carlos has been disinherited in favor of Senhor da Silva Araujo's previously unknown illegitimate daughter. There follows the true story of Senhor da Silva Araujo's life, including excerpts from the 387 page will in which he himself related his life story.

I enjoyed reading about life in this remote island country, of which I was only previously aware from my love of the music of Cesaria Evora (that voice!), and she indeed has a brief mention in the book. It was an engaging read, and I'm glad I read it, but it won't go on my list of favorites for the year.

3 stars.

well, you got me way more interested in that Knausgaard. Your review brings to my mind Ratners's Star, an oddlball book by DeLillo. (Sorry, those two sentences are independent thoughts. The DeLillo comparison is NOT why your review has me interested.)

I haven't heard of Yehoshua Kenaz, but I'm intrigued. I would like to read another Israeli author sometime. It's been awhile.

Wonderful reviews, as always, Deborah. I hope you're doing well, and G's eye is getting better.

>96 arubabookwoman: Ahhh! I can’t wait to get to this! Although in truth I should go back to the final volumes of My Struggle first.

The Kenaz caught my attention. I'll look for it.

I have not read any Karl One Knausgaard and I am probably not likely to, but I really enjoyed your review.

>96 arubabookwoman: Totally agree with your review on the Knausgaard on all fronts (excellent review, btw - you did it much more justice than I did). That guy could write about paint drying and I'd lap it up (I'm now trying to think if he has actually written about painting a wall at some point!).

I also agree with both your criticisms. However, on your criticism about the ending being unsatisfactory, I think that's probably OK as I believe there's a sequel coming up. Hurrah!

>99 arubabookwoman: I read this review with interest because I was pondering the possibility to travel to Cape Verde later this year (depending on the pandemic of course - it is quite easy to travel there from Germany as a package holiday) and I started researching the islands a little bit. I also came across Cesaria Evora and listened to some of her songs. So beautiful!
I will add this book to my wish list! Your review made me curious.

Lots of interesting reviews! And a reminder that I need to get around to Life: A User's Manual sometime.

>95 arubabookwoman: - About Marcel Schwob--I haven't read anything by him, but some of his books are published by various publishers that I'm interested in (ones focusing on French decadent authors). I wanted to try at least one of his works but was thinking The King in the Golden Mask.

As always, I've been enjoying you reviews tremendously and wrote down a couple of book bullets.

>95 arubabookwoman: - Yes, that must be the one. An attempted christening maybe :-)

>96 arubabookwoman: - I've been trying to avoid Knausgaard because I think it won't be a match. But after reading your review, the clamours are getting louder and louder. Maybe I should give it a try.

>97 arubabookwoman: - Hm, that reminds me I should give Georges Perec another try. too I started his Life A User's Manual a few times and loved it, but as you say, it's a desert island book and unfortunately, my life's far from a desert island right now.

Hmm, I was going to come on earlier today to post some reviews, and my computer wouldn't work. After trying to get it to open for quite I while, I got out my iPad and started researching new computers, since my computer is 9 or 10 years old and pretty slow. I mostly use my iPad for web browsing, just don't like to type on it. Then late this afternoon I looked down, and there was my computer on and open and acting innocent like it had never given me any trouble. So I will try to catch up on some reviews this evening before I fall asleep.

> 100 Dan I somehow think you might like another Knausgaard (despite not getting on with A Time for Everything. I liked the first two books of My Struggle best, (and I liked The Morning Star a lot, but it's kind of science-fictiony), so if you read the first in the My Struggle series and didn't like it no need to go on.
I hadn't heard of Kenaz before coming across this book. I actually bought it because when my middle son went to Israel under the Legacy Program (or something like that, not sure what it's called), one of the things he was most impressed with was all the stray cats in the cities. This book of course has nothing overtly to do with stray cats, although one of the characters feeds the neighborhood stray cats. From what I've read, Kenaz is a highly regarded Israeli author.

>101 labfs39: Thanks Lisa. Gil's eye is much better, though not yet 100%. We see the eye doctor again next week.

>102 ursula: Hi Ursula. I haven't finished My Struggle yet either. I still have volume 6 to go, and only got to volume 5 late last year.

>103 BLBera: Hi Beth. I think you would like the Kenaz.

>104 baswood: Thanks Barry.

>105 AlisonY: Thanks Alison. I too think there will be a sequel, especially in light of the last sentence in the book, "It means that it has all begun."
By the way, did you notice whether Arne ever went back to his basement and cleaned the fish out? On the second day he remembers leaving the fish there and that they will surely be stinking the place up, but I don't remember reading whether he did anything about that. By the end of the book, I was really fretting over this. LOL.

>106 MissBrangwen: How cool is it that you can so easily go to the Cape Verde Islands. They look beautiful and I would love to go one day. Yes, Cesaria Evora is a wonderful musician and I love her voice. I'm glad you will read the book (I don't know any other Cape Verde authors), but as I said, it was a good book, but will not go on my list of favorites.

>107 DieFledermaus: When I say that a book is on my desert island list, that usually means I think it is a book everyone should read, so I hope you can get to it sooner rather than later.
The King in the Golden Mask looks interesting, but it is rather pricey for a Kindle, and my library doesn't seem to have it, so I'm just noting it for now. Will be interested in your comments when you get to it.

>108 Trifolia: Knausgaard does seem to provoke controversy and divide readers. As I said, I liked the first two volumes of My Struggle the best, so if you read the first volume and didn't like it, no need to go on. The volumes are not strictly chronological either, although most of his childhood is included in the first two volumes.
I loved the puzzle aspect of Life A Users Manual, and I've read it twice. Other than recently reading the Ellis Island book, I've not read any of Perec's shorter fiction, although I have several of his books on my shelf that I would like to get to soon.

Now to try to catch up on some reviews.

Off my Kindle
Litsy Wharton Buddy Read

8. Madame de Treymes by Edith Wharton (1906) 100 pp

John Durham is an American visiting Paris with his mother and sisters. They have reconnected with an American friend from old times who had married a Frenchman. Fanny, now Madame de Malrive is now separated from her French husband. Durham has fallen in love with her and wants to marry her, but she tells him that her French in-laws will never consent to a divorce. However, Fanny believes that her sister-in-law Madame de Treymes is sympathetic. Durham decides to seek the assistance of Madame de Treymes in obtaining the consent of Fanny's husband's family to a divorce.

Wharton uses this novella to make some acute observations of both French and American "high" society. There are observations about upstart and clueless Americans seeking to insinuate their way into the old and aristocratic French society, as well as the ways in which the French aristocratic society plays and takes advantage of the Americans, particularly their money. To a certain extent this is what is going on as Durham seeks to win over Madame de Treymes to his cause.

In the end, Wharton creates a situation (we have come across several similar situations in our Wharton reads so far) in which the protagonist must make a choice, a moral choice in which there is a right choice and a wrong choice, but not an easy choice. I found myself wishing that Durham would make the morally wrong choice, so that Wharton could then have fun delineating and deconstructing the consequences of that choice.

Alas that was not to be. This is only a fairly short novella, and Wharton did not go there. I enjoyed it for what it was, however, and Wharton's writing, as usual, is beautiful, concise and spot on. I just wanted a bit more.

First line: "John Durhan, while he waited for Madame de Malrive to draw on her gloves, stood in the hotel doorway looking out across the Rue de Rivoli at the afternoon brightness of the Tuileries gardens."

Last line: "'Ah, you poor, good man!' she said with a sob."

3 stars

Library Book
Norwegian author

9. White Shadow by Roy Jacobson (2015) 272 pp

"To survive on an island, you have to search. Ingrid had been searching since she was born, for berries, eggs, down, fish, shells, sinker stones, slate, sheep, flowers, boards, twigs...an islander's eyes are always searching...."

The story of the Barroy Island continues, and a fair number of years have passed since The Unseen ended. Many of the family have scattered, and only Ingrid and her aunt Barbro maintain ties with Barroy Island. As the novel opens, both are off-island, Barbro in the hospital and Ingrid, now 35 is working in a fish processing plant on one of the main islands. When Ingrid hears that Barbro will soon be released from the hospital, she quits her job and returns to the island. Things are much different now, however, for we are in the final year of World War II, and signs and effects of the Nazi occupation of Norway are everywhere and the islanders have suffered much. When Ingrid arrives back home, she immediately begins to feel that she is no longer alone on the island, and soon she discovers several bodies washed up on the shore, apparently wounded soldiers. Then she finds that she is indeed not alone on the island.

Unlike the first book in this trilogy in which the entire world consisted of the Barroy family unit and a few of their neighboring islanders, in this entry there is a broader palette and the outside world intrudes. There are many characters from the outside world, primarily refugees, but also German soldiers, Russian POWs, and townspeople, including loyalists and collaborators. Despite the wider perspective, however, the emphasis is still on the harshness of life on the island and surrounding environs, and on the resilience and ingenuity of the people. I don't know why I so loved reading about setting out the fishing nets in winter, gutting the fish and cutting out their livers and tongues, salting and drying them. Then there's shearing the sheep, carding the wool, spinning the wool, and darning their sweaters, not to mention plowing, planting, and reaping the hay to feed the sheep, digging potatoes, making red currant jam, and on and on and on.

Perhaps I didn't love this one as much as the first, but it's still very, very good, and I loved it. Be aware though that it lacks the intimacy of the first to a certain extent, and because of the war, there are some pretty gruesome and graphic parts.

4 stars

First line(s): "The fish came first. Man is merely a persistent guest."

Last line: 'Ingrid sees it all, half in a daze, the first winter storm is on its way."

Library Book
French Author
Winner of the Goncourt Prize

10. The Anomaly by Herve Le Tellier (2020) 399 pp

In March, an Air France flight from Paris to New York with 243 people on board passed through some unforeseen and extremely severe turbulence off Nova Scotia, but landed safely with the only aftereffects some hail damage to the plane's nose. The passengers and crew get on with their lives, which we follow (for several of them) over the next 106 days, as they encounter big changes and small in their lives.

Then about half-way through the book an Air France flight from Paris to New York emerges from extreme turbulence off Nova Scotia and requests permission to land in New York. The problem is that this is the exact same flight that landed in March, with the exact same passengers and crew, all of whom think it is still March, when in fact it is now June. None of them know that their doppelgangers have been living their lives without them for three months and for many of them big changes have occurred.

The rest of the book deals with the government diverting and isolating the second flight, trying to come up with an explanation for what has happened, and rounding up the passengers who landed in March. This is where it becomes interesting. For each of the duplicates, an arrangement must be made as to how to proceed--who continues the ongoing life, who starts anew, what about the changes that occurred in the interim?

This science-fictiony thriller definitely kept me reading and engaged, though some of the science parts, and the descriptions of how the government worked I found unbelievable. It won the Goncourt Prize, but I'm not sure I'd go as far as the New York Times reviewer who described it as "high entertainment meets serious literature." I'd keep it more in the entertainment category, kind of like an in-depth Twilight Zone episode. I was definitely more interested in the ways in which the various characters reacted to their inexplicable predicament than in the scientific explanation the author posits.

First line: "It's not the killing, that's not the thing."
Last line: " the red cup f c ffe wi h its I y bra d g i tor
Mi el' h d a d i th b l
on An' t gue No ec dac ly sa h w ti e gr.....{etc.}"

3 stars

>111 arubabookwoman: White Shadow is going on the list. I have The Unseen on my Kindle waiting. Way too easy to buy e-books.

Off my Kindle
American author
1001 List

11. The Man With the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren (1950) 368 pp

"Yet the week ran out on Saturday night and he was no richer than he had been Monday morning. The old merry-go-round was rolling again and he had to ride as hard as any."

"Some cats just swing like that."

It took me quite a while to get into this book, which was the winner of the first National Book Award, I think primarily because of the extensive use of 1940's slang, particularly slang related to cards and gambling, drug addiction, and the out and out poverty, despair and ugliness surrounding all the book's characters. It's set in the Polish ghetto of Chicago in the years immediately after World War II. The main character, Francis Majcinek, aka Frankie Magic, aka the Dealer, is the man with the golden arm. He's a card dealer, a good one, and he deals the game run every night in the back room by Schwieftia. He is almost always accompanied by Solly Saltskin, aka the Sparrow, aka the Punk, aka the Steerer, and together they commit petty crimes to get by, whenever they are not involved in a card game or some serious drinking or in jail for a bit.

There's another reason Frankie is the man with the golden arm--he's also a drug addict. Because of a wound during the war, he is frequently in pain, and craves the relief morphine brings. He frequently believes he can kick it at any time, and is not an addict, but his fixer, and we the reader, know otherwise.

Frankie is married to Sophie, and she has been in a wheelchair since a car accident with Frankie drunk at the wheel left her apparently unable to stand or walk. Her only outlet in life is in keeping a scrapbook of fatal accidents. Frankie doesn't love Sophie, and no longer wants to be married to her, but stays with her out of guilt. And Sophie reminds Frankie constantly that he is the cause of her predicament.

Algren has been described as the "poet of the lost," and the book is unrelentingly bleak and dark. Beyond the main characters I've described above there are many other denizens of this gritty decrepit urban neighborhood with whom the book involves us, many of them known just by their nicknames or occupations. Besides the Fixer, there is the landlord of the seedy rooming house where Frankie and Sophie live known as "the jailer," there's Drunkie John, "a mouth at the end of a whiskey glass," Blind Pig, whose actions lead to the ultimate downfall of Frankie, and many other poor and lost souls. All of them are in on "the great secret and special American guilt of owning nothing, nothing at all in the land where ownership and virtue are one."

Despite the hopelessness of his characters, Algren writes beautifully. He is an amazing prose stylist. As I said, because of the slang, it was at first hard to follow, but once I learned the characters (many of whom are referred to by multiple names) and got into the flow of the story and the language it was hard to put the book down. I can well understand why this book won the National Book Award, and why it is on the 1001 list.

First line(s): "The captain never drank. Yet toward nightfall in that smoke-colored season between Indian summer and December's first true snow, he would sometimes feel half drunken."

Last line: "To rustle away down the last dark wall of all."

4 1/2 stars

Off My Shelf
Turkish Author
1001 List

12. Memed My Hawk by Yashar Kemal (1955) 351 pp

Memed grows up in a small Turkish mountain village run by the cruel Abdi Agha. A feudal system prevails, and the villagers toil and sweat in rocky fields overgrown with thistles with most of the rewards for their labor going to Abdi Agha. Even as a very young boy, Memed recognized the inequity of this, and at one point ran away. He stayed with a kind family on the other side of the mountain for several months, but eventually returned because he missed his mother. Nevertheless, his small act of rebellion was remembered by Abdi Agha, who ever after was particularly cruel to Memed and his family.

When Memed was a young man he fell in love with Hatche. Unfortunately, Hatche was promised to Abdi Agha's nephew. Despite this Memed and Hatche decide to elope. They are pursued by Abdi Agha and his men, the nephew is killed and Hatche is jailed.

All of this is set up for the main story of the book, which I admit I did not connect with particularly well. Memed escapes to the hills and joins a band of brigands. During the time the novel was set, brigands, or bands of highwaymen/robbers, were apparently common in the hills of Turkey (and I learned that the red fez is the sign of brigandage). Some brigands are associated with particular pashas or aghas, some are well-tolerated by the police or government authorities, and others are in constant battle with police or aghas. Some brigands are cruel to the common people and some are the heroes of common people. Initially, Memed joined a band of brigands let by a leader who turned out to be one of the cruel brigands. When Memed sets out on his own, with his own followers, he becomes a sort of folk hero, and is mythologized by the villagers and common people who hear of his exploits.

As I was reading of Memed's exploits, his constant skirmishes and near escapes from the police and Abdi Agha's men who are pursuing him, I kept thinking of how much this reminded me of the Robin Hood story. And the episodes were like the adventures that might be described in a boy's own story. There was one battle with the authorities followed by miraculous escape, soon to be followed by another battle, one after the other. None of this I particularly enjoyed, so I have to say, this really wasn't the book for me.

I will say, however, that this is a much-loved classic in Turkey, and there are several sequels delineating the further adventures of Memed. The book itself brought world-wide acclaim to Kemal. It is an influential work in Turkey, and at one point, the Turkish government was considering banning it (or maybe did ban it) because of fears that it may have romanticized "socialism." So, there is that. And if you want to read about the escapades of a Turkish folk hero, this is the book for you.

First line: "The slopes of the Taurus Mountains rise from the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean on the southern coast of Turkey, in a steady ascent from the white, foam-fringed rocks to the peaks."

Last line: "With this fire a ball of light appears on the peak of Alidagn and for three nights the mountain is white, as bright as by day."

3 stars

Library Book
American Author
I checked this out of the library after reading on Sassylassy's thread about this new book by a favorite author of mine.

13. Foregone by Russell Banks (2021) 318 pp

"What's left of his life now, who he is, is only what's inside his brain. Which is only who he was, nothing more. The future does not exist anymore, and the present never did. And no one knows who he was."

Leonard Fife is a well-regarded documentary film maker who came to Canada in 1968 allegedly as an American Vietnam war draft evader. Now in his 80's, he is suffering from terminal cancer and has left the hospital to come home to die. He has agreed to give one last interview to Malcolm, a documentarian he mentored. Malcom has come well-prepared with a list of 25 questions, and intends to explore Leo's influences and techniques and his thoughts and evaluations of his body of work. Leo has a different idea for the interview. Instead of answering questions about his work, Leo wants to make a "confession" about his life, specifically to his wife of 40 years, Emma. And it's not just the small crimes he committed, but the "mortal sins," and he wants forgiveness.

As Leo's "confession" begins, we are surprised to learn (and Leo states that Emma does not know this) that when he came to Canada in 1968 (and not as a draft dodger as widely believed) he abandoned a wife and child in America, never to be seen again. And as his confession continues we learn of other abandonments and betrayals, Leonard ploughing on despite Malcolm's efforts (at least at first) to get his questions answered. In the initial parts of the confession, I was considering abandoning the book; I did not want to read another book about a man's "mid-life crisis" (or in this case pre-mid-life crisis). But then, the reader begins to wonder, How much of this is true? And how much does Emma know?

So, what exactly is the story Leo is telling, and what exactly is only going on in his mind? It is true that he is in a weakened condition, on strong pain medications, sometimes delirious, sometimes even nodding off. Leo himself wonders what, if any, part of his story he is getting across, whether what he has said has anything to do with his memories:

"He wonders how much he was able to say to the camera this morning of what he actually remembers. He knows there is a synaptic snafu between the data received from the memory banks of his hippocampus and his prefrontal cortex that scrambled the words he is led to speak when he tried to convert that data to speech."

Further,

"He's almost two separate people, and one of them remembers in great detail a distant past and the other who does not remember anything of that past tries to describe it."

And later Emma speaks of "confabulation," which occurs when a person, often with a mental disability of some sort, fills in gaps in memory by fabrication. It is not lying; the person confabulating believes that what they are remembering is true. Emma believes that Leo's confession is mostly confabulation:

"What the doctor calls confabulation is just the way Fife sometimes tells stories, that's all, mixing memories and dreams and imagined details and meanings, embedding whatever drifts his way, exaggerating some elements and eliminating others, fooling with chronology, trying to make life more interesting and exciting than it would be otherwise...."

What Banks has created with this novel is an extended meditation on story-telling and memory, about the nature of memory, and about how we face death. It is a masterful accomplishment. I didn't understand it all, but I loved it.

First line: "Fife twists in the wheelchair and says to the woman who's pushing it, I forget why I agreed to this."

Last line: "Renee did not want to think about the death of Leonard Fife."

4 stars

Reading Report:

Ongoing reads:
I'm through Chapter 17 in David Copperfield, about 1/3 through so just about right for a quarterly read.
I'm in October in Anniversaries, about right for a year long read.
I've started listening to an audiobook while I sew, and so far I've listened to about 10 (of 31) hours of The Way We Live Now by Trollope, and loving it.
I will read the NYRB Book Club book In the Freud Archives this week.
I will start the next Wharton buddy read this week The Fruit of the Tree

Current Random TBR Reads

Continuing to read Hindoo Holiday by J.R. Ackerly, but no progress this week
Started another Turkish book, A Mind at Peace by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar--like it so far
Started An Evening of Long Goodbyes--like it so far
My initial plan had been to randomly select TBR books every two weeks or so, but I still have a fair number from my initial randomly generated list I am interested in, so I have not selected a new list yet, and will continue to read from those already chosen.

From the library, I am currently reading Unthinkable by Jamie Raskin--about halfway through

Library Books due in the next 2 weeks to choose from:
The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed
Space Invaders by Nona Fernandez
Last Winter We Parted by Fuminori Nakamura
Labrador by Kathryn Davis
Idaho by Emily Ruskovich
Portobello by Ruth Rendell
Matrix by Lauren Groff
The White Darkness by David Grann

Matrix is amazing! Pick that.

>111 arubabookwoman: Well, now I'm wondering if I need to give White Shadow another try. I loved The Unseen and White Shadow felt so different that I didn't connect with it and put it down after reading about a third of it. I'll keep it in mind.

>111 arubabookwoman: Barren island and WWII, hmm, I might have to read this trilogy.

>115 arubabookwoman: I ordered Memed, My Hawk from the library, but I'm wondering if I should send it back. It's time to leave Turkey, and I'm not sure I'm in the mood for endless brigand battles.

>116 arubabookwoman: I have never read anything by Russell Banks. Where would you recommend starting?

>117 arubabookwoman: So many interesting irons in the fire. I would never be able to keep them all straight. I plod along with one or two at a time.

Great reviews all!

>116 arubabookwoman: First of all, I'm so relieved that you loved Foregone. I always worry when people read books that I really like that it won't work for them.
I hadn't noticed until I read the first line and last line together in your review that Renée begins and ends the novel.

