lkernagh (Lori) continues to pull ROOTs in 2019

Hi everyone! This will be my sixth year of ROOT reading. 2018 was my best ROOT reading year ever with 76 books read off Mount TBR. I will be scaling back a bit in 2019 to allow more freedom to treat myself to some author/series binge reading, so the goal is to read 45 ROOTS in 2019. As with previous years, the only caveat is that books read (or the audiobooks listened to) need to be books I own as of December 31, 2018. I am looking forward to starting the challenge on January 1, 2019.




Happy ROOT reading, everyone!

-------------------------

ROOTs Read:
1. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy -
2. Eventide by Kent Haruf -
3. Benediction by Kent Haruf -
4. The Tie That Binds by Kent Haruf -
5. Where You Once Belonged by Kent Haruf -
6. The Likeness by Tana French -
7. Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky -
8. The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine by Alina Bronsky -
9. The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss -
10. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte -
11. First Execution by Domenico Starnone -
12. Dancing on a Moonbeam by Kate Perry -
13. Billie by Anna Gavalda -
14.
15.

Welcome back, Lori! Glad to see you again. Happy ROOTing.

Welcome back, Lori!

Best of luck with your ROOTs goal, Lori.

Good to see you back!

>2 connie53:, >3 rabbitprincess:, >4 Familyhistorian: and >5 Jackie_K: - Thanks Connie, RP, Meg and Jackie for the encouragement!

Good luck with your reading. ROOTing should be a desire, not a rule! Enjoy your series. I plan to do more with newer books, because of wanting to get finished on several series, or at least caught up!

>7 majkia: - Thanks Jean! I am curious to see how many ROOTs I can read, without actively working on them. As you say, ROOTing should be a desire not a rule. ;-)

Hi Lori, good luck with 2019 ROOTS. I'm trying to acquire a more casual approach to my reading choices too. I have plenty on my TBR that I look forward to reading though.

>9 clue: - Thanks clue! Here's to casual ROOT reading in 2019!

HI Lori! I am going to be trying to join this group this year! I think I have about 75 on my shelves.

>11 ChelleBearss: - Fabulous to see you will be ROOT reading in 2019, Chelle! This group has really helped me over the years to whittle down the print books on my TBR piles. It has not helped with my e-books, but I figure e-books don't take up the same amount of space and I can always migrate to reading my e-book ROOTs after I finish my physical books. ;-)

It's lovely to see you're back. Good luck with your goal!

>13 MissWatson: - Thanks Birgit! It is great to have the group as motivation to read ROOTs off my shelves. ;-)

ROOT #1 - The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy - audiobook narrated by Sneha Mathan
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2018 Category, ROOT
CAT/KIT: TBRCAT - First in/Last out; AlphaKIT - "A"
Bingo DOG: Debut Novel
Category: Author
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 1997
Acquisition date: February 22, 2009
Page count: 321 pages / 11 hours, 45 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.70 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from audiobooks.com book listing web page:

"A brilliantly plotted story of forbidden love and piercing political drama, centered on the tragic decline of an Indian family in the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India. Armed only with the invincible innocence of children, the twins Rahel and Esthappen fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family-their lonely, lovely mother Ammu (who loves by night the man her children love by day), their blind grandmother Mammachi (who plays Handel on her violin), their beloved uncle Chacko (Rhodes scholar, pickle baron, radical Marxist, bottom-pincher), their enemy Baby Kochamma (ex-nun and incumbent grandaunt), and the ghost of an imperial entomologist's moth (with unusually dense dorsal tufts).

When their English cousin and her mother arrive on a Christmas visit, the twins learn that things can change in a day. That lives can twist into new, ugly shapes, even cease forever. The brilliantly plotted story uncoils with an agonizing sense of foreboding and inevitability. Yet nothing prepares you for what lies at the heart of it...."

