JoeB1934's Wandering Through Books - Posting my Reading Journal for 2024

I have been posting over the years a description of my process for finding and reading books. This has been focused on analytical techniques and I'm sure quite laborious to follow and somewhat confusing.

For various reasons I decided to develop more of a direct reading journal that simply talks about what books I have read in 2024. Not every book, but mostly those that I found to be memorable enough to write my personal reactions to.

I could simply have produced a list with appropriate touchstones and my star ratings for those books but that seemed to me not very informative to anyone who might consider reading some of these books.

This thread will reproduce for each memorable book the cover image and exactly what I said about each book as I finished reading it. Please note that these are NOT reviews worthy of communicating full details on the book. Instead, they are my personal thoughts and my emotional responses to the books.

It will take me a while to copy and paste messages from my other threads so it will develop over the next few days.

Just to provide you a roadmap for this journey my next post will provide a display of the 20 books that will be the backbone of this trip.

When I finish this work, you will be able to see how my reading progressed through 2024, up to 04/01. Almost like rest stops on a road trip.

Bear with me as I move messages around.

These book covers are roughly in the order that I read them, and in the order they will be described.

There is an exception to this rule, because the first 3 books were actually read late in 2023 and I need to figure out how to re-order my posts. They are at the end of the current messages.

I also need to give those of you that haven't followed other of my threads I need to give a broad view of the type of books I prefer.

My reading preferences are:
1) Literary Mysteries
2) Literary Fiction of any genre content
3) Non-Fiction about archaeology, anthropology and generally the evolution of the earth and inhabitants.

It is also important to note that these messages were, by-and-large just copied out of ongoing threads, so you might find comments in them that seem out of place in this thread. Just ignore those incongruities. Obviously, the dates on each message are not accurate.

Also, I have included messages that are not in included in my most favorite books list when they were significant DNF books that affected my reading journey.

If On a Winter's Night by Italo Calvino is an example of such a book.

My most recent read isn't technically a literary mystery, but it is an excellent mystery book from Sweden.


This is about an 89-year-old woman who is intent upon living her life the way she wants to do it. In order to achieve her plans, she doesn't let an occasional murder get in the way. Technically she is a serial-killer, I suppose, but each one arises when someone crosses her by being a 'bad' person who is interrupting her plans, or causing harm to a friend. A societal vigilante of sorts.

She is very creative about accomplishing each murder in a way that the suspicion of her is diverted by her adroit use of her age and sex. Ultimately, she avoids ever being caught and at the end of the book she is living where she wants to be and helping out others who have been short-changed in some way by life.

This is not a thriller, or a classical mystery where you wonder who did-it. Instead, it is a study of the mental processes and thinking of someone simply trying to do what they perceive to be in the best interest of herself and others.

It is a solid 4-star for me. And she is my age!

Early in the year I had planned to read a number of books that seemed to be excellent literary mysteries. I didn't understand that several of these books were of the postmodern style. I blundered into this book not realizing how I would take it. I have included the write-up to show how I ended up on a track that ended up with a DNF

I 'finished reading' If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino and I will now try to describe my reaction to the book.

(If you happen upon this post while I am writing it, please bear with me as I am finding it difficult to convey my sense of the book)

Before I produce my thoughts, I need to apologize to those of you, like Jim53 who actually have read completely and can explain this postmodern book.

First, as is my wont, I produce part of the publisher's blurb on this book.

"The real Calvino intersperses 10 different pastiches—stories of menace, spies, mystery, premonition—with explorations of how and why we choose to read, make meanings, and get our bearings or fail to. Meanwhile the Reader and Ludmilla try to reach, and read, each other. If on a Winter's Night is dazzling, vertiginous, and deeply romantic. "What makes lovemaking and reading resemble each other most is that within both of them times and spaces open, different from measurable time and space."

In essence, as I demonstrated by my>31 JoeB1934: JoeB1934:: this book was written for readers, like you and me, via two readers in the story called at various times 'Reader' and 'Other Reader' as well as real name for the Other Reader as Ludmilla.

The 10 different pastiches mentioned is a key to the book as the two readers are always involved in reading a series of 10 different books, none of which are complete, but their search leads to the next unfinished book.

A reviewer on Goodreads has an ironic way of describing the presence of these books.

"Kinga
481 reviews
2,346 followers

Follow
March 4, 2012
I say this is what happened:
Italo Calvino was suffering from a writer's block. He would start a novel, get it to its first curve and abandon it before the resolution. A few months later he would start another with a similar result. Finally, his publishers got impatient because it had been years since the last novel and they said:
'Italo, get your shit together! We need a new book. Now!'
Italo panicked and did the only thing he could think of. He glued all his failed attempts together and delivered it to the publisher
'Here it is. My new novel'.
'Er.. Italo, but those are just beginning of some 10 different books...'
'Yeah. I know. Don't you get it? It's postmodernism!!'
'Ok...'
'You know, I am playing with the concept of the author. It is basically all about the reader now. The author has become obsolete. It is the reader that creates the work and the author is not even necessary!'
'Ah.. I see... Do we still need to pay you then?'
'Yah. Will mail you the invoice.'

I have read most of the reviews on here and I agree with all of them, with the bad ones and the good ones all the same. If you think this is contradictive and not possible, think again. And one word for you: deconstructionism.
There is no doubt that Calvino is (was) one hell of a writer and he plays with his poor readers like a cat plays with a mouse. This book was an absolute trip and really gets you dizzy. It might or might not be a coincidence that a day after finishing it I caught some weird bug that made me throw up for two days straight./

Within each of the books there are countless characters and interactions among them that I simply couldn't cope with beyond the overall direction of the two readers who formed a romantic connection which culminated at the end of the book.

Calvino clearly was writing to readers like us with a lot to say. The first chapter has about 8 pages where he provides an interesting discourse on all the steps we go through on choosing a book to read. For example, near the end Calvino says:

"You turn the book over in your hands, you scan the sentences on the back of the jacket, generic phrases that don’t say a great deal. So much the better, there is no message that indiscreetly outshouts the message that the book itself must communicate directly, that you must extract from the book, however much or little it may be. Of course, this circling of the book, too, this reading around it before reading inside it, is a part of the pleasure in a new book, but like all preliminary pleasures, it has its optimal duration if you want it to serve as a thrust toward the more substantial pleasure of the consummation of the act, namely the reading of the book.

Calvino, Italo. If On A Winter's Night A Traveler (pp. 8-9). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

One conclusion I came to after this book is that I will approach with caution any postmodernism book. I haven't been aware of this issue in my prior reading, or in the books on my Wishlist. I used Tag Mirror to determine that I have about 50 books in my library which have this attribute. In the near future I plan to investigate what my reaction was to those books that I have read.