Otherwise, lots of titles here to get me searching.
>111 arubabookwoman: I like the sound of Roy Jacobson "an islander's eyes are always searching...." Something I often notice about people who spend their lives outdoors by or on the sea is that their gaze is focussed in the far distance, only up close in conversation, so it was interesting to see this line in the novel.

>112 arubabookwoman: Definitely could be fun.

>114 arubabookwoman: Nelson Algren has moved to the must read list - although first I have to find one of his books. He's someone I've always wanted to read, and now you've convinced me.

>114 arubabookwoman: I Share your admiration for The Man With the Golden Arm

>116 arubabookwoman: >121 SassyLassy: Since you both loved Foregone and I love Russell Banks, I really should get my hands on it.

>112 arubabookwoman: The Anomaly looks like a lot of fun, and my library has the ebook - although it is currently waitlisted. Onto the wishlist it goes

>114 arubabookwoman: I watched the movie a couple of years ago. Good to know I can look forward to the book too.

So many good reviews Deborah. I’m on the waiting list at the library for Matrix. I’ll look for your review when you get to it.

Slowly, slowly catching up on neglected threads -- I've certainly been distracted by the Ukraine situation the last couple of weeks.

The Rusell Banks book sounds wonderful. I've a couple of his books in my library, but haven't read them yet. I too am amazed at how you are able to keep so many books in the air at once.

Hope all is well with you.

Well it's been a while. No particular reason, though I have been in a massive reading slump, starting and abandoning dozens of books. The medical saga with my husband continues, and is basically almost a full time job with an average of 3 doctor visits or so a week for various maladies and keeping up with all the meds. It doesn't help that he is a "high maintenance" patient who doesn't deal well with the smallest discomfort. The doctor has now decided to start a new treatment for his graft v host disease called ECP or photopheresis. This involves removing his blood, exposing it to ultraviolet light then putting the blood back in. The treatment itself takes 3-4 hours, and we live 1-1 1/2 hours away from the treatment center so this will be an all day thing basically. It also has to be done twice a week for at least three months, maybe six months or more, and they won't know if it's working for a couple of months after it starts. So, more time at the hospital.
In April I had my first break from being a "caregiver" in 3 years. I had a 2 week trip to NYC while my son here in Florida took care of my husband. One week was a nice visit with my kids there, and for the second week my two friends from Seattle came and we spent the week doing museums (and at night binge-watched Ted Lasso). We spent a day each at the Cloisters, the Met, MOMA, the Frick and the Whitney, and after a half day at the Museum of Art and Design wandered around the garment district including a trip to Mood Fabrics of Project Runway fame. We stayed at my middle son's apartment, which he was kind enough to lend us while he and his wife and son went to Israel to visit her family. And to top it all off I was able to have an LT meetup with Club Read's LizM, who lives fairly near my son in Brooklyn. (There was also a potential meetup with Ffortsa (Judy) of the 75 group, who I've met once before at Powells in Portland, but she got covid so we had to cancel).
Now back home in Florida for a while, and in May my reading has begun to pick up a bit. My daughter visited, and we visited the Dali Museum in St Petersburg which had a very interesting Picasso exhibit on, and which also mad me appreciate Dali a bit more than I did before. Now it's getting very hot, and "Sting Ray Season" has begun. (Last year we saw several days of migrating sting rays along the beach, but they haven't appeared yet this year). It's also sea turtle nesting season, so we are supposed to block light from our condo from going on the beach at night. Last year, there was a nest in front of our building. And last week we celebrated our 51st anniversary with a lunch out!-if I knew how to post from my iPad I could post a picture.
Anyway, I will try to catch up with at least brief reports on my reading since February (much of it rather meh). But first, I will try to respond to my lovely visitors, even though you all left your comments months ago.

>118 BLBera: Matrix was one of the many books I started and abandoned Beth, but that is on me, not the book. Perhaps I'll try again soon.

>119 japaul22: Jennifer I ultimately liked White Shadow a bit less than THe Unseen, but I still liked it a lot. I'll be reading the third volume soon.

>120 labfs39: Lisa I really liked his early books a lot. The first book I read by him was Continental Drift, and it really hooked me. However, I read it so long ago I can't remember much about it. I also loved Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter. I didn't like Cloudsplitter (historical fiction about John Brown), but if you like historical fiction you might like it. More recently I liked The Lost Memory of Skin, which I recommend if you can deal with reading about sex offenders.

>121 SassyLassy: Hi Sassy. Hope you do get to the Roy Jacobson and the Nelson Algren. Of the two I've read by Algren, The Man With the Golden Arm and Walk on the Wild Side, I liked Golden Arm better, but both were good. Every time I see the title A Walk on the Wild Side, Lou Reed's song of the same name starts repeating itself in my brain, and I recently read that he was inspired by the book in writing the song, but the characters in the song are characters from his life, not from the book.

>122 baswood: Hi Barry--glad you liked it too.

>123 Linda92007: Hi Linda--I got it from the library.

>124 nancyewhite: It was fun Nancy, but I'm not sure there's a lot of substance there (for a Goncourt Prize winner).

>125 ursula: Ursula, I will look for the movie. I imagine it was very intense.

>126 NanaCC: Hi Colleen--I'm currently waiting for the newest Slow Horses from the library, which tells me I only have a few more weeks to wait. In the meantime I read Elizabeth George's newest, which I was rather lukewarm to.

>127 janeajones: Hi Jane--As I said above Continental Drift was the first Russell Banks book I read many years ago, and it hooked me so that I frequently read his new books as they were published. I've read most of his books by now, but have 2 or 3 still on the shelf unread (including a collection of his short stories, since I'm not a short story fan). Which of his books do you have to choose from?

>128 arubabookwoman: I was wondering where you had disappeared to. Hopefully things get better on all fronts for you soon(ish).

FEBRUARY

Ok, as I said above I've been in a real reading slump, starting and abandoning dozens of books. Here are a few of the library books I read significant chunks of (half or so) in February, then stopped and allowed to go back to the library unfinished. In most cases, but not always, this was not due to defects in the book:

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed; Portobello by Ruth Rendell; Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson; Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen; When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut; The Betrayal of Ann Frank by Rosemary Sullivan; The Deepest South of All by Richard Grant; Matrix by Lauren Groff

And here are a few of the books from my shelf which I set aside or abandoned, usually after reading a fair portion. Since I own this I suppose I could pick them up again at any time:

Hindoo Holiday by J.R. Ackerly; Forever Flowing by Vasily Grossman; A Mind at Peace by Ahmnet Hamdi; A Evening of Long Goodbyes by Paul Murray; The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker; David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (reread).

And probably a lot of others. Anyway, now to report on the few books I read in February:

This one was from the library:

14. Unthinkable by Jamie Raskin (2022) 444 pp
Subtitle: Trauma, Truth and the Trials of Democracy

This is Congressman Jamie Raskin's memoir of twin traumas: his personal trauma from the suicide of his beloved son Tommy, and the trauma the country suffered from the January 6 insurrection. I really wanted to read this to learn more about the ins and outs of the legal maneuvering of the second Trump impeachment trial, after having been so engaged in Adam Schiff's account of the first impeachment trial. I was a bit disappointed in this aspect of the book. It didn't seem to go into as much detail as Schiff's account of the first impeachment trial, perhaps because it all had to be done so quickly with not as much time or room for all the backs and forth. I also found Schiff to be a more engaging writer, which surprised me because I have seen Raskin many times on tv and he is an articulate speaker and I admire his grasp of constitutional law. His writing was at times however somewhat academic and scholarly (perhaps because he is a professor).

The parts of the book about his son Tommy and the tragedy of his suicide were of course moving. I did however feel that the connection between the two events (the suicide and the insurrection) was tenuous at best, and these perhaps should have been two separate books. There is no doubt however, that throwing himself into the events surrounding the second impeachment trial (and now his work on the January 6 Committee) was one of the ways in which Raskin was working through his grief, and as he states one way to honor Tommy's memory.

First line: "In the week between December 31,2020 and January 6, 2021, my family suffered two impossible traumas: the shattering death by suicide of my beloved 25-year-old son, Tommy, and the violent mob insurrection at the U.S. Capitol...."

Last line: "For a split second, I was bereft again, built then I looked down at my feet, and there I found my glasses."

3 stars

Another Library Book:

15. The Survivors by Alex Schulman (2021) 227 pp

Three brothers return as adults to the cottage by a lake where they often spent childhood summers. The story is told backwards, alternating between what happens during their reunion (the present), and the events of one long-ago summer at the lake. This book has been highly praised, but I found it lackluster, and it promised much more than it delivered.

First line: "The police car slowly plows through the blue foliage, down the narrow tractor path that leads to the property."

Last line: "They already know, already have the journey inside them, as if it has already happened, the journey must take them to the point of impact, step by step, backward through their story, in order to survive one lat time."

2 stars

Another Library Book

16. The White Darkness by David Grann (2018) 142 pp

This is the story of a former British special forces officer who was obsessed with Ernest Shackleton and Antarctic exploration. He attempted to recreate Shackleton's journey, and then, at age 55, he set out to walk across Antarctica alone.
I've enjoyed other books by David Grann and I enjoy books about Arctic/Antarctic exploration, so I was fully expecting to love this one. It was competently written, but it is really not a full-scale exposition, and is really just a magazine article (it even has lots of pictures to expand the page count I guess). When I looked at Amazon reviews after I read the book, it apparently is just a rehash of a New Yorker article that Grann wrote on the subject, and a lot of people were disappointed. My recommendation would be not to bother with this if you've read the magazine article, or know a bit about the subject already, and otherwise go in knowing what to expect.

2 1/2 stars

Another Library Book

17. The Quiet People by Paul Cleave (2021) 419 pp

"Just because we can write about serial killers doesn't mean we are those people. Otherwise every crime writer in the world would be in jail."

Cameron and Lisa Murdoch are successful crime writers. They are married and have a son Zach, who can sometimes be difficult; he's sensitive, a bit different, and prone to meltdowns. Cameron and Lisa face every parent's worst nightmare when they wake one morning to find Zach's bed is empty and Zach is nowhere to be found. Soon they face a nightmare of a different sort as it becomes apparent that they are the chief suspects in the cases of their missing son. After all, who better to pull off a perfect crime than a pair of crime writers?

I've liked most of the crime novels I've read by New Zealand crime writer Chris Cleave, and this one had many good features. It kept me turning the pages until the very end. It had perhaps a few too many red herrings. The one thing that really bothered me, though, was that Cameron's temper was on a very short fuse, and ended up getting him in way too much trouble with the police. I suppose there really are people like that, but everything would have gone so much more smoothly if he hadn't kept doing stupid things, and that really annoyed me. One reviewer stated that he had "the worst decision-making skills."

First line: "Lucas Pittman has to hurry."

Last line: "Presales of Cameron and Lisa Murdoch's new book, due to come out in June next year, have already topped one million, and publishers are saying they have struggled to keep up with demand for their previous titles"

2 1/2 stars

Library Book
Litsy NYRB Book Club

18. Katalin Street by Magda Szabo (1969) 249 pp

"...{I}n the end, they understood that of everything that had mad up their lives thus far only one or two places and a handful of moments, really mattered."

This is the story of three families who for a time lived in adjacent houses on Katalin Street in pre-war Budapest. The story travels around in time , from the pre-war idyllic childhoods of characters, to the horrors of the war, to the present day when the tragedies of the past continue to haunt the lives of the survivors, some geographically scattered, but still inextricably connected. There are shifting points of view, and in the beginning, as these memorable characters are being introduced, I found it a bit confusing and hard to get into. In the end, I loved this book, and it is one I found unforgettable.

First line: "the process of growing old bears little resemblance to the way it is presented, either in novels or in the works of medical science."

Last line: "Bring Blanka home."

4 stars

That concludes my meager reading for February. Hope to be back tomorrow (another free day for us) to catch up on at least through March.
Through these months I have managed to keep up with the Litsy Wharton Buddy read, and am now enjoying The Reef. I dropped out of the first quarter Victorian read of David Copperfield, but I completed for the second quarter The Lady and the Law by Wilkie Collins and I am 100 pages in to North and South and enjoying it. I have fallen behind on the Anniversaries read, but hope to get back to it. Right now, I am reading the Plainsong trilogy by Kent Haruf, and have finished the first two books in the series.

The final thing for today I want to do is to add a list of my 2022 purchases so far. It looks like a lot, but many of these were free or low-cost Kindle books. And I've actually already read a few of them.

2022 PURCHASES--1st hundred

1. Gerta by Katerina Tuckova
2. At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop
3. Afflictions by Vikram Paralkar
4. Daily Rituals Women at Work by Mason Currey
5. The Black Rose by Thomas Costain
6. House of the Dead by Dostoevsky
7. Book of Forgotten Authors by Christopher Fowler
8. The Wild Palms by Faulkner
9. In the Days of the Comet by H.G. Wells
10. A Prayer for Katerina Horovitzova by Arnold Lustig
11. Marion Fay by Trollope
12. Hide and Seek by Wilkie Collins
13. The Zone: A Prison Guard's Story by Sergei Dovlatov
14. The Judge by Rebecca West
15. Barren Ground by Ellen Glasgow
16. Things That Fall from the Sky by Selja Ahava
17. Miss Mackenzie by Trollope
18. The Unknown Masterpiece by Balzac
19. Walking Naked by Nina Bawden
20. Moll Flanders by DeFoe
21. The Peppered Moth by Margaret Drabble
22. Jennie Gerhardt by Dreiser
23. Winter Sonata by Dorothy Edwards
24. Troll's Cathedral by Olafur Gunnarsson
25. Land of Green Ginger by Winifred Holtby
26. The Margarets by Sherry Tepper
27. David Copperfield by Dickens
28. Maidenhair by Mikhail Shishkin
29. Annihilation by Piotr Szewc
30. Maestro by Peter Goldsworthy
31. In the Freud Archives by Janet Malcom
32. A Diary of the Plague Year by Elise Engler
33. Book of Lamentations by Rosario Castellanos
34. First Century After Beatrice by Amin Maalouf
35. Howards End Is on the Landing by Susan Hill
36. Artistry in Fiber Vol. 1 Wall Art
37. Everything that Rises by Weschler
38. Color: A Workshop for Artists and Designers by David Hornung
39. Making Quilts with Kathy Doughty
40. Something to Hide by Elizabeth George
41. Gulag Archipelago vol. 1
42. Gulag Archipelago vol. 2
43. Gulag Archipelago vol. 3
44.Ghosted: A Love Story by Jenn Ashworth
45. Sarrasine by Balzac
46. Winter by Christoper Nicholson
47. The Next Civil War by Stephen Marche
48. Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
49. Crime Fiction: A Very Short Introduction
50. Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction
51. Annie Kilburn by William Dean Howells
52. The Stillwater Tragedy by Thoma Bailey Aldrich
53. Lady Anna by Trollope
54. Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy
55. The Gifts of Reading by Robert Macfarlane
56. The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins
57. Lonely Road by Nevil Shute
58. Pointed Roofs by Dorothy Richardson
59. The Yellow Wind by David Grossman
60. Fantomas by Marcel Allain
61. In a Glass Darkly by Sheridan Le Fanu
62. Cutter and Bone by Newton Thornburg
63. Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse
64. Sand by Wolfgang Herrndorf
65. The Orphanage by Serhiy Zhadan
66. Red Famine by Anne Applebaum
67. Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban
68. Salt Lick by Lulu Allis on
69. Uncle Paul by Celia Fremlin
70. The Troublemakers by Celia Fremlin
71. Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov
72. Gentleman Overboard by Herbert Clyde Lewis
73. The Canterbury Tales
74. Sweet Darusya by Maria Matios
75. The Angel of History by Rabih Alameddine
76. The Black Mozart by Walter E. Smith
77. What Great Artworks Say by Christopher P. Jones
78. Great Paintings Explained by Christopher P. Jones
79. How to Read Paintings by Christopher P. Jones
80. The Employees by Olga Ravn
81. Moon Is Down by Steinbeck
82 The Birds on the Trees by Nina Bawden
83. This is the Canon: Decolonize Your Bookshelves by Joan Anim-Addo
84. A Sweet Obscurity by Patrick Gale
85. Song of Time by Ian MacLeod
86. The Summer Isles by Ian MacLeod
87. Mother Dear by Nova Lee Maier
88. Voroshilovgrad by Serhiy Zhadan
89. Phineas Redux by Trollope
90. The Heart of Midlothian by Scott
91. The Light Ages by Ian MacLeod
92. Deep Storm by Lincoln Child
93. Travels in Vermeer by Michael White
94. Rough Music by Patrick Gale
95. A Man's Game by Newton Thornburg
96. Maurice Guest by Henry Handel Richardson
97. The Grand Babylon Hotel by Arnold Bennett
98. The Professor by Charlotte Bronte
99.The Human Machine by Arnold Bennett
100. Buried Alive by Arnold Bennett

2022 PURCHASES--2nd 100

101. The Corpse Washer by Sinan Antoon
102. Live a Little by Howard Jacobson
103. An Australian Girl by Catherine Martin
104. Son of Heaven by David Wingrove
105. Seven Graves One Winter by Christoffer Petersen
106. Tales of Men and Ghosts by Edith Wharton
107. Wrong End of the Telescope by Rabih Alameddine
108. Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
109. Eyes of the Rigel by Roy Jacobsen
110. No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
111. Silas Marner by George Eliot
112. Memoir of Jane Austen by James Edward Austen-Leigh
113. Patrick Melrose novels by Edward St. Aubyn
114. The Lyrics by Paul McCartney
115. The Quilter's Field Guide to Color by Rachel Hauser
116. Kaffe Fassett's Heritage Quilts
117. Improv Quilts by Irene Roderick
118. The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
119. The Pattern Sourcebook by Drusilla Cole
120. Year of Wonder by Clemency Burton-Hill

Good to see you posting, Deborah. I'm glad you got a break. I am so sorry to hear about your husband's continuing struggles with graft v. host disease. I hope this new treatment works.

>128 arubabookwoman: I'm glad you have had some respite from caretaking; you need that to keep going. I also hope the new treatment works.

>138 arubabookwoman: I see those quilt books.... :-)

Those are some amazing lists. And I'm glad to see someone purchases more than I do (although I still like to buy hard/soft-copies, still like that feel of the traditional book in my hand (besides it's winter insulation, LOL)

Glad you are back....

Thinking of you, Deborah, hope things are going as well as possible.

Just stopping by to say hello and hoping all is well with you and Gil.

Sounds like you're last few books have been mediocre which never helps with reading slump enthusiasm. I'm sure your reading mojo will return soon. Sounds like you've a lot of stressful things on your plate at home - I find it hard to read when my mind is on overdrive. I hope all goes well with the latest treatment options for your husband.

Hope things are going well. That is an impressive list in >137 arubabookwoman: and >138 arubabookwoman:.

Hi Beth, Lois, Lisa, Alison, and Stephanie, and thanks for visiting my dormant thread. I've been doing a bit more reading, but my life has mostly been taking husband to hospital and doctor visits. I just returned last night from a trip to Texas. We had moved my mother into an assisted living place, and are now selling her house so it was being cleared out. It was a whirlwind visit (Tuesday through Friday), but good to see my mom (got to talk to her doctor, now that I'm so expert on medical things) and 2 of my sisters who live near her (I have 5 sisters in all, and 1 lonely brother). On the way back from Austin where my mother is, I stopped in Houston to visit my daughter and grandkids in Houston, and on Saturday my daughter and her husband tested positive for covid. They are showing mild to no symptoms. I am also testing negative, but since I have been exposed, I am staying away from my husband for a few days. He is continuing to stay at our son's where he was while I was in Texas, and I am in our condo. So I am having a few days alone in the condo with no responsibilities, which I am somewhat selfishly enjoying. I decided to use some of this free time to try to catch up a bit here. I do get time usually to peruse threads and occasionally drop a comment, I just haven't been able to keep up my own thread and reviews.

Since I've only gotten through my February reading here, and I didn't always take notes some of these reviews will be pretty sketchy. I'll try to at least get through March today.

Great to see you back, Deborah. Fingers crossed that you continue to test negative.

From my Kindle:

19. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (2014) 342 pp

Bryan Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative, which initially represented convicts on death row, many of whom it turned out were wrongfully convicted. Much of the book focuses on the case of Walter MacMillan, a black man convicted, based on fabricated evidence, of the murder of a white woman, a crime he clearly did not commit. The group also represents others whose convictions appear unjust or wrongful, such as children tried as adults and put away for life, without regard to extenuating circumstances, such as the poverty or abuse they may have suffered, or without regard for their capacity for redemption. Others he has represented have been those whose mental disabilities should also have warranted special consideration before imposing life sentences.

The book presents the compelling stories of many of the cases Bryan and his staff have represented, as well as a lot of statistical information and studies about crime and the justice system. It is truly and eye-opening and important book, and I highly recommend it if you are one of the few who have not gotten to it yet.

4 stars

From my Kindle:

20. Something to Hide by Elizabeth George (2022) 701 pp

I know a lot of people gave up on the Lynley series, especially after her detour in What Came Before He Shot Her, but I have persevered, and mostly continued to enjoy her books (except the ones that feature whiney Deborah, and in fact the only book in the series I have skipped is the most recent one that featured Deborah). Also, a lot of people don't like that the books have excessively long page counts, but despite their length I have always found them page-turners and fast reads. I have also liked that in each of her books there's a topic or two that she seems to have done a lot of research on, and I've learned from these. (Right now I can think of topics like roof thatching, cricket, glider planes, college binge drinking, to name a few).

In this, the latest offering, she takes on female genital mutilation (FGM), and unfortunately I found that this did not serve the mystery, for this is after all a crime novel. The book frequently tended to veer into polemic, which I did not like. And in terms of the novel's length, George has thrown in red herring after red herring, often seemingly just to extend the page count.