Review:
Roy’s debut novel, while written in luminous prose, was a challenge for me to follow in audio format. Roy takes an unusual – but not unheard of – non-sequential approach to the story: she starts the story with its ending in 1997 and, through a complex patchwork of 1969 flashbacks and segues into side stories, leads the reader to the start. I probably would have had an easier time following the shifting focus of the story if I had been reading it in print format, but no matter. At it’s heart, this is a multi-generational family saga virtually overflowing with themes to generate thought and discussion. The illicit breaking of the “Love Law” (theme of forbidden love) acts as the centre to the widening rippling rings of the story. Roy’s prose is lush and inviting, even when the story takes unpleasant, disturbing and tragic turns, while Roy skillfully maintains a sense of foreboding of something to come. It is a story where children lose their innocence and trust. Where cultures and language collide as Western influences permeates the Indian culture. Where sexual and caste conflict have wide reaching impact.

Overall, a satisfying read that may have had a larger impact on me if I had chosen to read, instead of listen, to the story.

ROOT #2 - Eventide by Kent Haruf
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2018 Category, ROOT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: N/A
Category: Series
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: 2004
Acquisition date: May 5, 2013
Page count: 299 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.ca book listing web page:

"Kent Haruf, award-winning, bestselling author of Plainsong returns to the high-plains town of Holt, Colorado, with a novel of masterful authority. The aging McPheron brothers are learning to live without Victoria Roubideaux, the single mother they took in and who has now left their ranch to start college. A lonely young boy stoically cares for his grandfather while a disabled couple tries to protect their a violent relative. As these lives unfold and intersect, Eventide unveils the immemorial truths about human beings: their fragility and resilience, their selfishness and goodness, and their ability to find family in one another."

Review:
I continue to love Haruf's straight-talking, "tell it like it is" approach to story telling. In this sequel to Haruf's debut novel, Plainsong, we are back in the fictional township of Holt, Colorado, roughly 2 years later. I call Holt a township as the story also captures the farming community, through the McPheron farm. Continuing his quietly expressive writing style, Haruf takes this story up a notch. We are introduced to new characters, get to revisit with familiar characters and, if you are like me, emotionally experience some really heart-wrenching, "unexpected punches to the gut" scenes. Not all outcomes are cheery, but Haraf's writing captures a snapshot of small town life, so it is not surprising that some of the events have a sad/ negative resolution or remain unresolved. That is life. Haruf's message remains steady and true: The ability to accept/overcome loss, face adversity or just carry on with life after it has kicked you to the curb, can be helped along with the comforting power of family/ friendship/ community.

Another wonderful story and I am looking forward to starting the third book in the trilogy, Benediction.

ROOT #3 - Benediction by Kent Haruf - audiobook narrated by Mark Bramhall
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2018 Category, ROOT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: Author Uses Middle Name or Initial - Alan Kent Haruf
Category: Series
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2013
Acquisition date: May 10, 2014
Page count: 272 pages / 8 hours, 48 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.85 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book back cover:

"Dad Lewis lost his estranged son to an argument, and now after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, he knows he will soon lose his life. His wife and daughter work to make his final days comfortable, but subtle changes in their quiet community, like the arrival of a new preacher from Denver, have stirred up dormant memories. Supported by his wife and daughter, and surrounded by the community of friends and neighbors, all of whom are dealing with their own private challenges, Lewis approaches his fate with such reckoning that his story transcends being about death, and becomes instead a touch meditation on the connections, and separations, that make a life."

Review:
While Benediction is the third book in Haruf's Plainsong trilogy, this story is set some 20-30 years after the second book and has a completely different cast of characters, so the common ground in the trilogy appears to be the setting of small town Holt, Colorado. That, and the quiet desperation that haunts certain characters in all three books. Beyond those similarities, Benediction reads very much like a stand alone novel. It takes on a more meditative/ reflective/ melancholy posture, but still employs Harauf's sparse prose. The story weaves through multiple story lines - some connecting, some not - but in the end, this is a story about how some actions, no matter how thoroughly repented, cannot be erased. Sometimes we are denied the very redemption we seek. For these reasons, this is a harder hitting story and really brings home the saying "Time is always shorter than we think".

Of the three books in the trilogy, I have to say, this one did not quite stand up against well against the first two books, mainly because, with its billing as the final book in the trilogy, I went in with certain expectations. It really should have been left as a stand alone novel. That way, the book can stand on its own merits and not be compared/ contrasted with the earlier books, like I did.