The publisher blurb:
Muriel Spark

6,190 ratings869 reviews
A circle of elderly people in 1950's London are regularly phoned by a stranger who says only 'Remember, you must die,' before hanging up.
Dame Lettie Colston is the first of her circle to receive these anonymous calls, and she does not wish to be reminded. Nor do her friends and family - though they are constantly looking out for signs of decline in others and change their wills on a weekly basis.

As the caller's activities become more widespread, soon a witch-hunt is in full cry, exposing past and present duplicities, self-deception, and blackmail. Nobody is above suspicion. Only a few, blessed with a sense of humour and the gift of faith, can guess at the caller's identity.

Genres: Fiction Classics Mystery Novels British Literature Literary-Fiction Literature

This is a stressless read and it kept my attention to the end. I enjoyed it immensely and a solid 4-stars.
.

My most recent read, which I found very interesting up to, and including the last page. The publisher's blurb is as follow:

"The lives of three strangers interconnect in unforeseen ways and with unexpected consequences in acclaimed author Dan Chaon's gripping, brilliantly written new novel.

Longing to get on with his life, Miles Cheshire nevertheless can't stop searching for his troubled twin brother, Hayden, who has been missing for ten years. Hayden has covered his tracks skillfully, moving stealthily from place to place, managing along the way to hold down various jobs and seem, to the people he meets, entirely normal. But some version of the truth is always concealed.

A few days after graduating from high school, Lucy Lattimore sneaks away from the small town of Pompey, Ohio, with her charismatic former history teacher. They arrive in Nebraska, in the middle of nowhere, at a long-deserted motel next to a dried-up reservoir, to figure out the next move on their path to a new life. But soon Lucy begins to feel quietly uneasy.

My whole life is a lie, thinks Ryan Schuyler, who has recently learned some shocking news. In response, he walks off the Northwestern University campus, hops on a bus, and breaks loose from his existence, which suddenly seems abstract and tenuous. Presumed dead, Ryan decides to remake himself through unconventional and precarious means.

Await Your Reply is a literary masterwork with the momentum of a thriller, an unforgettable novel in which pasts are invented and reinvented and the future is both seductively uncharted and perilously unmoored."

This is commonly identified as a book about identity theft, which I consider when a person specifically becomes identified as another person. That is not what I found this book to be about. It is about three individuals who redefine themselves because of internal and external forces. These redefinitions cause them to "forget" who they were to such a degree that they can't even 'remember' who they were previously.

These three individuals become connected by a fourth individual, the twin brother Hayden, who actually does lead a life of deliberate identity theft. As one reviewer noted you can think of Hayden as "Tom Ripley alive and unburdened in the modern world"

To summarize better than I can do is the following statement from Scott Rhee on Goodreads:

"Of course, even the end leaves more questions than it answers, but Chaon isn't setting out to answer all the questions. Human behavior and motivations are too messy and complicated to figure out. Sometimes, we all do and say things for reasons that are unclear even to ourselves. In the end, a police report or a detective's findings may figure out the who, what, and how, but the why is oftentimes forever a mystery."

This statement is exactly why I prefer to have a book contain a bit of a mystery.

The publisher's description of the book is:

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien

20,135 ratings2,299 reviews

The Third Policeman is Flann O'Brien's brilliantly dark comic novel about the nature of time, death, and existence. Told by a narrator who has committed a botched robbery and brutal murder, the novel follows him and his adventures in a two-dimensional police station where, through the theories of the scientist/philosopher de Selby, he is introduced to "Atomic Theory" and its relation to bicycles, the existence of eternity (which turns out to be just down the road), and de Selby's view that the earth is not round but "sausage-shaped." With the help of his newly found soul named "Joe," he grapples with the riddles and contradictions that three eccentric policeman present to him.
The last of O'Brien's novels to be published, The Third Policeman joins O'Brien's other fiction (At Swim-Two-Birds, The Poor Mouth, The Hard Life, The Best of Myles, The Dalkey Archive) to ensure his place, along with James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, as one of Ireland's great comic geniuses.

My go to for a descriptive more detailed is from my friend bnielsen review

"England, ca 1940
An excellent introduction to de Selby and his philosophy. Or something.
Our nameless protagonist, NN, along with his somewhat dubious comrade John Divney, kills an old man, Mathers, in order to get his moneybox. Before the killing, NN probably has a name, but subsequently he has no memory of it. NN buries the body and in the meantime Divney hides the money. He says. NN and Divney don't trust each other, so for a long time NN makes sure to be close to Divney so he can't run away with the money. Or use them on the girl Pegeen Meers. But one day, Divney thinks it's safe to retrieve the money, and he tells NN that the money is hidden in Mathers' home under a loose floorboard. They follow there and NN enters the house. He finds the floorboard, but gets a shock when he touches the money box. He discovers that Mathers is sitting in a chair looking at him, and he can no longer feel the box. He leads a long conversation with Mathers, helped by his soul Joe, whom he discovers at the beginning of the conversation. Mathers tells how at birth you get a small transparent dress in a color that matches the color of the wind on the day. Every year you get a new dress in a slightly darker color and when it is close to turning completely black, you die. The policemen are Chief Constable Pluck, MacCruiskeen and Fox. And they seem to have everything under control, so NN thinks of asking them where the box can be found. But it's getting late, so he goes upstairs to Mathers' house and sleeps first.
Next he heads to the police station and on the way meets another man, Martin Finnucane, who turns out to be a robber, armed with a large dagger and intent on killing NN. However, it turns out that they both have wooden legs, and the robber immediately befriends NN and promises to crack open the belly of anyone who threatens NN. At the police station, as expected, he meets Detective Pluck, Officer MacCruiskeen, and a man, Michael Gilhaney. The third policeman, Fox, is extremely rarely seen. The conversation is constantly turned by Pluck to bicycles, high saddles, wooden rims and pedal buckles. Pluck is unique at locating stolen bikes, which is because he steals them himself and hides them around. Pluck also says that the atomic theory is at work here in the parish.
When they get back to the police station, there is a deputy commissioner O'Corky and NN realizes that the officers have already found him guilty and are looking forward to "stretching" him, i.e. hanging him from a scaffold. However, he can't be fixed in the meantime, because Pluck uses the cell to store his bike. According to atomic theory, you will mix atoms between hammer and steel rod if you hit the rod hard and repeatedly with the hammer. Similarly, a bicycle and a cyclist will be mixed with time. Everything is made by Omnium and the chief constable has also found an elevator that goes to eternity. It's a bit of a pinch. NN sends a message to his one-legged friend and a small group of seven one-legged people come to free him. However, the officers have been notified of the herd of Fox, so NN is taken up to the scaffold to enjoy the view. He apparently flees and takes Pluck's bike with him. He meets Officer Fox, who turns out to have Mathers' face, yet is kind to him. Fox tells NN that the box contains over a hundred grams of omnium, and NN begins to imagine a life of hustle and bustle. He takes the bike and is soon at Courahan's house. Inside the tavern, he meets Pointéen Meers, as John DivnEy is dating, but she's gotten much older. So is Divney, and he panics to see NN and collapses.
His view is that Mathers' house blew up 16 years ago, killing NN. Incredulous but confused, NN walks away from the house. Long after, he reaches a house, a police station. Here he is decorated by John Divney and they are greeted by a police officer: Is it a bicycle?