And a lot of them don't make logical sense. As a semi-spoilerish example, the wife of one of the police investigators lies about where she has gone on a particular evening, and it also turns out that she has pawned her mother-in-law's jewelry. Very sinister. It turns out she was going to a therapist over her stress related to her disabled daughter. What was weird and illogical was that her husband, the police investigator had been urging her for years to seek professional help, and could well afford to pay for it. (Besides, it's England--National Health Service). And speaking of things that didn't make sense (and are semi-spoilerish), when the true culprit is revealed, I found the motivations for the murder were illogical, and the method by which the culprit was finally discovered was unbelievable.

Maybe I'm being hard on the book because whiney Deborah does play a big part, but there's lots of Lynley and Barbara too. But Lynley is mostly mooning over his "new" love interest (which has been going on over the last 3 or so books, entirely too long in my view), and Barb is mostly trying to escape the clutches of Dorothea and her plots to get Barb involved in singles events to snare a husband.

So all in all not a successful Lynley novel for me. I probably should just abandon the series. But I'll probably forget how bad this one was by the time the next one is released and rush out to buy it within a few weeks of its publication, like I did with this one.

P.S. A lot of Amazon reviewers agreed with me on this one, calling it tedious, repetitious, preachy, ridiculous and unbelievable.

2 stars

Library Book

21. New Pompei by Daniel Godfrey (2016) pp

"Why are the chickens so large, and the carrots orange?"

This sci-fi-ish time travel novel was a quick throw-away read.

A tech company has figured out the secret to time travel, at least one-way time travel, bringing people from the past into the future. In order to avoid anomalies, however, the company has thus far only used the technology to bring forward people who are about to die anyway, beginning with the people on a plane that was about to crash.

The current big project, the subject of the book, is that the entire city of Pompei has been extracted into the current day from immediately prior to the eruption. In order not to blow the Pompeians minds they are brought to an exact replica of Pompei (which they cannot leave), and told they have been saved by the emperor and the gods who represent the emperor. Things are not going entirely well, however, as the Pompeians have a few suspicions.

Nick Houghton, failed doctoral candidate in history, is brought on board to study the Pompeians and to report any problems that occur.

I enjoyed the aspects of this book about what day-to-day life in ancient Pompei was like--the customs of the Pompeians, how their houses were organized etc., although I have not idea how well-researched or accurate this was. The intrigue involving the tech company and its various owners, employees and enemies, I found to be a bit silly. There's a sequel to this, and while this book kept me reading, I won't go on with the sequel.

2 1/2 stars

First line: "Marius Calpurnius Barbatus looked down at his daughter, but didn't smile."

Last line: "'And given that they took him and when, I suppose that's how I can still remember him, isn't it?'"

For Litsy Wharton Buddy Read
Off my Kindle:

22. Fruit of the Tree by Edith Wharton (1907) 521 pp

In this perhaps less known novel by Wharton, she takes on some big issues in addition to her usual exploration of New York society and its foibles. Here, she looks at labor and industrial conditions, with horrid and dangerous working conditions and exploitation of workers, and the wealth created for owners and how they use that wealth. The novel also considers the issue of euthanasia.

John, one of the managers at the factory, is an idealist who wants to put in reforms to make conditions better for the workers. He meets newly-widowed Bessie, who has become the owner of the factory after her husband's death. He wants to convince her to make the reforms. Bessie falls in love with John, and in theory with his idealism, and they marry. But will Bessie be able to forgo at least a tiny bit of her accustomed life of luxury in order to make matters better for the workers?

Another important character is Justine, who John also meets at the beginning of the novel. Although she is of a high social class, she is a nurse, and seems to share many of John's views regarding reform. She is friends with Bessie, and becomes a semi-companion to Bessie. Later, when Justine is observed giving a drug overdose to a patient with little chance of survival and only prolonged suffering to look forward to, she becomes the victim of blackmail.

Wharton, as always writes beautifully, and her characters are precisely observed. A large part of the drama of this book is the way in which the three main characters miscommunication or fail to communicate with each other, and the tragedies that leads to. The ending is magnificent.

4 stars

For Litsy NYRB Book Club
Off my Kindle:

23. Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban (1975) 190

"I had always assumed that I was the central character in my own story, but now it occurred to me that I might in fact be only a minor character in someone else's."--William

"I was in my ocean, this was the only ocean there was for me, the dry streets of London and my square without a fountain. No one could make me free by putting me somewhere else."--Neara

Two lonely middle-aged Londoners come together to rescue the sea turtles at Regents Park Zoo and release them back into the ocean. The story in narrated in alternating chapters by Neara, a children's book author and illustrator, and William, a recently divorced bookstore employee. Even though they do not meet until fairly far along in the book, it is eerie how their entries frequently mirror each other. The book is touching, and hopeful, even though it doesn't go for the easy ending.

First Line William: "I don't want to go to the zoo anymore."
Last Line William: "I took a taxi back to the shop, it was that kind of day."

First Line Neara: "I fancied a China castle for the aquarium but they had none at the shop, so I contented myself with a smart plastic shipwreck."
Last Line Neara: "Before going up to the flat I went into the square, played hopscotch in it just as it was, with no fountain."

3 1/2 stars

This was a reread for me. I read it back in the 1970's or early 80's after seeing a very good movie based on the book starring Glenda Jackson.

From the Library
On the 1001 List
I thought I had read this before, but I had no memory of it as I was reading it.

24. High Rise by J. G. Ballard (1975) pp

This book has been described as an adult Lord of the Flies, and a modern fable about the disintegration of society. In it the residents, of an upscale high rise residential building descend into anarchy and violence. Ultimately, the building becomes divided into three camps, the upper and most prestigious, and the lower and the middle, the inhabitants of which are seeking to move up. The book describes how "clans broke down into small groups of killers, solitary hunters who built man-traps in empty apartments or preyed on the unwary in deserted elevator lobbies."

This was not a pleasant read, but it is compelling, and these days I would say it is just this side of believable. Definitely horrifying and graphic.

3 1/2 stars.

First Line: "Later as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr. Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months."

Last Line: "Laing watched them contentedly, ready to welcome them to their new world."

3 1/2 stars

Off my Kindle:

25. Uncle Paul by Celia Fremlin (1959) 193 pp

"You know, you can't ever really understand a man until you've thought he's a murderer."

This is a "domestic" psychological thriller, and I've read at least one other such book by Celia Fremlin that I enjoyed so I picked this one up. Unfortunately, I found this one to be lacking in either suspense or believeability.

Meg and Isabel's much older half-sister Mildred had been married to a man they knew as "Uncle Paul" when they were still young girls. As it turned out, Uncle Paul was a bigamist, and when this was discovered, Uncle Paul was hustled off to jail.

Now years later, Mildred, who is rather high strung, has remarried. Isabel, too, is on her second marriage, and her new husband is having difficulty adjusting to her rowdy children. Meg is a career woman in London, when she receives a call from Isabel insisting that Meg come down to the seashore where she and her family are vacationing and where Mildred has turned up after a spat with her husband. Isabel fears that Paul may be about to be released from jail and that they may all be in danger. (No reason is ever given about why Isabel thinks Paul is about to be released or about why she thinks they might all be in danger).

I'd pretty much describe this as Much Ado About Nothing. But of course the author has to come up with something to build suspense. For one, Isabel begins to think her new husband (the one having trouble adjusting to the rowdy children) might actually be Paul in disguise. Most of the other "scary" things are as silly and unbelievable as that.

Definitely not recommended.

1 1/2 stars

First line: "It is rare for any catastrophe to seem like a catastrophe right at the beginning."

That completes my March reading. It was a lot of "trashy" books other than those I was committed to (Wharton Buddy Read, and NYRB Book Club). I also started but failed to continue with (mostly returned to library having read half or less) a lot of books, including
The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker (1001 List); The Deepest South of All by Richard Grant, a Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil--wannabe about Natchez Mississippi; The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem;

And to continue >138 arubabookwoman:, 2022 purchases:

121. Live a Little by Howard Jacobson
122. The New Bohemian Handbook by Justina Blakeney
123. Look Down in Mercy by Walter Baxter
124. A Million Windows by Gerald Murnane
125. Echoes of the City by Lars Saabye Christensen
126. Crewe Train by Rose Macaulay
127. A Gracious Neighbor by Chris Cander
128. The Homecoming by Anna Enquist
129. Fancies and Goodnights by John Collier
130.My Grandmother's Braid by Alina Bronsky
131. Greengates by R,C, Sheriff
132. Innocence by Penelope Fitzgerald
133. The Force by Don Winslow
134. The Starless Crown by James Rollins
135. Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller

Great comments as usual, Deborah. Turtle Diary is the one that calls to me the most from this list.

>156 BLBera: Thanks Beth. I think you would like Turtle Diary. LizM just reviewed it on her thread, and she had a similar reaction to mine.

Have a little time again today, so I will try to do a few more reviews. I finished my March reading, so I am now starting with books I read in April. I was still in a reading slump, but starting to come out of it.

This was off my Kindle:

26. A Children's Bible by Lydia Millett (2020) 229 pp

My reaction to Lydia Millett's novels has been inconsistent. I loved Oh Pure and Radiant Heart, but really disliked Sweet Lamb of Heaven, or maybe I just felt there were lots of problems with it. I still have Mermaids in Paradise waiting for me on the shelf.

This one falls into the "like" category. It's similar to other books I've read by her in that the plot is seemingly grounded in reality, but there are elements that move it into the magical or surreal, or, in this case, the dystopian.

As the novel opens, a group of families has rented a large house near the coast for the summer. The "grownups" are mostly involved with drinking, drugs and sex, and the kids, a dozen or so ranging from about 10 to 17, are left mostly on their own. One of the kids has been given a children's Bible, and he is particularly taken with the story of Noah's Ark, and feels compelled to save animals.

A massive hurricane is approaching, and the adults are largely ignoring it, and continue to do so even after the storm has passed and they seem to be largely cut off from the rest of civilization. The kid's decide to run away, and they find devastation and chaos outside.

This seems to be some sort of fable about climate change, about Nero fiddling while Rome burns, about how the children will save us all. And I think that overall it works. It's not perfect, but definitely a good read.

3 1/2 stars

First Line: "Once we lived in a summer country."
Last line: "We call that hope, you see."

Off my Kindle:

27. Calibre by Ken Bruen (2006)

"I've been thinking of America. Get me a pickup, rifle on the rack, dog on the front seat, a coonhound of course, Hank Williams on the speakers. Americans appreciate a decent killer."

Not a conventional police procedural, though it is set in a London police station and involves the solving of crimes, it is nevertheless definitely in the noir category. I picked it up, probably as a cheap Kindle deal, with no prior knowledge of either the book or the author. As it turns out this is the 6th (or something like that) in the Inspector Brant series, and I think my enjoyment of the book suffered due to my not having read the prior entries in the series.

The plot involves a serial killer who is murdering people who exhibit bad manners or rudeness. This was an interesting concept, but I think the book is a little too short to do it justice. The writing is good, and the dialogue crisp and realistic.

I feel that I would have appreciated the characters and their interactions more had I read the previous books. I'm not sure I want to go to the beginning and start another series, but it quite possibly would be rewarding to do so. Critics have compared the series to the best of classic noir.

3 stars

First Line: "Shit from Shinola."
Last Line: "'Don't you have any manners?"'

Off my Kindle:

28. No Such Creature by Giles Blunt (2009)

"If a catfish could talk, it would sound like a Mississippian."

Max and his adopted great-nephew live well in New York City for most of the year. But each summer they take off on a cross-country trip committing a series of crimes (usually robbing rich Republicans) to fund their life style. Max is a former Shakespearean actor and he uses his dramatic and costuming skills so that they are never caught--the police will usually end up looking for someone who does not exist other than in Max's portfolio of characters.

All is well until Max and Owen attract the attention of a group called the Subtractors. This gang also has a modus operandi--they only rob successful thieves, relieving them of their loot. Despite indications they are being targeted by the Subtractors, Max tells Owen that the Subtractors are only an urban myth--"No such creature." Then the fun begins.

A quick and enjoyable read.

3 stars

First line: "On a cool night in late June the traffic on Highway 101 was not heavy--not for a Saturday anyway--and moved along at a steady clip...."

Last line: "'Then again,' Owen said, sweeping his arm to include the street, the oblivious bagpiper, the entire vast immensity of New York City, 'the whole den thing is fantasy.'"

Off my Kindle

29. The Aosawa Murders (2005) 311 pp

"That's how I came to believe that it's impossible to ever really know the truth behind events."

At a birthday party one summer day in 1973, 17 people were poisoned with cyanide and died. The only survivor was 13 year old Hisako, the daughter of the house. The police investigated, and several months later the delivery person who brought the cyanide-laced drinks to the house committed suicide. No one was ever convicted, and the assumption by the police was that the delivery person was the guilty culprit. However, many had doubts, and in fact many suspected Hisako.

This book is presented in chapters each of which is essentially a monologue by a person who had a connection, close or distant, to the crime, and who relates information they have, some more valuable and relevant, some less. It skips around in time, and it frequently takes some effort to discover who is speaking in each chapter (as the chapters are usuallly in the first person, just a different first person in each chapter).

The book moves slowly, and I had a hard time staying focused. It is not really a crime novel, more of an existential, philosophical novel. It is a book of speculation, and is very Rashomon-like.

3 stars

First Line: "Being outside an old, dark, blue room."
Last Line: "Her eternal ending summer."

>145 arubabookwoman: selfishly
Not remotely. You've been dealing with a lot.

>147 arubabookwoman: Just Mercy
I read this for a book group and also saw the film. It is depressingly enlightening.

>148 arubabookwoman: Something to Hide
I got the e-book recently, because it is there and I've been reading the series for... decades? The negative reviews are unsurprising.

>151 arubabookwoman: Turtle Diary
I'd probably like this. Alas the movie is apparently not available for streaming.

>152 arubabookwoman: just this side of believable
The things that have become believable...

I'm glad you were able to get out and about a bit and now have some time to yourself. I know how precious that is when you are a fulltime caregiver. Be careful of the rapid tests. My sister took three rapid tests, all negative, but had symptoms, so she had the PCR test (hours after the last rapid test) and was positive.

>147 arubabookwoman: I have Just Mercy in a box somewhere. I remember buying it at Starbucks when it was a featured book there. Must get to it.

>155 arubabookwoman: I'll be curious as to your thoughts if/when you get to My Grandmother's Braid. I liked it more than Hottest Dishes, but less than my favorite, Baba Dunja. I always like Bronsky's writing, it's just that some of her characters are horrible people.

I've also been wanting to read Turtle Diary for years. Russell Hoban has such a great reach.

>151 arubabookwoman: I haven't read Turtle Diary but just recalled that there was a movie version with Wanda Jackson and Ben Kingsley, with screenplay by Harold Pinter. If I remember right it was well reviewed.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090219/?ref_=tt_mv_close

Hope you continue to test negative.

>153 arubabookwoman: - That one sounds very strange. What was the other book by Fremlin that you liked? I was hoping to read her Hours Before Dawn as part of my mid-20th century mysteries/thrillers by women project.

Also sounds like Turtle Diary is one to read.

>161 qebo: Hi Katherine--Thanks for visiting. Yes I've been reading Elizabeth George for years and she is hard to give up. So despite my negative review her (and I hope you end up liking this one more that I did) I'll probably continue to read her as long as she continues to write the Lynley/Havers novels.

>161 qebo:--as an aside, when I typed in "qebo" above, my auto-correct changed it to "web objects", tried again, changed it to "ebooks," so I gave up--I think your name is Katherine, if not I apologize).

>162 labfs39: Hi LIsa--I think I bought the My Grandmother's Braid book after seeing you refer to it. I have read one other book by Bronsky, her first I think, but the title is escaping me now. I liked it, but didn't love it. I have her Hottest Dishes book on the Kindle, as well, but haven't gotten to it yet.

>163 lisapeet: Hi Lisa (another Lisa)--yes Hoban is versatile. My kids loved his children's books (and I loved reading them to my kids). Other than Turtle Diary the only other adult book I've read by him is Riddley Walker, a post-apocalyptic tale, which I really liked, but I know a lot of people who didn't. It was interesting on Litsy when we were discussing Turtle Diary that there were a number of parallels between Hoban's life and the characters in the book. At the time he wrote Turtle Diary he had just moved to London, where the book is set, and he and his wife were divorcing. The male character is a recently divorced man, missing his children. And the female character was a children's author/illustrator, which I'm sure Hoban had lots of insight into that business.

>164 rocketjk: Thanks Jerry. Turtle Diary was a reread for me (for the Litsy NYRB Book Club), and around the time I first read it in the late 70's early 80's I saw the movie (it's Glenda, not Wanda Jackson). The movie was quite good as well.

>165 DieFledermaus: Hi Stephanie. In fact the other Fremlin book I read was Hours Before Dawn, and I liked it very much. Hope you do too.

So over on the Questions for Avid Readers thread Lois listed 20 categories for us to come up with a book to fill each category. I decided to go through my TBR books and I came up with quite a few books for each category. I'm going to list some of them here, and my goal will be to read at least one book from each of the categories by the end of the year. I have so many TBR books (an embarrassment of riches) and always have such great difficulty choosing what to read next. This will help focus me and give me choices, but limited choices. The date beside each book is the date I acquired it.

1. COLOR: The Big Green Tent 2019
The Yellow Wind 2022
The Blue Book 2021
The Blue Room 2021
Black Sun 2020
The Black Prince pre-2000
The Red Notebook 2017
Rider on the White Horse2013
The Women in Black 2016
Red Cavalry 2017
Purple Hibiscus 2004
Novel on Yellow Paper 2016
The Black Count 2015
Yellow Rain 2013
White Guard 2012
Red Earth Pouring Rain 2013
White Woman on a Green Bicycle 2011
Black Narcissus 2009
A Pair of Blue Eyes 2009
Chrome Yellow 2009
Blue Nights 2014
The Blue Sky 2013
House with Green Shutters 2011

2. NUMBER Six Four 2018
Forever and Five Days 2021
2084 2020
Eleven 2013
The Five 2019
The Three Musketeers 2021
The Eighth Life 2020
Ten North Frederick 2020
1222 2019
Anna of the Five Towns 2017
4321 2017
The Fifties 2013
2312 2013
The Thousand Faces of Night 2013
Siege 13 2013
Unit 731 2013
Four Fingers of Death 2011
Thirteen Cents 2014
The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years 2011
Three Generations 2012
Twenty-four Eyes 2010
The 900 Days 2014
Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance 2005

>166 arubabookwoman: "(it's Glenda, not Wanda Jackson)."

Ha! That shows you where my mind is at. Wanda Jackson is one of the first female rock and rollers, a contemporary (and one-time girlfriend) of Elvis Presley. I got to interview her for a newspaper profile I wrote about her in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2004. She was a recent inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Here's a video of her singing one of her signature songs, "Mean Mean Man," in 1958.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciV40q0cul4

Well, OK, we have a "plot spoiler" code. Maybe we need a "digression" code.

3. VERB Walking Naked 2022
Touching the Void 2021
Go Went Gone 2018
Loving and Giving 2021
Be My Knife 2013
His Wife Leaves Him 2013
Loving Living and Party Going 2013
Missing Soluch 2012
Summer Will Show 2012
Here's to You Jesusa 2013
Strait Is the Gate 2011
I Saw the Sky Catch Fire 2009

4. ONE WORD TITLE. Caste 2021
Belladonna 2019
EEG 2019
Penance 2018
Praxis 2019
Stealth 2019
Leviathan 2018
Romola 2013
Glyph 2014
Solitude2015
Umbrella 2013
Outlaws 2015
Indigo 2015
Saville 2017
Paradise 2021
Archipelago 2013
Shroud 2013
Carpentaria 2011
Moneyball 2013
Galore 2013
Obabakoak 2015
Untouchable 2009
Silence 2001

5. GEOG. PLACE Black Earth 2020
Lighthouse Road 2020
The Gulf 2019
Sand 2022
Woman Running in the Mountains 2022
Continental Drift 2021
Lonely Road 2022
The Summer Isles 2022
The Plains 2013
The Edge of the World 2014
The Buddha of Suburbia 2015
Under the Glacier 2011
The Dead Lake 2014

6. BODY PART Little Eyes 2021
Alien Hearts 2021
Near to the Wild Heart 2019
A Closed Eye 2018
My Heart Laid Bare 2019
In the Castle of My Skin 2014
Blindness of the Heart 2011
A Severed Head pre-2000

7. WATER The Seas 2019
Atlantic Fury 2020
Sea Change 2021
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain2021
Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage 2021
Sea and Summer 2015
River of Doubt 2014
In the South Seas 2013
The Secret River 2012
Sea of Lentils 2013
Massacre River 2014
From Wonso Pond 2012
Oil on Water 2011
By the Open Sea 2012
Beside the Ocean of Time 2011
Southern Seas 2015
River of Gods 2007
The River Between 2009

8. ADJECTIVE. A Luminous Republic 2021
The Nice and the Good 2021
A Little Life 2020
Irresistible Henry House 2013
Wonderful Fool 2011

9. NAME Miss Laila Armed and Dangerous 2020
Billy Liar 2022
Lady Anna 2022
Agnes Grey 2019
Henry of Atlantic City 2019
Patricia Brent, Spinster 2015
Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 2015
Ned Kelly 2012
Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft 2017
Elin Vere 2011
Daniel Stein, Interpreter 2014
Barry Lyndon 2013
Mr. Chartwell 2014

10. CELESTIAL In the Days of the Comet 2022
Celestial Bodies 2019
Planet of the Apes 2021
The Comet Seekers 2019
Swimmer Among the Stars 2019
The Warmth of Other Suns 2017
Galaxies Like Grains of Sand 2014
Aberration of Starlight 2014
Moon and Sixpence 2014
Moonfleet 2013
Under the North Star 2012
A Landing on the Sun 2010

11. SPECIFIC PLACE. Lost Pianos of Siberia 2021
Garden of Monsters 2021
Interpreter From Java 2021
Florida 2019
Motherless Brooklyn 2020
A Town Called Solace 2021
Waverley 2021
Frankenstein in Baghdad 2019
Appointment in Samara 2018
Dresden Tuesday February 13, 1945 2018
Chelsea Concerto 2017
OUr Man in Iraq 2013
Sorrow of Belgium 2011
Hangover Square 2014
Alphabetical Africa 2011
Finding George Orwell in Burma 2013
Monsters of St. Helena 2013
Garden of the Finzi-Continis 2011

12. BOTANICAL The Wild Palms 2022
The Black Rose 2022
The Fig Tree 2020
Ash Before Oak 2019
Keep the Aspidistra Flying 2014
Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree 2012
Sunflower 2010
The Mulberry Empire 2012

>166 arubabookwoman: - Good to know that was the book you liked! I'll leave it on the list.

