Aruba Uproots Her Roots

I've done some mammoth book buying since I joined LT in 2009, and reviewing my library I find I am approaching 1500 unread books on my shelves. Obviously more than a one year project. This year I hope to remove at least 50 of the books I purchased in 2013 or before. I'm also going to make it a goal to take a hard look at some of my older TBRs to see if I can bear to get rid of any that I no longer have any interest in reading. (If I manage to give any away, they will not be included toward my ROOT goal, and are mere lagniappe) And to keep me honest, I will try to use this thread to track my purchases. My goal for purchases is to keep them to less than the number I purchased in 2014, which still gives me substantial leeway.

A skimming estimate indicates the following numbers of TBRs from the indicated years:

2013--491
2012--183
2011--160
2010--80
2009--134
Pre-2009--251

1st Quarter

JANUARY

1. The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers--purchased 2011
2. Pather Panchali by Bibhutibhushan Banerji--purchased 2010
3. Mysterium by Robert Charles Wilson--purchased 2013
4. Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley --purchased 2007
5. When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro--purchased 2003
6. The Maquisarde by Louise Marley--purchased 2004

2nd quarter

3rd quarter

4th quarter

Now to figure out how to do a ticker.




ETA YAY! I did it!

Good luck with your ROOTs goal. Just how many books did you buy in 2014?

Welcome aboard and good luck!

Good luck with your rooting!

Thank you for the welcomes, familyhistorian, rabbitprincess and tess_schoolmarm.

In 2014 (so far, but I don't anticipate any further buying this year), I bought or otherwise acquired 271 books, so I have plenty of leeway for 2015 buying and still being able to meet my goal. I tend to buy a lot of books in January/February (last year due to an LT meetup at Powell's books in Portland). Of the books I acquired in 2014 I've probably read about 35% of them.

>>10 arubabookwoman: looks like you have your work cut out for you.
We're here to cheer you along!

Thank you Cyderry

I've completed my first ROOT: The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers, purchased in 2011.

Comments from my 75 thread:

A perfect portrait of what it's like to be 13. Frankie (or F. Jasmine, as she refers to herself) wants to be anywhere but where she is. Where she is is mostly in the kitchen with her young cousin John Henry and Berenice, cook and soulmate, as they while away the hot August afternoons exchanging stories and dreams. Frankie's brother is getting married in a week, and Frankie has decided that she will be leaving town forever with her brother and his new bride after the wedding. We join her as she takes a farewell walk around her town, where she puts herself in more peril than she realizes.

I am awed by how beautifully McCullers conveys Frankie's spirit--her sense of herself as worldly, yet her actual total and absolute naivete. Frankie's yearning to belong, to be a "member" of anything---ah--the memories McCullers evokes of being 13. A simply amazing book.

5 stars

Some quotes from the book that particularly struck me:

First sentence:

"It happened that green and crazy summer when Frankie was twelve years old. This was the summer when for a long time she had not been a member."

Um--Can anyone tell me how to move my ticket counter go from 0 to 1?

Just click on the ticker and it will take you to the site, you will have to put in your password and about 2 lines below that is an "add" icon, click on that and put in 1.

Welcome and happy ROOTing!

Congrats on your first success. I'll be finishing my first one today or tomorrow.

Good luck with your 2015 challenge Aruba. And yes, congrats on having one on the boards already. I have yet to begin one though I have read one lonely book this year. Speaking of which: Happy New Year!

Good luck Aruba. Happy ROOTing

Thank you Tess--schoolmarm--now we will see if I can remember my password! :)

And hello to Miss Watson, JackieCarrol, Belva, and Connie--Thanks for visiting and good luck to you all too.

My January report--6 of the 9 books I completed qualify as ROOTs by my definition (purchased in 2013 or before). See the books listed in message 2 above. Two of the books were in fact purchased more than 10 years ago, so I am glad to be rid of those.

I review (or at least comment on) all the books I read on my 75 group thread. I am happy to copy and paste the reviews over here, as I did for the first book I read at message 12, if anyone wants me to. If you're interested, pipe up.

>19 arubabookwoman: it's always fun to see other people's opinions on books! Though we'll have to be careful of BB (book bullets) if you start posting comments ;)

Congrats on your progress!

I only read 5 books in February, only three of which were ROOTS (All Dogs Are Blue and An Unnecessary Woman were both purchased in 2014 and don't count as ROOTS under my definition. So I am only adding 3 books to the counter.

>20 avanders: I'm herewith pasting my comments on the books read so far. Thanks for the congratulations, Avanders!

When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro (purchased 2003)

I have read most of Ishiguro's books, but the only one I loved and have no hesitation in recommending to anyone is The Remains of the Day. Unfortunately When We Were Orphans is another of his books I didn't really connect with.

When the novel opens, Christopher Banks is about 10, and enjoying an idyllic childhood in early 20th century Shanghai. I enjoyed the descriptions of his boyhood escapades with his Japanese friend from next door, and the lives of the ex-pat community in this exotic city. There is an undercurrent of darkness, however, as Christopher's father works for a British firm importing opium and Christopher's mother is active in a group opposing opium. Christopher's world is abruptly changed when first his father and then his mother disappear. Despite intensive police investigation, no clues are found. An oddly unemotional Christopher is sent to England to live with a distant aunt.

We next meet Christopher when he is a young adult making his way in London society, and hoping to become a great and world-renowned detective. It was at this point that the book began to grate on me--it seemed aimless, meandering and illogical. One thing that particularly bothered me was that Christopher, a 30-something bachelor, basically on a whim and on the spur of the moment adopts and becomes the guardian of a 13 year old girl.

Despite the fact that more than 25 years have passed without any clue about the disappearance of his parents, Christopher believes, based on his study of various vague documents, that his parents are still alive, and that he knows precisely where they are. He heads for Shanghai--it is 1937, and the Japanese have surrounded the city. Here is where I really began to dislike the book. Christopher begins a nightmarish, hallucinatory odyssey through the ruins of Shanghai, trying to get to the place he thinks his parents are being held. Here's a sample of the writing, as Christopher, stumbling through the ruins of Shanghai, comes across a Chinese army officer and asks for some guides (sorry for the long quote):

"' Particularly with all this fighting going on, my parents shouldn't be left in that house a moment longer than necessary. May I suggest we take these men here with us? Then if Japanese soldiers set upon us, we'd be much the stronger.'
'As the commanding officer here, I cannot possibly sanction such an idea, Mr. Banks. If these men leave their position, the headquarters would become entirely vulnerable. Besides, I will be putting the men's lives at needless risk.'
I gave a sigh of exasperation. 'I must say, Lieutenant, it was pretty sloppy work on the part of your men to have allowed the Japanese in behind your line. If all your people had been doing their jobs properly, I'm sure such a thing would never have arisen.'
'My men have fought with commendable bravery, Mr. Banks. It is hardly their fault that your mission is, for the time being, inconvenienced.'
'What do you mean by that, Lieutenant? What are you implying?'
'Please calm yourself, Mr. Banks. I am merely pointing out it is not the fault of my men if ...'
'Then whose fault is it, sir? I realize what you're implying! Oh yes! I know you've been thinking it for some time now. I was wondering when you'd finally come out with it.'
'Sir, I have no idea what...'
'I know full well what you've been thinking all this time, Lieutenant. You believe this is all my fault, all this, all of it, all this terrible suffering, this destruction here, I could see it in your face when we were walking through it all just now. But that's because you know nothing, practically nothing, sir, concerning this matter. You may well know a thing or two about fighting, but let me tell you it's quite another thing to solve a complicated case of this kind. You obviously haven't the slightest idea of what's involved. Such things take time, sir. A case like this one, it requires great delicacy. I suppose you imagine you can just rush at it with bayonets and rifles, do you? It's taken time, I accept that, but that's in the very nature of a case like this. But I don't know why I bother to say all this. What would you understand about it, a simple soldier?'
'Mr. Banks, there is no need for us to quarrel. I have only the most sincere good wishes for your success. I am simply telling you what is possible...'
'I'm getting less and less interested in your idea of what is and isn't possible, Lieutenant. If I may say so, you're hardly a good advertisement for the Chinese army. Do I take it you're now going back on your word? That you're unwilling to accompany me beyond this point? I take it that's so. I'm to be left to carry out this difficult task by myself. Very well, I shall do so! I shall raid the house single-handed!'
'I think, sir, you should calm yourself before saying anything more.'
'And one more thing, sir! You can safely assume I will no longer be mentioning you by name at the Jessfield Park celebration. At least if I do, it will not be in a complimentary light...'"

(The celebration in Jessfield Park has been planned for when Christopher returns triumphantly with his parents.)

The long passage quoted typifies the encounters Christopher has during his nightmarish journey through wartime Shanhai, during which time he also meets and accompanies, among others, his childhood Japanese friend, now a Japanese soldier.

After I finished the book, I could see that as a novel, at least in symbolic and surreal terms, it works. I'm able to recognize that to be successful, a novel doesn't have to be logical, make sense, or feel real. I guess the problem is that my personal preferences don't include the hallucinatory or surreal.

2 1/2 stars

Pather Panchali by Bibhutibhushan Banerji purchased 2010

This Bengali classic, basis for the famous movie of the same name, is the portrayal of the day-to-day life in an impoverished village at the turn of the 20th century as seen through the eyes of a young boy, Opu, and his adored older sister Durga.

In the forward to the edition I read, the translator states:

"Tagore... Presents village life nostalgically as an ideal condition which the modern age is fast losing. In Pather Panchali the village is not idealized; it is not explained or commented on; it is presented as it is, objectively at times, but more often subjectively, by the people who live in it, and more particularly by the two children. There is little formal description. It is not necessary to describe the things one lives with every day; one knows them, as the reader comes to know the village of Nishchindipur, through familiarity."

The novel is episodic; sometimes just an hour has elapsed between chapters, sometimes years. I was fascinated to learn, reading between the lines, what it meant to be of the Brahmin caste in India at that time. Opu's family is Brahmin, but very poor. Their father is a scholar, and earns small amounts infrequently providing his services at religious or other ceremonial events. Most of the time, the family is hungry, and their ramshackle dwelling is falling apart around them. Nevertheless, their Brahmin status gives them certain privileges and status. Again, the poverty and circumstances of Opu's life are just givens--this is not a social document, just the life of one small boy.

Here's a taste of the tone of the book. Opu has been reading in one of his father's ancient volumes a description of the properties of mercury:

"If you put some Mercury in a vulture's egg and leave it in the sun for a few days, and then hold it in the mouth, you can fly high in the sky.
"Opu could not believe his eyes. He read the passage again and again.....
"Astonishing! It was so easy to fly and yet nobody knew about it. Perhaps nobody had a copy of this book except his father. Or it might be that all this time nobody's eye except his own had lighted on this particular place in the book.
"He thrust his nose in the book again and smelt it. That same old smell. It never occurred to him to question the truth of what was written in such a book."

Highly recommended. 5 stars

The Maquisarde by Louise Marley purchased 2004

This novel is set in the future, when the world is divided by the Line of Partition, with the "haves" on the "civilized" side of the line (mostly North America and Europe) and the rest of the world on the other side. A large corporate entity, InCo, runs the privileged countries, and allows no interaction, including aid, to the underprivileged parts of the world.
Edriel, a talented musician, lives in Paris on the "good" side of the line largely oblivious to the inequities of the world until the day her husband and daughter are killed by an alleged terrorist attack. She soon comes to believe that in fact InCo, rather than terrorists, are responsible for their deaths, and vows revenge.
She joins a resistance group known as the Chain, and here's where the novel parts ways with more typical futuristic good guys v. bad guys shoot-em-up. The Chain devotes its efforts to rescuing children in peril on the wrong side of the Line, bringing them to its headquarters in a former space hotel orbiting Earth. The children are trained as leaders and then returned to their former countries.
Edriel goes along with these rescues, while planning her own revenge against InCo. The focus of the book is actually Edriel's inner journey to the realization that violent revenge is not the answer. I liked that the focus of the book was not, as in so many books like this, on death and destruction, but on rebirth and rebuilding.
I also labeled this as "feminist" because nearly all members of the Chain are female (one major exception being the leader, Papa, a brilliant scientist suffering a crippling disease. He runs the operation from the space hotel where the lack of gravity eases the debilitating pain he suffers.).
I don't think this would be a book for someone who doesn't like sci-fi, but if you are an occasional reader of the genre, you might enjoy this. I've read another book by Louise Marley which I also enjoyed The Glass Harmonica, which involves time travel (and music--for the glass harmonica of course. Marley is a classically trained musician.).

3 stars

Purchased 2007

Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley

I don't usually follow detective series, and this is the first Easy Rawlins novel I've read, although it is apparently the 10th in the series. Easy Rawlins is a black private detective in LA in the 1960's. This is a book to read for its evocation of time and place. It's 1966, and the Watts riots have barely died down. The plot brings Easy up to San Francisco, so there are also some great portrayals of the Haight-Ashbury of the time.
Maybe it's, sadly, really not all that different now. I was particularly struck by this scene in which Easy and a companion are approached by two cops at a phone booth (no cell phones then):

"I couldn't help but think about the Cold War going on inside the borders of the United States. The police were on one side and Raymond and his breed were on the other.
"I came out of the phone booth with my hands in clear sight.
"My job was to make these cops feel that Raymond and I had a legitimate reason to be there at that phone booth on that street corner. Most Americans wouldn't understand why two well-dressed men would have to explain why they were standing on a public street."