ROOT #4 - The Tie That Binds by Kent Haruf
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2018 Category, ROOT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: About or Featuring Siblings - The Tie That Binds by Kent Haruf
Category: Author
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 1984
Acquisition date: August 24, 2015
Page count: 246 pages
Decimal/ Star rating:4.65 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:

"Colorado, January 1977. Eighty-year-old Edith Goodnough lies in a hospital bed, IV taped to the back of her hand, police officer at her door. She is charged with murder. The clues: a sack of chicken feed slit with a knife, a milky-eyed dog tied outdoors one cold afternoon. The motives: the brutal business of farming and a family code of ethics as unforgiving as the winter prairie itself. Here, Kent Haruf delivers the sweeping tale of a woman of the American High Plains, as told by her neighbor, Sanders Roscoe. As Roscoe shares what he knows, Edith's tragedies unfold: a childhood of pre-dawn chores, a mother's death, a violence that leaves a father dependent on his children, forever enraged. Here is the story of a woman who sacrifices her happiness in the name of family--and then, in one gesture, reclaims her freedom."

Review:
Having read four of Haruf’s novels before dipping into this, his debut novel, I am immediately struck by two things: how well written this story is, and some stark differences to his later works. If you love Willa Cather’s stories – so far I have only read O’ Pioneers! and My Antonia, both of which are, IMO, fabulous stories – then I think The Tie That Binds may appeal to you. Both Haruf and Cather have a skill for capturing, with eloquence, the lonesomeness of the vast high plains/prairies. Haruf’s story is a story of two families – the Roscoes and the Goodnoughs (with a focus on Edith Goodnough) – and spans some 80 years. While we know right at the start that the story has a tragic event at its root, Haruf’s takes his time telling it, making use of 50 year old Sanders Roscoe as our meandering storyteller. Sanders takes his time because he wants the reader to fully understand the events leading up to that fateful day.

This is a deeply affecting, tragic story with themes of love, loyalty, responsibility and sacrifice. Edith is an amazing character. Her fortitude/ resilience is powerful. So how does this differ from Haruf’s other novels I have read? For me, this story is more focused. Everything dove-tails towards Edith. While Haruf’s stories tend to include difficult family situations, the unrelenting nature of the sadistic/ overbearing influence Edith and her brother endure makes this such a shocking read.

If you are like me and gravitate towards stories, like this one, written in clear, straightforward prose with a raw subject matter that emotionally draws you in, I can highly recommend The Last of the Crazy People by Timothy Findley.

ROOT #5 - Where You Once Belonged by Kent Haruf - audiobook narrated by Kirby Heybourne
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2018 Category, ROOT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: N/A
Category: Author
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 1990
Acquisition date: February 8, 2015
Page count: 180 pages / 6 hours, 9 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.35 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the panmacmillan.com listing webpage:

"Heavy-built Jack Burdette is quite literally too big for his boots – and too big, certainly, for the small-town attitudes of Holt, Colorado. But when he fails to make the grade as a college footballer, and takes a job with the local farmers’ cooperative, it seems he has finally settled into the rhythm and routine of everyday life. Outward appearances can be deceptive, however, as Jack proves: returning from a weekend conference with a new wife in tow, then leaving her behind and skipping town with a bundle of other folks’ money.

Nearly a decade later, no one has forgiven or forgotten, and when Jack reappears, resentment runs high. Once again though, it is Jack whose presence – even more than his eight-year absence – proves the most devastating.."

Review:
With this one, I have now finished reading all of the novels in Haruf’s oeuvre. Yes, it seems a bit odd to end off with his second book but I wasn’t reading them in publication order. This one did not capture my attention to the same extend as the other books did. With this one, Haruf seems to be experimenting with setting and story structure. Maybe he was still trying to find his writing groove. While still set in the fictional town of Holt, this one takes extra side trips outside of Holt to other urban centres. While this story starts near the ending, once we dip back in time, it has a more traditional story structure with a linear progression of events. I guess every community has its “bad seed/ bad apple”, which in this story is Jack Burdette. Haruf straightforward prose is still evident, but there is an awkwardness to the writing that seems to suit the characters, almost as if the story was writing itself.