>167 arubabookwoman: - Always fun to see people's responses in their threads!

13. 2 WORDS Dark Water 2021
Blind Date 2021
Memorial Drive 2020
Old Yeller 2020
Black Wine 2019
Zoo Story 2019
Night Film2019
Hey Nostradamus 2018
Deep Shelter 2018
Some Luck 2015
Austerity Britain 2013
Dina's Son 2015
Cradle Song 2015
Batavia's Graveyard 2013
Khirbet Khizeh 2015
Red Poppies 2015
Barbarian Days 2017
Moral Hazard 2018
Fado Alexandrino 2009
Europe Central 2006

14. FAMILY They Will Drown in Their Mother's Tears 2020
Brothers 2021
The Half-Brother 2005
The Hurly Burly's Husband
My Father's Wives 2014
The Druid's Son 2021
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me 2012
The Gravedigger's Daughter 2013

15. ANIMAL Song of the Lark 2020
The Peppered Moth 2022
Memoirs of a Polar Bear 2021
The Lark 2021
The Bird Tribunal 2021
Doctor RAt 2018
Little Bird of Heaven 2018
Winnie and Wolf 2015
Soul of an Octopus 2017
Lamb 2016
Year of the Hare 2011
The Essex Serpent 2018
Ammonites and Leaping Fish 2016
Barracuda 2014
The Dog King 2015
Obscene Bird of Night 2006
Fox in the Attic2010
Street of Crocodiles 2005
The Pope's Rhinocerous 2004
Cat and Mouse 2011
Dog Years 2011
The LIzard's Tail 2010
Runaway Horses 2011
The Whale Caller 2009
Fathers and Crows 2009
The Wild Geese 2010
Penguin Lost 2011
Gould's Book of Fish 2011
Bayou of Pigs 2018
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen 2014
The Heron 2013
The Ravens 2014
The Bird Market of Paris 2017
Time of the Doves 2013
Gifts of the Crow 2013
The Iguana 2013
How I Came to Know Fish 2013
The Sand Fish 2015
Feast of the Goat 2012
Laughing Wolf 2015
The Snake Tree 2013
Wolf Totem 2013
Serpent on the Rock 2013

16. OCCUPATION The Judge 2022
Book of Forgotten Authors 2022
Milkman 2020
The Hired Man 2021
The Naturalist 2017
Surveyor 2018
Anatomy of a Soldier 2017
The Financier 2010
The Franchiser
Agent Zigzag 2015
The Vicar of Sorrows 2014
Epitaph for a Spy 2014
A Clergyman's Daughter 2014
The Seamstress 2010
The War Workers 2013
Engineer of Human Souls 2009
The Airmen and the Headhunters 2013
The Housekeeper and the Professor 2009
The Piano Tuner 2003
The Secret Agent pre-2000
The Post Office Girl 2009

17. TIME OF DAY Twilight in Delhi 2007
At Night All Blood Is Black 2022
Evening of Long Goodbyes 2014
About the Night 2019
The Roar of the Morning 2020
Witness the Night2015
As Night Follows Day 2015
Midnight in the Century 2015
By Night the Mountain Burns 2014

18. TRANSPORTATION Joe Speedboat 2020
Last Train to Paris 2021
Train to Trieste 2020
The Stolen Bicycle 2018
The Boat in Evening 2015
Night Train to Lisbon 2012
The Boat to Redemption 2013

19. FOOD The Colour of Milk 2021
The Pumpkin Eater 2020

20. BIRTH/DEATH The Death Miser 2020
Death of a Coast Watcher 2021
The Dead Wander the Desert 2020
Death of Noah Glass 2019
The Dead Girls 2018
Death's End 2017
The living and the Dead 2015
Death on the Installment Plan 2011
Death on the Barrens 2013
Burial Rites 2013
Death of Grass 2017
Death Had Two Sons 2015
Death of a Murderer 2018

Whew that took quite a bit longer than I thought, but at least it's all in one place now.

I think I may have enough time now to do a few reviews as I continue to play catch up.

>168 rocketjk: Thanks Jerry. I love digressions. I had never heard of Wanda Jackson, but cool that you got to interview her. I will follow your link and listen to her as soon as I sign off LT.

>171 DieFledermaus: I will be interested in what you think of it when you read it. I have one more book by Fremlin on my Kindle which I will probably read soonish since her books are usually short and easy diversions.

Next book (still in April):

Off my Kindle
Italian author

30. The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante (2006) 146 pp

I picked this up after seeing the recent film adaptation on TV. I found the film to be very true to the book.

Leda is a divorced 47 year old divorced professor enjoying a stay in a seaside resort town, some work, mostly relaxation. She spends her days sunning on the beach, where she observes the actions and interactions of a large extended family also vacationing in the town. She is particularly interested in the interactions of a young mother (who she later comes to know as Nina) with her toddler daughter. Watching them leads her to meditate on her own life as a mother raising her now two grown daughters.

One day Nina's little girl loses her doll and is inconsolable. The whole beach is searching for the doll, including Leda. When Leda finds the doll, inexplicably instead of returning it she stuffs it in her bag and takes it home with her.

One of the reasons I picked up the book after watching the film was that I wanted to see if there was anything explanation as to why Leda did this. However, after reading the book, I remain as puzzled as ever as to why Leda did this.

I've never read Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend series which is highly praised on LT and elsewhere, so I have no idea how this book compares to her other writing. It is short, competently written, and is mostly a meditation on the conflicts and guilt many mothers feel as they attempt to balance the demands of child-rearing with other aspects of their lives. I found it a decent read, but not particularly outstanding.

3 stars

Library Book

31. Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe (2021) 588 pp
Subtitle: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty

This is the story of the Sackler family, particularly the three brothers, Arthur, Mortimer and Raymond. Arthur was a pioneer in medical advertising, and his deal with the manufacturer of Valium for his company to do all the advertising (or let's call it drug pushing) for the new drug Valium made the family fabulously wealthy. It was with this wealth that the brothers bought Purdue Pharmaceuticals which at the time of their purchase manufactured only over the counter drugs.

Mortimer and Raymond developed OxyContin which is basically a system for the delivery of Oxycodone (a morphine derivative) in a pill form in large doses for sustained release. OxyContin was advertised up the kazoo as non-addictive. It was termed the drug "to start with and stay with."

Despite advertising claims that it was nonaddictive, research has now shown that OxyContin led directly to the opioid crisis and the current heroin/fentanyl epidemic. As it became clear that OxyContin was creating massive problems and causing many deaths, for the most part the owners of Purdue Pharma, the Sackler remained behind the scenes and were not connected with the drug and the devastation it was creating. Instead, they were known as philanthropists, and their name was on rooms and wings in museums from the Met to the Louvre to the Smithsonian to the Tate, and was associated with programs, facilities and buildings at medical schools and universities around the world.

To date, the family has never admitted any responsibility or remorse for the devastation the drug caused. By the time practically every state was suing Purdue, the family had drained the company of its assets and funds leaving it basically a shell, at which point Purdue filed for bankruptcy. Although the family members did not personally file for bankruptcy, they were able to convince the bankruptcy court to extend to them personally the protection of the bankruptcy court against creditors and lawsuits. Ultimately, the court approved a settlement which may have looked massive but which allowed the family to retain most of the ill-gotten oxycontin earnings. The book quotes a Duke professor who states: "Their name has been pushed forward as the epitome of good works and of the fruits of the capitalist system. But when it comes down to it, they've earned this fortune at the expense of millions of people who are addicted. It's shocking how they've gotten away with it."

In the author's note, he states, "There are many good books about the opioid crisis. My intention was to tell a different kind of story, however, a saga about three generations of a family dynasty and the ways in which it changed the world, a story about ambition, philanthropy, crime and impunity, the corruption of institutions, power and greed." In this, the book most definitely succeeds.

Highly recommended.

4 stars

And that brings me to my May reading.

32. The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (1875) 686 pp

Amazon says that this stand-alone is " widely acknowledged to be the masterpiece of Trollope's prolific Victorian career." I would definitely put it at or near the top of my favorites of Trollope (though I have only begun to scratch the surface of his works). This is also a very relevant book for our time with one of its major themes/plot lines being how a financial wheeler-dealer/con artist is able to scam the denizens of society and government.

The book is chock-full of characters and plot-lines. It opens with Lady Carbury, who left in straitened circumstances has taken to writing potboilers to keep up the family finances. Her overriding purpose is to secure good marriages for her children, particularly for her ne'er-do-well son Felix who has squandered his inheritance on gambling and drinking. The potential mate she has chosen for Felix is Marie, the daughter of the great financier Augustus Melmotte. Melmotte, a Bernie Maddoff-like character, is suppposedly fabulously wealthy, but behind the scenes of his financial manipulations his suppposed wealth is only a paper facade. His sole function is to get people to invest in a great American railroad, not to actually build the railroad, but to to obtain the funds to entice more investors. Politics does not escape Trollope's wit, either, as Melmotte's supposed wealth earns him a seat in parliament.

The book sets forth a vast panorama of Victorian society and highlights its avarice and obsession with money. It satirizes the literary world and publishers, class divisions, gender stereotypes, political systems and much more. The book is on The Guardian's 100 Best Novels in English. I loved it.

5 stars

>176 arubabookwoman: One of the things I loved about the Prose book, Deborah, is that she isn't a fan of Trollope. :)

>166 arubabookwoman: Yes, and bonus points for spelling it correctly.
>175 arubabookwoman: I got this initially because it was considered for my RL book group, except none of us feel up to the page count these days. I watched Dopesick which covers some of the same territory but is fictionalized.

I love your TBR lists by category. If I could plug a few, I would vote for Daniel Stein, Interpreter, Year of the Hare, and The Housekeeper and the Professor. I read Last Train to Paris last year, and thought it good but not outstanding. Same with Death had Two Sons. I too want to read Silence and At Night All Blood is Black.

>174 arubabookwoman: I picked up a Ferrante book at a book sale today, but after reading the reviews, I think I'm going to donate it to the library. It was The Lying Life of Adults.

>152 arubabookwoman: Ahhh, Ballard. I love Ballard, and High Rise was a tough one to read. I do love the way that first line can weed out readers, though!

Also, I'm sorry this year has been/continues to be a struggle. I can relate in some ways. I hope even with the added doctor visits it can at least settle into a routine. So much disruption is hard to deal with.

>176 arubabookwoman: I was sure I had read this Trollope novel, but your review didn't ring any bells and now I find that it isn't in my catalog as read. I will need to read it soon since I love Trollope and this sounds like a good one. I have found most of his standalone novels enjoyable but unremarkable, except for He Knew he was Right.

Wow, you've got a lot of good reading ahead of you! I'd be happy spending a couple of years in your library. I found that to be a really fun exercise—pleasantly noodly, and an opportunity to take a different kind of look at some of the titles sitting on my shelves.

>166 arubabookwoman: If you like podcasts at all, Backlisted had a good episode on Russell Hoban a couple of years ago—Riddley Walker specifically, but the Backlisted folks tend to range far and wide.

>168 rocketjk: I'd watch Wanda Jackson in any Glenda Jackson role, ever.

>174 arubabookwoman: (& >182 lisapeet:) "Thanks Jerry. I love digressions. I had never heard of Wanda Jackson, but cool that you got to interview her."

Here you go: https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Rockabilly-Queen-took-Cue-from-King...

>153 arubabookwoman: Yes, "I think my second husband is my first husband in disguise" is quite the plot twist!! Sounds like a made-for-TV movie.

>168 rocketjk: How amazing that you got to meet Wanda Jackson!! I definitely agree with your comment that a rule-breaking girl was too much for the industry to handle. I love the fact that it turned into a successful touring career later on in her life. So few happy endings in the world of rock music!

>184 wandering_star: Thanks! To be clear, though, the interview I did with Ms. Jackson was via telephone, though I did get to meet her and introduce myself as the fellow who'd done the interview and written the article after the concert she did that week in San Francisco.

>157 arubabookwoman: and >158 arubabookwoman:
Your comments nudged A children's bible up my list of things to read.

I read Ken Bruen's In the Galway silence sometime this last year and enjoyed it. Brutal/bleak and funny at the same time. I wouldn't want a steady diet, but as an occasional palate cleanser it was fun.

Well, back again. 3 days off from the hospital so time to visit LT. Last week we had 3 days off, but I was busy making a quilt for the new granddaughter due in October. I finished the top (I thought), but after I looked at it a day or two I decided it needed a pieced border. Saturday morning I started that, but my sewing machine broke. (Very annoying since I just had it cleaned, oiled, serviced, etc.). So one of these three days off will be spent going to the sewing machine store.
I've also spent an annoying 2 weeks trying to straighten out an issue with Amazon. I ordered a book from a third party seller, Florence, the Paintings and Frescoes, and the book I got was The Kid's Guide to the Awesome 50 States. Not even close. I called Amazon, they notified they seller. The seller responded that it had not been delivered yet. (The UPS tracking # shows that it has be "out for delivery" since 8/4) In my experience when the tracking # says out for delivery that's the day it is delivered, and in my case it was in fact delivered that day, 8/4. Unfortunately the UPS guy forgot to click in that it was in fact delivered. So the Seller keeps saying it hasn't been delivered yet, and I've now communicated with Amazon 3-4 times that it is not a DELIVERY problem but a WRONG ITEM problem, and either they are not getting it or the seller isn't getting it. Seller first said, we have until 8/12 to deliver, please wait until then. When I called Amazon on 8/12 to explain the problem again, and said I wanted a refund, they said they couldn't give a refund because it was a third party seller, and they had to give the seller 48 hours to respond to me. It's now past that, and time to call Amazon again. Oh well.

>177 BLBera: Hi Beth. I didn't remember that she didn't like Trollope. The more I read of him, the more I like him.

>178 qebo: Even if you've read/watched Dopesick, I think this one is still worthwhile, as it comes at the opioid crisis from a different perspective. As the author said, it is more a book about how the family that is responsible for the opioid crisis was for years able to portray itself as a philanthropic family of do-gooders, respected the world over for its generosity and good deeds, and was basically able to escape responsibility and consequences for the havoc and ruin it caused.

>179 labfs39: Lisa I think I bought Daniel Stein, Interpreter at the same time you did--on our trip down to Portland (with Ellen) for the Powell's LT meetup--at least that's when I bought my copy. Looks like you got to yours, while mine languished.
I bought Year of the Hare about the same time, but not at Powells. I read another book by the same author, The Howling Miller, and loved it, so ever since I've been saving The Year of the Hare for a "reading treat." I think it's time to stop saving til.
About Ferrante, I'm still ambivalent about reading her My Brilliant Friend series. I haven't hated the one or two books by her I've read, but I haven't found them particularly compelling either.

>180 ursula: Hi Ursula. I've liked most of the books by Ballard I've read, but it is true he sometimes goes a bit over the top. (Thinking of Crash and High Rise, and probably others).

>181 japaul22: the Way We Live Now is probably the Trollope I've liked best so far, but I haven't read Trollope widely, considering his voluminous output. I was planning to read He Knew He Was Right next. (I'm currently reading Phineas Redux in the Palliser series). You said you found most of his standalones "enjoyable but unremarkable, EXCEPT for He Knew He Was Right." Did you mean that you did not enjoy it, or that you enjoyed it and it was also remarkable?

>182 lisapeet: Thanks Lisa, I actually could have added many more titles from my library for each category (except for some reason the FOOD category--I found very few categories with a food in the title). The ones I listed were the ones that made me think I want to read that NOW.

>183 rocketjk: That's a great article about Wanda Jackson, so thank you for the link Jerry. As I said I had never heard of her before, so I wandered over to YouTube for a listen. She has the kind of female voice I really like. I think she was probably an influence on Lucinda Williams and Emmy Lou. I put a few of her songs on my Spotify list. I have to say I like her "rockabilly" better than her country.

>184 wandering_star: A "made-for-Tv movie" indeed--from the 1950's!

>186 markon: Hi Ardene. Calibre is not one of the novels in the Galway series, although Sgt. Brant is Irish. The Brant series is set in gritty SE London. I've since broken down and read the rest of the series, even though I had been a bit lukewarm. I liked the books more and more as I came to know the characters and their backstories.

Now to try to do a few reviews. Back to my May reading.

>187 arubabookwoman: Oh, what a nice memory! I too bought my copy on that trip to Powell's. I hadn't remembered that. I bought Year of the Hare a couple of years earlier from Third Place Books, another nice memory.

Edited to add: I liked the first book in the Neapolitan series well enough, but the second lost me.

Off my Kindle
1001 List

33. Cutter and Bone by Newton Thornburg (1976) 322 pp

The setting is Southern California, just post-Vietnam War. Bone is a drifter, a gigolo who makes his cash wooing older wealthy women. Between gigs, he crashes with Cutter and his woman Mo. Cutter is a disabled one-eyed double amputee vet. Bitter doesn't begin to describe his personality, but he is witty and original. His belligerence creates problems for him and Bone wherever he goes. Mo is depressed, an alcoholic and drug addict, and the mother of Cutter's baby. Cheery set-up, no?

Driving home late one night, Bone sees a man driving an expensive car stuff something resembling a set of golf clubs into the trash and then drive off. It turns out that the golf clubs were in fact the body of a young girl who has been murdered. When by chance Bone sees the picture of billionaire chicken magnate J. J. Wolfe in the paper, he thinks he recognizes Wolfe as the man who stuffed the body in the trash. When Cutter hears this he devises a scheme to blackmail the presumed murderer. What could go wrong?

The book perfectly evokes the milieu of California in the 70's, and the hardscrabble life of a Vietnam vet. The dialogue particularly stars in this book, and Cutter, despite his bitterness and meanness, is brilliantly witty. It was a very good read, but I'm not entirely sure why it made the 1001 list.

3 /12 stars

First line: It was not the first time Richard Bone had shaved with a Lady Remington, nor did he expect it to be the last."

I'm not including the last line because if I did, you would know what happens to Bone in the end.

There is apparently a very good movie of the same name that was made from this book, starring Jeff Bridges.

>188 labfs39: It's likely I got my copy of The Year of the Hare from Third Place Books too, as Third Place Books and Half Price Books were my go-to bookstores, and my copy of The Year of the Hare is new, which eliminates Half Price Books (though I bought many used books at Third Place Books too).

Off My Kindle
Litsy Wharton Buddy Read
1001 List

34. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (1911) 105 pp

"He seemed a part of the mute melancholy landscape, an incarnation of its frozen woe, with all that was warm and sentient in him fast bound below the surface....he lived in a depth of moral isolation too remote for casual access."

This is one of those classics that is assigned reading in U.S. high schools, probably because it is so short. At least it was in my 10th grade back in the 1960's. And I hated it then, and I've heard from others how had to read it as a young teenager who also hated it. However, many years later, in older middle age, I read it again, and loved it. I recently reread it again as part of the Wharton buddy read on Litsy, and yes, it's still an excellent book.

New England farmer, Ethan Frome, is living a life of isolation and quiet despair. In an unhappy marriage with his invalid wife Zeena, the only bright spot in his life is Zeena's cousin Mattie Silver, who is Zeena's caregiver. The harsh environment of a New England winter in an isolated village plays a big part in the tale.

Unlike many of Wharton's better-known books in which characters are members of NYC high society and the American aristocracy, in Ethan Frome, her characters are the struggling poor and rural underclass. In many ways, I admire the books in which Wharton focuses on the lower classes more than those in which she focuses on the upper classes.

Highly recommended.
4 stars

First line: "I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story."

Last line--too revealing again.

Library Book

35. Sickening by John Abramson (2022) 334 pp
Subtitle: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care

The premise of this book is that the US health care system is getting worse, and a large cause of this is big pharma. The US currrently spends nearly 20% of its GDP on health care, much, much more than any other wealth country, yet ranks 68th in quality of health care in the world. Over the last 40 years, funding for research and federal support of university-based research has declined, and the big drug companies have stepped in to fill the gap. Today, drug companies (big pharma) and commercial interests predominate in providing the information doctors rely on to determine patient treatment. Unfortunately, the primary goal of the drug companies is not to improve patient health, but to maximize profits. And unlike other countries, the US has allowed drug companies to charge as much as they want. (Note: Biden signed the bill today that allows Medicare to negotiate for at least some drug prices.)

The first part of the book goes through several examples of how drug companies have misled medical professionals to the detriment of patients. These included the Vioxx fiasco, which during the 5 years it was on the market was responsible for 88,000-140,000 heart attacks; Gabapentin, which is used off-label for neuropathic pain, and which is the 6th most prescribed drug in the US, but for which there is extremely limited evidence of effectiveness (beyond the placebo effect); Insulin- which has become more prescribed with changing definitions of A1C control, as well as changes the drug companies have made to insulin to make it more expensive, all without leading to better health outcomes; and, Statins--Prescribed for almost everyone of a certain age, despite limited evidence of benefits to women and healthy people at low risk for heart disease.

The second part of the book discusses how changes in Society from 1980 on have allowed commercial interests to control the medical knowledge that guides health care.