Recommended.
3 stars

Not a ROOT (Purchased in 2014)

The Mahe Circle by Georges Simenon

I've never read any of Simenon's Maigret mysteries, but have read and enjoyed several of his non-Maigret mysteries. The Mahe Circle is not a crime novel, but a novel that belongs on the shelf next to Camus and Sartre

Dr. Mahe is a country doctor. He lives with his mother, wife and two children, and one year decides to take his family to a different place for their summer vacation. It is while on vacation on the island of Porquerolles that he begins to question his life, and realizes that he has been thoughtlessly leading a life that had been chosen for him. He begins obsessing over events that occurred on the island and people he encountered there, and dreams of escaping his conventional life. Can this come to a good end?

Recommended.

3 stars

Not a ROOT (Purchased in 2014)

How's the Pain? by Pascal Garnier

I'd describe this short French novel as "comic noir". Simon is a "vermin" exterminator on one last job before he retires when he meets Bernard, a gullible young man at loose ends. Because of his ill health, Simon hires Bernard as his driver, and soon finds himself also encumbered with a pretty young woman with a squalling baby who were rescued by Bernard. And Bernard discovers that Simon's definition of "vermin" is not what he initially thought.

This is a clever, offbeat and quirky novel, and I enjoyed it very much. Amazon says that Garnier has been compared to Simenon.
Recommended.

3 1/2 stars

Purchased 2013

Mysterium by Robert Charles Wilson

An accident at a mysterious government research facility transports a small Michigan town into a parallel universe, where the country is ruled by religious fanatics who don't quite know what to do about the "miraculous" appearance of the town. The country is at war with "New Spain", so the powers-that-be decide to use the information from the town library to built an atom bomb.

I usually like Robert Charles Wilson, but this was just a so-so read. Nothing particularly wrong, but nothing particularly compelling either.

2 stars

Purchased 2013

My Own Medicine: A Doctor's Life as a Patient by Geoffrey Kurland

I purchased this memoir by a doctor who was diagnosed with cancer shortly after my husband's own diagnosis in 2013, and am only now getting around to reading some of numerous books on similar subjects I purchased around that time. This book was published in the early 2000's, some 20 or so years after Kurland's diagnosis and treatment, so I can only assume that things have improved sufficiently since then that some of the extreme reactions he had to some of his treatments can now be avoided or at least substantially eased.

I don't think that this is a particularly useful or relevant book for anyone with an interest in the subject. As noted, the treatment information is probably way outdated. Also, Kurland has access to the most advanced treatment methods (of the time), yet there is no discussion of access to medicine, costs of treatment, battles with insurance companies, etc.--all things I am sure most patients today are interested in.

The fact that the medical portions of the memoir are outdated could be overcome, perhaps, if Kurland was a better writer. Unfortunately, I found his writing somewhat trite, and I was very disappointed in his characterizations of the people who loved him. His girlfriend, for example, remains a cardboard character. Although his mother's character is sometimes more vividly portrayed, she is still somewhat of a caricature, as the quintessential Jewish mother offering chicken soup as a cure-all. I also didn't connect with the author's obsession with running, although I guess this was something by which he measured his recovery.

Just not the book for me.

2 stars

Not a ROOT. Purchased in 2014

An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine

This book seems to be much beloved on LT of late. I enjoyed it as a good character study of a book-besotted irascible older woman set against the backdrop of wartime Beirut.

72 year old Aaliya, retired from her job in a bookstore, has spent the last 40 or so years translating a major work of contemporary literature into Arabic each year. As the book opens, she is in the process of choosing a book for her next translation, which according to her own tradition she begins on January 1. She is considering Bolano's 2666, but is concerned that she will be unable to complete a translation of that lengthy work in the time she has left.

Over the course of the book she reminisces on her life, her one and only friendship with Hanah, her failed early marriage, and above all, her life in books. I enjoyed getting to know her, although at times I was annoyed at her failure, despite her loneliness, to accept the friendship of the three women who live in her building, who she calls "the witches". Nevertheless, she is a character I won't soon forget.

This book was a finalist for the National Book Award.

3 1/2 stars

Not a ROOT. Purchased in 2014

All Dogs Are Blue by Rodrigo Souza Leao

This autobiographical Brazilian novel is the story of life in an insane asylum. The author, a schizophrenic who was in and out of psychiatric institutions from the time he was a teenager, died in his early 40's shortly before this book was published. His prose is vibrant, poetic, and inventive, and I was immersed in this short but complex novel. I could never figure out whether he writes so well because of his schizophrenia, or in spite of it.

Sample:

I hate mirrors. Mirrors are just good for showing how we deteriorate with age. The first thing I broke at home was the mirror. I didn't even care about the seven years of bad luck. Then I went for the booze, and seized with undeniable madness I started throwing the whiskey bottles to the floor one by one. It turned into a dangerous place. A sea of glass shards. Some things didn't break, like the glass top of the big table in the lounge, which proved to be indestructible. A table decoration was also unbreakable. There were things that melted away at the slightest touch, that self-destructed when I stroked them, and others that remained steadfast. My father came and asked me to stop. I didn't stop. My little niece was screaming. My brother was screaming. My mother was screaming. My sister was screaming. Our cleaning lady was screaming.

No Not That.

Yes that. I'm breaking it and I'm going to break more. I'm breaking. I'm breaking. Breaking.

The police arrived and handcuffed me.

They took me to Pinel, the public psychiatric hospital.

Why did you break everything?

I broke everything because I'm made of shards. When the shards invite me to, I wreak havoc.

Highly recommended.
4 stars

Purchased 2013

The Little Way of Ruthie Leming by Rod Dreher

Purchase 2013

Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope

Thanks for posting your thoughts!
Good information on the books... esp. the Ishiguro one.. why do you think you keep reading all his books if you're generally not enamored with them? Do you just keep hoping for the same experience you had w/ the one? I can get that... :)

and >31 arubabookwoman: sounds fascinating

>34 avanders: re continuing to read Ishiguro--I read Remains of the Day first, and it is an excellent, excellent book that I liked very much. Then I read one of his earlier novels which I also liked, but not as much as Remains of the Day. The trouble began with The Unconsoled, which similar to When We Were Orphans has a dreamy surreal feel about it that I don't care for. I next read Never Let Me Go, which was ok. I read a fair amount of SF, so I didn't find it to be that original, there was no big reveal for me, but the book wasn't necessarily bad. I just thought it was a bit over-hyped. In the meantime, I had When We Were Orphans on my shelf for years, and when I read it recently was disappointed with the aimless dreaminess. I recognize Ishiguro as a talented, excellent writer, but his style is just not for me. Right now, I don't plan to read his newest book, but that may change.

Thanks for visiting.

The Little Way of Ruthie Leming by Rod Dreher

While down South on vacation in February, we drove with my mother over to St. Francisville Louisiana so she could visit her brother, sister and brother-in-law. My mother's family has deep roots in St. Francisville, which is in the heart of Louisiana plantation country. It's a very small town, where everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is described by their family roots (i.e. "she's a Percy, but her mother is a Daniel and she married a Butler, etc, etc. (these are family names)). I read the description of The Little Way of Ruthie Leming as being the memoir of a man who escapes the small town he grew up, but moves back after he sees how the town came together to help his family when his sister Ruthie became ill with cancer. When I saw the town in the book was St. Francisville, I had to buy it, and my recent trip back prompted me to read it. I should say that I don't know anyone in St. Francisville other than my relatives, but I spent a lot of time visiting my grandparents on their farm there as a child, and when I lived in N.O. I also frequently visited my grandparents.

Unfortunately, I didn't really connect with the book, and I found there were no insights helpful to me. I also don't think it is a very honest book. I wasn't aware before reading the book, but the author is an extremely conservative blogger (at "The American Conservative")--not my politics. According to one Amazon reviewer, he "espouses some pretty radical right wing (and thoroughly self-righteous) thinking. Picture Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh with better vocabulary." I didn't particularly note any blatant radical right wing commentary in the book, but it was thoroughly infused with religion, and with self-righteousness. To a great extent, the author's analysis of his spiritual/religious journey outweighed what I thought the book was going to be about--what it's like to live in a small southern town after having experienced the wider world.

There are benefits of small town life, to be sure, but there are also negatives. One of the benefits of living in a small town is the sense of belonging to a community, and I think that was one thing the author was seeking when he decided to move back to St. Francisville. However, in the community, everyone knows you and you know everyone, and that can be a negative as well as a benefit.

I found the book to be devoid of any analysis of the negatives of small town life. This is particularly strange since the author left St. Francisville as a teenager when for some reason not fully explained he suddenly found himself an ostracized outsider at his high school, the person picked on, when previously he had been a popular member of one of the various cliques. ("leaving behind {t}he intolerance, the social conformity, the cliquishness, the bullying.") He also gives several examples of situations where his sister Ruthie had mocked him for some of his more "urban" habits during his visits home. (And not always in a kindly way--in one instance by refusing to eat a special meal he prepared because it was "some uppity French soup that they had never heard of" prepared with "New York attitudes."). This closed-mindedness is another negative he could have explored, but did not.

I also thought there would be at least some discussion of race relations, which are still very tender in the area. As a youth, he states "We went to the same school, but lived in different worlds." Any other (rare) mention of race relations is similarly superficial.

Small towns are places where if you fit in, life can be good. I was hoping this would be a book about someone who returns to a small town with expanded horizons and was able to make it work. It wasn't.

2 stars

Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope

I perhaps didn't wait long enough after finishing Phineas Finn before starting Can You Forgive Her?, so I was maybe "Trolloped Out", because it took me quite a while to get into this book. I limped along each evening, falling asleep after 10 or 15 pages for the first 150 to 200 pages, until it finally picked up for me. And boy did it pick up!

I continue to be amazed at Trollope's enlightened attitude toward his female characters, his awareness of the rights they give up by marrying, his willingness to recognize their intellect.

I did note that I was very interested in Lady Glencora's story, which figures prominently in this book. She appears as a minor character in Phineas Finn, and had I been more aware of her back story, I might have enjoyed her more in Phineas.

Good quote:

"I do not know that she was at all points a lady, but had Fate so willed it she would have been a thorough gentleman."

4 stars

>35 arubabookwoman: good points - thanks for explaining!

IBerni again read only 5 books in March. Only 2 of them were ROOTS:

The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar purchased in 2011

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff purchased in 2013

Non-ROOTS:

Augustus by John Williams
I, Dreyfus by

I again read only 5 books in March. Only 2 of them were ROOTS:

The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar purchased in 2011

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff purchased in 2013

Non-ROOTS:

Augustus by John Williams
I, Dreyfus by Bernice Rubens
The Child Who by Simon Lelic
all purchased in 2014.

TOTAL ROOTS FOR 1ST QUARTER: 11

Reviews of March books:

I, Dreyfus by Bernice Rubens

Bernice Rubens is an, I think, underrated 20th century British novelist. I've enjoyed several of her books. In this book, we meet Alfred Dreyfus former headmaster of a prestigious British public school now convicted of a heinous crime and writing his version of the events that led to his imprisonment. From the beginning we are aware that the book concerns anti-Semitism, and the reference to the Dreyfus case of the early 20th century is deliberate. In her author's note, Rubens states, "This novel makes no attempt to update the Dreyfus story Rather it is concerned with the Dreyfus syndrome, which alas needs no updating." I won't say more about the plot, since Rubens is a master of plotting, and the unfolding of the story and the reveals along the way are part of the pleasure of reading the book.

I will say that as I was reading the book, I sometimes felt that the anti-Semitism (and alleged fears of being exposed as Jewish) were overstated and could not be real. (In the context of "normal" people--I'm not referring to extremists/terrorists). Then, shortly after I finished the book, a candidate for governor in Missouri committed suicide apparently over what he felt were unfair allegations that he had a Jewish background. So yes, I guess this is still a very real issue. In any event, this is a book that will stay with me.

Recommended
3 1/2 stars

Augustus by John Williams (1972) 336 pp

This fictional account of the life of the Emperor Augustus won the National Book Award in 1973. The book relates the story of Augustus from when as a callow youth he was named by his great-uncle Julius Caesar as successor, through his battles for supremacy with Mark Anthony, through his long rule into old age and death. The novel is an epistolary novel, and Augustus's life is presented from multiple points of view in letters, diary entries, histories and documents "written" by numerous individuals, real and fictional, who crossed paths with Augustus.

The introduction to the novel states that Williams was inspired to write the novel after he heard the story of Julia, Augustus's daughter. Augustus exiled and imprisoned her after she broke the laws against adultery that he had enacted. (In the novel, Williams attributes to Augustus a noble cause for these actions). The introduction goes on to state:

"This fascinated Williams and he started to read about it. Discovering that Julia had been effectively written out of the histories, the more he read, the more he was engaged by what he describes as 'ambivalence between the public necessity and the private want or need' which is at the novel's core."

I found the epistolary style to be somewhat distancing from the character of Augustus. However, I can understand Williams's choice. In the introduction to the novel he is quoted as saying:

"I didn't think I could handle it in a straight narrative style without making it sound like a Cecil B. DeMille movie or a historical romance. And I didn't want it to sound historical. Those people were very real and contemporaneous to me. I wanted a kind of immediacy to it...."

And I think he succeeded.