His final statement says a lot

Insane story. Related to Groundhog Day, Ubik and Sjak No. 3, because reality is not to be trusted. Very entertaining Irish word game. Maybe hell is other people and that it all repeats itself?
Bnielsen • Nov 23, 2021

Personally, the surreal dimensions were fine by me. The thought that eternity is just around the corner is actually true from my perspective as when I die my molecules continue in the universe as before.

The value to me for the book was the language as it pertained to the Irish. Creation of new words and and the totally enthralling flow of descriptive words was so enjoyable and fun. Some reviewers didn't think there were many laughs in the book and that overall, the theme was dark. I certainly didn't see it that way.

The Final Solution by Michael Chabon

This is the first Michael Chabon book I have read, and I feel bad about taking this long to discover his work.

Major Tags: Sherlock Holmes, Holocaust, WWII, Literature, Mystery, Literary-Fiction, Historical-Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Historical-Fiction, Literary-Mystery, Crime-Fiction

I am so lacking in knowledge about Chabon that it wasn't until reading this book that I found out that he incorporates the Sherlockian basis for this book. The key character in the story is an "old, retired detective" who keeps bees. The detective uses Sherlock like thinking to arrive at the essence of the 'mystery'.
What is less obvious is the inferred references through symbolisms WWII and the Holocaust. The book title actually provides the first clue to a major direction for the book.

I was most struck by Chabon's use of language. This book is very short, but his use of language communicates so well to tell the story in a manner that leaves me in awe.

The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis

I have been wanting to 'read' this book for a while now and yesterday/evening I listened to it completely. I wasn't surprised at my interest in the story of a clever peasant Arnaud du Tilh, who had almost persuaded the judges that he was in truth, Martin Guerre when, on a summer’s day in 1560, a man swaggered into the court on a wooden leg, denounced Arnaud, and reestablished his claim to the identity, property, and wife of Martin Guerre.

What was astounding to me was the historical scholarship of Natalie Zemon Davis and the quality of narration by Sarah Mould-Christensen, who spoke so authentically in details of 16th century happenings. These details about peasant life, local property practices and evolving legal approaches all came from scholarship research and not speculation.

Insight into the legal practices and analysis that led judges in their seemingly honest effort to determine the truth of Arnaud du Tilh's claims was especially revealing. A major factor in the process was that du Tilh possessed a prodigious memory and native intuition that could astound the judges and fool locals. The wife of Martin Guerre accepted his fraud and lived with him for 3 years.

Even though du Tilh was executed, in some ways he was a 'hero' in the eyes of some 16th century scholarship because of his talents.

On labfs39 there is an interesting discussion about female authors that are not being recognized. This caused me to retrieve from my earlier library two such authors that have written books that I still remember to this day. They are non-fiction books involving study of early humans.



I have taken from Goodreads the essence of these two books. My main takeaway from both is that the authors focused on the people and tried to tell us how these early humans were so much like us.

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Time Song: Searching for Doggerland

Julia Blackburn
3.84
427 ratings94 reviews
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE AND THE HESSELL-TILTMAN PRIZE

A journey told through stories and songs into Doggerland, the ancient region that once joined the east coast of England to Holland

Time Song tells of the creation, the existence and the loss of a country now called Doggerland , a huge and fertile area that once connected the entire east coast of England with mainland Europe, until it was finally submerged by rising sea levels around 5000 BC.

Julia Blackburn mixes fragments from her own life with a series of eighteen 'songs' and all sorts of stories about the places and the people she meets in her quest to get closer to an understanding of this vanished land. She sees the footprints of early humans fossilised in the soft mud of an estuary alongside the scattered pockmarks made by rain falling eight thousand years ago. She visits a cave where the remnants of a Neanderthal meal have turned to stone. In Denmark she sits beside Tollund Man who, despite having lain in a peat bog since the start of the Bronze Age, seems to be about to wake from a dream...

'This book is a wonder' Adam Nicolson, Spectator

'A clairvoyant and poetic conversation with the past' Antony Gormley

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Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art

Rebecca Wragg Sykes
4.02
2,859 ratings513 reviews
Since their discovery more than 160 years ago, Neanderthals have metamorphosed from the losers of the human family tree to A-list hominins.

In Kindred, Rebecca Wragg Sykes uses her experience at the cutting-edge of Palaeolithic research to share our new understanding of Neanderthals, shoving aside clichés of rag-clad brutes in an icy wasteland. She reveals them to be curious, clever connoisseurs of their world, technologically inventive and ecologically adaptable. Above all, they were successful survivors for more than 300,000 years, during times of massive climatic upheaval.

At a time when our species has never faced greater threats, we’re obsessed with what makes us special. But, much of what defines us was also in Neanderthals, and their DNA is still inside us. Planning, co-operation, altruism, craftsmanship, aesthetic sense, imagination... perhaps even a desire for transcendence beyond mortality.

It is only by understanding them, that we can truly understand ourselves.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Before I discuss this outstanding book, I need to talk about how I arrived at this book this year. About 3 years ago as I was converging on my love of literary mysteries, I began to find this book on several rankings of the best literary mysteries.

So, naturally I obtained a copy and began to read it, only to be disappointed with my experience. I ignored the idea of reading it until this time. Why is it now a most memorable book for me?

The answer is: I have changed as a reader. Back then I had progressed from reading British police procedurals to broader literary mysteries, but not much into science fiction, fantasy and horror books. Over the last few years I have ‘graduated’ to include almost every sub-genre possible, even to include magical realism. Even with these new interests I still have to temper how far I want to go into some of these newer books.

When I created my approach for 2024 this book continued to top my lists so I have now finished it and am in awe of the works by Jasper Fforde.

I have always been author-centric because, while I can see how most plots can be developed, I have zero comprehension about how any author can create the dialog for several hundred pages of discourse on events, people and the physical environment.

Fforde with this book has blown up my misconception that a plot is all that easy to develop.

As jim53 stated “It's a real genre-blender in that it has elements of mystery, fantasy/science fiction, and satire”.

Even these terms do not show the real depth of the innovation by Fforde. For example, I found discussion of portals into physical manuscripts that involved people entering the world described in the manuscript/book and interacting with the characters in the book.