The third part discusses recent reforms including Obamacare.

Overall, an interesting look at healthcare.

3 stars

>187 arubabookwoman: "thank you for the link Jerry."

You're welcome. It's fun reading my old articles once in a while. As I read them, I don't have to think about how hard it was to write them! (I had a bad habit of agonizing over every sentence, but also I was highly distractible and spent much more time noodling around online than I did putting words to the page.)

"She has the kind of female voice I really like. I think she was probably an influence on Lucinda Williams and Emmy Lou."

Definitely, and many others, as well.

"I have to say I like her "rockabilly" better than her country."

Right. So do I. And so did she! The only reason she recorded those country songs was that the record company insisted, as they were befuddled as to how to market a straight-up female rockabilly star.

>189 arubabookwoman: "There is apparently a very good movie of the same name that was made from this book, starring Jeff Bridges."

Yes, it is a fantastic movie, with John Heard in the other title role.

Library Book
I don't remember much about this one, other than that I didn't care for it much, so the review will be sketchy. I don't want to spend too much time on it.

36. The High House by Jessie Greengrass (2021) 268 pp

Francesca is a climate scientist, whose warnings fall on deaf ears. Unknown to her stepdaughter Caro and her young son Pauly, she and her husband, Caro's father, have turned their summer house, a house on a hill by the sea ("The High House") into an ark of sorts, to save their children. And one day, shortly before their parents disappear in a climate disaster, Caro receives the notification to take Pauly to the High House. Over the years that follow Caro and Pauly (who is quite young when they first arrive), along with Sally and for a while Grandy, Sally's grandfather, who had been caretakers of the property, eke out a living while around them society devolves (although little of this is felt at High House).

Unfortunately, despite my liking of dystopian literature, and my belief and fear of climate change, I just couldn't suspend my disbelief for much of this. The characters and situations did not come across as real. Francesca, supposedly a respected scientist, has filled a barn on that property with toys that are age appropriate for Pauly as he grows up, and clothing and shoes in sizes for him as he grows up. But there are no surplus seeds for growing food, no solar panels for power (just an old wood stove that only (barely) heats the kitchen, no green house, etc. etc.

As I said, at this point I can't remember much about this other than that I didn't like it. So not recommended.

2 stars

First line: In the morning I wake earlier than the others."

Last line: "We aren't really saved, We are only the last ones waiting."

Library Book

37. Sandy Hook by Elizabeth Williamson (2022) 496 pp
Subtitle: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth

This was a very hard book to read, even though its focus is not entirely on that awful day in December 2012 when 20 children and 6 educators were brutally murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It does start with that event, and the descriptions are heartrending--kissing your child as he leaves for school not knowing that is the last time you will see him alive--and brutally graphic. However, most of the book focuses on the aftermath of the tragedy that day. That day was bad enough, but then came the brutalization, the torture and harassment of the families of Sandy Hook by the conspiracy theorists.

As the lies and conspiracy theories took over the internet, and as people began to believe the lies they heard and read about on the internet, they began to insert themselves into the lives of these grieving families, attacking them on the street, attacking their relatives and friends. These were families who had experienced the ultimate tragedy, and their suffering was increased monumentally by the people who believed the conspiracies. Alex Jones and his InfoWars organization was one of the purveyors of these lies and conspiracy theories, and many of the harassers of the Sandy Hook families got their information from Jones's show. A large part of the book discusses Alex Jones and how he profited immensely from exploiting these conspiracy theories.

The book demonstrates how the internet amplified and spread the lies, how people are influenced to take action by these lies, and draws a direct line from Sandy Hook to the events of January 6.

A difficult but worthwhile read.

3 1/2 stars

Sorry about the Trollope confusion! I did like He Knew He Was Right very much.

Library Book

38. Heaven: A Novel by Mieko Kawakami (2021) 187 pp

In this short novel, two 14 year olds who are being relentlessly bullied befriend each other. I don't think I'm the target audience for this book. It is well-written, and somewhat intelligent as it raises philosophical questions (i.e. Is there no right or wrong, just strong or weak?). However, I do feel it had a somewhat YA feel, and overall I spent much of my time wondering where were the adults while all the bullying was going on (and afterwards as the victims appeared bruised and bloody at school or at home)?

2 stars

Library Book

39. How High We Go in the Dark Sequoia Nagamatsu (2022) 290 pp

This book, consisting of a series of linked short stories/vignettes, reminded me a bit of Cloud Atlas, and I liked it almost as much as I liked Cloud Atlas. It begins in the year 2030, with a visit to a Siberian archaeological excavation site, where something that becomes known as the Arctic Plague is released upon the world. It proceeds forward through hundreds of years with interlocking characters and events. It has an epic scope, but also an eye for the most minute of dazzling details.

This is one of the most original and imaginative books I've read in a very long time. I loved it.

41/2 stars

Library Book

40. The Dry Heart by Natalia Ginzburg

This short story--can't really call it a novel, opens with a bang:

"'Tell me the truth,' I said.
..............
"I shot him between the eyes."

The unnamed narrator who asked this question, and then shot Alberto, her husband of four years, wants to explain why she took this action before she calls the police, and she proceeds to tell us the story of their courtship and marriage.

According to a blurb on Amazon, this is "a feminist horror story about marriage," which I guess is a good description. And Alberto is not really a nice guy. But nothing in this short work made for a compelling read for me, so the best thing I can say about it is that it is short.

2 stars

2022 purchases continued from >155 arubabookwoman:

136. Fracture by Andres Neuman
137. Was by Geoff Ryman
138. The Last Good Paradise by Tatjana Soli
139. On Wings of Song Thomas M. Disch
140. Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon
141. Watch Your Back by Donald Westlake
142. The Peaceful Valley Crime Wave by Bill Pronzini
143. The Writer's Library by Nancy Pearl
144. Eleven by Patricia Highsmith
145. Vixen by Ken Bruen
146. Afloat by Guy de Maupassant
147. Like Death by Guy de Maupassant

In May I began to come out of my reading slump, but I continued to abandon many books including the following which I read bits and pieces of:

Ancestor Trouble by Maud Newton
Funny Weather by Olivia Laing
Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke
The White Girl by Tony Birch
Elena Knows by Claudia Pineiro
Trust by Domenico Starnone
The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper

>198 arubabookwoman: I am so happy to see another fan of How High We Go in the Dark - I loved that one as well, and your comparison to Cloud Atlas is spot on.

Trying to catch up with your thread. Interesting and inspiring as always!

>197 arubabookwoman: - I don't think I'm the target audience for this book.. I recognize this all too well and sometimes find it difficult to rate or even comment on the book then. Like asking a vegetarian for an opinion on a steak.

>198 arubabookwoman: - Well, I cannot ignore that one!

>199 arubabookwoman: - The first two sentences are intriguing. Sorry it didn't meet your expectations. It slightly reminded me of A Posthumous Confession by Marcellus Emants which I liked.

>201 arubabookwoman: - Another feeling I recognize all too well, unfortunately. I wonder if it's the books or the state of mind? Or both?

I'm catching up on all of your reading and other issues. I guess your family visit was not exactly as you planned.

I do enjoy your reviews (even if they are on books I'd likely not read). Thanks for making all the effort. And I know exactly what you mean when you mentioned an "embarrassment of riches". I like to buy books, too (although I've managed to restrain myself a bit better....

>167 arubabookwoman: LOL. I love that list.

Catching up on your reviews. You've reminded me that Elena Ferrante has written more than the Neapolitan series - I must check out some of her other titles as I did enjoy her reading.

Lots of good stuff here!

>192 arubabookwoman: Great review of Sickening. I probably won't read it, as I'm probably familiar with much of its content already. We occasionally prescribe Neurontin (gabapentin) for our teenaged patients with chronic pain, either independently or following the recommendation of a consultant, usually a neurologist or anesthesiologist on the Pain Management service, but it rarely if ever seems to help.

>195 arubabookwoman: Sandy Hook sounds interesting, but I don't think I could read it. I'll never forget being on hospital call with one of my partners that day; Margaux and I were sitting in nearby workstations in our office on a surprisingly quiet December afternoon, and we followed the news reports with increasing horror.

>197 arubabookwoman: I definitely liked Heaven more than you did, although it was an uncomfortable read. I was bullied briefly by an older boy in elementary school, and heard about horrible accounts of bullying of kids that were hospitalized on my service as an indirect result of far worse abuse than I experienced, so the experience of the two teens, and the lack of awareness by teachers, parents and other adults was not unbelievable to me.

I enjoyed your reviews as always. Regarding >197 arubabookwoman:, which I have not read: I wonder if part of the disconnect is due to the difference between Japanese and American perspectives on bullying. We tend to jump right to "where were the adults", but I get the sense that in Japan that's not the case.

Back again for some reviews, such as they are. They year has gotten away from me, so I'm going to have to hurry and catch up. I will be going to Austin in October to visit my Mom again and then to Houston to visit my daughter and go to the quilt show (for the first time in 3 years). Then in November we will go to NYC for the birth of our 6th grandchild/2nd granddaughter. Then back to Florida to prepare for several visits from our kids over the Christmas holidays.
And speaking of my Mom, she is 92, has severe COPD, and stubbornly refused to be vaccinated for covid (even though she has always taken her Flu and pneumonia vaccinations). I always thought that if she contracted covid, that would be it for her. Well, she got covid in August (she had a slight fever and so was tested--she's in assisted living). After that, no symptoms, and a week later she tested negative, was allowed out of quarentine, and got on with her normal routine. I am somewhat gobsmacked.

>202 BLBera: Hi Beth. Yes it was a book I read voraciously, and it felt to me so imaginative and original.

>203 Trifolia: Hi Monica. About The Dry Heart, as I've thought about it, I think my review/rating was too hard on the book. I had never read anything by Natalia Ginzburg, and had high expectations. At the time I read it, I wasn't really interested in the topic, and the book was so short I also felt a bit cheated, like I didn't get a full enough explanation for what happened. I think it might be a book many people would like, and it was not poorly written or anything like that.
Noting A Posthumous Confession for further investigation.
About the reading slump, I'm finding that the volume of my reading has definitely picked up and is probably back to normal. But I'm mostly read my comfort reads--crime novels and a smattering of SciFi--and a bunch of throw-away reads. Nothing terribly literary, original, or noteworthy.

>204 avaland: Hi Lois. I make the effort to review mostly for myself. It helps me to remember the book better, and clarifies my thoughts. However, as I said to Monica above, I've mostly been reading crime novels (including breezing through some series) and they are all sort of blurring together, and I'm not sure many of these books I've been reading merit a review. I'll probably make the effort, though, even if only a sentence or two.

>205 AlisonY: Hi Alison. I still have My Brilliant Friend to look forward to. I also have another book by her The Days of My Abandonment, apparently a somewhat autobiographical fictionalized account of her life after her husband left her. I picked this up years ago after reading a novel by her ex-husband (Ties by Domenico Starnone) about an elderly couple who had been divorced/separated for years, but were now back together in their "golden years."

>206 kidzdoc: Hi Daryl. In Sickening I was particularly interested in the gabapentin studies. My husband's transplant doctor put him on gabapentin for his neuropathy, and it seemed to help. When he went to a neurologist, the neurologist reduced the dosage of the gabapentin and added some supplements, which seemed to help more. For myself, I've been wondering whether in my 70's I need to keep taking a statin. I had an angiogram 5 years ago and was told that my cardiac vessels were "pristine," and there is no history of heart disease in my family. My only risk factor is diabetes.
Sandy Hook was indeed difficult to read. However, the events surrounding the massacre itself were only described in the first part of the book. The bulk of the book focuses on the right-wing conspiracy theorist websites/groups that mushroomed after Sandy Hook--how they have grown and influenced people, why people believe them etc. The book draws a direct line from Sandy Hook to the events of January 6. Alex Jones and his website features prominently. It was also, of course, heartbreaking what the Sandy Hook families had to endure from these nutcases, after the ultimate tragedy of having their kids murdered.
About the bullying in Heaven, as I thought about it afterwards, I think I could understand the adults not being aware of verbal abuse and teasing. However, in this book, there was extreme physical violence against these kids (the boy's head being used as a kickball in the school gym, for instance), and they were significantly bloodied and bruised and otherwise physically injured. I have a hard time understanding how parents/teachers could be blind to this or accept benign explanations for the cause of the injuries.

>207 labfs39: Hi Lisa. See my explanation above about my problem with the bullying. There may be less of a propensity in Japan for the adults to jump in in cases of bullying. And I could see how adults in both countries could be blind to verbal/emotional abuse and bullying. But I found it difficult to accept that the atrocious physical violence against these kids could be overlooked/ignored.

On to some reviews:

Library Book
I have a sneaking suspicion that I read this years ago when it first came out, but I didn't follow through with the remaining 2 volumes in the trilogy, so I needed to read it again.

41. Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (2005) 318 pp

Robert Charles Wilson writes good science fiction novels. I'm not a scientist, but the science seems accurate and plausible enough, the concepts and plots are usually interesting, and most of all, his characters are real breathing people, not the cardboard cutouts found in many other (especially older) science fiction works.

In Spin, the first volume of a trilogy, three teenagers are lying on the grass one evening star-gazing, when suddenly the stars are all blotted out. Some sort of barrier has been imposed between Earth and the heavens. When they go to bed that night, no one knows whether the sun will rise the next morning. It does, at least an artificial semblance of the sun appears the next morning and goes down the next evening, and life goes on, but...

We follow the three teenagers, Tyler Dupree and his friends, bother and sister Jason and Diane Lawson over the next 50 or so years as the world tries to determine what happened that night, who did it, and why. Jason becomes a renowned scientist who dedicates his life to studying the event, Diane joins a religious cult devoted to seeking signs of "end times," and Tiyler floats in and out of their lives.

The book made for very compelling reading, and I wanted to continue on with the series.

3 1/2 stars

First line: "Everybody falls, and we all land somewhere."
Last line: "How do you build a life under the threat of extinction?"

Library Book
I often daydream of living on a distant and remote island, so I picked up this library book, described as a nonfiction account of the Bounty mutiny, and the story of the life afterwards of the mutineers on remote Pitcairn Island.

42. The Far Land: 200 Years of Murder, Mania and Mutiny in the South Pacific by Brandon Presser (2022) 374 pp

As noted, this is an account of the Bounty mutiny, and of what happened to the mutineers afterwards, as they ultimately made their way to the then-uninhabited Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific where their descendants still live today. Interspersed with the story of the mutineers is an account of a visit by the author to Pitcairn Island in the present day, where the islanders are still recovering from the notoriety brought upon them by criminal charges of pedophiliac sex practices. I knew very little about the Bounty mutiny (other than what I gleaned from the Marlon Brando movie) which is why I wanted to read this book, and why I kept reading it even when I found it to be one of the worst non-fiction books I have ever read, and I wanted to throw it across the room. I didn't, and I read through until the end, though perhaps I should have stuck with what I learned from Marlon.

The overriding problem for me was that the author basically attempted to "novelize" the account, and let his imagination run wild. There were so many eye-rolling moments I lost track, ranging from sailors' masturbating as they watched young Samoan girls frolicking in the water, to the thoughts of those girls during sex, to the thoughts of a mutineer as he lay dying from an ax attack, to which way his blood spurted when he was axed, etc. etc.

A few quotes from Amazon reviews should suffice:
"Part Harlequin Romance, part speculation, mixed with a touch of outright porn...."
"Too much focus on an admittedly clever reimagining....'
"Lurid sexual scenes were unnecessary...." etc. etc.

After finishing the book, I took the further step of reading through some of the author's "Notes on References" to see if there was any justification for marketing this book as a serious nonfiction account. In these notes he states:

"In order to properly flesh out a more robust version of the island's settlement and the eighteen years of solitude that followed, I have incorporated non-Western methods of research and sources, like tapping into the rich oral Polynesian culture.... I have interviewed psychologists and religious scholars to better elucidate the intentions of the primary characters in order to more properly recast this history as a cogent sequence of a rational (and sometimes irrational) actions, rather than an oversimplified laundry list of casualties."

Well. Maybe. But I'm not convinced that this book deserves to be called a history.

1 star

I will note for my own reference that Caroline Alexander's book The Bounty was recommended by some of the Amazon reviewers, and I may look for that, since she is an author I am familiar with and would trust.

Library Book
A reread.

43. Slough House by Mick Herron (2021) 312 pp

I reread this because I was getting ready to read the latest Slow Horses installment. I remembered this ended on a cliffhanger, but did not remember any details. Here is my short review from 2021:

Read 6/21
"When they went on about sixty being the new forty, they forgot to add that that made thirty-something the new twelve."

The latest installment of the Slow Horses series, which I love. Many of our favorite characters are back, and this one focuses on the privatization of secret ops and the manipulation of the news media. As per usual, witticisms abound. Unlike some of the others in the series, this one ends with a cliffhanger, so we know there will be another entry to the series, and must wait patiently.

3 1/2 stars

Off my Kindle
For Victorian Reads

44. The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins (1875) 498 pp

After a brief romance and courtship, Valeria and Eustace Woodville are married. Soon after their marriage, Valeria learns that her husband's name is not really Eustace Woodville, and that he has been lying to her about other things as well. When she learns that Eustace was tried for the murder of his first wife, and at trial received the unique Scottish verdict of "not proven" (so that he was neither found to be guilty or innocent), she decides to prove his innocence.

I quite enjoyed the other two books by Wilkie Collins I have read, his more famous The Moonstone and The Woman in White. While this was of interest as perhaps featuring the earliest female sleuth in crime fiction, this one never really grabbed me. I suspect this is due more to my state of mind at the time I read this than to the book itself.

As a needleworker myself, I enjoyed this quote:

"'women,' he said, 'wisely compose their minds, and help themselves to think quietly, by doing needlework. Why are men such fools as to deny themselves the same admirable resource--the simple soothing occupation which keeps the nerves steady and leaves the mind calm and free?'"

I so agree.

3 stars

Library Book

45. Axis by Robert Charles Wilson (2007) 368 pp

This is the second volume of the trilogy after Spin. (See >209 arubabookwoman:)

This one is set on a different planet from Earth, entered through a portal in the Pacific Ocean. The portal, places by the entities that placed the barrier between Earth and the stars in Spin, is an arch that rises hundreds of miles up (and presumably miles down into the sea).

The new world is being settled by refugees from Earth, and is still a frontier world being developed by humans, its rich natural resources being exploited. Will humans make the same mistakes they made on Earth? Will they ever figure out who placed the barrier, who created the portal, and why? This is set some years after Spin ended, but there is some (minimal) character spillover.

I liked Spin better than this one, but this was still a good read.

3 stars

Wow, I've made it to June in my reviews. My first two reads in June were the first two volumes of the Plainsong Trilogy by Kent Haruf.

From the library:

46. Plainsong by Kent Haruf (1999) 320

This is a lovely quiet novel of life in small town Holt, Colorado on the high plains. It is told in short episodic chapters focusing on several of the town's characters, including high school teacher Guthrie, who is having marital problems, and his sons Ike and Bobby, and pregnant teenager Victoria, who kicked out by her mother finds a home and family with two elderly brothers Harold and Raymond who work the family farm. The book takes place over the course of a year.
A calming, satisfying read.

3 1/2 stars.

First line: "Here was this man Tom Guthrie in Holt standing at the back window in the kitchen of his house smoking cigarettes and looking out over the back lot where his son was just coming up."

Last line: "They stood on the porch a while longer in the evening air seventeen miles out south of Holt at the very end of May."

>210 arubabookwoman: That sounds like a horrible book indeed!

From the Library

47. Eventide by Kent Haruf (2004) 320 pp

The story of Holt, Colorado continues, and again is told in short episodic vignettes in quiet, simple prose. Victoria and Harold and Raymond are back in this book, but other characters are new, including Luther and Betty June living in a trailer with their children who are being abused by Betty June's Uncle Hoyt, as well as their social worker Rose.

Again, a quiet read, though some evil things are going on under a veneer of calm.

3 1/2 stars

First line: "They came up from the horse barn in the slanted light of early morning."

Last line: "And still in the room they say together quietly, the old man with his arm around the kind woman, waiting for what would come."

>215 MissBrangwen: It really was horrible!

From the Library

48. Atoms and Ashes by Serhii Plokhy (2022) 364

Subtitle: A Global History of Nuclear Disasters

There are currently 440 nuclear reactors operating worldwide, supplying 10% of the world's electricity. Because of climate change, the European common has now designated nuclear as "green energy." This book takes a fresh look at some of the major nuclear accidents over the years in the context of the debate over the safety of nuclear energy. It is well worth reading. I will just briefly describe the accidents discussed in the book:

1. "Castle Bravo" Test--1954. This was the first attempt to explode an H bomb, whose power comes from fusion not fission, and before the test no one was fully aware of just how powerful it would be. The blast was much larger than expected, and fallout covered a much larger area than expected. Many Marshall Islanders were affected, as well as some soldiers, and a Japanese fishing vessel. In fact, the test only became known because on return to port the fishermen were found to be radioactive.

2. Kyshtym 1957--This was the first Soviet reactor and level 6 plutonium processing chemical plant. At first, radioactive waste was dumped into nearby lakes, but by 1953, began to be placed in underground tanks. On September 29, 1959 one of these tanks exploded, spreading a radioactive cloud. There was fear that other tanks would explode. Several villages around the site had to be relocated. 85% of the area is still an ecological disaster area.

3. Windscale 1957--The reactors at Windscale were modeled on the US reactors at Oak Ridge, which was air cooled and used graphite to moderate the neutrons. Great Britain had the A-Bomb, but wanted the H-Bomb, and great pressure was put on Windscale to produce more plutonium and other materials needed for an H-Bomb. Because of its design, the rods at Windscale needed periodic annealing to release Wigner energy that developed in the graphite, but because of the pressure to produce more, Windscale decided to reduce the number of anneals. During an anneal, the temperature did not act as expected and Wigner energy was not fully released. In attempting to repeat the process a fire resulted. Cartridges were stuck, temperatures kept rising, they couldn't use water to put out the fire, and radiation was released. These reactors were shut down in 1957 and never reopened. The last fuel was not removed until 1999, and demolition did not begin until 2019. Demolition is expected to be complete in 2022.