While Haruf is known for his seemingly simple stories with some tension/ undercurrent simmering below the surface, this story wasn’t as compelling or, IMO, as powerfully written as his other stories. It is not that I have grown tired of Holt and the town folk. Each of Haruf stories – with the exception of Plainsong and Eventide – is populated with predominantly new characters to get to know and different time periods to settle into (although some time periods across the books do overlap). I just wasn’t that interested in reading a story about a small town high school football player and the decisions he makes. I actually perked up when the town’s hopes for retribution falls apart as it meant that Finally something was going to happen. Well, what happened wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but maybe that is the point. Maybe the story with a message about family and community and the bonds we make like Haruf’s other stories. Maybe in this case, it is about the bonds we break or cannot hold onto, or maybe, it is just a story.

ROOT #6 - The Likeness by Tana French
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2018 Category, ROOT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: N/A
Category: Series
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2008
Acquisition date: May 16, 2010
Page count: 466 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.90 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book back cover:

"Six months after a particularly nasty case, Detective Cassie Maddox has transferred out of Dublin's Murder squad and has no plans to go back. That is, until an urgent telephone call summons her to a grisly crime scene.

It's only when she sees the body that Cassie understands the hurry. The victim, a young woman, is Cassie's double and carries ID identifying herself as Alexandra Madison, an alias Cassie once used on an undercover job. Suddenly, Cassie must discover not only who killed this girl but, more importantly, who is this girl? And as reality and fantasy become desperately tangled, Cassie moves dangerously close to losing herself forever."

Review:
This is probably the first time I have ever used the term “pitch perfect” to describe a novel. I absolutely loved everything about this story. This one is a slow building, psychological suspense story. French takes her time to really lay the foundation, setting up a highly atmospheric, Gothic-styled murder mystery to solve. Yes, there is a crumbling mansion (Whitethorn House), a secluded location of labyrinthine lane-ways, a village that freezes out the newcomers and enough secrets (“No pasts”, Daniel keeps intoning) to keep a reader happily guessing alongside our protagonist. Normally that would be enough to provide for a satisfying suspenseful story, but the twist employed by French – that the dead girl bears an uncanny resemblance to detective Cassie Maddox (the titled “likeness”) – sets in motion an undercover tight rope walk that notches up the suspense, as the smallest slip up could blow Cassie’s cover. As Cassie immerses herself into her role, the reader experiences the allure of the life Lexie and her friends have created for themselves, even if that bucolic image has a dark thread woven through it. As with other novels in the Dublin Murder Squad series, we encounter the dance of some detectives: Frank (undercover operation lead) likes to run things his way and not always by the book while Cassie starts to withhold certain information for her own reasons as she develops a close relationship with the enigmatic suspects. The group dynamics – something French has a knack for – are just as enthralling as the mystery itself.

Overall, a fabulous follow up to French’s debut novel, In the Woods. For those of you new to the Dublin Murder Squad series, this is a loosely connected series. Each book has a different lead protagonist and while it might help to read the books in publication order, it is not necessary.

I'm really interested in the books by Kent Haruf, But unfortunately they are not translated. But the book by Tana French is. And I've read that one too. Four stars for me.

>21 connie53: - My apologizes for the delay in getting back to you! Sorry to learn that the Haruf books have not been translated but happy to know that the French ones have been! French has a wonderful way with making the character group dynamics just as important as the mystery. Glad to see you enjoyed The Likeness!

ROOT #7 - Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky - translated from the German by Tim Mohr
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2018 Category, ROOT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: N/A
Category: Author
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: German - 2008; English Translation - April 9, 2010
Acquisition date: May 15,2011
Page count: 221 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.85 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.com book listing webpage:

"Sascha Naimann, born in Moscow, now lives in Berlin with her two younger siblings and, until recently, her mother. Unlike most of her neighbourhood companions, Sascha doesn't dream of escaping from the Emerald, the tough housing project where they live. Her dreams are different: she longs to write a novel about her beautiful but naive mother and to end the life of Vadim, her mother's husband and the man who brutally murdered her several months ago. When she isn't busy looking out for her younger siblings or trying to manage their Russian aunt who has come to care for them, Sascha struggles between the forces that can destroy us, and those that lead us out of sorrow and pain and back to life."