I don’t know how to expand these descriptions, but I found a somewhat hilarious description, but quite accurate of events in the following GR review:

✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans)
2,407 reviews7,645 followers
Follow
October 4, 2021
➽ And the moral of this rerereread is: one of the most creatively original worlds ever created + delicious literary references galore + being meringued (don't ask) + most heavenly Brit humor/wit/sarcasm combo + bookworms farting apostrophes and ampersands, and belching out capitalisations (I told you not to ask) + a super extra cool, clever as fish kick ass heroine who's a war veteran and dares to be over 35 (the nerve!) + Shakespearean shenanigans + pet dodos + unnotified SpaceTime Flexations + one of the mostest awesomest villainous villains ever (and accompanying odious yet art-loving fiendish compatriots) + Jane Eyre and Rochester and St John Rivers, oh my! + I could be here all day listing all the somewhat very scrumptiously scrumptious details that make this book so bloody shrimping scrumptious but I'll settle for a celebratory dance instead.

What in the world is she talking about? Here is the blurb:

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

3.89
132,153 ratings11,412 reviews

Great Britain circa 1985: time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. Baconians are trying to convince the world that Francis Bacon really wrote Shakespeare, there are riots between the Surrealists and Impressionists, and thousands of men are named John Milton, an homage to the real Milton and a very confusing situation for the police. Amidst all this, Acheron Hades, Third Most Wanted Man In the World, steals the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and kills a minor character, who then disappears from every volume of the novel ever printed! But that's just a prelude . . .

Hades' real target is the beloved Jane Eyre, and it's not long before he plucks her from the pages of Bronte's novel. Enter Thursday Next. She's the Special Operative's renowned literary detective, and she drives a Porsche. With the help of her uncle Mycroft's Prose Portal, Thursday enters the novel to rescue Jane Eyre from this heinous act of literary homicide. It's tricky business, all these interlopers running about Thornfield, and deceptions run rampant as their paths cross with Jane, Rochester, and Miss Fairfax. Can Thursday save Jane Eyre and Bronte's masterpiece? And what of the Crimean War? Will it ever end? And what about those annoying black holes that pop up now and again, sucking things into time-space voids . . .

Suspenseful and outlandish, absorbing and fun, The Eyre Affair is a caper unlike any other and an introduction to the imagination of a most distinctive writer and his singular fictional universe.

This is truly a plot that I can’t ever imagine anyone creating, but it is genuinely genre-bending.

Suite Francaise by Irène Némirovsky

There are many reviews of this book so I will talk about my personal reaction to the book. I want to start with an essential statement made in the blurb for the book:

”Suite Française is a singularly piercing evocation—at once subtle and severe, deeply compassionate, and fiercely ironic—of life and death in occupied France, and a brilliant, profoundly moving work of art.”

I would expand on that statement by adding that it is truly a literary masterpiece. I have spoken recently about how the ability of an author to detail events and actions in the most incredibly minute specificity continues to place me in awe. This book provides that to a maximum.

I couldn’t see that there was a single sentence that failed to bring emotion and value to the portrayal.

It is useful for you to know that I am not, and never have been a history buff. This book provides historical details that I imagine are very important to historians. I can't address those historical facts.

I can address that the most important ingredient for me in any book is the depth of portrayal of individuals within the context of the story. This book takes a singular event, the invasion of France by the German army and focuses on the detailed impact on French individuals from all segments of society.

I found the variety of individuals so precisely detailed that I could almost visualize their personalities. Class structures certainly became very defined for me.

Despite these specific individual details, they remained anonymous to me. As a historical revelation it was educational to me in the first story ‘Storm’ but I attached more specifically to the people in part two ‘Dolce’.

Some reviewers attach a higher rating to ‘Storm’, but to me I could identify more emotionally to those in ‘Dolce’. This was especially true for the star-crossed non-lovers involving Lucille and Bruno, the German soldier.

I’m not sure exactly why, but the scenario where Bruno plays a piano composition for Lucille really stuck with me. Music plays with emotions in a powerful way and it did so in this scenario. The resultant conversation between the two brought up important thinking about war, peace and the consequences for everyone during non-war intervals.

Their relationship is never resolved during the book so you will be left with a lot of uncertainly at the conclusion. Isn't that the way life is?

We will never know if the author Irène Némirovsky planned to resolve some issues in later volumes. The tragedy is her death along with millions of others terminated the five book plan for this sequence.

Maybe reading some of her other books would provide more insight into what she planned, but this one as it stands is a masterpiece.

The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster

My recent reading has tended more toward Literary, rather than Mystery, so I decide to read this book, which ranks very high on the ranking of Literary Mysteries.

For those unfamiliar with this book here is a minimal setup:

"The remarkable, acclaimed series of interconnected detective novels – from the author of 4 3 2 1: A Novel

The New York Review of Books has called Paul Auster’s work “one of the most distinctive niches in contemporary literature.” Moving at the breathless pace of a thriller, this uniquely stylized triology of detective novels begins with City of Glass, in which Quinn, a mystery writer, receives an ominous phone call in the middle of the night. He’s drawn into the streets of New York, onto an elusive case that’s more puzzling and more deeply-layered than anything he might have written himself. In Ghosts, Blue, a mentee of Brown, is hired by White to spy on Black from a window on Orange Street. Once Blue starts stalking Black, he finds his subject on a similar mission, as well. In The Locked Room, Fanshawe has disappeared, leaving behind his wife and baby and nothing but a cache of novels, plays, and poems."

I have mentioned before that Literary Mysteries are, to a great degree not genre specific. This means that when I start a new book I have to decide if I appreciate what the author is trying to achieve. This is how I approached part one of the trilogy, City of Glass.

As I read into the City of Glass, I became disappointed with the whole setup. The best thing I can say is that it was very 'challenging'.

I decided to go to a number of extensive reviews on GR. You know the kind that produces an abstract of the whole book, with commentary. I found the usual range of highly enthusiastic readers. There are 4352 reviews there and I found enough insight for myself to realize that this book would continue to be challenging for me.

I have mentioned before that I am always looking for the likelihood of an emotional attachment for me with any of the characters in the book. This book promised none of that for me and no revelatory insight into the nature of humankind.

So, I DNF and went searching for a book more worthwhile with my time.

Somebody's Fool by Richard Russo

I chose this book because I rated it as being a literary mystery genre. It is truly an excellent literary book, but not a mystery.

GR Details: 5,400 ratings 675 reviews Rating 4.28

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls returns to North Bath, in upstate New York, and to the characters that captured the hearts and imaginations of millions of readers in his beloved best sellers Nobody's Fool} and Everybody's Fool.

The story revolves around a small group of characters that Russo had created in several earlier books. These characters are more fully drawn-out in this volume with excellent descriptive, emotional and psychological dimensions. My problem was that I never connected up with the characters even though they purportedly lived in a small town like I did.

The further I got into the book the more I became bored with the story. Some of this probably because the main characters were all adults in the 25-55 years of age and they were all involved in what I call 'shenanigans' because of my age.

I did come away with one thought that will stick with me.