4. Three Mile Island 1979--This was a Pressurized Water Reactor which uses water rather than graphite to moderate reactions. This type of reactor is considered safer than a graphite reactor. This accident resulted from a malfunction in the pilot operated relief valve, or PORV. Here the PORV opened to relieve pressure, but then unknown to operators failed to close, allowing water to escape. The staff, thinking too much water was going in, shut off the water supply. One historian later stated, "If the operating staff had accidentally locked itself out of the control room, the TMI accident would never have happened." By shutting off the water supply, the staff brought the reactor perilously close to meltdown. The reactor was never reopened. It took until December 1993 to remove the fuel. Final cleanup will take until 2078.

5. Chernobyl--The Chernobyl accident resulted from the Positive Scram Effect, a known phenomenon in RRMK reactors. When rods are inserted into the core for shutdown, there is an immediate spike in the intensity of the reaction, which is the opposite of what they were meant to do. If water stops flowing, the intensity of the reaction increases. Although these effects were known, the operators at Chernobyl were not told about them.

6. Fukushima 2011--This accident was caused by an earthquake/tsunami, and was exacerbated by the chaos and lack of communication between the site, the government, and TEPCO, owner of the plant. The Prime Minister of Japan later wrote, "Because Japan possessed unparalleled nuclear technology and superior experts and engineers, I believed that a Chernobyl-type accident could not occur at a Japanese nuclear power plant. To my great consternation, I would come to learn that this was a safety myth created by Japan's "Nuclear Village."' The situation at Fukushima did not stabilize until August 2011, 5 months after the event. There are still 1.23 million tons of contaminated water stored on the site. In 2021, the Japanese government decided to start releasing the contaminated water into the ocean, and there are ongoing protests to this plan. The release will take decades and is scheduled to start in 2023.

And the next nuclear accident??? Who knows where or when but it's inevitably coming.

4 stars

Library Book

49. Love by Roddy Doyle (2020) 335 pp

Now approaching 60, two men who had been friends in their youth meet for dinner and an evening of chat, which turns into a marathon pub crawl. Joe has remained behind in Ireland and wants to explain to Davey, who has lived in England for 40 years, returning for periodic visits with his father, why he has recently left his wife Trish for another woman. The "other woman", in fact, is a woman from their joint distant past, who has just recently reappeared, and about whom they have differing and sometimes contradictory recollections.

I've really liked a lot of Roddy Doyle's books, and my favorites are Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha and The Barrytown Trilogy. This one does what Doyle is a master of, which is to tell the story almost entirely in dialogue, and quite masterful dialogue at that. (The showing of the descent into drunkenness as the night wears on strictly through dialogue that becomes increasingly cantankerous and incoherent is something to behold). However, I can't say I was enthralled with the "old man problems" that Doyle is exploring here, and in the end, there didn't seem to be any point to the story.

2 1/2 stars

First line: "He knew it was her, he told me."
Last line: "Yeah, I said.--I will."

Library Book

50. Reptile Memoirs by Silje Ulstein (2022) 418 pp

This Norwegian thriller is set in two time periods, 13 years apart. In the town of Aleslund in 2003, flatmates Liv and two guys, Egil and Ingvar are living a life of drugs and partying, when on a whim they acquire a Burmese python they name Nero. Nero soon becomes exclusively Liv's, and she obsesses about the snake, feels she can communicate with the snake, and engages in increasingly bizarre behavior.

Fast forward to 2017 to a nearby town when the preteen daughter of prominent businesswoman Mariam Lind and her politician husband goes missing. The detective assigned to the case, Roe, used to live in Aleslund, and lost his daughter and granddaughter in a tragic house fire there. He suspects there may be a connection between the missing child and his own daughter's death.

The story is told through multiple narrators, including even the snake, and there are lots of twists and turns. I found this to be an intriguing Nordic crime novel.

3 stars

Off my Kindle
Litsy Wharton Buddy Read

51. The Reef by Edith Wharton (1912) 186 pp

George Darrow is on his way to meet Anna Leath, the widow he hopes to marry, when she cables that they must delay their meeting, without any further explanation. He lingers in Paris with Sophie Viner, a young woman who has just left her position as companion to a wealthy woman and who faces an uncertain future. George and Sophie have a brief Parisian fling for a few weeks before George returns to his home and job in London.

Several months later George is again summoned to Anna who he still hopes to marry. However, when he arrives at Anna's French country estate, he discovers that Sophie Viner is the governess to Anna's young daughter Effie. From there all sorts of complications ensue, with lots of hand-wringing and contemplation of various courses of action. Amazon describes the book as a "balance of emotional turmoil and social manners."

This was another Wharton I enjoyed (though it's not in the top-tier of her books that I have read), and I think it's fairly typical of her better-known works. It's fairly short, and I would recommend it as a "typical" Wharton read.

3 stars

Library Book

52. Sleepwalk by Dan Chaon (2022) 304 pp

Dan Chaon's newest book is set in a near future dystopian America. Will Bear lives entirely off the grid, criss-crossing the country in his RV doing odd jobs for the crime conglomerate he works for. His only friend and companion is his beloved dog.

Because he believes himself to be entirely "invisible" he is surprised one day to receive a phone call from a woman named Cammie claiming to be his daughter. He wants to find out is she really is his daughter, and also, how she found him.

I'm a Dan Chaon fan, and the book interested me, and kept me reading. While often the events described are surreal, the characters are very real. I also enjoyed the depiction. of a future America that is horrific, and yet entirely plausible and believable. I didn't always fully understand what was going on, but I enjoyed the ride.

3 stars

Other books by Chaon I have read and enjoyed:
You Remind Me of Me
Await Your Reply
Ill Will

Off My Kindle
Litsy NYRB Book Club

53. Good Behavior by Molly Keane (1981) 304 pp

"All my life so far I have done everything for the best of reasons and the most unselfish motives."

This dark comedy of the decaying Anglo Irish aristocracy was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. As the book opens, Aroon St. Charles has prepared a delicacy for her mother's lunch: rabbit mousse, even though she knows her mother hates rabbit. And, unfortunately, the dish proves to be the death of Aroon's mother. For the rest of the book, Aroon thinks back on her life, from childhood on, as the family fortunes and position of privilege go into steep decline. As she narrates her story, Aroon misinterprets everything, while making everything perfectly clear to us, the readers. She is, in fact, the perfect unreliable narrator.

I enjoyed this book by sometimes overlooked novelist Molly Keane. I have two other of her books on my Kindle, and hope to get to them soon (Famous Last Words).

3 1/2 stars

First line "Rose smelt the air, considering what she smelt; a miasma of unspoken criticism and disparagement fogged the distance between us."

Great comments, Deborah. Thanks for the Cheon recommendations; I haven't read anything by him. Reptile Memoir sounds interesting, and I've been wanting to read something by Keane. I keep meaning to start the Herron series because it sounds like one that I would like.

>221 arubabookwoman: I started Sleepwalk but really didn’t like it. Maybe I will try a different one by him.

Library Book

54. Bad Actors by Mick Herron (2022) 345 pp

I love the Slow Horses books, so of course I eagerly awaited this latest installment. I was especially anxious to get to this since the previous installment ended on a cliff-hanger with the fate of one of the major characters hanging between life and death. And without being too spoilerish about it, I will say that for 99.99% of this book, we are kept in the dark about the fate of that character, and only get the very slightest of a slight hint at the very end of this book. So I am rather peeved at Mick Herron, and view this as a cheap marketing trick to make us read the next installment (which I would have done anyway). Anyway, my annoyance at this may have colored my enjoyment of the book, and I have to say that I found this one to be a little padded and repetitive.

As to the story itself: The Slow Horses books are good, though perhaps a bit formulaic: the Slow Horses must outwit not only the enemy agents, but also their counterparts at the Park, where the "real" M15 spies are housed. For the past several books, the Park has been led by the ice cold Diana Taverner (Lady Di), and she has no compunctions about sacrificing a Slow Horse or two to make herself look good. But somehow Jackson Lamb and his Slow Horses always seem to be able to thwart Lady Di.

As they do the real enemy: in the past several books, Russia and Putin's secret service have been up to no good in Boris Johnson's Great Britain.

In this book, a Swiss consultant to the PM has gone missing and it turns out she might be a Russian plant. Herron maintains the witty writing and complex plotting that I love. I am starting to wonder whether some of the characters, usually so brilliantly done, are becoming just a tad bit caricaturish (Roddy Ho and Shirley Dander who feature prominently in this book), but it's all so wittily done I don't care. I'm just a little bit less in love with the series that I have been but I'm still eagerly awaiting the next installment.

3 stars

>223 BLBera: Hi Beth. For Chaon, the first one I read was You Remind Me of Me which I loved, but it was before LT and I didn't review it and I don't remember too much about it. I also really liked the other two I mentioned, and I have reviewed them on LT. Even though I really liked Ill Will there were things about it that really puzzled me (and other readers). And although I liked Sleepwalk it is my least favorite of his books.
And see above for my review of the latest Slow Horses book. If you have Apple TV, the series is also excellent.

>224 dianeham: Hi Diane I don't think Sleepwalk is typical of his other books so it may be worth your while to try one of his other books. It certainly is my least favorite of the books by him that I have read. I have reviewed on LT Await Your Reply and Ill Will and I remember loving You Remind Me of Me but read it way before LT so I don't remember much about it.

And with my review at >225 arubabookwoman: that brings me up to July and the halfway point of the year. As of July 1, I was. half-way through North and South for the Victorian read, but unfortunately, I am still half way through North and South. I do still want to finish it though. I also still want to get back to the year-long read of Anniversaries which I haven't picked up in eons. And here are some library books I read chunks of in June, but returned to the library unfinished:
Bone by Fae Myenne Ng
Butcher's Crossing by John Williams
Happiness by Aminatta Forna
Basic Black With Pearls by Helen Weinzweig

I think I have time to post a few reviews for July before I have to sign off.

Library Book

55. The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena (2016) 316 pp

This psychological thriller had a great plot idea, but it is extremely poorly written. The prose is wooden and simplistic, and the characterizations are tissue thin. There are no details of the sort that bring the story to life and flesh out the characters, where they are and what they are doing.

Anne and Marco live in an expensive well-furnished townhouse with their new baby Cora, partly supported by Anne's wealthy parents. One evening they were invited to dinner at their next door neighbors' Cynthia and Graham. When their babysitter cancelled at the last minute, they decide to go anyway, taking the baby monitor with them, as well as going next door every half hour to check on the baby, from whom they are separated by only a wall. All seems to go well, until they return home in the early hours to find the front door ajar and baby Cora gone. There follows one clue after the other, one suspect after the other in what could have been an enthralling narrative. Instead, the book reads as though it were written by a kid in elementary school, like a Dick and Jane primer. And then, the end comes right out of left field, with very little to prepare even the most attentive reader.

So, not one I recommend.

1 star

Library Book

56. Benediction by Kent Haruf (2013)

This third volume of the Plainsong Trilogy, although it is also set in Holt, Colorado, does not have even the tenuous connection of overlapping characters that united the first two volumes of the trilogy. It shares the setting and the quiet prose style, but we are introduced to an entirely new set of characters.

Dad Lewis is dying of cancer. He and his wife Mary are estranged from their son Frank. Their daughter is back to help through Dad's illness, but will Frank even know his father is ill.
Alice, the young girl who lives next door, has lost her mother and lives with her grandmother Berta May. Alene, a retired school teacher, has returned to live with her mother Willa on her farm a bit out of town. They visit with Dad Lewis, and also befriend Alice and try to help her through the loss of her mother.
There is a new preacher in town, Reverend Hyle, and he has become deeply unpopular with the congregation because he is speaking out against the war. Over the course of the novel, as Dad Lewis's health declines, Reverend Hyle loses his job and his family.

So once again, a quiet slice of life in Holt, Colorado. Even though we meet entirely knew characters, I liked this book as much as the first two.

3 1/2 stars

First line: "When the test came back the nurse called them into the examination room and when the doctor entered the room he just looked at them and asked them to sit down."

Last line; "And in the fall the days turned cold and the leaves dropped off the trees and in the winter the wind blew from the mountains and out on the high plains of Holt County there were overnight storms and three-day blizzards."

Library Book

57. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (2022) 226 pp

"No star burns forever."

This inventive novel takes place over several centuries beginning in the deep woods of northern Vancouver Island in 1912, when Edwin, a young Englishman, has a curious experience he thinks of as a hallucination. Other characters and time periods include composer Paul Smith (brother of Vincent from The Glass Hotel) and Vincent's friend Mirella, in roughly contemporary times; Olive, a novelist who has written a bestseller about an apocalyptic pandemic, and who lives with her husband and daughter in a moon colony, but who is on Earth to promote her book in 2203; and Brother and Sister Gaspardy and Zooey, who also live in a moon colony in 2401.

Of the three books I have read by Emily St. john Mandel, I think this is my favorite.

4 stars

First Line: "Edwin St. John St. Andrew eight years old hauling the weight of his double-sainted name across the Atlantic by steamship, eyes narrowed against the wind on the upper deck."

Last Line: "I've been thinking a good deal about time and motion lately, about being a still point in the ceaseless rush."

Library Book
Another Trump Book HoHum

58. This Will Not Pass by Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns (2022)

Subtitle: Trump, Biden and the Battle for American Democracy

"Leaders in both parties have found the shadow of the last presidency has been longer and darker than they anticipated...."

This book covers the time period from the 2020 election through the end of the first year of the Biden presidency. Part 1 includes the pre-election phase, with Trump mismanaging the pandemic and Biden attempting to unify the Dems. Part 2 covers the time period from Election Day through the second impeachment trial, including January 6 and Inauguration Day. And Part 3 covers February 2021 on, as it becomes increasingly apparent that our two-party system remains unstable. The book concludes that after the first year of the Biden presidency we are not together again. And I would add that almost another year further, we are increasingly further apart.

This one is informative and well-written, if you can bear reading about this stuff.

3 stars

I did love Sea of Tranquility, Deborah, but Station Eleven is still my favorite.

So sorry Happiness was a DNF for you - I loved that book.

>204 avaland: I know what you are saying about reviewing crime novels.

Hope you have found a safe place to ride out the hurricane. Am thinking of you.

Stopping by to say hello. Sorry you had some clunkers over the summer. Hopefully you can squeeze in some good books between hurricanes and new grandbabies.

>231 BLBera: Hi Beth. I was liking Happiness, but it had to go back to the library and I just haven't put another hold on it--to much stuff going on. How's retirement? Any special plans coming up?

>232 avaland: Hi Lois--And I've been reading lots of them lately (crime novels). Just finding it difficult to concentrate on books with more depth or at least books which are less compelling at making you turn the pages

>233 avaland: During our 18 years in New Orleans, we always headed for Baton Rouge whenever a hurricane was on the way, and so we went to our son's house further inland during this hurricane. The Tampa area was extremely fortunate as this storm's path was a worst case scenario for it. I feel so sorry for the people of Fort Meyers and surrounding areas. Many did not evacuate, not sure if it was because of a lack of timely warning or what. As it turned out, we did not even lose power, either at our son's or at our condo on the beach, though the pool at our condo had a lot of sand blown into it.

>234 labfs39: Hi Lisa. There have been a few good ones thrown in among the clunkers, and perhaps it is my mood that has been making me so picky. Thanks for checking in.

Can't believe it's October already. Are people beginning to plan their reading for next year? Seems that it's about this time I begin to catch inklings of this on peoples' threads. What it means for me, is I'm going to have to buckle down if I want to catch up on reviews. I'm still back in July.

And, we're going to be traveling about 3 weeks of the next month or so. (Seems odd to say that after 2 1/2 years of covid and 3 1/2 years of post-transplant medical issues). We're going to Austen to visit my mom, who is not doing very well, and then I''m going to Houston to visit my daughter and go to the Quilt Show. (After going every year beginning in 2001, I've missed the last three years, so I am excited for this). Then we will be going to NYC to visit our newest grandchild a baby girl. She is not born yet, but our daughter-in-law will be induced on 10/22 (due to some minor pregnancy complications) if she is not born before then. She will miss being born on my birthday by just a few days (as I missed being born on my grandmother's birthday by just a few days). I have been making her a quilt, and it's DONE--a lovely hot pink.

So now some reviews:

Library Book:

59. Zorrie by Laird Hunt (2021) 159 pp

This is the story of a life well-lived told in plain and simple prose. It reminded me to the Kent Haruf trilogy I've been reading this year, but rather than the high plains, a tale of the farming lives of Indiana, with a touch of radium girls thrown in.

One anachronism really bothered me. Zorrie first noticed her neighbor Noah fretting over his wife Opal (who has been institutionalized) before WW II. Later in the book, in the late 1950's when Zorrie is hanging clothes with Noah's mother she is whistling "That'll Be the Day," a Buddy Holly song from the 50's--I remember it--and Noah's mom says that Opal used to hum that song while hanging clothes. However, Opal hadn't been around to hang clothes since at least before WW II. Seems like a big mistake, unless I'm misconstruing it.

This is the eighth novel by a writer I'd never heard of. With the exception above, I liked this story of an ordinary life of hard work and simple pleasures.

First line: "Zorrie Underwood had been known through-out the county as a hard worker for more than fifty years, so it troubled her when finally the hoe started slipping from her hands, the paring knife from her fingers, the breath in shallow bursts from her lungs, and smack dab in the middle of the day, she had to lie down."

Last line: "But mostly she would just lie there, very still, turning it all over in her head."

3 stars

Library Book:

60. The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezio (2008) 354 pp

This is an interesting true crime account of 14 murders that occurred around Florence, Italy. Between 1974 an 1985, a serial killer stalked the hills around Florence, brutally murdering and mutilating young lovers parked in the orchards and fields. The first part of the book describes the victims and their murders.

In the early 2000's, author Douglas Preston moved to Italy with his family. As it turned out, the home he rented was adjacent to the grove of olive trees in which one of the murders took place. Preston befriended Italian crime reporter Mario Spezio who had made it his life's work to solve the case of the so-called "Monster of Florence." The bulk of the book delineates Spezio's and Preston's investigation of the case over several years. Most interestingly to me, the book explores the labyrinthine, deeply flawed, and at times criminal efforts of the investigators and several prosecutors of the Italian justice system, which for a while even considered Spezio and Preston as suspects in the murder case.

Perhaps more familiar to current day readers might be the Amanda Knox murder prosecution, which was investigated by the same investigator/prosecutor who botched the Monster of Florence case and harassed Spezio and Preston. This book briefly discusses the Amanda Knox case in an afterword.

3 stars

Library Book

61. Cabin Fever by Michael Smith and Jonathan Franklin (2022) 260 pp
Subtitle: The Harrowing Journey of a Cruise Ship at the Dawn of a Pandemic

The Holland America cruise liner the Zaandam set forth from Buenos Aires with 1200 passengers and 600 crew on March 8, 2020. The coronavirus was already underway. Some of those aboard had tried to cancel their trips, but Holland America had refused refunds, saying that it had implemented protective health measures. Other passengers had decided to take their chances on what was the trip of a lifetime.

Unfortunately it wasn't long before many passengers and crew members were deathly ill with what was designated ILI (influenza-like illness) and the Zaandam was running out of medical supplies, including oxygen and PPE. The cruise liner was being refused entry at every port along the Pacific coasts of South and Central America.

Through a cross-section of passengers and crew members this excellent narrative nonfiction book documents the horrific experience of the cruise. The book reads like a novel about what was most definitely a nightmare experience.

3 1/2 stars

Library Book
I think I read this before all the recent controversy on LT over this book and its companion, which was on the Booker long list, Oh William. Like others I read it in order to read Oh William, and though I liked it, I haven't gone on to read Oh William.

62. My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout (2016) 181 pp

"It interests me how we find ways to feel superior to another person, another group of people. It happens everywhere and all the time. Whatever we call it, I think that it's the lowest part of who we are, this need to find someone else to put down."

After complications from surgery, Lucy Barton has to stay in the hospital for 9 weeks. She has not seen her mother in many years, but her husband asks her mother to come keep her company in the hospital. For several days Lucy's mother sits with her in the hospital, occasionally conversing, and evoking memories of her difficult early life for Lucy.

Lucy came from poverty, but was able to go to college and now leads a normal "middle-class" life. Her mother and father and the rest of her family remain in poverty. Her mother is taciturn, does not express emotion, has withheld affection from her children, yet Lucy craves her love. As she lies in the hospital bed, she contemplates her childhood of poverty, abuse, and how she ultimately arrived where she is now.

Strout tells the story in short episodic vignettes. I thought that this was a very good portrait of a difficult mother/daughter relationship, and of the longing for love and acceptance that a childhood without love causes.

First line: "There was a time, and it was many years ago now, when I had to stay in a hospital for almost nine weeks."

Last line: "All life amazes me."
3 1/2 stars

Hi Deborah - Enjoy your travels! Regarding retirement, I plan to go to Hawaii in March and next summer to Spain and Portugal with my daughter, SIL, and Scout.

Cabin Fever sounds like a good one. I'll look for it. My Name is Lucy Barton was the best Lucy Barton, I think. Oh! William was my least favorite. Controversy? I missed that. I guess I need to visit more threads.

>236 arubabookwoman: The Buddy Holly mistake would bug me as well, Deborah.

>240 BLBera: Hi Beth--your travel plans are much more exciting than mine. We had a trip to Hawaii all booked and paid for to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our meeting for December 2018, then had to cancel due to my husband's illness. Now that we are no longer on the west past, I doubt we'll be getting to Hawaii.