Review:
A gritty, contemporary coming-of-age story with themes of friendship, domestic violence, loss, retribution and restitution. 17-year-old Sascha, a Russian émigré to Germany, makes an interesting and unpredictable first-person narrator. She is street-smart, intimidating and fearless. She is also, at times, squeamish, vulnerable and naïve. Sometimes she acts mature beyond her years and other times is strangely childlike, veering off into unexpected moments of self destruction, promiscuity, mania and depression. Sascha’s narrative voice is fantastic. One of piercing honesty, imbued with both a gentle love (for her siblings) and a barely contained rage (against her mother’s murderer).
I give Bronsky full marks for creating such a fascinating character in Sascha. The plot is where the story struggles. At times the plot is disjointed, meandering and off-pace. This works okay to depict an individual (Sascha) spinning out of control, but some events seem to have been included more for shock value than as events for logical plot development. That being said, Bronsky does pack a lot into this story. While I found Sascha’s relationship with the newspaper editor Volker and his son Felix to be rather unusual, I felt real compassion for the characters, including Sascha’s Russian aunt Maria, who struggles to adapt to life in Germany. Laced with wicked humour and smart dialogue, the end result is an uneven story that shines because of its compelling characters. For a debut novel, Bronsky provides a young, edgy, smart talking voice that is shouting to be heard.

Definitely looking forward to reading more of Bronsky's books.

I've just found you here. Happy ROOTing, Lori!

Thanks Jennifer! I am definitely not on track with my usual ROOT reading but hoping to make up for the lull later this Spring.

>25 lkernagh: You have more than 9 months left for ROOTing, Lori. It will be alright.

>26 connie53: - Hi Connie, it might, or it might not. This past week my other half came home with an inflatable kayak for me (we bought him one last year). After I bought my personal flotation device (life jacket) this weekend I took my first "paddle" this morning, and I am hooked. Weather permitting, kayaking is going to take precedence over reading - what can I say, it was so invigorating and relaxing on the water at the same time - so while I will still aim to complete my ROOT challenge, the kayak might just win out. ;-)

>27 lkernagh: LOL. Okay, but you can't kayak in the evening, so.....

>27 lkernagh: Weather permitting - so all the future bad weather here is your fault, Lori? I don't think that kayaking will be that pleasant in wildfire season either.

>28 connie53: - True enough, Connie. Low light and low tide make for less than ideal kayaking conditions. ;-)

>29 Familyhistorian: - Ha, hardly and given my lack of reading lately, I think we can hopefully consider the colder winter weather has been replaced with the warmer spring weather. As for fire season, I am hoping we are not going to try and set a new record this year. I will take rain and no kayaking over sunny skies and wildfires.

ROOT #8 - The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine by Alina Bronsky - translated from the German by Tim Mohr
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2018 Category, ROOT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: Main Title has 6+ Words
Category: Author
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: Original German publication - 2010; English translation - 2011
Acquisition date: April 30, 2016
Page count: 262 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:

"When she discovers that her seventeen-year-old daughter, "stupid Sulfia," is pregnant by an unknown man she does everything to thwart the pregnancy, employing a variety of folkloric home remedies. But despite her best efforts the baby, Aminat, is born nine months later at Soviet Birthing Center Number 134. Much to Rosa's surprise and delight, dark eyed Aminat is a Tartar through and through and instantly becomes the apple of her grandmother's eye. While her good for nothing husband Kalganowspends his days feeding pigeons and contemplating death at the city park, Rosa wages an epic struggle to wrestle Aminat away from Sulfia, whom she considers a woefully inept mother. When Aminat, now a wild and willful teenager, catches the eye of a sleazy German cookbook writer researching Tartar cuisine, Rosa is quick to broker a deal that will guarantee all three women a passage out of the Soviet Union. But as soon as they are settled in the West, the uproariously dysfunctional ties that bindmother, daughter and grandmother begin to fray."