The principal character is a middle-aged professor trying to teach college age kids compositional skills. In one class he asked the students this question.

"What is the difference between knowing about something and knowing something?

The answer was illuminated by a black student with two small children trying to cope with life and all her complexities. Individuals, like me can know something about the difficulties being a struggling black person, but that person is the only one who knows what it is like for herself.

The professor then went on to describe two of his own children, one in London on a Fulbright scholarship and one feeling that they are hopelessly a failure.

He told the students that the difference was not in their intelligence, but in their own expectations, which were shaped in childhood.

In spite of learning something about life I will put this book in my DNF group since I am not pleased to have read it.

While continuing to refine my list of candidate books to read in 2024 I have continued to read books that I have had on hold for weeks. This is one of the ones that I am reading.


Weyward by Emilia Hart
Since many of you might not have been aware of this book, which I found to be excellent, I am bringing in the GR blurb.

115,012 ratings 14,474 reviews 4.10 Rating
Goodreads Choice AwardWinner for Best Historical Fiction (2023), Winner for Best Debut Novel (2023)

I am a Weyward, and wild inside.

2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.

1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.

1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family's grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Magical Realism, Historical, Witches, Audiobook, Adult, Magic, Paranormal

This book is multi-generational, which some readers are avoiding, but I found the integration of multi-centuries in this case worth the effort. The way the author moves with the three women over the time I found to be difficult to keep track of but necessary to link the women.

The key descriptive provided by the blurb that drew me to the book, was:

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.

The resilience of the women was what you would wish for, as the men in the stories are the usual abusive, domineering, representatives of the male dominated culture. This resilience didn't come without a price however.

I haven't read many stories about witches, especially ones that have the POV of the so-called witches. I came away with the utmost sympathy for their actual attributes and an understanding that these women were endowed with 'special' capabilities in healing techniques.

What was a surprise were the paranormal and magical relationships to the natural world. These relationships, mostly with birds and insects, were fundamental to the women achieving their survivor. I won't say how this happened, read the book.

I need to add that this maternal bloodline that goes from 1619 to 2019 never brings in any fathers. Maybe this is a precursor for the time when science has made fathers unnecessary to procreation.

>10 JoeB1934: According to my DNA analysis on 23 And Me, 2% of my DNA is Neanderthal.

BTW there is another LT group - I’ve forgotten its name, that is currently talking about pre-history period books. You post on Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art would fit in well there. Maybe some else knows the name of the group I’m thinking about?

Just to add to the discussion of female vs male future development I decided to see what AI has to say about motherhood. This what came out:

The motherhood of the first humans holds immense significance in our evolutionary history. Let’s explore why:

(1) Evolutionary Milestone: The emergence of Homo sapiens (modern humans) from their early hominid predecessors occurred between 200,000 and 300,000 years ago. During this transition, the role of mothers became pivotal. They nurtured and cared for their offspring, ensuring their survival and passing on genetic traits.

(2) Language and Social Bonds: Around 50,000 years ago, Homo sapiens developed the capacity for language. Mothers played a crucial role in transmitting knowledge, culture, and social norms to their children. Language allowed for complex communication, cooperation, and the formation of social bonds within communities .

(3) Mitochondrial Eve: Genetic studies reveal that all living humans share a common maternal ancestor known as “Mitochondrial Eve.” She lived approximately 200,000 years ago and is the source of our mitochondrial DNA. This lineage traces back through generations of mothers, highlighting their essential role in human ancestry.

(4) Child Rearing and Adaptation: Early human mothers faced challenges such as food scarcity, environmental changes, and competition. Their ability to care for offspring, adapt to new environments, and pass down survival skills was critical. Mothers who successfully raised healthy children contributed to the survival and evolution of our species .

(5) Social Learning and Culture: Mothers played a central role in teaching practical skills, cultural practices, and social norms. They passed down knowledge about hunting, gathering, tool-making, and rituals. This social learning shaped early human societies and allowed for collective adaptation

(6) Brain Development: The demands of motherhood likely influenced the evolution of our large brain size. Caring for infants with extended dependency periods required cognitive abilities like empathy, problem-solving, and emotional bonding. These traits contributed to our species’ survival and success

In summary, the motherhood of early humans was pivotal for survival, knowledge transmission, and the development of social bonds. It laid the foundation for our species’ remarkable journey across continents and shaped the course of human history 12

To top it off the X chromosome has 3 times the genes of the Y chromosome.

I read current research into the ever-expanding story of the various lineages of pre-homo sapiens and item (3) above has always interested me a lot. In many ways that conclusion is why I continue to hope for an evolutionary development which could temper the male domination in many cultures.

I myself have traits coming from my Scottish mother and my Slovenian father, and both of them contributed to who I am. I can't imagine losing any of the traits, but I could be 'better' with some of them.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov


There are an incredible number of reviews of this book that I do not intend to amplify. One of the best is by dchaikin at http://www.librarything.com/topic/138560#3445496

Just to take a slightly different approach I used the Bing AI app Copilot to see what they say about the book. That was to ask if this book qualifies as a literary mystery. The response was this statement:

The Master and Margarita is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov that can be considered a literary mystery. It is a novel that combines elements of political satire, dark comedy, magical realism, Christian theology, and philosophy into a unique whole. It is a novel that wrestles with profound and eternal problems of good and evil, and that blasts open “official truths” with the force of a carnival out of control.

The novel juxtaposes two planes of action—one set in Moscow in the 1930s and the other in Jerusalem at the time of Christ. The three central characters of the contemporary plot are the Devil, disguised as one Professor Woland; the “Master,” a repressed novelist; and Margarita, who, though married to a bureaucrat, loves the Master. The Master, a Christ symbol, burns his manuscript and goes willingly into a psychiatric ward when critics attack his work. Margarita sells her soul to the Devil and becomes a witch in order to obtain the Master’s release. A parallel plot presents the action of the Master’s destroyed novel, the condemnation of Yeshua (Jesus) in Jerusalem.

The novel uses elements of mystery, such as secrets, disappearances, and mysteries, to create a suspenseful and captivating narrative. The novel also raises questions about the meaning of freedom, resistance, and humanity in the face of oppression and violence. The novel is not a conventional mystery or thriller, but rather a literary work that challenges the reader to think critically and creatively.

The Master and Margarita is considered a 20th-century masterpiece and a classic of world literature. It has influenced many writers and artists, such as Salman Rushdie, the Rolling Stones, and Woody Allen. It is a novel that can be read and enjoyed on many levels, from the humorous and fantastical to the philosophical and allegorical.

Now, as to my reaction to reading this masterpiece.

I have read a few masterpieces in the past where I would use words like 'challenging', or 'difficult'. With this novel the words that come to mind are 'fun', and 'captivating'.