I think the Lucy Barton controversy began on kidzdoc's thread after he read (and hated) Oh William. Lots of people commented one way or the other on his and other threads. There was a lot of love, a lot of hate, for the Lucy Barton books. as well as the Olive books.

So I just took some time to put on a pot of red beans and rice, that New Orleans staple, for dinner and I have a bit of time for some more reviews.

Off my Kindle.
I bought this, I think as a cheap Kindle deal, after reading the description of it as a possible SF first contact book. Maybe, but it was pretty awful.

63. Deep Storm by Lincoln Child (2007) 434 pp

This book is a semi-science fiction, semi-thriller, and it succeeds at neither.

Deep in the North Sea, off an oil-drilling rig, something strange is happening. The government/military takes over, and drops a cloak of secrecy over everything. Secrecy can no longer be maintained when various people working on the project begin falling ill. Some are physically ill, and others appear to have mental breakdowns and psychoses. Peter Crane, a former Navy doctor is brought in and given the challenge of determining what is causing the illnesses. Yet he is kept in the dark as to what the ongoing drilling has uncovered.

This is the first book I have read by Lincoln Child, and it was amazingly bad. I will say that several of the negative reviewers on Amazon said that his books are usually better. Here, the writing is poor, the characters cardboard stereotypes, and the plot and the circumstances implausible. There was one Amazon reviewer who said that "the grammar isn't bad," but that is "the only aspect of this novel that isn't."

1 star

First line: "It took a certain kind of man, Kevin Lindengood decided, to work an oil rig."

Last line: "And as Crane glanced up toward the sky, he wondered if he would ever be able to look at it in quite the same way again."

Off my Kindle.
Bought it to learn about my new home.

64. Sunshine State by Sarah Gerard (2017) 387 pp

I picked up this book of essays because it appeared on a lot of "Best of" lists and because I thought it would help me figure out my new state. And it turns out that the author was raised and lived in basically the next town over from where I am, so there are lots of references to places I am becoming familiar with. However, despite its title, this is not really a book about Florida. Instead, its more of a memoir, the story of a i've, with essays attached, not a tour guide of Florida. Like many books of essays, some are good, some not so good. I will just briefly describe each:

"BFF" This is the story of an on-again/off-again troubled friendship written in a breathless stream of consciousness style. I spent the rest of the book trying to figure out who BFF is.

"Mother-Father God" Her parents were for a long while extremely active in and leaders of an offshoot of the Christian Science church. There's a great deal of church history here, as well as the story of her parents and their backgrounds. Also musings on how religion affected her after she was grown up.

"Going Diamond" Her parents were also for a long while highly involved with Amway. There's a lot about the history of Amway and its founders. She uses the experiences of her family to ponder the American dream of upward mobility. Interspersed are "stories" (not sure if they are real or made-up) of her and her husband visiting with a real estate agent, with no intention of buying, progressively larger and more luxurious mansions. Quote: "For my part, I'm now skeptical of my materialistic impulses. The dreams I built in Amway don't appeal to me anymore."

"Records" Her life as a teenager at an arts magnet school. Lots of drugs and partying. Quote: "My journal entries are sprawling and emotionally wrought."

"The Mayor of Williams Park" This is an essay about homelessness, and the criminalization of poverty. In 2009, St. Petersburg was named the second meanest city in the US because of its many ordinances criminalizing homelessness.

"Sunshine State" The Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary on Gulf Boulevard on the Pinellas County barrier islands is right down the street from me, and it (and its founder) have quite a story, all told in this fascinating essay. "At its height over a hundred thousand individuals and ten thousand birds entered the sanctuary's grounds every year, making it the largest nonprofit wild bird hospital in the country." But all is not well in Bird Paradise.

"Rabbit" Back to memoir again, with the story of her grandparents.

"Before: An Inventory" "written on the occasion of turning 30.". This experimental piece consists simply of lists of animals she comes across, beginning in June, "Botanical Gardens bees on the roses, white dog at the in-laws, roaches in my apartment--Brooklyn, goldfish at my parents' house--Largo, cats pissing in the laundry, lizards on the porch, jays in the roses, Sunken Gardens kookaburra, cockatoo, flamingo, stray dogs on the freeway off-ramp." And on and on for many, many more pages.

3 stars

Off my Kindle.
I picked this one up because I very much liked The Bear by this author, in which she brought us into the mind of a 5 year old girl left alone in the mountain wilderness with her 5 year old brother after their parents are killed by a bear. In this one, she brings us into the mind of a Neanderthal girl.

65. The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron (2017) 290 pp

"But in the cave, the remains of a Neanderthal lay with those of a modern human. It looked like they had died together."

Archaeologist Rosamund Gale has made an amazing discovery in a remote French cave--the remains of a human and a neanderthal seem to have been buried together. She has long espoused the theory that humans and neanderthals had much interaction with each other, and that neanderthals were more advanced than had previously been thought. She hopes that she will find evidence to support her theories as she excavates the site.

The story of the present day excavation, and Rosamund's advancing pregnancy, alternates with the story of a small group of primitive people 40,000 years ago, consisting of Girl, her mother, her brother, and a stray they call Runt. This small group of hunter-gatherers meets annually in the spring with other such small groups. I loved the way the author brings us into the mind of Girl, and we view their lives from the point of view of a pre-historic person.

The book is well-written and brilliantly imagined. I don't know if everything in it is scientifically accurate (apparently the picture at the end of the book is not), but I really didn't care. The only point that bothered me was Rosamund working in her physically grueling job until past her due date, and with extreme physical discomfort. That would not have been me, and it didn't seem realistic. In fact, I much preferred reading the parts about Girl and her family and struggles for survival to reading about the excavation and various bureaucratic struggles in the present day.

3 stars

First line: "They didn't think as much about what was different."

Last line: "We are so much the same.

Library Book

66. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (2021) 70 pp

Bill Furlong, coal and timber merchant, was born illegitimate in Ireland. However, his mother, with help, was able to care for him, and he's done well. He lives in a small Irish town, is married, with 5 daughters, and they are comfortable, though money is tight.

One year near Christmas, when delivering coal to the local convent he notice things that are not right. And then he does something courageous.

This book is not a novel, not even a novella, more of a short story. And while it has been described as an attack on the Magdalene laundries, it really is too short to be an attack, or even to provide much information about this deplorable practice. Instead what it does, within its few short pages is to show what an iron-fisted hold the Catholic Church had on these small towns in Ireland, and to show the bravery of one lone man in the face of such overwhelming power.

I thought this was a good book, an excellent story, but I do think it has been a bit over-hyped.

3 1/2 stars

First line: "In October there were yellow trees."

Last line: "Climbing the street towards his own front door with the barefooted girl and the box of shoes, his fear more than outweighed every other feeling, but in his foolish heart he not only hoped but legitimately believed that they would manage."

And that concludes my reading through July. On to August:

August

Off my Kindle
I saw this movie in the 1970's. Visions of a pregnant Mia Farrow trudging around NYC lugging a heavy suitcase in the hot summer rambled through my head while I was reading this.

67. Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin (1967) 282 pp

Although this book is described a "Horror" and I don't generally care to read horror, I found it to be a very good read. Any aspects of horror are very understated.

Clearly this book takes place in (an was written in) a much simpler time. Rosemary's function as a young newlywed is to decorate their apartment, cook their dinners, take a sculpture class, and, of course, have a baby. All is very innocent, until her husband starts getting the acting jobs he craves, and we figure out what her neighbors the Castavets are up to. But when will Rosemary figure it out, and what will she do?
And what an ending!

So even though this is old "popular fiction" and very much of its time, it is still a very good read.

3 1/2 stars

Library Book
I took this out of the library intending to mostly look at the pictures, but I ended up reading it.

68. What Artists Wear by Charlie Porter (2022) 320 pp

Although there are many illustrations in this book, the text is very informative, and thought-provoking too. In the introduction, the author states, "By studying the garments of artists, we are able to approach them as human beings." Many artists are looked at, the author says, "patterns start to emerge. We'll see that often, artists wear the same garments over and over again, particularly while working."

The first artist considered is Louise Bourgeous, and some of the other artists examined include David Hockney, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O'Keefe, Basquiat, Agnes Martin, Andy Warhol, and many, many more. Some of the contemporary artists were new to me, and I discovered a few whose work I really like, such as Yayoi Kusama.

The author organized the book into chapters titled, "Tailoring," "Workwear," "Denim," "Paint on Clothing," "Clothing in Art," "Fashion and Art," and "Casual."

I especially liked this quote from an artist I hadn't heard of before, Taboo!, "The number of times I walk out the door and they say what are you all dressed up for? My answer is, today. This could be the last day of my life and this is how I'm living."

3 1/2 stars

Library Book
I wasn't terribly interested in reading about Watergate, which I lived through, but I recently read this author's book about 9/11 and found him to be an excellent author, so I checked this book out of the library.

69. Watergate: A New History by Garrett M. Graff (2022) 823 pp

I thought I knew pretty much all there was to know about Watergate, but not so. Graff's premise is that what we call "Watergate" and what brought Nixon's presidency down was not just the burglary at the DNC headquarters in the Watergate Hotel, but what went on through-out Nixon's presidency (and before). The first hundred or so pages dealt with some of the earlier scandals of the Nixon presidency, and I had a hard time getting into the book. But once we got to the burglary and the ensuing coverup and payofffs and congressional investigations and indictments, the book took off, reading like a thriller and a real page-turner. Overall 69 people, as well as many large corporations were indicted resulting from the Watergate scandal.

A couple of interesting tidbits. Female attorneys were relatively rare back then. I know I was in law school (and avidly watching the hearings on TV everyday). However, the Ervin Committee had a female attorney, Jill Volner, on its staff. The book describes how at a meeting with Jen Magruder (one of those ultimately convicted) at which she was present when asked whether he wanted coffee, "Magruder turned to Volner and said 'I'll take mine black.' Neal {Volner's boss}...drawled, 'Not very smart, insulting a major player in deciding the terms of your plea agreement.'"
And one of the 43 attorneys on the Impeachment Committee's staff was a young attorney named Hillary Rodham. And just for fun, another interesting factoid is that at the time Federal court rules barred females from wearing trousers to court.

Recommended

4 stars

Library Book

70. A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham (2022) 356 pp

I picked this up from the library because the setting is a small Louisiana town and Baton Rouge, both places I am familiar with. I needn't have bothered. The book is very poorly written, and entirely forgettable. Don't bother.

When Chloe was a young teenager, her father was convicted of abducting and murdering several teenage girls. Now, 20 years later, Chloe is a medical psychologist in Baton Rouge. She lives with her adoring fiancé and is planning a wedding in a few months. She still sees her brother. Her mother who suffered a stroke is in a nearby nursing home. She entirely ignores her father who is in prison for life. Most people in her life now are unaware of her background as the daughter of a convicted serial murderer.

Now as the 20th anniversary of the murders approaches Chloe is approached by a journalist who wants to do a story on the crime. At first she refuses. Then, the murders begin. (Again). The victims all seem to be in some way connected to Chloe. She reaches out to the journalist to see if they can jointly solve this (before the police do).

As I said, I originally picked this up because of the setting. Unfortunately, the amateurish writing did not convey any sense of place. These events could have been happening in Anwhereville USA. (For example, the author uses the term county. There are no counties in Louisiana, only parishes.) Many of the plot points are entirely implausible. There are ridiculous red herrings, and every person Chloe has every come in contact with becomes a suspect, except of course the true culprit, who is actually the most predictable culprit. To top it all off, apparently in Louisiana psychologists can prescribe drugs, and Chloe is a prescription drug addict (prescribing for herself under false patient names) and she is constantly blacking out.

Not a good book.

1 1/2 stars

Library Book

After reading Calibre by Ken Bruen earlier this year, which I was somewhat lukewarm about, I nevertheless decided to go back and read the rest of the series. Overall I ended up liking the series, about which a reviewer on Amazon says the "plot is merely a convenient backdrop to frame the antics of SE London's eccentric police force."

71. Blitz by Ken Bruen (2004) 288 pp

In this fourth entry to the Sergeant Brant series Roberts' wife dies and he goes off the deep end. Meanwhile, Blitz is the name the media gives a serial killer who is killing cops. New characters introduced (who stick around in later books) include Porter Nash, gay, a dapper dresser, cultured and intellectual, but still able to get along with the other lunatics at the station.

I'm finding that the plot and the crime-solving aspects of this series are less important than getting to know these deranged people (the cops). And I really enjoy the style of writing we are treated to.

Recommended.

3 1/2 stars

Library Book

72. The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm (1990) 177 pp

"The moral ambiguity of journalism lies not in its texts but in the relationships out of which they arise--relationships that are invariably and inescapably lopsided.'

In the late 1970's journalist Joe McGinnis sat in with the legal team defending Jeffrey MacDonald who was being tried for the brutal murders of his wife and two young daughters. The thought was that McGinnis would have exclusive access to MacDonald and his defense team, and would write a book telling the story of the crime and the trial.

At trial, MacDonald was convicted, and through the following years, as MacDonald appealed his conviction and as McGinnis was writing his book, the two men continued to correspond. McGinnis concurred with and expressed his shock at MacDonald's conviction, and implied his belief in MacDonald's innocence.

However, when McGinnis's book was released, it portrayed MacDonald as a psychopathic killer. The letters McGinnis wrote had assured MacDonald of his friendship, had offered advice on the appeal, and had commiserated with him, while also asking for information he needed for his book.

MacDonald sued McGinnis for libel. The suit raised the issue of whether journalists as a custom or practice lie to their subjects to get information out of them (and whether, if so, this is acceptable).

This book began life as a New Yorker article. It is fairly short and there are no easy answers. The book raises a lot of interesting issues..

3 stars

Off my Kindle.
Not available at my library, so I bought it.

73. Vixen by Ken Bruen (2005) 201 pp

Book 5 of the Sergeant Brant series. This one involves a series of extortion bombs, with the whole plot masterminded by a female psychopath, Angie James, aka the Vixen. Fun visiting with the eccentric denizens of the precinct again.

3 1/2 stars

Library Book.
Another Sergeant Brant

74. A White Arrest by Ken Bruen (1998) 150 pp

"He who laughs last usually didn't get the joke."

This is Book 1 of the White Trilogy, which constitute the first 3 books of the Brant series. So this is where it all began.

First line: "R & B they were called. If Chief Inspector Roberts was like the rhythm, then Brant was the darkest Blues."

In this entry the precinct must deal with two crime sprees. One group is killing drug dealers and hanging them up on lampposts. Another guy is murdering one by one the members of the national cricket team. Setting the tone for subsequent entries, the story is told in rapid short vignettes, featuring ever-changing characters and events.

And all the cops are seeking the mythical "white arrest"--the bust that turns a cop into a hero, a career changing event, and one so awesome that it wipes out all previous screwups.

3 stars

Off my Kindle.
In the Brant series, Brant obsesses over Ed McBain and the 87th Precinct series. I don't think I've read any of those (unless it was when I was a teenager), and I had this, Volume 1 of the series on my Kindle so I gave it a try.

75. Cop Hater by Ed McBain (1956) 226 pp

I've heard of this series forever, but don't remember reading any. The introduction by the author, written in 1989 (more than 30 year after the book was first published) provides some interesting insight. McBain states that he didn't believe that a series could be successfully written about a single cop, and that it would be "something new" to write about a squad room full of cops, each with different traits, who when put together would form a conglomerate hero.

In addition, he considered setting the series in NYC, but discovered that there would have to be too much coordination with the NYPD to make sure all the procedures were authentic. So he decided to go with a "mythical city," which itself would become a character. He also states that the weather, which features in this book, would figure prominently in each book in the series.

This first entry involves someone who is killing off the cops in the precinct.. I have to say I found the story somewhat dated and lackluster. However, I often find the first book in a crime series to be a little lacking. (I probably would not have continued with the Rebus series if the first Rebus book I read was the first entry in the series). So I will probably read a few more from this series.

2 1/2 stars

>244 arubabookwoman: The parallel between the first and the last line is fascinating, as if the books had done a revolution (as in "a planet revolution") and came back to its initial point.

>255 raton-liseur: Yes it is an interesting parallel, and obviously deliberate. I did not even notice it until I typed my review.

I think I can do a few more reviews today.

Next one is a library book from an Australian crime novelist I like.

76. Iron Rose by Peter Temple (1998) 320 pp

Mac is a blacksmith in a small town outside Melbourne. In a past life he had been a detective, mostly drug crimes, but he has put all that behind him. When the novel opens, he learns that his good friend Ned has died, an apparent suicide. Certain things, not the least of which is the fact that no one who knew Ned believed he would have killed himself, raise Mac's suspicions and lead him to investigate. When he learns that Ned had a connection with a home for wayward girls, and that shortly after Ned's death another person connected with that home also commits suicide, we're off to the races.

This is a decent crime novel, and is very well-written, though at times I was a little confused by the complex plot. I would recommend the book, though I liked his more well-known (and Miles Franklin winner) The Broken Shore more. There were a couple of things I could have done without in the book. Mac plays recreational football/soccer, and there were long, play-by-play description of 2 (maybe 3?) of his weekend games. I guess they fleshed Mac out, but I found them extraneous. And about half way through the book Mac begins a love affair with the wife of a wealthy client that seemingly comes out of nowhere (even though he had been engaging in a flirtation with his female assistant throughout). But otherwise a good read.

3 stars

First line: "'Mac,' the voice said. 'Ned's dead.'"

Last line: 'C'mon Mac,' Flannery shouted. 'Got to sing the tam song. Got to learn it first.'"

Library Book

77. Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka (2022) 320 pp

As the novel opens, convicted serial killer Ansel Packer is awakening on the morning of his execution day, although he hopes he will not actually lose his life if the plans for escape he has made with prison guard Shawna are successful. As the novel proceeds, chapters delineating Ansel's last day hour by hour alternate with chapters telling the story of his life, each from the point of view of a woman who has played an important part in his life. These women include Lavender, Ansel's mother, Saffy, a foster child who was fostered in the same home in which Ansel was fostered, (and who grows up to b come the detective obsessed with tracking down the serial killer we know Ansel to be), and Hazel, sister of Ansel's wife. This was a unique and interesting method to narrate Ansel's story.

I did have some problems with the book. There was a lot of "woo-woo" stuff about alternate universes depending on what choices were made at any particular juncture. The stories about the lives the victims might have had if they had not been murdered, for example. This just didn't seem to fit in an otherwise straight crime novel.

And SPOILERISH: Major coincidence in having the detective be a childhood friend who just happens to recognize the ring being worn by Ansel's fiancé had belonged to another foster child in the home she and Ansel were in. Worse, despite this being such a major clue, Saffy's superiors dismiss it.

But I liked the book to check another book by the same author from the library and read it.l

2 1/2 stars

First line: "You are a fingerprint."
Last line: "You'll see. It's good here."

Library Book
I knew Paula Fox as a YA/Children's Author, having read my kids her book One-Eyed Cat. Turn's out she's also a well-regarded author of adult novels.

78. Desperate Characters by Paula Fox (1970) 180 pp

"...she was still smiling as the cat reared up on its hind legs, even as at struck at her with extended claws, smiling right up to that second when it sunk its teeth into the back of her left hand and hung from her flesh so that she nearly fell forward, stunned and horrified...."

Otto and Sophie Bentwood live in a gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood. Otto is in the process of dissolving his longtime law partnership with Charlie Russell. Cracks are beginning to show in Otto and Sophie's marriage, and outside, all around are signs that civil society is falling apart.

One evening after dinner, Sophie gives a saucer of milk to a stray cat on their back porch. As she bends down to pet the cat, it viciously bites her. Over the next three days she ponders, Will she get rabies and die? or Will nothing happen? Sophies ambivalence was said, by Jonathan Franzen in the forward to the edition I read, to resemble Hamlet, a "morbidly self-conscious character who receives a disturbing and ambiguous message, undergoes torments while trying to decide what the message means...." Over the three days as Sophie tries to decide what to do, then waits test results, the book builds enormous suspense. I found the writing to be exquisite, and I underlined many phrases. (I will probably put a few at the end of this review). I will definitely be searching for more to read by Paula Fox

4 1/2 stars

Incidentally David Foster Wallace called this book "A towering landmark of postwar Realism." And Jonathan Franzen says this book and Fox are better than her contemporaries Updike, Roth, and Bellow.

First line: "Mr. and Mrs. Otto Bentwood drew out their chairs simultaneously."

Last lines: "The voice from the telephone went on and on like gas leaking from a pipe. Sophie and Otto had ceased to listen. Her arms fell away from his shoulders as they both turned slowly to the wall, turned until they could both see the ink running down to the floor in black lines...."

Here are a few more quotes:

"What the owners on the street lusted after was recognition of their superior comprehension of what counted in this world, and their strategy for getting it combined restraint and direction."

"All around them were official buildings, with the peculiarly threatening character. of large carnivorous animals momentarily asleep."

Otto and Charlie were like "smiling people in a swimming pool, kicking each other under water."

"She had only recently realized that one was old for a very ong time."

This was the second in The White Arrest Trilogy, the first 3 books in the Brant series.

79. Taming the Alien by Ken Bruen

In this entry to the series a criminal known as the Alien, has just been released from jail. He still pines after his ex-wife who has remarried and moved to America. So the Alien takes off for America to find her and murder her. Sergeant Brant is assigned to find the alien and bring him back. The book allows Bruen to get in some digs about the differences between America and Britain.

3 stars

Library Book
Final book of the White Arrest Trilogy

80. The McDead by Ken Bruen

In this one, Chief Inspector Roberts's brother has been murdered, and he know who did it. However, he doesn't want to go through regular police channels to catch the culprit. In addition, there is a new female constable who has reason to seek revenge on constable MacDonald.

3 stars

Library Book
Last read of August

81. Subdivision by J. Robert Lennon (2021) 241 pp

This book is a puzzle. I couldn't tell you what it means to convey, but somehow I liked it.