Recommended

>42 arubabookwoman: Sounds like a wonderful read!

>40 arubabookwoman: any progress is still progress! Congrats on yours :)

Way behind on keeping track here. My April and May readings were as follows, with the purchased date as indicated:

APRIL

20. Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III Bought 2009 ROOT
21. Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett (2007) 272 pp Bought 2013 ROOT
22. The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber (2014) 512 pp Bought 2014
23. The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle Bought 2015
24. Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout Bought 2004 ROOT
25. Sofia Petrovna by Lydia Chukovskaya Bought 2013 ROOT
26. God'll Cut You Down by John Safran (2014) 368 pp Bought 2015
27. The Caveman by Jorn Lier Horst Bought 2015
28. The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin Bought 2005 ROOT
29. Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson Bought 2014
30. Death's Dark Abyss by Massimo Carlotto Bought 2013 ROOT

MAY

31. Miss Hargreaves: A Novel by Frank BakerBought 2013 ROOT
32. The Eichmann Trial by Deborah Lipstadt 4 stars Bought 2014
33. Bomber by Len Deighton Bought 2014
34. The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva Bought 2015
35. Headhunters by Jo Nesbo Bought 2013 ROOT
36. HHhH by Laurent Binet Bought 2014
37. Black Fridays by Michael Sears Bought 2015
38. The Open Curtain by Brian Evenson Bought 2013 ROOT
39. The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins Bought 2014
40. The Dragon Man by Garry Discher Bought 2015
41. Quiet Chaos by Sandro Veronesi Bought 2015

So for April and May I read 9 ROOTS. I will add these to my ticker.

That makes a total of 20 of my goal of 50, so I'm on track to make my goal for the year.

You've read a couple on my to-read list! What did you think of The Book of Strange New Things? Summer Guest?

Congrats on our progress!

I would like to know about The book of strange new things too.
I've read De zomergast for ROOT in February and gave it ****.

>47 connie53: I'm excited to read The Summer Guest! I have it on my kindle for "one of these days" :)

It was a bit confusing at first, so you have to get through that part. It looked like a fast light read, but as the story unfolds it goes so much deeper. The story is told by three people from different generations (not related) and the background is a national park in the US. Enjoy!

>49 connie53: interesting! Thanks :)

>46 avanders: Avanders--So sorry for ignoring your question--Actually I was just ignoring my thread. And thanks to >47 connie53: Connie for jumping in and answering. I liked both The Book of Strange New Things and The Summer Guest. I will say that The Book of Strange New Things has a lot about religion in it which may not appeal to some people. I really like Justin Cronin as a writer when he's not writing about zombies, and there are no zombies in The Summer Guest. It's a quiet book about a dying man and the people who have touched his life and have been touched by him.

Here are the books I read in June and July. I was having trouble choosing what to read, so you will notice I decided to just pull books off my shelf whose title started with the letter "A", so I have read a lot of books starting with A. I've noted when each of the books were purchased and which are ROOTS.

JUNE

42. The Cold Song by Linn Ullmann Bought 2015
43. An Accident in August by Laurence Cosse 192 pp 2 stars Bought 2011 ROOT
44. The Asylum by Johan Theorin 416 pp 3 stars Bought 2014
45. Alex and Me by Irene Pepperberg 232 pp 3 stars Bought 2012 ROOT
46. Among the Thugs by Bill Buford 320 pp 3 stars Bought 1990's ROOT
47. Alfred and Emily by Doris Lessing 288 pp 1 1/2 stars Bought 2009 ROOT
48. Back Channel by Stephen Carter 455 pp 1/2 star Bought 2015
49. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 1146 pp 5 stars Reread

So for June, 4 ROOTs of 8 read.

JULY

>51 arubabookwoman: I'm just amazed you read War & Peace as one book among several so in less than a month! I'm trying to read it in a year and am already way behind schedule! (please tell me Anatole Kuragin gets his come-uppance!)

>52 Jackie_K: I guess I'd like you to believe I'm Super-ReadingWoman, but I actually started War and Peace in January. I just report books in the month I finish them. I was reading about 50 pages a day for a few months, then set it aside when I only had about 150 pp to go. I finished it up in June. Do you like it? I loved it!

>51 arubabookwoman: no worries! & thanks for the response :) I'm still planning on reading both ;)

Also, re your #44.... The link for the book takes you to John Harwood's book of the same title... I assume that's not the one you read? (I happen to have read the Harwood book, so was particularly curious ;))

>52 Jackie_K: Right?!


(and *spoiler* any reveals, please! :))

>53 arubabookwoman: Haha, OK that sounds a bit more human! I'm still not sure, to be honest. I am really struggling to find a character I actually like (poor hapless Pierre is probably the closest to being a character I'm actually rooting for). I think he could have done with a good editor - I guess I'm impatient, but I do find he takes 5 chapters to describe a single event when one would probably do (eg the wolf hunt scene). But I am now booing Anatole - I'm almost half-way, so am just at the bit where he's about to spirit Natasha away for the sham marriage. But will he? Will Sonya sacrifice her friendship with Natasha to save her reputation? I guess I have got caught up enough in it to wonder what's going to happen next. But it is a bit of a slog, to be honest. I am determined to finish it though!

Edited to add: yes agree with the spoiler alert (I have no idea how to do that). I don't intend my questions to be answered here, and hope they're not too spoiler-y for anyone who's not read it yet. I've no idea if it all ends up happening or not!

JULY Books

50. Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner 378 pp 5 stars Reread
51. Asleep: The Forgotten Epidemic by Molly Caldwell Crosby 320 pp 1 1/2 stars Bought 2013 ROOT
52. Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon Bought 2013 ROOT
53. Summer by Edith Wharton Reread
54. Angel by Elizabeth Taylor (1957) 272 pp 3 1/2 stars Bought 2013 ROOT
55. Arturo's Island by Elsa Morante 384 pp 3 1/2 stars Bought 2009 ROOT
56. The Atomic Times by Michael Harris 288 pp 2 1/2 stars Bought 2013 ROOT
57. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer 208 pp 1 star Bought 2014
58. When She Was Good by Laura Lippman 336 pp 3 stars Bought 2014
59. Afterimage: A Brokenhearted Memoir of a Charmed life by Carla Malden 320 pp 3 stars Bought 2014
60. The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen 432 pp 2 stars Bought 2013 ROOT
61. Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie Bought 2014
62. The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel Bought 2014

That's 6 ROOTs in July, for a total of 10 in June and July.
That makes 30 ROOTS total so far this year, so I think my goal of 50 is very doable.

>54 avanders: avanders--Thanks for pointing that out. I usually try to make sure that I link to the correct books, but missed that one. I actually ready The Asylum by Johan Theorin, a kind of psychological thriller. I haven't read the one by John Harwood. I'll be posting some reviews shortly.

>I have to say I love Natasha--she grows up so beautifully over the book, and her relationship with her mother is wonderful. I actually don't mind the leisurely pace and verbosity of 19th century books. The problem I had with War and Peace the first time I read it when I was in my late teens were the "war" parts, and I'm afraid I mostly skimmed them at the time. This time (I'm quite a bit older--my mid-60's) I quite enjoyed those parts, in addition to the various love stories etc. I want to reread Anna Karenina soon.

>51 arubabookwoman: You are welcome! Glad to have been of service. I like all books by Justin Cronin including the ones with zombies. I guess you are revering to De oversteek and De twaalf ?

Yes Connie I was referring to The Passage and The Twelve. When I first read that Justin Cronin had a new book (The Passage) coming out I was very excited because I think he's an excellent writer, but when I heard it was about zombies I wasn't too happy. Ultimately, I read it, and I actually liked The Passage. I didn't like The Twelve because it was much more focused on the supernatural and the zombies. I know that there is supposed to be a third volume, but I'm not sure if I will read it.

Anyway, I wrote some reviews of my "A" books:

An Accident in August by Laurence Cosse (2003)

After the accident that killed Princess Diana, there were reports that a slow-moving white car might have been grazed by the car Diana was riding in, causing it to swerve and crash. This book creates a fictional driver for that car. Louise (Lou) is driving home from work that night when her white Fiat is side-swiped by Diana's car. For some reason, although she sees the crash in her rearview mirror, Lou keeps driving. Not until the next day does she see on the news the identity of the victims of that car crash. Not wanting to be known as "the girl who caused Diana's death", she decides not to come forward (there is no mention at first of the possible involvement of another car), and quickly arranges for repairs to her car. Unfortunately, Lou makes a series of increasingly more stupid decisions, and as a reader, I kept wanting to tell her to shape up and do the right thing. I felt some of Lou's decisions resulted in the book becoming rather unrealistic, although I thought its premise was initially a good one.

2 stars

The Asylum by Johan Theorin

This novel is narrated from the point of view of Jan, a young man who is a child care worker. He is seeking employment at a nursery school which is part of a mental institution in which are housed some of Sweden's most violent insane criminals. While the nursery school is not located on the grounds of the institution, it is connected to the institution by an underground tunnel leading to a basement with an elevator up into the premises of the institution. The nursery school/day care is attended by children of the inmates, and they are brought to visit their parents through this tunnel.

From the beginning, we can see that Jan is a competent and caring caregiver. However, from the beginning we can also see that there are some questionable events in his past. We know he is interested in the job at the nursery because of his obsession with a singer who is reportedly an inmate at the institution. We also know that there was an incident in his past when a child under his care went missing. As he begins work, we also learn that some of his coworkers have hidden reasons of their own for working at the nursery school.

This was an interesting read, and well-written, but I wouldn't call it top-notch Scandi-crime. It was competently plotted, although perhaps a little long, and internally cohesive (it all made sense in the end). It just wasn't compelling.

3 stars

Alex and Me by Irene M. Pepperberg

This is a memoir about the author's 30+ year relationship with an African grey parrot named Alex. The author is a scientist, and wanted to study the cognitive processes of animals. (ALEX initially stood for Avian Language Experiment, but Pepperberg later referred to her work as the Avian Learning Experiment). This was a delightful read, and Alex was a wonderful character. As Pepperberg states, "Alex taught me that we live in a world populated by conscious creatures....We are a part of nature, not apart from nature. The 'separateness' notion was a dangerous illusion that gave us permission to exploit every aspect of the natural world...without consequences."

Recommended

3 stars

Among the Thugs by Bill Buford

I've had this book on my shelf for years, but picked it up now (for reasons in addition to its title starting with "A") because Buford, at the time the editor of Granta, was a good friend of Salman Rushdie, and is mentioned frequently in Rushdie's memoir Joseph Anton, which reawakened my curiosity.

This is a book of immersion journalism. After witnessing an act of random football (soccer) violence, Buford decided to investigate the phenomenon of football hooliganism in England in the early 1990's. It had gotten so bad that many British fan clubs were "banned" from travel to the Continent to attend matches, as violence and mayhem seemed to accompany these fans everywhere. The book describes how Buford insinuated himself into Manchester United's "firm" or fan club, becoming known to many of its members, his travels with the club to games and matches in Great Britain and on the Continent, and indeed his own participation in the vandalism, riots and violence that accompanied the group wherever it traveled. The book is at its best when it describes the feeling and emotions of mob mentality; it is not so good when it tries to intellectually explain the roots and causes of mob violence.

I'm not particularly a football (US football or UK "soccer") fan, but I have often wondered at the propensity for violence in sports. This book is a glimpse into that world.

Recommended

3 stars

Alfred and Emily by Doris Lessing

This is a two part book. The first part consists of a novella in which Lessing reimagines lives for her parents in which they could be happy. Her father becomes a man who is not wounded in World War I and is a satisfied and comfortable farmer in England. Her mother marries her first love, who does not die in World War I. He dies young, and her mother becomes a wealthy educational reformer. The second part of the book consists of random musings by Lessing on her parents and their actual lives on the farm in Africa on which Lessing grew up. This part of the book felt very disjointed and somewhat meaningless to me. In fact, overall, I'm not sure what Lessing's purpose was. I could see these thoughts as a series of daydreams, random free associations, the memories of an old person. However, I'm not sure these musings (including even I suppose the novella making up the first part of the book) are worthy of publication.

1 1/2 stars

Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner (1936)

I can't help myself--whenever I pick up a novel by Faulkner I get immediately drawn in and can't put it down. So, even though I've read Absalom, Absalom twice before, it started with A, I picked it up, and.....

This is the story of the tragedy of Thomas Sutpen, told by Quentin Compton, who hears it from Miss Rosa, and also from his father, who heard it from his grandfather.....etc, etc. Very Southern gothic, very tragic. If you've never read Faulkner, you have to give him a try, although this is not the easiest book to read.

5 stars

Asleep: The Forgotten Epidemic by Molly Caldwell Crosby

Alongside the 1918 flu pandemic, there was another epidemic, and epidemic of sleeping sickness. Over a period of years, it affected more than 5 million people, killing about one-third of its victims during its acute phase and leaving about one-third more to die inch by inch, minute by minute over a period of years. Since the epidemic ended in the 1930's, it has reappeared only sporadically around the world. However, we still do not know what causes the disease, nor do we know how to treat it. We also do not know whether or when it may recur in its epidemic form.

This could have been a very good and informative work on an important topic. However, it is instead disjointed and full of irrelevancies. Crosby has organized the book around "case studies" of victims of the disease (one of them being the wife of J. P. Morgan), and research and findings about the disease are presented in a haphazard manner, with earlier conclusions later being repudiated and vice versa. I ended up not being clear on where our knowledge of this disease stands today.