After reading the Forward by Boris Fishman and the Introduction by Richard Pevear in the eBook edition I was almost frightened to continue, for fear that I wouldn't understand the real authors intent. Fortunately for me I forged ahead to discover a captivating fantasy with memorable plot twists. Some of which were laugh out loud funny.

The chapter titled Flight was so fantastic as Margarita flew across, and beyond the city wreaking havoc and images that seemed drawn out of a sci-fi blockbuster.

Speaking of audio, the first introduction to this book came about when I stumbled across a 2-hour recording of a stage production of part of the book. I can't say for sure because I was so perplexed that I returned the book to the library and checked out the eBook I read. I have put the audio back on hold so I can now find out and have a hope of understanding the production.

I certainly never will understand what the author was saying about the Russian system, but the book was still one of the best books I have ever read. The details of conversations and scene setting by the author were so visually impressive that I could imagine being in the scenes.

Somewhat of a paradox is that one of the best books I have read this year is not a mystery, but its literary content is very impressive to me. This book is not getting a lot of mentions in LT but on GR there is a lot with stats as follows Rating 4.15 and 5,493 ratings with 722 reviews.



The Museum of Failures is the title of a novel by Thrity Umrigar, a bestselling author of Indian origin.


I obtained the following synopsis by using AI:

"The Museum of Failures is the title of a novel by Thrity Umrigar, a bestselling author of Indian origin. The novel tells the story of Remy Wadia, a man who returns to Bombay from the United States to adopt a baby and to reconcile with his dying mother. He discovers an old photograph that reveals shocking family secrets and forces him to reevaluate his childhood and his parents’ choices. The novel is a story of forgiveness, healing, and empathy between a mother and son. The novel uses Bombay as a backdrop for the characters’ lives, but it does not imply that the city is a failure or a museum of failures. Rather, it explores the personal and historical failures that shape the characters and their relationships."

This is an excellent summary of the story, but it fails to capture a very important aspect for me.

The main character, who is a continuous presence in the story, is an immigrant from India to the U.S.

We learn through the story as it unfolds that he is in no-man's land where he is an outsider in the U.S. and India also. He went to the US with high hopes for what the US will be like. He marries an American and is very successful in business. The political upheaval in the US, along with racism is very disappointing to him.

When he returns to India after 3 years he has the same high school friends who he relates to, but he also registers that they have grown in their own directions. He is now somewhat of an outsider to them.

We, in essence, live in his brain throughout the story and this includes his emotions, regrets and thoughts as well as actions. The author Thrity Umrigar being of Indian origin has insight into this life as a member of two different cultures. The period in this book is mostly about life in India with its cultural issues.

Besides this immigrant/nonimmigrant dimension the final fact about the book is that is the individuals. The novel is a story of forgiveness, healing, and empathy between a mother and son.

I also need to mention that this book doesn't reflect on the class structure of India, or their strong religious differences. The religious factor comes into play as modern young people deal with realities today. The main character is from an obviously very wealthy family, but he has friends who are not as wealthy.

A very significant fact about him is his very high educational background and that he speaks English better than most Americans.

In retrospect I didn't emphasize how outstanding the writing is in this book, at least by my criteria. One event in Remy's life in America when he was a student at Ohio State majoring in creative writing, as a poet, comes to mind.

He went to a student party and at this party he met Kathy, who was to become his wife. Remy describes in detail the emotions, fears, uncertainty that occur when he first meets her. It was so detailed, as I said before the reader is living in his mind, that it was like I attended the party with him. It was so honest a portrayal that I lived the event.

Throughout the book the language is so effective that you don't need to speculate about what was happening, or why.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov


When I earlier talked about my reaction to reading this book, I also mentioned that I had checked out an audio version of the book. I have now reclaimed a copy so I could determine if it made more sense to me having read a eBook.

This book is a 2-hour recording by the Chicago Theatre on the Air. The production has a very long list of actors playing the major roles in the book. Interestingly enough there is a female actor playing Yeshua, the presumed Jesus.

Having read the book I could now understand what the play was all about, and I could recognize plot sections from the book. The negative for me is that the conversations, which went as in print, were too fast for my brain to process them.

My conclusion is that it is mandatory for anyone to have read the book to have any gain from this production. What I would really like is being in the audience for a stage production, or even better an opera based on the book.

I found the AI description of this book as follows:

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell can be considered a literary mystery. It is a novel that tells the story of three generations of women in a Scottish family, and the secrets and lies that bind them together. The novel revolves around the discovery of Euphemia “Esme” Lennox, who has been locked away in a psychiatric hospital for over 60 years, and her great-niece Iris Lockhart, who is contacted by the hospital to take care of her. Iris, who knows nothing about Esme, tries to find out the truth about her past and why she was abandoned by her family. The novel alternates between Esme’s childhood in colonial India and 1930s Edinburgh, and Iris’s present-day life as a shop owner and an affair partner.

                   My Scottish Heritage

This book had a significant impact on me because of my background, which I inherited from my mother, whose extended family left the green of Scotland to come to the desert of Wyoming looking for work in the early 1900's.

They were all working class from Stonehouse, a small village near Glasgow, instead of upper class from Edenborough. There were quite a number of Scottish immigrants living in our Rock Springs, Wyoming community and I learned a lot about the Scottish behavior from them. In many ways I could understand how some of the family dynamics in the book could occur.

In the 1970's we went to Stonehouse to visit relatives still living near there. Naturally we looked up and found the house my mother had lived in and went inside as the house was unoccupied. Making inquiries about the house we learned "the house was inherited by 2 sisters, and they couldn't agree what to do with the house, so it has remained unoccupied for a long time".

                   Now Back to the Book

I want to thank the members of what I call the 'literary' group of members who I follow for their thinking of me as a likely reader for this book. I am quite sure that they didn't think 'this is a literary mystery' and Joe would like it. They just know my reading preferences and which books would be of interest to me. It is also very interesting that almost every member that I follow has acquired this book.

From my perspective this book is a nearly flawless model of what I am looking for when I say I prefer to read literary mysteries.

My feelings about this book.

I was truly horrified by what society did to unwed mothers in Victorian times and well before that, I am sure.

High on my list of behavior that makes my blood boil I place abuse of children, treatment of females, and racism. This story has pretty much all of that. Parents, siblings, physicians, welfare institutions all conspire to torture and mistreat a young girl who doesn't even know how babies are made!

There isn't any graphic violence in the story but there is psychological mistreatment which is disguised as 'this is best for you'. The saddest part of the story are the countless numbers of events where if any person in authority had listened to pleas from Esme to listen to her and to explain what the problem was this could have been stopped.

The author does an excellent job of writing about Esme, and Iris who is a descendent of the family. Additionally, there are details about Iris and her own issues coping with not knowing anything about Esme, who's existence had been totally denied by everyone she knew. How she coped with piecing together the Esme story is very interesting.

It is very important to say that in the end I felt that a proper closing of the tragedy did occur.