Review:
I definitely preferred this one over Bronsky's debut novel, Broken Glass Park. Why? I like the fictional memoir approach to the story and I really, really like our snarky/sneering narrator,Rosalinda! Crazy, I know, especially given the character's rather disturbing cynical narcissistic personality - one reviewer has described Rosalinda as the "Tartar babushka from hell" - which should be an immediate turn off. Okay, she is not quite that bad - from hell, that is - but boy, does Rose have quite the interesting tunnel vision focus when it comes to her family and the world around her. Think Hyacinth Bucket (Keeping Up Appearances) meets Joan Crawford (Mommie Dearest) and you get the general idea. Thrown into the mix is a really fascinating portrayal of a Tartar who, on one hand, will do whatever it takes to fit into the Russian mold "to get ahead" while at the time, has an internal struggle about losing her Tartar roots. Rose has a lot of common sense ideas that, in principle, are jewels of wisdom so it is pretty easy to start to see things from her point of view (always a slippery slope!). It is Rose's determination to get out of Russia - the economy is collapsing after all - that we really get to see just how ruthless Rose can be. Of course, I am saddened at the state of the family dynamics but I love how each character - from down-trodden on the surface, mousy Sulfia to loud, energized Aminat - add life to what could have been a rather antagonistic story. End result: Bronsky proves once again that she has a gift for constructing compelling narrators. You don't have to like Rose to appreciate Bronsky's keen eye for observation and captivating wit.

Wow, end of March and only 8 ROOTS read so far this year. I think I need to pick up the pace a bit. ;-)

I'm sure you can do that, Lori.

>33 connie53: - I am starting to doubt that, Connie. Too many distractions. ;-0

ROOT #9 - The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss - audiobook narrated by Paul Micheal
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2018 Category, ROOT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: Prize-winning book - 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Biography
Category: N/A
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2012
Acquisition date: May 1, 2016
Page count: 432 pages / 13 hours, 31 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.90 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:

"Here is the remarkable true story of the real Count of Monte Cristo – a stunning feat of historical sleuthing that brings to life the forgotten hero who inspired such classics as The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers. The real-life protagonist of The Black Count, General Alex Dumas, is a man almost unknown today yet with a story that is strikingly familiar, because his son, the novelist Alexandre Dumas, used it to create some of the best loved heroes of literature. Yet, hidden behind these swashbuckling adventures was an even more incredible secret: the real hero was the son of a black slave -- who rose higher in the white world than any man of his race would before our own time. Born in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), Alex Dumas was briefly sold into bondage but made his way to Paris where he was schooled as a sword-fighting member of the French aristocracy. Enlisting as a private, he rose to command armies at the height of the Revolution, in an audacious campaign across Europe and the Middle East – until he met an implacable enemy he could not defeat. The Black Count is simultaneously a riveting adventure story, a lushly textured evocation of 18th-century France, and a window into the modern world’s first multi-racial society. But it is also a heartbreaking story of the enduring bonds of love between a father and son."

Review:
So, it is not surprising that I was enticed to acquire this one, given my love for the author Dumas' story, The Count of Monte Cristo. Reiss delves deep into General Dumas life and his military career during both the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. In pulling together this historical biography, Reiss brings to light the shifting attitudes towards race and slavery of pre- and post-revolutionary France and its colonies as well as the conflicts slavery and plantation ownership - key to economic survival of France - were at odds with the revolutionary ideals of "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity" versus the economic interests of the colonial plantation owners, which resulted in the re-emergence of racist bigotry that allowed for the re-enslavement of its black population and erasure of the memory of the valiant contributions they made to France - including those of the Black Count.

Reading this, it is easy to see how author Dumas senior felt such admiration for his father, who was a source of inspiration for some of his stories. On the downside, the book goes into a fair bit of detail about military strategies (not a favorite topic of mine). I was intrigued to learn of the conflicts between General Dumas and some senior military personnel, including Napoleon, where Dumas principals did not co-exist well with Napoleon's "empire building" vision.

Overall, an interesting glimpse into the Count/General Dumas and 18th-19th century French empire.

Hi Lori, just popping in to see if you made progress. And you did. Go get those ROOTs.

>36 connie53: - Hi Connie. I must admit I keep getting sidetracked with other activities and other books, but I am going to make an effort to try and get more ROOTs read in the next few months... I have lagged behind with my ROOT reading. ;-(

ROOT #10 - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - audiobook narrated by Flo Gibson
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2018 Category, ROOT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: Mentioned in Another Book - Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye
Category: N/A
Source: TBR
Format: eBook / Audiobook
Original publication date: 16 October 1847
Acquisition date: January 21, 2018
Page count: 492 pages / 18 hours, 52 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.10 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from various sources:

"Orphaned at an early age, Jane Eyre, leads a lonely life, abused by her aunt and cousin and then attends a harsh charity school, until she finds a position as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There she meets the mysterious Mr. Rochester and sees a ghostly woman who roams the halls at night. While Jane remains strong and determinedly refuses to allow a cruel world to crush her independence or her strength of will, what is the sinister secret that threatens her and her new found happiness?"