My main complaint about the book, though, is that it is full of entirely extraneous and irrelevant material, and becomes more of a social history than a scientific book. For example, describing one of the doctors walking through Penn Station on the way to see a patient in 1925, she goes into a description of the magazine covers on the newsstand: Ladies Home Journal--color picture of a bride and groom; Good Housekeeping--mother reading to her daughter; Field and Stream--man and woman on a picnic beside a stream; Saturday Evening Post--a Norman Rockwell drawing; she even notes a brand-new weekly--the New Yorker. A few pages later, the NYC skyline is sighted: it has "inspired many." "In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald (blah, blah, blah)""; "Ezra Pound described (blah, blah, blah)"; "Ayn Rand saw (blah, blah blah)"; "And Frank Lloyd Wright (blah, blah, blah)". I could give pages of examples like these. They really grated on me.

A couple of interesting speculations on her part jumped out at me. Woodrow Wilson in Europe shortly after the end of World War I suffered a case of flu, and apparently experienced major personality changes as well as a mental decline and physical handicaps afterwards which were kept secret from the public, which she speculates may have been the result of the sleeping sickness. (And which ultimately led to changes in the disability laws regarding the presidency.) She also speculates that some of Hitler's aberrant personality traits may have been the result of sleeping sickness, as he too suffered from a case of the flu around the time of World War I. (There are some intriguing studies mentioned regarding the connection between influenza and this form of sleeping sickness, but whether the connection is merely coincidental or meaningful is never fully clarified).

Apparently, Oliver Saks's book Awakenings covers this same topic, and in a much more cohesive way. I have placed it on my Kindle, and who knows--it starts with "A"-- it might be up next.

1 1/2 stars

Angel by Elizabeth Taylor 1957

Elizabeth Taylor is one of my favorite underrated authors, and my favorite of hers is Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont. I liked this NYRB reissue a lot, although it wasn't quite up to Mrs. Palfrey.

Angelica Deverell, becomes a best-selling author in her teens--she's so bad she's good, tasteless and ignorant. We follow her from her childhood poverty, through her early successes, bringing her fabulous wealth, through to her old age, when her fortunes have declined and she is no longer in style. Through-out it all, she lives a life of humorous, but at the same time sad, self-deception.

Hilary Mantel, who wrote the introduction to the NYRB version, described Angel as a "high priestess of schlock", and said, "Angel is a book in which an accomplished, deft and somewhat underrated writer has a great deal of fun at the expense of a crass, graceless and wildly overpaid one."

Recommended

3 1/2 stars

Arturo's Island by Elsa Morante

On the island of Procida off the coast of Naples, 14 year old Arturo leads an Edenic existence. His mother died when he is born, and his father disappears onto the mainland for weeks, sometimes months at a time, leaving Arturo free to explore the wonders of his island, coming and going as he pleases. Until the day his father steps off the ferry with a new wife and step-mother for Arturo, that is. Nunziata is just a couple of years older than Arturo, and with her arrival his world is up-ended.

This is basically an unusual and enchanting coming of age novel, as Arturo must learn to navigate his way to maturity.

Recommended

3 1/2 stars

The Atomic Times: My H-Bomb Year at the Pacific Proving Ground by Michael Harris

I have conflicted feelings about this book. I expected a great deal more information than it contained. In fact, for almost the first half of the book there was very little information about the nuclear tests--it was sort of a non-fictional Catch---a memoir of the absurdities of the life of an enlisted man in the military, albeit a life spent on an island only a mile long (most of it consisting of the airstrip), with no trees and with MPs whose primary function appears to have been to make sure no homosexual activity took place.

Once the H-tests started happening, the information again was purely anecdotal, and again heavily weighted toward illustrating the absurdities of the military. However, many of the events described underscore the fact that authorities either knew very little about the effects of the tests that were being conducted, or else acted with callous disregard for human life and the environment. For example, the soldiers were informed that they must never look at an explosion, or risk being blinded. Initially, they were told that they were required to wear protective googles which would be provided. Then, they were told the googles were not going to be provided (and they didn't really need them anyway) because it was more important that the colonel have new furniture for his house (so as not to be embarrassed in front of the VIPs who would be observing the test). (Apparently the army could not provide both the goggles and the furniture in the time available before the test). In any event, all the VIPs and military brass had goggles and other protective clothing during the tests.

On another occasion, after being constantly told how careful the government was regarding weather patterns and the siting for the explosions so that there would never be any fallout on the island they were on, "mistakes were made", and shortly after a test, the PA system began repeatedly blaring for everyone to go indoors and shut the windows. Unfortunately, none of the windows would shut, as they were all rusted open. Also, the men were constantly told it was safe to swim in the lagoon, yet a piece of coral from the lagoon placed near a potted plant caused the plant to wither and die.

So, the book was an unusual memoir of a year in an unusual place during an unusual time. It just wasn't very factually informative.

2 1/2 stars

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

This sounded like a good SF book: a group of female scientists, an anthropologist, a surveyor, a psychologist and a biologist (the narrator) are sent to explore the mysterious Area X. Eleven previous expeditions to Area X have ended in tragedy, with some of the explorers committing mass suicide, some turning on each other and killing each other (so that future expeditions are sent without weapons) and some dying mysteriously of cancer within short weeks of their unexpected return home. However, this turned into more of a horror story, rather than science fiction, and also turned out to be a trilogy (The Southern Reach trilogy. I probably won't read further. I read one Amazon review which described the book as being full of a "sense of confusion and hopelessness", and stated that there are no more answers from reading all three books than merely the first chapter of the first book. I don't mind hopelessness; I do mind confusion and inexplicability. So I can't recommend this book.

1 star

And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman

This is a stand-alone psychological thriller from crime writer Laura Lippman. Heloise is a suburban Madame (posing as a lobbyist). We learn her life story--an abusive childhood from which she ran away to become a street prostitute, and her subsequent "rescue" by a wealthy pimp. The pimp is now serving a long jail sentence, but before going away set her up in her business. In her respectable suburb, she is known merely as a young widow, raising her son. She is leading a comfortable life, but when a Madame in nearby suburb turns up murdered, Heloise begins questioning her life. She is also concerned that her young son is becoming old enough to ask questions about her life. She decides she wants to leave the life and go "legit". However, this proves harder than she expected.

This is an interesting crime novel, with lots of information on the business of prostitution.

3 stars

AfterImage: A Broken-hearted Memoir of a Charmed Life by Carla Malden

This is a "medical" memoir. Carla Malden, screenwriter daughter of actor Karl Malden, describes her husband's 11 month battle with colon cancer, and the year following his death as she attempted to come to grips with the fact that despite doing everything right, the battle was lost. This was a very sad book.

3 stars

The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen

THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW:

I like police procedurals, and I liked the first novel in the Department Q series. But I didn't like this book, the second in the series. The plot is improbable, and the "bad guys", a group of friends who had attended boarding school together, are just so terribly, terribly awful they didn't seem real. They were complete sadistic sociopaths, but were also well-respected and famous in their respective fields. They began acting out while still in school, and the book is full of detailed descriptions of violence they inflicted on both people and animals. Kimmie, the one female in the group, is now a homeless person, and she is being sought by both the police and by the "bad guys", since she has evidence that can incriminate them. Kimmie, is also is an unbelievable character. She hears voices, and is made at times to appear schizophrenic or otherwise mentally ill, but she is also extremely cunning and intelligent and constantly outwitting her pursuers.

The story really deteriorates at the end. The bad guys are holding a fox hunt, to be attended by leaders of industry and government. When Carl and Assad (the police) arrive to arrest them, they overpower Carl and Assad and decide to kill them. Then, despite the fact that Carl escapes into the woods where the hunt is to be held, they hold the hunt anyway. The bad guy on whose estate the hunt is being held has a complete zoo available for him to choose from for hunting and other escapades (he likes to regularly torture and kill animals), so to make the hunt extra fun, he had obtained a rabid fox to be hunted. They put Assad in a cage with a hungry hyena, and release the fox into the woods. They hope (a hope realized) that one of the hunters will get too close and be bitten. That happens. It is all pretty stupid, and also disgusting.

Not recommended.

1 1/2 stars

The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel

This is a light and fluffy account of what it was like to be an astronaut's wife. (There are apparently no other books on the subject). The original seven Mercury astronauts were generally military test pilots, and their wives were used to living in drab base housing, struggling to make ends meet on a military salary. When their husbands were chosen for the space program, the wives were thrust into the spotlight. They were suddenly treated like royalty--tea with Jackie--and found their incomes amply supplemented with Life Magazine payments and freebies, including cars, houses, clothes etc. They were also expected to be perfect, and have perfect children. They were advised by NASA to always feed their husbands a good breakfast, and to ensure that their husbands were not subjected to stress of any kind when they were at home. For their part, the wives had to grin and bear their husbands' philandering and to stifle their fear that every doorbell ring meant news of a husband's firey death. If they struggled with the "blues", they could not seek help, because anything other than a perfect marriage hurt an astronaut's chances of being chosen for a mission.

After the initial Mercury series, as more astronauts are named, the 9 Gemini astronauts and the Apollo astronauts, the book becomes less interesting. The wives do not come across a individuals, and the information and analysis the book provides barely skims the surface of what I wanted to know. What the book does is tell us very little about a whole lot of people. It was interesting revisiting the major events of the space program, but again only scant and superficial information, usually only a few brief sentences, is provided about even the major occurrences.

Overall, the book was a fluffy read, and to some extent I would say it took a somewhat mocking tone about the social mores of the 50's and early 60's to which many of these wives adhered, and that bothered me. I can't really say I was satisfied with the book, and I'll have to wait for a more incisive writer for a better understanding of what it was really like to be an astronaut's wife in anything other than a superficial sense. Until then, I guess I'll just have to reread The Right Stuff.

2 stars

Great review! Being a military brat, I can add that the all military wives are advised not to stress out their spouses, as it would spoil their chances for advancement. I am aware of several men who did not get promotions because their wives caused "trouble." I also do not like the mocking of the "times." Being a history teacher, I appreciate all time periods for what they are, a place in time, with some pluses and some minuses; but above all a very interesting slice of history!

>57 arubabookwoman: cool..look forward to reviews! :)

>60 arubabookwoman: oh I see I'm behind here. ;)

>64 arubabookwoman: on my shelf & looking forward to it!

>69 arubabookwoman: yeah, I don't think Vandermeer is really SF... horror (lite-horror?) sounds about right.. I've only read City of Saints and Madmen by him, but I have a bunch others on my shelves and I follow him as an author... I can understand your reaction... I sure would be disappointed if I were expecting SF to discover horror!

>74 Tess_W: Thanks Tess. I have another book called When Everything Changed, about the changing times for American women from about 1960 til when Hillary ran for president in 2008. Since this was the time of my own "coming of age" I'm looking forward to it.

>75 avanders: Horror is the one genre I don't really like (including a lot of Steven King). I can't really explain it, because I don't mind gruesome, or graphic, or realistic horrors. I guess it's the combination of supernatural and horror I don't like. I don't believe in "monsters", other than those of the human variety.

Here's the rest of the reviews of my June and July books:

42. The Cold Song by Linn Ullmann

One might believe this to be a typical Scandi-crime book since it's ostensibly about the disappearance of a young woman one summer, and the discovery of her (murdered) body two years later. However, it's much more than that. Linn Ullmann, writing from constantly shifting points of view, covers many complex characters over many years. I view it as primarily a novel about mothers and daughters. There's Milla, the girl who disappeared while working as a nanny for Siri and John's children. Milla's mother is a photographer, and for many years throughout her childhood Milla was her subject. Now an adult, Milla's relationship with her mother is ambivalent, and she's resentful of having been taken advantage of as a child.

When Milla disappears, she along with Siri, John, and their children are spending the summer at the summer house Siri shares with her mother Jenny. Siri and Jenny's relationship is also a clouded one, tragically affected by the death of Siri's brother many years before when they were children. And then there's Siri's relationship with her daughters, the older, and difficult Alma, and the sunny, easy Liv.

A good solid book, albeit not a great one.

3 stars

52. Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon

I picked this book up because I'm constantly hearing in artist's groups I'm in discussions about "copying"--a lot of contemporary quilt artists, for example, feel quite proprietary about techniques they use or their "style" of creating their work. On the other hand, my study of art history has indicated to me that artists have always "stolen" from one another (in fact I have a book about all the different "copying" Picasso and Matisse did, including to each other). Artists have always done it, but nowadays everyone who is not avidly proprietary seems deathly afraid of committing plagiarism. I'm in the deathly afraid camp--I don't consciously copy, but I'm constantly absorbing ideas, and this may be considered by some to be "stealing", although it always involves pondering, incorporating, changing, mixing up, evaluating, and turning on its head etc., etc., what I've taken.

That's the thesis of this slim book: Nothing is original. Everything came from something else. What the artist has to decide is what is worth stealing. Artists collect ideas and mash them together. Jim Jarmusch said, "Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic."

This book is not particularly comprehensive or challenging--I may be too old for the target audience, which seems to be people born after 1990 who are more used to reading twitters and phone texts than an intellectual essay. It's written in a sort of checklist format, with many of its points covered in one mere short sentence or even an graphic illustration. It covers 10 general "tips", the first being to steal like an artist, for "unlocking" your creativity. Although it's a brief book, and somewhat shallow, it makes some decent points, and was a quick, entertaining read.