The unnamed narrator (a young woman it seems) has arrived in the subdivision seemingly to start a new life. She takes a room at the guest house run by two older women, Clara and the Judge. However, both women are named Clara and both are retired judges, so our narrator is never sure which woman is Clara and which the Judge.

Besides constantly urging the narrator to work on the puzzle (which is constantly changing), Clara and the Judge give her a hand-drawn map of the subdivision as well as leads on how to find permanent housing and a job. The road to the city is blocked off. On her first day exploring, the narrator purchases an Alexa-like device. named Cylvia, which provides advice and assistance and which is constantly mutating. She also comes across the bakemono, a sort of shape-shifting demon who will be a threatening feature through-out. Cylvia helpfully warns her, "You must not fornicate with the bakemono."

The NYT described this as an "enigma packed with miniature mysteries." I don't usually like novels that are dream-like and feature seemingly pointless journeys, but I did quite like this one, and I'm still trying to figure out why.

3 1/2 stars

And believe it or not, I'm not up to September in my reviews.

September
Off my shelf

82. Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman

Despite having heard of this books for a very long time (and despite being a frequent reader of Holocaust literature), I had never read these books, primarily I think because I am not generally a fan of graphic novels/memoirs etc., although I did break down in the last few years to read Alison Bechdel's memoir (and gave it 5 stars). So early this year, when the news story broke about certain school districts banning these books (I believe because some of the pictures include naked people or there's a picture showing his mother's breast or something like that), I decided to support the author by purchasing the books. I ordered them from Amazon, but I guess a lot of people had the same idea as me, and they were unavailable and on back order for 3 or 4 months. I think I finally received them in May or June, and they were my first read of September.

The books are obviously very moving. What interested me, and I hadn't realized this was a focus of the books, was how much of the books were devoted to the trauma and stress of the survivors and their descendants, the aftereffects of the Holocaust, rather than to the experience of the Holocaust itself (although that of course features prominently). I will say that as important and relevant as these books are, they did not convert me into a fan of the graphic book genre. Still, if you are among the few who have not already read these books, I recommend them.

4 stars

Library Book
I checked this out after reading Notes on an Execution

83. Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka (2017) 366 pp

This is a psychological thriller focusing on three characters, Cameron, Jade, and Russ. Cameron is an awkward 15 year old who adored Lucinda, the murdered "girl in the snow." He worshiped her from afar, and could perhaps even be described as Lucinda's stalker. After Lucinda's deaths, some of his actions become known, and he finds himself a murder suspect.

Jade is a 17 year old Goth girl, also an outsider. She has reasons to hate Lucinda, but she also has knowledge that Cameron was not the murderer. Russ is the policeman who is investigating the murder. He is the former partner of Cameron's father who had been involved in a huge police scandal years before and who is no longer in the picture.

The characters in this novel are very well-drawn. Then plotting is very good and plausible, although the discovery of the murderer and solving of the crime were not particularly original or surprising, which may be a good thing.

3 stars

Library Book.

84. When the Moon Turns To Blood by Leah Sottile (2022) 320 pp

Subtitle: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and a Story of Murder, Wild Faith and End Times

What "line is there between 'talking with God' and just plain psychotic, schizophrenic raving with the voices in your head?" Amazon Reviewer

Lori Vallow and her new husband, former lover, Chad Daybell, murdered her two children Tylee and JJ. They were also probably responsible for the murders of Lori's ex-husband and Chad's wife. Their trials have not yet occurred.

While this book is a true crime exposition, it is also a deep dive into the fundamentalist cults and the various conspiracy theories they espouse, particularly those sprouting from the LDS sects who are awaiting for the end of the world. I found myself fascinated by this culture and the "visionaries" leading these cults who evoke such irrational beliefs and inspire such loyalty.

3 stars

Paula Fox is indeed great. Did you know she was Courtney Love's grandma? Sorry, ever since that tidbit of trivia lodged in my mind it WILL pop up when her name's mentioned...

About Ed McBain... I too picked him up because the 87th Precinct books are such an institution, but the sexism chased me away after a second book. Years later I tried a couple other with the same result (I finished them but lost appetite for more). However, this is to note that even should you decide he's not for you, it may still be worthwhile to check out He Who Hesitates, which I found to transcend the genre. It's very short, more of an experimental character study than a murder mystery, with a great rhythm to the storytelling.

I've also heard that McBain had written a now prescient-seeming novel about Trumpist-like characters who plot to wage a war of their own on communism, The Sentries.

2022 Purchases

To continue the list of 2022 purchases begun in >138 arubabookwoman:, >155 arubabookwoman: and >200 arubabookwoman::

148.Devdas and Other Stories by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee
149. The Bright Book of Life by Harold Bloom
150. The God of Nightmares by Paula Fox
151. Gypsies by Robert Charles Wilson
152. The Mugger by Ed McBain
153. Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner
154. The Dark by Emma Haughton
155. The Loop by Joe Coomer
156. Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
157. The Grandmothers by Doris Lessing
158. Dear Life by Rachel Clarke
159. Bag Man by Rachel Maddow
160. Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi
161. Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata
162. Demon in my View by Ruth Rendell
163. Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk
164. There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura
165. Happy Policeman by Patricia Anthony
166. Cold Allies by Patricia Anthony
167. Brother Termite by Patricia ANthony
168. Winds of War by Herman Wouk
169. US: A Novel by David Nicholls
170. Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
171. Water Over Stones by Bernardo Atxaga
172. The Green Knight by Iris Murdoch
173. Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oates
174. Rough Treatment by John Harvey
175. Cutting Edge by John Harvey
176. Off Minor by John Harvey
177. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
178. Valmouth by Ronald Firbank
179. The Prank of the Good Little Virgin of Via Ormea by Amara Lakhous
180. Jezebel's Daughter by Wilkie Collins
181. The Undertaking by Audrey Magee}
182. The Disappearance of Josef Mengele by Olivier Guez
183. Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
184. Voices of the Lost by Hoda Barakat
185. Doppelganger by Drndic Dasa

>266 arubabookwoman: What an interesting haul!

You've really been busy lately!

>247 arubabookwoman: I like the sound of this. I would like to know some of the reasons behind wearing the same garments over and over. Is it comfort; or the idea of a uniform which helps put you in the frame of mind for the work; is there some idea of I'm an X, so I should be wearing this outfit. Is it because I have had success with this outfit in the past, so it is "lucky", a sort of superstition? More prosaically, is it just because those garments work for whatever the artist is engaged with?

I notice architects often do the same, as do landscape people, who are artists of a different kind.

Added to my list.

>248 arubabookwoman: Sounds like another winner. Did Graff spend much time on how the way Watergate is perceived may have changed in recent years?

>261 arubabookwoman: This sounds like something Margaret Atwood could work with.

>266 arubabookwoman: Well, apparently I am not the only one who cannot stop buying books :)

>264 arubabookwoman: I went through a phase when I read a lot of books about Fundamentalist cults (both memoirs and true crime books). Some of them still give me chills just by thinking about them. While I am all of everyone making their own choice in how to live and what to believe in, these make me wonder if I should be that tolerant...

>263 arubabookwoman: And yet another author who I had never heard of but probably should check.

>258 arubabookwoman: Sigh... See above.:)

>256 arubabookwoman: Temple turned into one of my favorite writers are a few years ago. And then I ran out of novels. I still have his stories to read and I am still keeping them for a rainy day). For some reason he appears to be so underappreciated usually.

And some other interesting things above... :) You had been reading interesting things.

Great reading! I'm interested in What Artists Wear now... that blurb, "a kind of punk cousin to John Berger's Ways of Seeing," got me. I'll keep an eye out for it. And though Desperate Characters has been on my radar for ages, I still haven't read it. I should fix that.

>248 arubabookwoman: I'm just catching up with the tread posts I missed during my recent vacation. The Watergate book looks interesting, indeed! I read a collection of essays and articles by the excellent investigative journalist and media critic, Renata Adler, several years back. The collection included two pieces on Watergate. Adler had sat down and gone through all of the testimony and all of the background evidentiary reports and concluded that what Nixon and his team were really so desperately trying to keep hidden was their treasonous negotiations with the North Vietnamese that resulted in prolonging the American involvement in the Vietnam War for years. Does Graff talk about that much?

I felt so proud of myself at my last appearance here more than a month ago for bringing my reviews up to September. I felt sure I would continue apace and soon catch up. Alas, I am again woefully behind. I still intend (or at least hope to) write at least some comments for every book I read this year--primarily because it helps me remember them better, even if the only thing I remember is what I've written. I may not be successful because we have some challenges ahead (mostly moving) as related below in Life Update.

Life Update: I spent a lot of time over the past few months making a quilt for our 6th and newest grandchild who arrived October 25 at 11:30 p.m. not waiting another half an hour or so to arrive on my birthday. But I'll forgive this beautiful little girl who bears the lovely name Flora Jane.
In late October we traveled to Austin to visit my mother who is having health issues (more than normal). It was my husband's first travel since before his transplant (not counting our move to Florida), but he hadn't seen her since the transplant and really wanted to visit. Then I went to Houston to visit with our daughter and her family, and also to go to the big quilt show there. I hadn't been for the last three years (mostly due to covid), and it was a bit smaller than it has been in past years, but still quite an experience.
I came home for 2 days for husband's photopheresis treatment, and then we were off to NYC to visit Flora. I spent most of my time holding her, and not doing much else other than cooking to help out the new parents. Finally we're back at home.
No time to relax though, because we have decided to sell the condo. I think we knew fairly soon after moving in that condo living was not for us, but living on the beach has always been a dream. The epic views and fabulous sunsets are compelling, and will be hard to leave. But we both (and especially our dog) need a yard. And there has been the whole mess that many (most? all?) Forida beachfront condos are now experiencing of playing catchup after having ignored necessary maintenance for years to keep fees low. We've learned that maintenance of an oceanfront building is almost like maintaining a sea-going vessel--it's a constant process. Now after the Surfside condo collapse in Miami the Florida legislature (and mortgage companies and insurance companies) are putting in more stringent requirements on condo associations to remedy this neglectful practices. The board at our condo association was fortunately very proactive and within two weeks of the Surfside collapse had a structural engineer perform a thorough evaluation of our building. (Many condos around here are still trying to find a structural engineer with time). Our condo has been working through the recommended renovations and repairs for the last year plus, and it's been a noisy and dirty process. Not to mention expensive, as we've had to pay 3 special assessments which were not in our retirement budget.
Fortunately, according to our real estate agent, the condo has more than held its value. However, in order to prepare for putting it on the market after the first of the year, I'm having to pack away all my books again, and my quilt studio and all my fabric. This is making me a bit depressed, because my books and my fabric stuff were all packed away for more than 2 years during the transplant (when we lived in an apartment) and the move to Florida. I can maybe see why real estate agents/stagers might find it difficult to sell a place with one room stuffed with quilting stuff, but I don't understand why they thing it's difficult to sell a place with full bookshelves. I only hope my book and fabric deprivation lasts a much shorter time during this sale.
Right now it's our plan to buy a house closer to our son and the Moffitt Center (both an hour plus away from where we are now). Since I haven't really taken to Florida, I'm occasionally dreaming of moving to the Hudson Valley though. This is probably not too realistic for a few reasons: health care for my husband would probably entail a trip into NYC; not sure how we'd do in the cold--Seattle was never very cold; fears that being 2-3 hours from the closest kid is too far away as we age.
Well, enough about all this. On to visitors:

>265 LolaWalser: I didn't know that about the Courtney Love/Paula Fox connection. Now I will think about this every time I catch a reference to either of them or to Kurt Cobain. I haven't read any more by McBain--just not appealing. I did read my first Maigret, and I will be reading more.

>267 Dilara86: Yes my purchases are all over the place. They are mostly instigated by Kindle cheap deals and/or LT recommendations.

>268 SassyLassy: It seemed like artists had a variety of reasons for doing this, but often it did seem that they either viewed the way they dressed as a work uniform or they wanted to be readily identifiable. My husband is an architect and he is very particular about how he dresses, but he is not particularly creative about it--more of a uniform. Re the Watergate book, there were discussions about the changing perceptions of Watergate, as well as a lot of new information (which I wasn't expecting).

>269 AnnieMod: I had never heard from of Danya Kukafka either, but I've since read an earlier book by her and it was also a decent stand-alone crime novel. I had heard of Paula Fox, but only as a children's author. I will now look for more of her adult fiction.

>270 lisapeet: I like that blurb about What Artists Wear--it's apt. And I definitely recommend that you get to Paula Fox.

>271 rocketjk: Renata Adler was correct, at least according to this book. The Watergate crime (and much of the "dirty tricks" Nixon engaged in) began as a coverup to his treasonous interference in the Vietnam peace talks. As they say, it's always the coverup....

On to reviews. Still in September

Library Book:

85. Ammunition by Ken Bruen (2007) 240 pp

"The past was not so much another country as a minefield of horror."

I wasn't very impressed with the first Inspector Brant novel I read, but now that I've completed the series, it grew on me and I can highly recommend it.

In this one, Brant is shot in the opening scene, and his colleagues from the Met rush to the hospital. Will he survive? Some are hoping not. When they call his (former) wife to notify her:

"...she cut him off with:
'Is he dead?'
'No, thank God...'
'Call me when he is.'
"Click.
"Stunned Roberts stared at the phone. Porter was hovering, asked:
"'How did she take it?'
'Real well. She sounded like she won the lottery.'"

And of course since the shooter didn't succeed, everyone knows there will be another attempt.

Most of the usual characters are here, including the villainess the Vixen, but there are some new characters too, including an American on loan from the Homeland Secuirity department to help the Brits prevent terrorist attacks whose methods prove to be too much for even this gang of misfits.

This appears to be the last in the series. Since it was published in 2007, it doesn't look like there will be additional entries, even though this one ended rather abruptly with the fate of one or more of the characters up in the air. But we can always hope.

4 stars (for the series)

First line: "Brant was on this third whiskey, knocking it back like a good un."

Last line: "'What's a girl gotta do to get a drink around here?'"

Library Book

86. Vortex by Robert Charles Wilson (2011) 401 pp

This third volume in the Spin Trilogy features Turk Findlay of the second volume. The story takes place over two widely separated time lines. In one of the narratives, it is 10,000 years in the future after the events in Axis, the second volume. Turk, who had been transported by the Hypotheticals, is returned to Earth/Equatoria. He is picked up by the Vox, a civilization living on a group of wandering islands who believe that those who are returned from the Hypotheticals are deities or messiahs of a sort. The Vox are maneuvering their islands to a place they think the Hypotheticals are waiting for them. On meeting up with the Hypotheticals, they expect to experience something akin to the Rapture. Turk is not too sure the Hypotheticals are benevolent, however.

In the alternating storyline, set in a time somewhat contemporaneous with the time Turk was taken up by the Hypotheticals. Orrin Mather, a young vagrant is taken into custody by the authorities in a future dystopian Houston. Orrin keeps dreaming the story of a man named Turk, and he keeps writing the story down. We read Turk's story, as Orrin dreams it and writes it down.

I liked this novel the least of the three in the trilogy. I ended up not reading it that closely, just reading to get through it and see what happened and how it all ended.

Library Book

I checked this out because I loved her first novel, The Last Samurai, which was written and I read years ago, but hadn't seen anything by her since.

87. The English Understand Wool by Helen De Witt (2022) 61 pp

As I said, I picked this up because I loved her novel The Last Samurai. This turned out to be very short, more of a short story even, rather than a novella. But it is nevertheless very good.

The story is narrated by a young girl who we learn has been engaged to write a memoir. We learn the reasons she has been asked to write a memoir at such a young age over the course of the story. From the beginning we learn that she has had an unconventional upbringing in Marrakech. She has lived a fabulously wealthy lifestyle, frequently traveling, staying only in the best hotels (Claridges in London, Georges V in Paris), where the best pianos are placed in their suite so she can keep up with her piano lessons. The title refers to the trips to the Hebrides to purchase the handwoven tweeds for the tailor in London. (Linen must come from Ireland, silk from Thailand). It's all a pleasant frolic as the young narrator outwits those surrounding her who are trying to take advantage.

Recommended.
3 1//2 stars

Library Book

88. The Weekend by Charlotte Wood (2020) 272 pp

Three elderly friends have gathered over a weekend before Christmas at the beach house owned by their recently deceased friend Sylvie. Sylvie''s partner has asked them to clear the cottage in preparation for its sale.

The friends are so different it's difficult to see how their apparently life-long friendship has flourished. There's Adele, an aging and somewhat vain actress who now in her old age is having a difficult time finding parts. She is suffering financially, and relies on the kindness of her friends to get by. Jude is a practical, take-charge, officious, and somewhat overbearing restaurant owner. She is waiting to spend a week with her long-time married lover, and only in his presence does she feel alive. Wendy is a widowed former hippy and current college professor and well-known public intellectual. Nevertheless she cowers in the face of Jude's disapproval of her sloppiness. Against Jude's wishes she has brought her elderly dog Finn with her, a dog whose senility and physical ailments Wendy is refusing to acknowledge.

I thought I would enjoy this book much more than I did. I thought that there was an overemphasis on the litany of crud these ladies had to go through in the laundry room, pantry, etc. I became a bit bored. No treasures here. And I read that the author did some research in order to write about older women and get into the heads of her characters. I was expecting lots of musing of the philosophical issues we tend to come to consider as we get older--What's it all about? Is this all there is? etc. Instead there was lots about creaky knees and whether I can get up off the floor without groaning. A bit of that sort of thing is true to life, but this was a bit too prevalent.

So, it was an okay book, but not one I'd necessarily recommend.

2 1/2 stars

Library Book

I read Monica Ali's first book Brick Lane may years ago and loved it, but I was much younger then. Still, I picked this one up because of good reviews:

89. Love Marriage by Monica Ali (2022) 429 pp

When the book opens, Yasmin and Joseph, two young doctors are engaged to be married. Yasmin is worried because she is bringing her parents, very old-fashioned Indian Muslims, to meet Joseph's mother, a radical feminist and public intellectual. Despite her worries, the parents hit it off, but over the next six months before the wedding there are many unexpected changes in family dynamics and events in the lives of the characters, and we are kept wondering through-out whether the wedding will come off.

This is the story of a young man and woman finding their way in life, and a lovely family drama, with lots of humor thrown in. There is also a bit of a "clash of cultures" story here, though not necessarily the cultures you might think of from my description. As in any good novel, by the end, everyone is changed, and you feel you really know these characters.

Recommended.
3 1/2 stars

Irked. I just wrote a whole review for this next book and LT ate it. Have to write it again.

I read about this while reading the prior book by Monica Ali and the premise intrigued, so I checked it out of the library.

Library Book.

90. Untold Story by Monica Ali (2011) 290 pp

This book is introduced as a "fairy tale" of what might have happened if Princess Diana hadn't died that August night in Paris. It imagines the kind of life Diana might have had if, fed up with the paparazzi, she faked her death and disappeared into an anonymous life in obscurity.

So here we have the story of Lydia, a British woman living in a small midwestern (American) town. She lives a quiet life, volunteering at an animal shelter. She has a small group of friends and even a boyfriend. She mostly dresses in jeans and a tee shirt. She is reticent about her past, and most people who know her assume she has escaped from an abusive ex-spouse or relationship.

When I learned what the book was about I wanted to read it to see whether Ali could make Diana's decision to fake her death plausible and whether her afterlife felt real. While to a certain extent I enjoyed reading about the simple life Ali invented for Diana, I can't say she was successful in making Diana's decision to go this route plausible or credible. We all know (or think we do based on what we read in the media) how much Diana adored her boys and doted on then. The book did not make me believe that Diana would have taken this step after which she would never again see or communicate with her boys, a step in which they would believe she had died and she could never tell them she was still alive. (Or even imagine what the boys would feel if in later life they learned she really wasn't dead, it was just a ruse, she abandoned them.)

And then there is the implausible coincidence of a paparazzi who had stalked Diana for years stopping by this small midwestern town, and recognizing a streak in one of her eyes (she had had plastic surgery on her other features). Again, I couldn't accept it. Nor could I accept how it all ended.

So, not a book to recommend.

2 stars

First line: "Some stories are never meant to be told. Some can only be told as fairy tales."
Last line: "She plunged in and swam in the dark, and she was swimming away and toward and she saw Lawrence in the rowboat, the dream of his bald head, bobbing up and down and she raised an arm and waved at him, and he disappeared but she swam on."

This book, written in 1958, seems more pertinent than ever after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Library Book

91. Daddy's Gone A-Hunting by Penelope Mortimer (1958) 263 pp

"My personhood was erased and overwritten with MOTHER before I even knew who I was."

Ruth is a sad and desperate housewife in suburban London. Her overbearing and cruel husband Rex works in the city and is home only on the weekends for the neighborly rounds of cocktail parties and Sunday brunches. Their boys are away at boarding school and their daughter Angela is in her first year at Oxford. As I began this sad story of Ruth's lonely life, I was immediately reminded of the lives of the women Betty Friedan described in her ground-breaking book The Feminine Mystique.

Then Angela comes home to tell her mother she is pregnant. Ruth is immediately thrown back to her own youth and her own unwanted pregnancy (with Angela), which led to her marriage to Rex. She doesn't want her daughter to experience the same lack of choices and the consequences that she did. And so the quest for a safe abortion for Angela begins, a not so easy task in the 1950's when abortion was illegal in England (and probably most other countries).

The emphasis on the plight of the 50's housewife is beautifully written. The book explores loneliness, isolation, and mental health (not to mention reproductive rights). Although the book is more than 60 years old, it felt very relevant to me.

Recommended.
3 1/2 stars

First Line: "Ruth Whiting stepped out of the high train directly it stopped."

Last line: "Avoiding the carelessly abandoned bicycles, the gum boots, she went into the house."