A final note that ties this story to my Scottish heritage is part of my mother's story. She was born in 1907, just after the Victorian period. Her family migration to the US came when she was 15, accompanied by her mother with a new husband because the father had died.

A short time later her mother died in childbirth, leaving my mother without a parent and not friends of the new stepfather. My mother and the rest of the extended family of uncles and a younger sister set up a household where my mother was responsible for all chores involved with feeding and supporting those who were employed working in the coal mines.

Four years later my mother became pregnant by another young Scottish immigrant. All of the local Scottish community knew about this and somehow proposed that she marries the young man with the agreement that she could divorce him if she didn't love him. This is what she did, and I have a half-brother that she raised together with my father who married her a couple of years later. The community made sure that she had someone to babysit her baby while she worked. The main one was a French speaking woman.

Of course, as a child I didn't know any details other than my brother had a different last name and father. As I got into teenage years I learned some of this.

My Slovenian father, who gave me the love of archaeology, paleontology, geology and things analytical gave up his flying the plane he owned back in the early 1930's is a whole other story. Unfortunately, he didn't give me his tall, dark and handsome looks.

This is also an outstanding book that, due to circumstances beyond my control, I have 'read' twice this year. The first time was just before I broke my hip and book reading was out for a while. In fact, I even 'forgot' I had read it and it came on to my latest list of books to read.

I put the book on hold and it came to me rather rapidly so I started to read it and on the opening pages I thought I had read the book before. I searched my reading records thinking it had been in 2023, only to find it in the August-September 2024 period.

Another sign of my memory failures, I guess. But, I remembered the plot rapidly and how much I loved the book.



As I am doing for every book I read I use AI to see what type of book it is.

“Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro is a novel that defies easy classification, as it intertwines elements of dystopia, science fiction, and coming-of-age storytelling. While it does contain mystery elements, particularly in the way the story gradually reveals the true nature of the characters’ existence, it is not a literary mystery in the traditional sense. The book is more accurately described as a work of speculative fiction that raises profound questions about humanity, identity, and ethics.

This is a very precise definition of what the book is about for me. The key statement is the one that says "the story gradually reveals the true nature of the characters’ existence."

The story is truly about individuals attending what seems to be a special school of some quality and distinction. I won't spoil the book if you haven't read it, but I can say that it was about 75% through the book that it finally got through to me what was happening to these 'students'.

All I want to say is that it involves, as AI put it " a work of speculative fiction that raises profound questions about humanity, identity, and ethics.

This book is truly memorable to me and it has made me ponder even more 'where is technology and human nature taking us?'

Key Tags: Literary Fiction, Mystery, Race with an Average Rating 4.34 for 1843 ratings on GR


From AI:

Those We Thought We Knew by David Joy is categorized as a literary mystery. It’s a novel that delves into the dark underbelly of a small North Carolina community, unraveling the deep and unspoken secrets that stretch back for generations. The story follows Toya Gardner, a young Black artist, as she returns to her ancestral home to complete her graduate thesis and encounters a still-standing Confederate monument, setting her sights on something bigger. Meanwhile, the discovery of a high-ranking member of the Klan and a notebook filled with local names threatens to turn the mountain on end. The book is described as an urgent unraveling of community evils and asks poignant questions about identity and belief when faced with monstrous truths

I finished the book today and I still have the same feelings I obtained upon starting the book. Now I have to talk about my reactions to the book. I don't know what award will be given to this book in 2024, but it certainly deserves 5-stars.

It is true that there is a mystery contained in this book, but don't be confused by the crimes in the story. The crimes are there because they provide the author a mechanism for delving into the mysteries within this people and the community.

The title actually tells us how to identify the mystery, which is discovering true details about 'Those We Thought We Knew'. the best description of the mystery comes from the AI statement above:

"The book is described as an urgent unraveling of community evils and asks poignant questions about identity and belief when faced with monstrous truths."

I am in awe over the characterizations the author David Joy is able to develop for every individual in this community, from the black family at the heart of the story all the way to the white nationalists who are the 'bad' guys.

We learn about everyone along the racism scale by meticulous details in every conversation by anyone in the story. The net effect for me was to place me as a silent bystander to the conversations. I could truly feel the anguish, fear, and the sorrow over loss as I listened to the dialog.

The discourse leads to revelations about the role of racism in the thinking of pretty much everyone. The thinking has been developed over centuries and maintained by ancestral connections.

As a white person of course, I can't ever truly appreciate how a black person feels in a given situation, but the author describes everyone in minute details that are so observant that I felt like I can appreciate what is being described.

In terms of the non-extreme white individuals, I could see how their responses were equally believable. Some of these conversations led me to a better understanding about how subtle racism can be found in many individuals, including myself.

I should also tell you that you shouldn't expect to perfectly anticipate who the person is that was most of a shock to me.

One unexpected ingredient in the story is the importance of 'art' as portrayed by Toya Gardner who is the cornerstone of the story. She has come back to this small town to work on an art degree, and she is in the process of working on what sounds like an incredible sculpture representing her ancestry.

At this moment I am still trying to describe my personal reactions and I might well come up with more of 'I should have said that' in upcoming days.

Sure enough, early this morning I realized that I hadn't emphasized that the key players in this drama are those who are determined to protect their personal influence and power at all costs and that the majority of people can be convinced that they should assist them.

I had a couple of hours after finishing the David Joy book so, for a change of pace I went to an audio of Moon Tiger. A Booker prize winner and highly recommended by my literary friends.

AI tells me:

“Moon Tiger” by Penelope Lively is a Booker Prize-winning novel that has been widely praised for its intricate narrative structure and the depth of its characters. The story is told from the perspective of Claudia Hampton, a dying historian, who reflects on her life and her passionate love affair with a British tank commander during World War II.

The novel is renowned for its complex portrayal of time and memory, often circling back on itself much like the mosquito-repelling coil it’s named after. It challenges traditional storytelling by shifting between different points of view and time periods, creating a rich tapestry of human experience. Lively’s prose is evocative and thought-provoking, leaving a lasting impression on the reader123.

Critics have lauded “Moon Tiger” for its ferociously complicated yet fantastically readable nature, highlighting Lively’s ability to weave various narrative threads into a cohesive and compelling story. It’s a book that manages to be both intellectually stimulating and emotionally resonant, exploring themes of history, love, loss, and the subjective nature of memory"

Sounds like a sure winner, so what went wrong for me?

The first couple of chapters came across to me as a narcissist that I was listening to with non-stop switching of thoughts, memories of others and her own rapidly evolving emotions. Of course, that is precisely what AI tells me the book has been written to do.

These are the attributes that I dislike the most in an occasional person I have met in my life. The speed of the dialogue leaves me in the dust, and I tune out.

I moved ahead to a few chapters in the audio to see how this conversation was going and saw that I still wasn't up for the mental work I would need to put into the story.