I particularly liked this description of the artistic process (when he presented in the form of a graphic V):

(Moving steeply down from the top left-hand): "This is the best idea EVER" to "Ok, this is harder than I thought" to "This is gonna take some work" to "This sucks--and it's boring" to (Deep in the Valley of the V) "Dark night of the soul" (and ascending up the other side) to "It will be good to finish because I'll learn something for next time" and ending with "It's done and it sucks, but not as bad as I thought."

2 stars

53. Summer by Edith Wharton

Trolling the threads of LT recently I saw a review referencing the "devastating" ending of Edith Wharton's Summer. This compelled me to pull the book from my shelf. I thought I had read it before, but as I read it I had no memory of the characters or events it describes. And devastating, indeed, the ending is.

This is the story of Charity Royall, a young woman living in a small country town. When Lucius Harney, an architect from the city, comes to town, she falls in love. This book has been described as Wharton's most sexually explicit novel, and it created a huge scandal when it was published in 1917. We can experience with Charity the joy of her first experiences, but know that at that time and place an educated, sophisticated, wealthy man from the city is not going to marry an uneducated, poor, unsophisticated country girl, no matter how beautiful. And we know, as Wharton shows us time and again, that at that time the options for women were extremely limited--especially for a "tainted" woman.

In the Reading Globally Nobel Prize Writers thread, there was a long discussion about the dearth of female literature nobelists (only 13 of 111 literature laureates have been women). Wharton certainly must be counted among the writers the Nobel committee overlooked.

Highly recommended.

4 1/2 stars

61. Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie

Rushdie's memoir primarily covers the fatwa years. However, he includes quite a bit of information about his childhood and formative years, including his time at an English boarding school. Reading about how he got his first book published, how Midnight's Children came to be written, his writing process, where he gets his ideas, the stylistic and technical choices he makes in his writing and all other sorts of literary matters was quite fascinating, and this was the part of the book I liked best.

I also enjoyed most of the rest of the book about the fatwa years, but felt that it went on just a bit too long. Of course, Rushdie may have just been seeking to create in the reader the feeling of the tedium of those years. I had forgotten just how long they were--more than 10 years in hiding. I had also forgotten just how violent they were--one of Rushdie's translators was murdered, and two other of his publisher/translators were stabbed or shot. And many died or were injured in riots protesting the book around the world.

At first Rushdie had to scramble to find a new place to stay every few weeks, then he later was allowed to stay in one place for a few months. After a few years he was able to move into a home he purchased and basically reconstructed to include the most up to day security and protection devices and reinforcements. During the entire fatwa time he and his wife of the moment lived with a cadre of security guards 24 hours a day. (Wherever he lived, there had to be room to accommodate these guards, who ate, slept and lived on the premises with Rushdie.) He was also being constantly reminded (in the press), about the enormous cost of his protection to the taxpayers, the implication being that some people, Margaret Thatcher for example, are worth being protected, and others, a nasty writer like himself for example, are not.

In addition to going on a bit long about the day-to-day tedium of being under protection (i.e. the repeated battles to be able to go out to dinner, or visit friends or go to a book signing; the lengthy battle to insist that a paper back version of The Satanic Verses be published), the book is a bit gossipy. In some cases I found it interesting to read about Rushdie's famous friends. For example, reading about Bill Buford caused me to read Buford's book. But in some cases, it felt to me like Rushdie was score-keeping, as if he divided writers into those who supported him and those who did not. One person who comes off extremely poorly in the book is Marianne Wiggins, his wife at the time the fatwa was declared. In Rushdie's version of events she is a simply awful human being, and at times seemed almost mentally ill. (I really liked her book John Dollar, so I wonder what her version of events would be.) Rushdie himself doesn't always come of as the most likeable character--shortly after Marianne leaves he takes up with Elizabeth, and they seem deliriously happy (or as happy as they can be in the circumstances), but shortly after his and Elizabeth's son is born he begins an affair with a beautiful Indian actress, and there's much discussion/whining about the ensuing divorce proceedings and about Elizabeth's trying to get her hands on his money.

Well I better stop before I tell the whole story--all 650+ pages of it. Rushdie in my view is an excellent writer, and despite its flaws, this book is well-worth reading.

3 1/2 stars

64. Trick or Treat by Lesley Glaister

This is a compact psychological thriller about Olive and Nell, who have lived their entire lives separated by one house, but who can't stand one another and have ignored each other for years. Olive was once a beauty, and lived her life unconventionally, refusing to marry her life-long lover Arthur. Now she is morbidly obese and senile, and is cared for by Arthur as he would care for a child. Nell, on the other hand, is trim, and keeps a perfect house. She does have a few problems though, like her fortyish son Rodney, who has just returned from "away" where he was sent for "indiscretions" unnamed, but of which he must have been cured since he's back, right?

As the novel opens, a hugely pregnant woman and her three children have moved into the house in between Olive and Nell. Wolfe, the eight year old youngest child, sensitive and lonely, invites Nell and Rodney and Olive and Arthur to his Guy Fawkes party. For the rest of the book, impending tragedy looms, and it ultimately occurs. Just not the one I was expecting.

This was a wicked good book. For fans of Shirley Jackson.

3 1/2 stars

AUGUST BOOKS

64. Day of the Dolphin by Robert Merle (1967) 320 pp 3 stars Bought 2015
65. Mad Men On the Couch: Analyzing the Minds of the Men and Women of the Hit TV Show by Stephanie Newman 193 pp 2 stars Bought 2015
66. Dead Man Leading by V.S. Pritchett 238 pp 2 1/2 stars Bought 2013 ROOT
67. The Lost City of Z by David Grann 368 pp Bought 2010 ROOT
68. Ten Seconds from the Sun by Russell Celyn Jones 307 pp Bought 2015
69. Chocky by John Wyndham 153 pp Bought 2015
70. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson 544 pp Bought 2013 ROOT
71. The Good Nurse by Charles Graeber 320 pp Bought 2015
72. The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens 303 pp Bought 2015
73. The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope Bought 2007 ROOT
74. The Residence by Kate Andersen Brower Bought 2015
75. Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami 373 pp Bought 2014
76. The Believers by Zoe Heller 368 pp Bought 2013 ROOT
77. Kinder Than Solitude by Yiyun Li Bought 2015
78. Three Dollars by Elliot Perlman Bought 2007 ROOT
79. The Forgiven by Lawrence Osborne Bought 2014
80. Great Works: 50 Paintings Explored by Tom Lubbock Bought 2015

17 books, 6 ROOTS. Reviews to follow.

Wow that's a lot of books in August!
I'll look forward to your comments on Chocky -- I just read Midwich Cuckoos by the same author and enjoyed it :)

>82 avanders: Review of Chocky shortly--I liked it.

Review of a book I read in May, then the beginning of my August book reviews:

HHhH by Laurent Binet

This is historical fiction about the assassination of Heinrich Heydrich (the main proponent for the Final Solution at the Wansee Conference). While it is a novel about Heydrich, his assassination, and his assassins, it is also a novel about writing a novel, specifically writing historical fiction. And that is the part I did not like. The constant authorial intrusions and interruptions bothered me terribly. (Or rather, perhaps, the intrusions of a fictional narrator who is writing a novel of historical fiction--in either case my complaint is the same). This may be merely a personal preference of mine, as I've had this same reaction to at least one other book like this. (However, in August I read The Lost City of Z, in which the author inserts into the history of the Amazonian explorations of Percy Fawcett his own adventures in researching the story and ultimately following in Fawcett's footsteps, and I found that in The Lost City of Z, the authorial intrusions worked perfectly--the book would not have been as good without them.)

I can objectively see that this is a very clever book, and perhaps a good novel in the metafictional sense. Binet calls the book an "infra-novel" in which the creative artist's struggle comes to the foreground. However, to give you a sense of how it grated on me, I can do no better than quote the following excerpt from an Amazon review:

"Imagine, if you will, picking up Tolstoy's War and Peace, and being confronted with passages like, 'And so Napoleon decided to invade Russia. Or at least that's what I think he decided. I wasn't there, so I can't exactly read his mind. All I can do is tell you that he did invade Russia, which is the story I'm going to write about. But it's hard to concentrate on that story just now because I'm equally fascinated with the lovely, blonde, 20 year old stenographer I just haired, and she's a tremendous distraction.'"

2 stars

64. The Day of the Dolphin by Robert Merle

I tracked this book down and read it because it's on the 1001 List, one of the few spy thrillers to make the list. I was curious as to why it earned that honor. It's the story of a research program, funded by the government, to teach dolphins to talk--not merely to "communicate"--with humans. When the program proves successful, evil elements from the government abscond with the dolphins to force them to do evil deeds.

There's a lot of information about dolphins in this book, but since it was written in the 1970's I'm sure a lot of the information is outdated. In particular, I believe it is now thought that dolphins are not as intelligent as was once believed, although they are certainly intelligent. And, while I don't know one way or the other for sure, I can't believe that dolphins would have the anatomical capability to "speak" in grammatical English. (And since the novel was written in French, I'm not sure why the dolphins were taught English, rather than French, or even Esperanto :)., although the research facility was in the US.)

Nevertheless, I enjoyed this book. It is written in a strange stream of consciousness style, with a constant shifting of the point of view character. And the characters were well-developed, including some rather strange individuals, some at the training facility, and some in the government. I guess one of the whole points was how wonderful, innocent and good dolphins are--in this book dolphins in the wild looked on humans as somewhat Godlike--and how horrible it was for them to awaken to the evil that lurks in the heart of man.

3 stars

65. Mad Men on the Couch by Stephanie Newman

This is a book I mostly skimmed, rather than studied, and it is perhaps another book in which my objective in reading it was probably at cross purposes with the author's objective in writing it.

I came to the TV show Mad Men late--in fact I've watched the entire series during the first half of this year. My husband was watching the series, and, being in the same room while it was on, I joined him in about the 5th season. I then went back and watched the first four seasons. I enjoyed the show, particularly as a reminder of what living through those times was like. I had truly forgotten how hard it was for women starting in a "man's" profession back then, and how entitled many men felt to belittle women. I was one of 6 women in my law school class of about 200, and I had male students question my right to take a "man's place" in the class, since I would not have to support a family.(!) Some of the professors were also less than supportive of female students. What a change 5 years after I graduated, and I went back to the school to recruit--the class was about 40% women. But I digress....

Anyway, I think I was expecting a light-hearted, witty, and fun look at the Mad Men characters, and I found the book rather heavy-handed. It begins with a fair amount of discussion of psychoanalytic theory which was somewhat academic and dry. When the author begins discussing the characters, their decisions and quirks, she does so through the lens of serious psychoanalysis, which on the one hand I found obvious and simplistic, and on the other hand found presented in a dry, academic way. The book took itself far too seriously. I also found it somewhat repetitious, since it frequently discussed individual incidents from the point of view of multiple characters.

FYI, it covers only the first four seasons.

For serious fans of the show only.

2 stars

66. Dead Man Leading by V.S. Pritchett

Years ago I read Pritchett's Collected Stories, which I loved although I don't usually "get" short stories. I hadn't realized he had written a novel, so when I saw this available for cheap on Kindle, I grabbed it. As a bonus, its plot revolves around Amazonian exploration, which I like reading about. Harry Johnson is the son of a missionary who disappeared into the jungle 17 years previously. He has had some previous experience of the Amazon when he and a friend set off upriver to join an older man on a planned exploration. While seeking an answer to what happened to his father was not the stated purpose of the exploration, that is what the expedition turns into.

Until I read my next book (see review for The Lost City of Z coming up), I thought Pritchett's description of the hardships suffered by the explorers--the heat, the insects, the disease, the deprivations, the hostile Indians, etc.--were magnificent, and so very graphic. And they are good--in a "You are there!" kind of way. However, I found some of the plotting didn't make sense, particularly Harry's fear that he may have gotten his girlfriend back in England pregnant (she is the stepdaughter of the expedition leader), and his preoccupation with her failure to write him.

I'm not sure whether this book is in any way based on Percy Fawcett, the explorer who is featured in The Lost City of Z, but after Fawcett's disappearance, Fawcett's surviving son (his older son disappeared with his father) launched an expedition to find him, and since this book was written in the 1930's I'm sure the Fawcett story at least influenced Pritchett.

However, if you only choose to read one book of Amazonian exploration, it shouldn't be this one--pick up The Lost City of Z instead.

2 1/2 stars

67. Lost City of Z by David Gann

British explorer Percival Fawcett, his son Jack, and Jack's friend Raleigh disappeared into the Amazon jungle in 1925. Fawcett had spent several years on expeditions in search of a fabled lost ancient city, and the story of his adventures is fascinating and makes compelling reading. Dozens of subsequent expeditions were launched to search for Fawcett, all of them unsuccessful, and the stories of some of these expeditions also make for fascinating reading. It's estimated that up to 100 people may have themselves disappeared and/or died on such search expeditions.