Review:
What can I say, I love Jane, she is such a strong and likeable heroine. Not one to shy away from adversity, and I think an introvert at heart given that she doesn't like to draw unnecessary attention her way. The story was a bit slow at the start. Is it just me or does anyone else think that Jane's childhood at Gateshead Hall and her time spent at Lowood School has a rather Dickensian atmosphere to it? It was when the scene shifted to Thornfield that I really became engrossed with the story. The interplay between Jane and Rochester is captivating! The drama. The intensity. Just perfect. I loved their intellectual conversations and the way the two would engage in word play, dancing around the elephant in the room. Readers who have read this one may understand where I am coming from when I say that my love for the story tends to ebb and flow: parts were riveting and other parts were... good, if a bit slow and sometimes a tad clichéd. The story has some really great scenes of high drama - loved those bits! - but some of the plot resolutions are a little too perfect and a bit too convenient. That being said, if I had read this one in my youth, like I did Wuthering Heights and other stories, I don't think I would have appreciated it to the level that I do reading it now, so chalking this up as being a worthy read and one that I am glad I finally got around to reading.

ROOT #11 - First Execution by Domenico Starnone - translated from the Italian by Anthony Sugaar
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2018 Category, ROOT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: N/A
Category: Author, Europa Editions
Source: TBR
Format: eBook
Original publication date: English Translation - March 6, 2009
Acquisition date: May 1, 2016
Page count: 160 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.90 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:

"Mild-mannered retired teacher Domenico Stasi learns that Nina, a former student of his, is being held as a suspected terrorist. His first thought is to contact her-only her innocence can reassure him that his teachings have not contributed to the creation of a monster. But instead of the comforting proclamations of innocence Stasi was hoping to hear, Nina coolly alludes to her guilt. She then entrusts him with a simple task that soon turns deadly serious. A lethal game has now been put intoplay and nothing can stop its course.

Yet matters may not be entirely as they appear. Into the story steps Domenico Starnone - author, retired teacher himself, a character in his own fictional world - and First Execution becomes an voyage to that murky terrain where fiction and real life mix, raising philosophical dilemmas in the process: to what extent do we bear the responsibility for actions taken or not taken? While searching for an answer, it appears only one thing is certain: that no one is innocent."

Review:
When it comes to intelligent, metaphysical books, I am probably not the best person to weigh in with an opinion. I tend to get bogged down in the logical weeds and at some point, become a frustrated reader. I am also not usually a huge fan of books written as a “story about a story” where we have an author agonizing about the story he is trying to write, so I wasn’t sure how I would take to this one. For such a short story – clocking in at a mere 160 pages – Starnone packs a lot of action, suspense, and intriguing monologues into this slim volume. If you are looking for a straightforward story, this isn’t it. In fact, it is easy to get confused. It does not help that both the character Stasi and the author Starnone have the same first name (thankfully, last names seem to predominate) and that the POV shifts are not always easy to spot(hence, some of the confusion while reading). The re-writes of the “story within a story” lend to some deja-vu experiences, which further blur the lines. Within all this “mess”, Starnone surprisingly manages to pull of a compelling psychological thriller, tapping into such interesting topics such as interpersonal relations, family, aging and the all important question of personal responsibility. Suffice to say, the philosophical dilemma taking shape is a layered effect.

Like I said, I am probably not the best person to review this type of story and my comments are probably not very helpful. How about I just say that overall, I found this to be an intelligent, page-turning meta-fiction thriller read, and a better than I was expecting going in.