Into this mix drops David Gann, Brooklyn boy, non-outdoorsy, non-athlete, dare I say "nature-phobe", who becomes fascinated with Fawcett's story, and decides to follow in his footsteps and solve both the mystery of his disappearance and find the Lost City of Z. The story of Gann's investigation of the life of Fawcett and ultimately his own Amazonian journey is as fascinating as Fawcett's own story, and is an essential component of this excellent book. He visits the British National Geographic Society (where he is initially dismissed as a "Fawcett Freak") to view maps and read Fawcett's original reports. He interviews Fawcett's descendants and views his diaries. I was extremely amused by his visit to an REI-like emporium:

"There were rainbow-colored tents and banana-hued kayaks and mauve mountain bikes and neon snowboards dangling from the ceiling and walls. Whole aisles were devoted to insect repellants, freeze-dried foods, lip balms and sun screens. A separate section existed for footwear....There was an area for 'adrenaline socks' and one for Techwick 'skivvies.' Racks held magazines like 'Hooked on the Outdoors' and 'Backpacker: The Outdoors at Your Doorstep,' which had articles titled 'Survive a Bear Attack' and 'America's Last Wild Places: 31 Ways to Find Solitude, Adventure---and Yourself.' Wherever I turned there were customers, or 'gear heads.' It was as if the fewer the opportunities for genuine exploration, the greater the means were for anyone to attempt it...."

I also liked the description of one "gizmo" after another--including a Swiss army knife with a computer flash drive to store photos and music. What a contrast with the "gizmos" available to Fawcett. And I do not mean to belittle the majesty and remaining mystery of the Amazon, which even today the Brazilian government estimates is home to more than 60 Indian tribes that have never been contacted by outsiders.

Highly Recommended. 4 stars

68. Ten Seconds From the Sun by Russell Celyn Jones

This is a novel of the genre I call psychological thrillers--think for example Ruth Rendell. Ray, a river pilot on the Thames, leads an ostensibly content life--good marriage, healthy and happy children, nice home and job. But Ray harbors a deep, dark secret from his past, something his wife, family and friends know nothing about, and one day that secret rears its ugly head. From then on, Ray makes some pretty poor decisions, digging a deeper and deeper hole for himself. To a certain extent it annoys me when characters in books do this--make decisions that are clearly going to end badly. I find myself wondering whether such a character, who has, as Ray, been painted as intelligent and decent, would realistically have made such decisions, or whether my own biases and belief that the decisions are wrong cause me to question the author's ability to develop realistic characters.

Putting this quibble aside, this book explores the interesting theme of whether there are some deeds, including in this instance deeds committed as a child, that can never be atoned for. (This was a theme in another book I read a few years ago that I think is a better book than this one, Boy A by Jonathan Trigell.)

I also enjoyed the background of river navigation on the Thames aspect of this book.

3 stars

69. Chocky by John Wyndham

This is classic science fiction written in a simple style. Matthew is about 11 years old when he develops what his parents Mary and David believe to be an imaginary friend. They are a bit concerned; after all, 11 years old is a bit old for such a development, but hope that it will soon be outgrown. They become more concerned when Matthew begins asking his science and math teacher obscure questions on subjects he really has no reason to know about, and begins performing actions that he previously was unable to do (swimming, painting artistically pleasing pictures). When asked Matthew claims that "Chocky" helped him. His parents consult a psychiatrist, and are appalled when he suggests that they consider the possibility that Chocky is real.

This is a short, engaging read. It's a "think" novel, not an action novel. While it's the story of alien contact, it's not scary or menacing, but rather actually a quite comfortable read.

3 stars

70. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

I must be the last person on LT to read this book, even though I purchased it shortly after it was published. I'm kicking myself for putting it off so long. I loved it and wanted it to never end.

Briefly, it's the story of Ursula Todd, born on a snowy night in February 1910. And dying. And being born again on a snowy night in February 1910, and dying, and living her life over and over again, and dying over and over again, until, as she comes to believe, she finally gets it right. (Although, to be sure, she doesn't fully comprehend or remember what she is going through--just occasional feelings of deja vu, or precognition).

Much of the book--many, many of Ursula's lives--are so very dark, since much of her life is lived in the shadow of the rise of Hitler, and during the Blitz in London, but Atkinson is such a good writer I loved reading them all. (Although much of her life, especially her earlier years contrariwise seemed very idyllic, lounging in the Edwardian garden at the family home.) The plots, characters, settings were all so real and convincing, I was totally immersed and living the lives along with Ursula. (I do have to say the one life I didn't care for was the one where she passed WW II in Germany, the wife of a German, and in a position of acquaintanceship with Eva Braun such that she on occasion came into contact with Hitler.)

I loved Atkinson's first several books, especially her first, Behind the Scenes At the Museum, but didn't care for the first Jackson Brodie (?) book and so did not continue to read the series. I'm glad that she has dropped that series for the moment, and I will go on to read A God in Ruins, which I don't yet own. But I'm wondering whether I should give her detective series another chance.

BTW I heard a podcast (either on the BBC or the Guardian) in which she was requested to bring to the interview three objects related to the book (in this case A God in Ruins). One of the objects was the silver angel that dangled above the pram when used by both Ursula and Teddy, so it is mentioned in both books, and is an actual trinket highly prized by Atkinson in her own life.

Highly Recommended 4 1/2 stars

71. The Good Nurse by Charles Graeber

This is a true crime book about the serial murderer Charlie Cullen. No one, not even Charlie Cullen himself, knows how many patients he murdered, but he is believed to have killed upwards of 300 people before he was finally arrested in 2003. When he first began his spree, he would inject particular patients (or inject into their IV drips). He began with insulin, resulting in insulin spikes which if untreated (or even when treated, since with these frail patients treatment was frequently unsuccessful) would kill the patient. Later he began using other drugs, including digoxin. He subsequently began to randomly inject numerous saline IV bags in the storage room with these poisons, so that it was the "luck of the draw" as to which patients would receive the poisoned drips. Often the poisoned drips would be administered when Cullen was not even at the hospital, making detection even more difficult. Many of these patients were already seriously ill, so usually, at least in the beginning foul play was not suspected.

Even so, early on there were instances in which questions were raised about Cullen. A relative of one patient questioned Cullen about an injection Cullen gave the patient which didn't seem to appear in any doctor's orders. The patient died, but the hospital convinced the relative that the death was natural and convinced the relative not to demand an autopsy. It soon appeared that the hospitals at which Cullen worked were almost covering up for him. At each hospital when the suspicious deaths began to mount, and the evidence appeared to point to Cullen, he would be let go (usually by just issuing a "Do Not Hire" order, since in most cases he was working on contract). Horrifically, the hospitals did not report their suspicions to the State Nursing Board or to any other hospitals, even when other hospitals called for references after Cullen applied for a new job. Cullen was able to continue his murderous spree for 16 years in 9 separate facilities, as he moved from hospital to hospital. (And this is not to mention Cullen's numerous suicide attempts and mental breakdowns--in between stints as a nurse, he spent months in in-patient psychiatric hospitals, none of which seemed to bother the employing hospitals; they were just glad to have a nurse who was willing to work overtime and weekends.)

Even after the police were involved, and detectives were investigating, the hospitals still tried to cover up Cullen's actions. It took the detectives months to learn that records were available through which they could view Cullen's medication requests--the hospital had told the detectives that such records were not available for more than a few months. This aspect of Cullen's story is the most chilling for me. Rather than risk their own liability for Cullen's actions, each hospital appeared to sweep everything under the rug, and let Cullen move onto another hospital and kill more patients!!!

What I took away from this book is that every patient in every hospital should have a family member or friend with them at all times, to double check everything that is being done to the patient and every medication being administered.

Highly recommended 3 1/2 stars

72. The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope

I continued to enjoy Trollope's Palliser novels in August with the delightfully devious Lizzie Eustace, who insists that her late husband gave her as her own property the Eustace family diamonds, so that they are not a part of his estate. Her assertion creates all sorts of problems, including the fact that her fiancé finds her assertions distasteful and dishonorable enough that he no longer feels able to honor his pledge. I mostly enjoyed this, although I found it went on rather a bit long about some things. I did specifically enjoy learning the arcane bits of English common law about what does and what does not constitute an "heirloom" (the Crown jewels--possibly yes; the Eustace diamonds--definitely no), and what a widow can claim as her "paraphernalia" after the death of her husband. On to Phineas Redux.

4 stars

>87 arubabookwoman: Lost City of Z was really interesting! One part that stuck out for me was a brief discussion of the different skill sets that would be required to explore jungles vs. polar environments. This book taught me that I might be a slightly better polar explorer (can't stand the heat), but overall I probably prefer to explore from the comfort of an armchair ;)

>91 arubabookwoman: Ye gods, that is terrifying. I'm really glad I'm not due for a stint in the hospital anytime soon. (I hope.)

>90 arubabookwoman: So now you have to read Gevallen god too! The story of Ursula's brother Teddy. Don't wait to long!

Phew that's a lot of reviews!

And >89 arubabookwoman: Interesting... Midwich Cuckoos (same author) seems to be similar.. like a weird piece, but in a "thinky" tone, rather than the typical "action" tone that accompanies horror/sci-fi types.

>90 arubabookwoman: nope, I haven't read it yet either.... ;)

>91 arubabookwoman: wow. maybe my mom's not being overly paranoid.... ;)

>93 rabbitprincess: I'm in entire agreement with you. I too intend to confine my explorations to the armchair.

>94 bragan: I kind of knew in the back of my mind that it was always better to have someone around to "watch over" a sick person in the hospital--this books just confirms that with multiple whammies.

>95 connie53: I have now read A God in Ruins and loved it too. I see the two books as a unit. Life After Life covers the idyllic, somewhat innocent times pre-war, as well as the civilian war experiences. A God in Ruins focuses on the military war experience, the after-war austerities, the difficulties of recovering from the horrors of the war experience, and of course old age.

>96 avanders: Yeah--your mom is not paranoid. BTW, I checked your profile and saw that you are a lawyer. Me too. (retired).

I had a good reading month in September:

81. The Marauders by Tom Cooper Bought 2015
82. Do No Harm by Henry Marsh Bought 2015
83. My Father's Den by Maurice Gee Bought 2015
84. Towards the End of the Morning by Michael Frayn Bought 2014
85. Countdown City by Ben H. Winters Bought 2013 ROOT
86. Seveneves by Neal Stephenson Bought 2015
87. The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert Bought 2014
88. The Year of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller Bought 2015
89. Giraffe by J.M. Ledgard Bought 2009 ROOT
90. A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson Bought 2015
91. Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King Bought 2015
92. The Unwinding by George Packer Bought 2013 ROOT
93. Any Four Women Could Rob the Bank of Italy by Ann Cornelison Bought 2015

but, unfortunately I was distracted by many bright and shiny objects (books), that were recently bought, and so read only three ROOTS in September.

>97 arubabookwoman: oooh retired, smart! ;) Sometimes I feel like I'm semi-retired bc I work for the Courts in a very behind-the-scenes kind of way rather than in private practice (where I spent a few years) ... it's much less stressful this way! What kind of law did you practice?

>98 arubabookwoman: A good month indeed! Looks like a list of great books! :)

>97 arubabookwoman:. You are so right about Gevallen God and Leven na leven. I read somewhere that Gevallen God could be yet another live of Ursula! That sounds about right to me.

>98 arubabookwoman: A very good month!

>98 arubabookwoman: a very good September!

Here's the rest of my August reviews:

74. The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House by Kate Andersen Brower

This is a charming behind the scenes look at life in the White House from roughly the Eisenhower era through the Obamas, as seen through the eyes of those who keep it running--the maids, butlers, cooks, plumbers, florists, electricians etc. Most of these people have held their jobs for years, and these jobs seem to be passed around among family members and friends, so not surprisingly most of the anecdotes (and this is an anecdotal book) are positive--with a few exceptions. No one would be surprised to learn that Hillary was pretty mad at Bill over Monica and that he spent more than one night on the couch. And the staff memories of the White House after Jackie returned from Dallas in November 1963 are brutally tear-inducing.

But there are also lots of funny stories--LBJ's insistence on super-powered water pressure for his showers and his battles with the plumbers over this, for instance. Other petty demands include Nancy Reagan's last minute choice of a dessert for a state dinner that required the chef to work day and night.

One fascinating factoid: On each Inauguration Day between late morning when the old first family leaves and late afternoon when the new first family appears, the staff must entirely move out and clear away all the old family's stuff and move in and set up the new family's stuff, so that when the new first family arrives they can rest and relax after the day's ceremonies before moving on to the inaugural balls.

Recommended for the voyeur in us all.

3 stars

75. Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack by Haruki Murakami

In March 1995, five members of the religious cult Aum released sarin gas in 5 different cars an several Tokyo subway lines. Overall, (miraculously only) 12 people died, and thousands were injured, many very seriously. Author Haruki Murakami was living abroad at this time, and later read a letter from a woman whose husband was injured in the attacks. He couldn't get the letter out of his head, and when he returned to Japan a few years later he began interviewing survivors of the attack (and in one case relatives of a deceased victim). This book presents, primarily verbatim, transcripts of about 60 of those interviews, as Murakami attempts to make sense of the attack and the reaction to it, and to ponder on what it means to be Japanese.