ROOT #12 - Dancing on a Moonbeam by Kate Perry
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2018 Category, ROOT
CAT/KIT: RandomCAT - dance, dancer or dancing in title or as subject
Bingo DOG: N/A
Category: N/A
Source: TBR
Format: eBook
Original publication date: June 12 2016
Acquisition date: December 6, 2018
Page count: 278 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.10 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:

"Eleanor Westwood-Fehr gave up being a prima ballerina for dreams of love. Big mistake — and one she won't make again. Determined, she won't let anything stop her from opening a dance studio. Not her doubts. Not her teenage daughter. And certainly not her new mysterious neighbor, Max, even as she strikes a deal with him: if Max withdraws the complaint that stopped renovation on her dance studio, she'll help him with his movie score. Being a muse shouldn't be hard, right, because, for Eleanor, there's too much at stake to fail. She just never realized that rousing Max's imagination means rousing his passion too — for the music, and for Eleanor. Which is a problem, because what was supposed to be a simple deal becomes so much more as Eleanor lets Max dance his way into her heart. It should be win-win, except Eleanor isn't sure she can ever be triumphant in love... "

Review:
This definitely fits the bill for an easy reading, frothy contemporary romance story. No real big surprises as the story unfolds, right down to the expected tension between Eleanor and music composer Max. The added family drama of a teenager rebelling against her mom, a dad who has checked out as being a father and the meddling of Eleanor's ex mother-in-law Barbara - nicknamed "Brunhilde" - who is determined to keep Eleanor from chasing her dance studio dreams, keeps the plot going beyond the basic romance lines. Sticking to the sweet, modern fairy tale approach of the story, evil Brunhilde is offset by the calming, supporting and enticing influences of Eleanor's friends, including two friends who do double duty in the fairy godmother department: metaphysical shopkeeper Luna and the dramatic (and highly entertaining) Russian prima ballerina Anya.

Overall, if you like to read stories that fit the bill as a light romance bit of escapism reading, where hope and love wins, Kate Perry (the pen name for Kathia Zolfaghari) may be the author for you.

Squeaking another ROOT read into June... and need to do better on my ROOT reading, I now.

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ROOT #13 - Billie by Anna Gavalda - translated from the French by Jennifer Rappaport
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2018 Category, ROOT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: N/A
Category: Europa Editions
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: 2013
Acquisition date: June 11, 2017
Page count: 192 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.65 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:

"A brilliant evocation of contemporary Paris and a moving tale of friendship, Anna Gavalda’s new novel tells the story of two young people, Billie and Franck, who, as the story opens, are trapped in a gorge in the Cévennes Mountains. Billie begins to tell stories from their lives in order to calm herself and Franck as darkness encroaches. In alternating episodes, the novel moves between recollections of the two characters’ childhoods and their dire predicament. Franck’s life has been impacted by a childhood spent with a perennially unemployed father who toyed with Christian extremism and a mother aestheticized by antidepressants. A bright kid, Franck’s future was menaced at every turn by the bigotry surrounding him. As for Billie, her abiding wish as an adult is to avoid ever having to come into contact with her family again. To escape from her abusive and alcohol-addled family, she was willing to do anything and everything. The wounds have not entirely healed."

Review:
All I can say is "Wow". I am struggling to gather my thoughts on this one. Gavalda has created a wonderful narrative voice in Billie. A bit of an unreliable narrator, but that is in keeping with her divided personality: a strong, outspoken "no filters" speaking (and acting) young woman on the outside while a very shy, insecure and damaged individual on the inside. From a character development perspective, both Billie and Franck stand out. They are examples of individuals who have chosen to make their own path, and suffer knocks along the way. I cannot speak to the contemporary French setting, except to appreciate that it works as a backdrop for the fantastic character development. This story is very much a story of the unbreakable bonds of a friendship that survives insane stuff (most of the insane stuff is directly due to Billie, but hey, it is all about how true love goes beyond the typical (and overrated) sexual romance aspect of love).

At times, the story flows beautifully. At other times, the story takes odd turns that are a bit jarring. Overall, a story that at its core is an uplifting tale about hope, love and dignity and a positive message about overcoming the stuff that life throws your way.

Hi, just popping in to see what you are reading.

>42 connie53: - Thanks for the "pop in", Connie!

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What can I say.... Real Life has been great, just too darn busy for reading. Looking at my ROOT reading ambitions, I know that I will not even come close to meeting this self-imposed challenge this year, so I am scaling it back from 45 to 15. Here is hoping I can actually read two more ROOTS before year end to meet this drastically reduced goal. No promises.

As long as live is great, Lori. That's always a good thing.