In the course of the interviews, the victims, including ordinary workers on the way to their offices as well as subway workers, reflect on what happened, how they reacted, and what they observed of others' reactions. What struck me was how long it took for anyone to realize how serious the situation was. The perpetrators had the sarin (in liquid form in plastic) wrapped in newspaper, which they placed on the floor of a subway car. As they exited, they stabbed the sarin package with a specially sharpened umbrella tip to break the package and release the sarin. Passengers noticed fumes and some would leave the car at the next stop, but passengers at the next stop would see a car with empty seats and get in the contaminated car to continue to the next stop. This occurred despite there sometimes remaining on board people who were obviously very ill or even unconscious. Sometimes at a stop, a subway worker would come on board, remove an unconscious passenger, "mop" up the "spill", and the car would proceed on. Even passengers who felt ill with symptoms such as difficulty seeing (a "feeling" of blackness descending) or difficulty breathing would proceed to work, often walking past people collapsed on the subway platforms or sidewalks, only seeking help when they totally collapsed or when they heard news reports at work about what had happened. One passenger described the scene: "People foaming at the mouth....half of the roadway was absolute hell. But on the other side people were walking to work as usual....It was as if we were a world apart. Nobody stopped. They all thought, 'Nothing to do with me.'"

The volume I read contained an added section of later interviews Murakami did with members and former members of the cult which carried out the attack. These members all claimed to have been unaware that the attack was planned, but many of them admit that had the leader ordered them to carry out these attacks they are not sure they would have been able to resist such an order.

This book is very different than Murakami's fiction (although I guess you could say the general theme of the Japanese character and the ennui and alienation of today's youth apply in both cases). Murakami acknowledges his debt to the oral histories of Studs Terkel. A fascinating read.

3 1/2 stars

76. The Believers by Zoe Heller

This is a novel about a dysfunctional family, and it's also, perhaps, a satire. Lots of people don't like it because almost all the characters are unlikeable--some in fact are hugely unlikeable. The novel centers on the family of Joel Litvinoff, an womanizing activist lawyer who makes his living defending terrorists--present-day Muslims and Black Panther-like individuals in the past. As the novel opens, Joel suffers a stroke, and he lies in a coma for most of the rest of the book.

Joel's wife Audrey appears to live to support Joel, entirely burying her own wants and desires to the needs of Joel. In fact, as Heller cleverly shows us, Audrey is one of the most self-centered and mean characters to appear in the pages of a contemporary novel. Joel and Audrey have three children. Rosa has just returned from a Marxist fling in Cuba and is flirting with becoming a Hasidic Jew, much to the dismay of her atheist parents. Karla, an overweight "marshmallow" of a social worker married to a union organizer, bears the brunt of Audrey's snide remarks. Adopted son Lenny, a drug addict unable to hold a job, is adored by Audrey.

I think the fact that the characters are so unlikeable is what makes this book likeable. Here's a quote:

"{Audrey} was always congratulating herself on her audacious honesty, her willingness to express what everyone else was thinking. But no one...actually shared Audrey's ugly view of the world. It was not the truth of her observations that made people laugh, but their unfairness, their surreal cruelty."

3 stars

77. Kinder Than Solitude by Yiyun Li

First let me say I loved Yiyun Li's The Vagrants. Kinder Than Solitude--not so much.

The focus here is on four individuals and on an incident that occurred 30 years before the novel opens, at a time when the individuals were in their teens, and which left one of them in a vegetative state. After the incident, Moran and Ruyu left China for the US. Boyand has stayed behind in Peking and become a successful businessman. He has kept in touch with the family of Shaoai, the woman in the vegetative state. Over the years, Boyand periodically emails Moran and Ruyu the status of Shaoai, but otherwise there has been no contact between the three. Boyand is not even aware if Moran and Ruyu receive or read the emails. As the novel opens, Shaoai has just died, and Boyand has dutifully notified Moran and Ruyu. The novel proceeds alternating between the contemporary time, the time of the teen friendship of Moran, Ruyu and Boyand, and the lives of the three survivors over the years since the incident.

Yiyun Li says the book is about characters who have to make sense of a death. I never really connected with the book, and it was not one I looked forward to picking up each night.

2 1/2 stars

78. Three Dollars by Elliot Perlman

This is the story of how Eddie Harnovey ended up at age 38 with a wife, a 6 year old daughter, a university education and work experience in chemical engineering, but with no job and only $3 in his pocket. Even though the book was written in the 1990's it feels absolutely up-to-date and timely in terms of the ever-increasing, cut-to-the bone expense practices of today's corporations, together with a big dose of the difficulties of holding onto one's ideals as one makes a way through a world of post-Reagan/post-Thatcher economic practices.

The novel begins "Every nine and a half years I see Amanda....", and each time Eddie sees Amanda he has only $3 in his pocket. Eddie and Amanda are best friends, until at the end of Eddie's 9th summer, when Amanda is yanked from his life for no reason he can discern. We follow Eddie through his university training, his marriage, and his career in a government bureaucracy similar to the US's EPA (the book is set in Melbourne), in which he must approve/disapprove mining plans, and through his touching trials of fatherhood.

I've liked the other books by Elliot Perlman better--Seven Types of Ambiguity and The Street Sweeper, but Perlman is an excellent writer, and I'd probably try anything by him. This is not quite up to his best, but it's still quite worthwhile, and I recommend it.

3 stars

79. The Forgiven by Lawrence Osborne

David and Jo Henniger, wealthy Brits, are on their way to a weekend house party in the remote desert of Morocco when their car strikes and kills a young Arab boy. Unsure what to do, they put the boy's body in their car and continue to the party. Their hosts, owners of the "castle" and surrounding guest houses in the desert, while also foreigners, are more familiar with Moroccan ways and notify the police of the incident, but assure David and Jo that all will be quietly taken care of. The party, meanwhile goes on--seemingly a 24 hour per day, 3 day bash. However, a few hours later, the dead boy's father and other family members show up at the gate demanding justice.

Talk about culture clash--the abstemious religious Muslim staff and the hedonistic jet-setters partying like the world is about to end. This is a book of extreme contrasts, and a revealing look into worlds I know little about--both that of the jet setters and that of the Berber desert people who earn their living excavating fossils in the hostile desert. This is a morally complex book, and one I won't soon forget, right down to the stunning ending.

3 1/2 stars

80. Great Works: 50 Paintings Explored by Tom Lubbock

I came across Tom Lubbock when I read a reference on LT to the book The Iceberg: A Memoir by his wife Marion Coutts, about her life after his death. Clicking through Amazon, I found that Tom Lubbock had also written a memoir, Until Further Notice I Am Alive, and clicking onward I found that Lubbock was primarily an art critic/writer. As I clicked through his books, I landed on this one, and the striking cover made me covet the book--so much so that I bought it and read it.

The book contains 50 short essays on paintings which were originally published in The Independent. There is no rhyme nor reason to the paintings chosen, no particular school to study, no point to make, no "I'm here to teach you", just paintings that struck Lubbock's fancy, and his unique observations about each painting.

Here's an example to give you a taste of what the essays are like, from the very first painting, "Boy Lighting Candle" by El Greco. Lubbock begins by asking us to imagine a kitchen sink with the tap flowing, but so slowly that when we look at it we are at first not even aware of the flow of the water. Then he asks us to imagine a man falling against the backdrop of a cliff--somewhat Wiley Coyote--so you keep imagining the end to come, the big crash at the end, but no, the man keeps falling and falling and falling.....Finally Lubbock asks you to imagine a man on a stationary bicycle, pedaling and pedaling away, but getting nowhere. Then you notice a cable which is attached to a dynamo, and you realize the man pedaling the bike is creating the light that lets you see the image of him pedaling. Lubbock then applies these apparently random images by asking you to imagine these three effects in a single picture--El Greco's "Boy Lighting Candle" We see a boy blowing on embers: movement that is invisible, like the water in the tap. We await an imminent climax--the candle bursting into flame--as we await the falling man's impending crash at the bottom of the cliff (which never comes). And the whole image is lit by the ember--but what will happen when the boy stops blowing, the light will fade away, and we will no longer see the image, as with the man pedaling the bike.

I thought the way Lubbock brought us into the picture was brilliant. His approach to the other paintings is similar, but all in a way unique to the paintings themselves. I was enthralled. This is not an academic book, it's a book about thinking about painting, and you learn by seeing how one brilliant person thought about painting.

Highly recommended.

4 stars

>102 arubabookwoman: I've added that to my wish list, it sounds right up my street!

>108 arubabookwoman: Sound like a wonderful book. Off to search for it now!

>107 arubabookwoman: That sounds like a very intensive books. Too bad it isn't translated.

Got the 50 paintings book for $5. Said used, but it's new! Wheeeeeeeee!

>112 Tess_W: Good job, Tess!

Jackie--Hope you like The Residence when you get it.

Tess--glad you found such a bargain! I hope I didn't steer you wrong.

Hi Connie--The Forgiven was very intense, but very good.

I've finally got around to reviewing my September books, so here goes:

81. The Marauders by Tom Cooper

This novel portrays life in a small (fictional) south Louisiana town, not yet recovered from the devastation of Katrina, now struck with the ravages of the BP oil spill. Jeanette is a shrimping town, and the shrimpers are barely hanging on. Not only is shrimp scarce, but no one wants to eat Gulf shrimp due to fears of chemical contamination. There are lots of characters, oddball and otherwise, but the novel centers on Wes Trench, a young man who blames his father for the death of his mother in Katrina and who is now struggling with whether to follow in his father's footsteps in the shrimp fishing industry, and Gus Lindquist, a one-armed shrimper who hopes to discover the fabled lost treasure of the pirate Jean Lafitte. The problem is that in searching for the treasure in the deep bayous and cheniers, he keeps getting closer and closer to the clandestine marijuana crop of the threatening Toup twins, who don't want any interference with their activities. Two small-time ex-cons from New Orleans, ostensibly in Jeanette to help with the cleanup, are also seeking a fabled treasure--not pirate treasure, but the Toups' crop. Then there's the BP "front man", originally from Jeanette, but now assigned the task of getting the shrimpers (including his own mother) to waive their legal rights against BP.

I enjoyed this story of a way of life in jeopardy. I've seen it compared to works by Carl Hiassen and Elmore Leonard. Maybe, but in my view, although there are some oddball characters (accompanied by a fairly good dose of humor), this is much more serious.

3 1/2 stars

82. Do No Harm by Henry Marsh

"I often have to cut into the brain, and it is something I hate doing," is the opening sentence in this engaging memoir. Each chapter is titled after a disease of the brain, a few I was familiar with: Trauma, Infarct, Medullablastoma, (which I was familiar with since my niece suffered this when she was 6--she is now 25 and in good health, although for Marsh's patient the cancer recurred when the patient was in his 40's), but most of which I hadn't heard of, i.e. Akinetic Mutism, Neurotmesis, Empyema, Astrocytoma, Oligodendroglioma, etc. etc. Don't those mysterious words just make you salivate to read this book? (Just kidding). However, despite these esoteric chapter titles, Marsh's stories of his experiences in neurosurgery are highly engaging and eminently readable.

Marsh states that frequently the most difficult part of brain surgery is deciding whether or not to operate, since the risks are usually great, benefits may be nominal, and mistakes, even when death is avoided, can be devastating. In Marsh's view, mistakes are "unacceptable, but inevitable," and he does not shy away from including in his stories his mistakes as well as his success stories.

In addition to his stories about his patients, his stories about the state of the science of the medicine of the brain, and the stories about his personal life, I also enjoyed his wry sense of humor, mostly in regard to his dealings with the British health bureaucracy.

3 1/2 stars

83. In My Father's Den by Maurice Gee

After living away for many years, Paul Prior has returned to the small New Zealand town he grew up in to teach at the local school. He takes particular interest in Celia, one of his students, and lends her books and helps her with her studies outside of class time. Not surprisingly, when Celia is murdered, Paul becomes the prime suspect. Despite this bare bones plot summary, this is not really a crime novel. Gee writes beautifully, and moves back and forth over time--as the novel considers Paul's difficult childhood, how he deals with the accusation and suspicions of the town, his current relationship with his more successful brother.

Recommended.

3 1/2 stars

84. Towards the End of Morning by Michael Frayn

I believe this is Frayn's first novel, and it shows. I loved his novel Spies, and very much liked Headlong, the two other books I have read by him. This book sounded intriguing, so I picked it up. It's set in the crossword and nature notes department of a Fleet Street newspaper, and is reportedly somewhat autobiographical. I enjoyed the characters and some of the humor, but for the most part I found this very dated. It just didn't resonate with me.

2 1/2 stars

85. Countdown City by Ben H. Winters

When Detective Henry Palace returns in this second volume of The Last Policeman Trilogy, there are only 77 days left until the asteroid is due to hit Earth. Henry is no longer employed by the police department, and the few police who are left take a pretty laissez faire attitude in a society where money has no value, and shortages of necessary goods and services prevail.

Henry's old babysitter turns up one day seeking his help in finding her husband Brett, who has disappeared. She is sure that he would never "go bucketlist" or otherwise desert her to face the end alone, and fears he has come to some harm. Although hundreds of people are disappearing everyday (including many who commit suicide), Henry believes her and takes the case.

What was more interesting than the mystery to be solved (as was also the case for me with the first volume) is the creation of the world at the end--the reflections on what it means to face the end of the world. As Henry searches for Brett we experience with him the difficulties of retaining his humanity when all around people are losing theirs.

I guess I'm going to have to read the final volume to see if the world really does end.

3 stars

86. Seveneves by Neal Stephenson

If you were a character in this book, and you happened to look up on a typical evening at precisely the moment it occurred, you would have seen the moon break up, disintegrated into thousands of fragments, some large, some small. At first the scientists of the world occupy themselves with trying to discover the why of this event. However, within a few days they determine that the more important question is what the effect of this event will be, and it is quickly determined that in about two years all life on Earth will be destroyed by a raging bombardment of meteorites (bolides) from the moon debris. Thus begins this fascinating and exciting book.

The (longer) first part of this book concerns itself with what happens during those two years, as heroic efforts are made to ensure that some remnant of humanity, as well as other forms of life on Earth will survive this apocalyptic event. Efforts are directed at survival in space. The international space station ("Issy") is enlarged, and dozens of "arklets" are built to "swarm" around Issy. Genetic information on all forms of life is sent into space. Potential survivors are chosen to occupy the arklets.

The first part of the book also details the immediate aftermath of the destruction of life on Earth, and what happens to the few thousand survivors of humanity. Unfortunately, the cataclysm hasn't quelled humankind's propensity for conflict, and, to make a long story short, at the end of the first part what remains of humanity are the seven "Eves" of the title.

The second part of the book fast-forwards 5000 years. Earth has been undergoing a terraforming process for a couple of thousand years, and it is now habitable. All humans are divided into races or groups determined by the Eve from whom they descended--Dinans from Dinah, Ivans from Ivy, Teklans from Tekla, and so forth. Each of the races has retained the distinct characteristics, physical and mental, of the seven women, each very different, we got to know in the first part. Most of humanity lives in a vast "ring" of cities orbiting the Earth. Very few live on Earth--mostly scientists who are documenting the development of new eco-systems. However, recently signs have appeared that perhaps some pockets of humans who remained on Earth survived.

I loved this book. It was a perfect blend of hard science, exciting plot, and interesting characters. Despite the plethora of detail I never found myself skimming or bored. (Well, okay, a few times the discussions of orbital mechanics went on a bit much for me.) This book has it all--apocalypse, epigenetics, terraforming, asteroid mining, robotics etc. etc.

I had only one major quibble that picked at the back of my brain while reading the second part. After 5000 years all seven races remain rigidly separate, and every person is identifiable almost immediately as belonging to that particular race. It bugged me that there had been no intermingling of the races over 5000 years.

As a side note I have to point out that in the second part I loved one particular character named Sonar Tax Law. I would have loved her regardless of her personality because my daughter Sonia's nickname as a child was Sonar, and because as an attorney I practiced exclusively Tax Law.

Highly recommended.

4 stars

87. The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert

The Pulitzer Prize winner reports on a mass extinction that is ongoing before our very eyes. Over the past 500 million years there have been five mass extinctions, when diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Kolbert's thesis is there's a sixth extinction going on now. However, this time the extinction is caused by us.

The book begins by going through the past 5 extinctions. Then the book "travels" the world to look at the myriad ways in which humans are causing this catastrophe--from acidification of the oceans to clear-cutting of forests to transferring invasive species around the globe (deliberately or inadvertently). Kolbert presents the facts without political rhetoric. Here are some of the facts I want to remember from this book:

--There's always a ongoing "background extinction rate" which is different than a "mass extinction," which is what is going on now. (A mass extinction is an event that eliminates a significant portion of the world's biota in a geologically insignificant amount of time.)

--Amphibians are the most endangered class of animals today, with an extinction rate 45,000 times the background rate.

--It is estimated that 1/3 of all corals, 1/3 of all sharks, 1/4 of all mammals, 1/5 of all reptiles, and 1/6 of all birds are headed for extinction.

--The temperature change estimated for the coming century is roughly the same as the temperature changes during past ice ages; however, the rate of change is at least ten times faster than in the past.

--During past eras of climate change, some species survived by "migrating" to a more amenable area of habitat or were otherwise able to adapt. Now, species will have to "migrate" or adapt ten times faster than in the past.

There is something called the "Species Area Relationship" (SAR), which posits that the larger the area you survey, the greater the number of species you will find. Using the SAR and the rate of temperature change these various estimates of extinction rates were made:

--Assuming all species are inert (so failure to adapt or migrate would mean that habitable area of a species would shrink): 1. If warming held to a minimum, between 22% and 31% if species would be extinct by 2050; 2. If warming was maximal, 38% to 52% of species would disappear.

--Assuming species were highly mobile/adaptable, with minimal warming 9%-13% would be extinct by 2050 and with maximal warming 21%-32% would be extinct.

Along the way Kolbert travels the world and visits with scientists of all specialties, including the scientists at the Great Barrier Reef, scientists studying tree migration in the Andes, caves in North America and jungles in Central America were bats and frogs respectively are dying in droves, and much, much more.

Highly recommended.

4 stars

88. The Year of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller

I didn't care for this literary memoir. Andy Miller works in the literary field as an editor, but felt that he had gotten away from reading--his busy life with a job, a small child, a house etc. leaving no time for reading. He decides to embark on a reading program (52 books in a year) of books he felt he should read, wanted to read or had lied about reading. He called these the List of Betterment, and it included the sublime (Middlemarch) and the disgraceful (The Da Vinci Code).

Here's what I didn't like:

1. Everyone's busy. Not an excuse for not reading. Especially since he commuted several times a week to London on the train (1+ hours each way). Apparently he needed a "special" place to read--sometimes he traveled to London to go somewhere (like the British Museum) to read. I like the British Museum as much as the next person, but I wouldn't feel the need go there specifically to read if I lived in Kent.

2. The book is more of a memoir than a discussion of the merits of specific books. His life is not all that interesting, and his thoughts on the books he reads aren't particularly sparkling. One Amazon reviewer said, "It's clear that his literary and musical tastes were arrested in adolescence."

3. And that's another thing--his music references. I never heard of most of the bands/songs he discusses, and they play a prominent part in the book.(One of the books he reads is "Krautrocksampler: One Head's Guide to the Great Kosmisch Musik--1968 Onwards."

I can safely say "Avoid This." Unless, of course, you are a fan of Kosmisch Musik.

2 stars

89. Giraffe by J.M. Ledgard

In May 1975 the largest herd of captive giraffes (about 49 giraffes, including 23 who were pregnant) were massacred in a small Czech town, apparently senselessly. The author, a British journalist, discovered the fact of the massacre, and chose to write this book, a novel, to explain the event, rather than a more appropriate in my view nonfiction account.

This book tells the story of the giraffes from their capture in Africa, their ocean voyage to Europe, their travels to the small Czech zoo via riverboat and train, their lives in the zoo through to their final gruesome deaths. Ledgard uses several different narrators, including a couple of sections narrated by one of the giraffes. Also narrating individual sections of the novel are Emil, a haemodynamicist (a biologist studying vertical blood flow), Amina, a factory worker who visits the zoo and loves giraffes, Tadeus, a virologist, and Jiri a sharpshooter.

What was jarring to me in this book was that the author used the horrifying story of the giraffe massacre to present a morality tale of the evils of communism. I was constantly removed from the story of the giraffes on the many occasions when Ledgard used one or another of his characters to comment on the failures or evils of communism. I found this particularly bothersome since the author is not Czech, or otherwise a victim of a communist regime, so it made the book feel even more like a polemic.

Of course the entire book did not sound like a polemic. For the most part it is written rather dreamily in poetic language. (In fact one of the main narrators, Amina, is a sleepwalker, clearly intended as a metaphor for the plight of most people under communism). And there is no question that the slaughter of the giraffes is described graphically and in gruesome detail. Faint-hearted animal lovers should avoid this section of the book at all costs.

I'm glad I read the book, and I think the story of the giraffes is an important one. I just wish the book had been presented as non-fiction, or at the least that the author had not attempted to use the book as an anti-Communist propaganda tool. (POSSIBLE SPOILER--For the record, it's clear that the giraffes would have been killed regardless of the political regime under which they resided--they were suffering foot and mouth disease.)

Cautiously recommended.

2 1/2 stars

90. A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

I've discussed this book on my thread in relation to Life After Life, to which it is a companion, and have noted that I think the two books need to be read together, as in my view they comprise a complete view of the World War II experience of the British. Unlike Ursula in Life After Life, Teddy lives only one life. Atkinson is a master storyteller, and she bounces us seamlessly around Teddy's life, the life of his wife Nancy, his child Viola, and his grandchildren Sunny and Bertie. As the novel states of Teddy, "Part of him never adjusted to having a future," since as an RAF pilot he never expected to survive the war. Yet, when the book ended with Teddy on his death bed, in his 90's, I wanted more.

Highly recommended.

4 1/2 stars

91. Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

I don't like horror novels, and many of Stephen King's novels fill that genre so I don't read them. However, I've enjoyed many of his books which don't include horror elements (although they usually involve science fictional elements). This book is a straight-forward crime novel, and it won a 2015 Edgar for the best first novel (not sure what that means since obviously King has written many, many other novels).

The novel begins as a line is forming in the predawn hours for a job fair. Suddenly, a lone driver in a large Mercedes deliberately plows through the line, killing 8 people and wounding 15. Later the abandoned Mercedes is found with a clown mask on the front seat. The driver is never caught.

Fast forward several months to retired cop Bill Hodges, who regrets the failure to catch the Mercedes killer. He's also at loose ends, not sure what to do with himself now that he's retired, and contemplating suicide when he receives a letter from an individual claiming to be the Mercedes killer. The letter taunts Hodges and threatens more crimes. Hodges can't resist responding (rather than turning the letter over to authorities), and the cat and mouse game is on.

This is quite a good mystery. The pov character alternates between Hodges and Mr. Mercedes, a suitably creepy murderer. There are lots of other characters to love and hate and plenty of plot twists and turns. King is apparently turning this into a series, and there is already a second novel featuring Hodges as the crime solver.

Highly recommended.

3 1/2 stars

92. The Unwinding by George Packer

This National Book Award winner tells the story of the US over the last 30 years or so--and it's the way of telling it that makes the book unique. Packer uses the lives of several people as examples of what has happened. These include Tammy Thomas, factory worker/community organizer in Youngstown, Dean Price, son of a North Carolina tobacco farmer, now biofuel manufacturer/advocate, Jeff Connaughton, a D.C. insider, on again/off again lobbyist/Biden aide, and Peter Thiel, a Valley venture capitalist billionaire. Their stories over the last thirty years are told in episodic, roughly chronological chapters. Interspersed with their stories are the stories of a dozen or so public figures, including Oprah, Newt Gingrich, Elizabeth Warren, Jay-Z, Colin Powell, Sam Walton, Raymond Carver, Robert Rubin, and so on. There's also a long series of narratives devoted to the city of Tampa, which Packer uses to illustrate the real estate bubble and burst. There are also excerpts from newspaper headlines, advertisements and song lyrics, a la Dos Passos's USA Trilogy.

I loved this book. There are no authorial intrusions, and each of the individuals profiled. Each story is independent, and there are varying political biases, but all share a common theme: things are falling apart.

Highly recommended:

4 1/2 stars

93. Any Four Women Could Rob The Bank of Italy by Ann Cornelisen

After being waved through road-blocks because it apparently does not occur to the Italian police that females could be criminals, several female friends and acquaintances (six not four) decide to rob the mail train. I found this to be an intriguing premise, but it is very poorly executed. All the characters (ex-pats living in Italy) sound the same, and I had difficulty telling them apart. The descriptions of how the characters perpetrated the crime were confusing, and also confusing was how they returned the money afterwards. This is one to avoid.

1 1/2 stars

Well, that's September's reviews. Next I'll move on to October:

94. One For the Books by Joe Queenan Bo ught 2013 ROOT
95. Trust No One by Paul Cleave Bought 2015
96. Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey Bought 2014
97. The Harder They Come by T. C. Boyle Bought 2015
98. James Miranda Barry by Patricia Duncker Bought 2002 ROOT
99. Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America by Gilbert King Bought 2013 ROOT
100. Windward Heights by Maryse Conde Bought 2011 ROOT
101. Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen Bought 2013 ROOT
102. The Snowman by Jo Nesbo Bought 2013 ROOT

So 9 read, of which 6 were ROOTS--one dating back to 2002! Off to update ticker.

>119 arubabookwoman: you've read it..... I REALLY want that book. Can't wait!!

>120 arubabookwoman: exact same comments as above!!

In fact, a lot of your recently read books are on my wish list/TBR list... those 2 are just at the top of my wish list :D

>123 arubabookwoman: I could not agree with you more! Definitely to read together with Leven na leven

Magnificent reviews!

Will be back later with comments, but for now I wanted to update my ticker to include November reads:

103. Pleasantville by Attica Locke
104 Blood Brothers by Michael Weisskopf ROOT
105. 180 More by Billy Collins ROOT
106. A Banquet of Consequences by Elizabeth George
107. Missing Mom by Joyce Carol Oates
108. Did You Ever Have a Family? by Bill Clegg
109. The Seven Good Years by Etgar Keret
110. Shots on the Bridge by Ronnie Greene
111. No Place, Louisiana by Martine Pousson ROOT

Only 3 of these are ROOTS, so I have only 2 ROOTS to read in December to reach my goal of 50 ROOTS. This can be easily done if I don't get distracted by shiney new books.

BTW--Is there a group started for 2016 ROOT challenge yet? I want to make a specific goal for 2016 to clear my shelves of all books that are still unread after being owned 10 or more years. If a book is a classic, or I want to have it available in my library, I'll exempt it from this purge, but otherwise I want to read or decide I'm not interested any more and give away, all books more than 10 years old.

>131 arubabookwoman: no word yet on a 2016 ROOT group, but I hope so!

>131 arubabookwoman: >132 Tess_W: Cyderry/ Chèli will start the group for 2016 around Christmas.