I turned it off and my mind went back to Those We Thought We Knew. I enjoyed being a companion to those people so much more.

Upon further reflection I recognize that one key difference is that Those We Thought We Knew is about a cause that I feel very strongly about. Racism within our country is what I worry about the most as I enter declining years.

Meanwhile Moon Tiger is about a life that I have never been a part of, and it is about a personality that I don't admire.

>12 JoeB1934: I'm delighted that you enjoyed this so much. As I've said before, it's one of my very favorites. I love a lot of the background details: how seriously Brits in this world take literature, the Toast Marketing Board, the bad guys, Goliath Corp., etc. The best part, to me, which had me sitting in my chair laughing till I was gasping for breath, was the idea that the original Jane Eyre ended with her going off with St. John, and that it was Thursday's intervention that changed the story to the one we know .

I just finished last night a book that I really enjoyed. Not 5-stars, but a solid 4-stars.



. Key Tags: Literature, Literary-Fiction, Historical-Fiction, Family, Romance, Relationships, Coming-of-Age, Racism
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford With an Average Rating 4.04 for 299,655 ratings on GR


From AI:
“Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” is a historical novel by Jamie Ford, which tells a poignant story of love and loss set against the backdrop of World War II. The narrative unfolds through two timelines, one during the 1940s and the other in the 1980s, focusing on the relationship between Henry Lee, a Chinese American boy, and Keiko Okabe, a Japanese American girl.

1940s Timeline: Henry and Keiko meet at an all-white school in Seattle during the war. Despite the racial prejudice of the time and his father’s anti-Japanese sentiments, Henry befriends Keiko. They bond over their shared love of jazz music and navigate the challenges of a society marred by war and racism. As the U.S. government begins the internment of Japanese Americans, Keiko and her family are sent to an internment camp, and Henry promises to keep her family’s photo albums safe.

1980s Timeline: Decades later, Henry, now a widower with a son, comes across items that belonged to Keiko’s family, which stirs up old memories and emotions. The story explores Henry’s reflections on his past, the impact of his relationship with Keiko, and the enduring effects of the choices made during those tumultuous times.

The novel is a testament to the enduring power of first love and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity and societal pressures. It’s a touching tale that captures the essence of the era and the complexities of cultural identity and loyalty.

I was drawn to this story because of the historical events in treatments of Japanese heritage residents of the US during WWII. Many of whom considered themselves Americans because they were born in the US. Meanwhile Chinese residents of the US were considered allies of the US since they had been at war with Japan for centuries. This created a very dynamic set of interactions among all three categories of residents, made more complex because of those of all nationalities about where were they born.

In 1885, long before my childhood in Rock Springs, Wyoming there had taken place what is called the Chinese riots (massacre) which killed many Chinese immigrants because they were thought to have stolen mining jobs from 'Americans'. This town is actually known for the diversity of immigrants with a documented 56 different nationalities. Somehow the challenge of racial integration and behavior has always been important for me.

For me this story is outstanding because the central characters are really children whose lives are controlled by the various ethnic categories. This coming-of-age story goes from pre-teen to mature adults and from early WWII into the 1980s.

By focusing on the relationship of two children and their respective communities it was possible to translate the facts of the situation into a story that kept my interest all the way to its conclusion.

The portrayal of the differences between a Chinese family and the Japanese family was dramatic. Henry's father was so tied up with the ancient Chinese Japanese history that Henry struggled with his desire to be friends with a Japanese girl, which his father opposed violently. The ultimate result of Henry's father on the complete outcome was undetectable until we have all of the pieces integrated by the author.

We aren't totally familiar with how the girl, Keiko dealt with the loss of contact with Henry for many decades. Meanwhile Henry matures in his treatment of the separation from Keiko when her family is sent to an internment camp. He develops numerous strategies for dealing with the separation and ultimately decides that he needed to 'let her go' and move on with his own life with marriage to a Chinese girl at the end of WWII.

It is in the 1980's timeline that we see how Henry has maintained his love for Keiko without ruining his relationship with his wife, who has died with cancer, and his children. It isn't until the end of the book that we finally understand what had happened in the intervening years.

I commend Jamie Ford for writing a totally believable scenario about a complex environment that transcends a recounting of historical facts by focusing on these two 'children' and how history worked out in their lives.

The AI synopsis presented at the beginning of this posting is so well developed that I can't actually say anything more enlightening than that.

I finally finished my journey into the literary mystery book titled The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens. This journey was accomplished by reading that book in eBook format as a prelude to the book THE D CASE or The Truth About The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Carlo And Lucentini Fruttero, Franco Lucentini, Gregory Dowling (Translator)



Using Copilot I obtained the synopsis of the Dickens book as follows:

“The Mystery of Edwin Drood” is the final novel by Charles Dickens, which remained unfinished due to his death in 1870. The story is set in the fictional town of Cloisterham and revolves around the disappearance of young Edwin Drood. Here’s a comprehensive summary:

Characters and Setting:

• John Jasper: Edwin’s uncle, a choirmaster and opium addict, secretly in love with Rosa Bud.
• Edwin Drood: An orphan and apprentice engineer, engaged to Rosa Bud due to his father’s will.
• Rosa Bud: Edwin’s fiancée, who feels no love for him and is frightened by Jasper’s obsession with her.
• Neville and Helena Landless: Siblings from Ceylon, with Neville developing feelings for Rosa and a rivalry with Edwin.

Plot Overview:

The fathers of Edwin and Rosa, who were close friends, arranged for their children to be married. However, Edwin and Rosa are not in love and decide to call off the engagement. Meanwhile, Jasper’s hidden infatuation with Rosa and his opium addiction lead to erratic behavior. Neville Landless, who is attracted to Rosa, clashes with Edwin, causing tension.

Jasper befriends Durdles, a stonemason, and learns about the cathedral’s tombs. During a night visit, Jasper steals a key from Durdles, but its purpose remains unknown. As the story progresses, Jasper’s jealousy and obsession intensify, especially after deducing Rosa’s affection for Neville.

Mystery and Speculation:

Edwin Drood mysteriously disappears, leading to speculation about his fate. The novel explores themes of jealousy, secrecy, and prejudice within the small community. Dickens had published only six of the twelve planned parts, leaving the mystery unresolved. Theories about the conclusion abound, with some suspecting Jasper of foul play.

Literary Significance:

Despite its incomplete status, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” is notable for its gothic elements and being Dickens’ only true mystery story. It has inspired various adaptations and continuations by other authors, attempting to provide a resolution to the enigmatic plot12.
For more detailed analysis and character studies, you might want to explore academic resources or literary critiques dedicated to Dickens’ work.

Also using Copilot I obtained the synopsis of The D Case as follows:

“The D Case” or “The Truth About The Mystery Of Edwin Drood” is a unique literary work that combines a novel form with a critique of Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.” Authored by Italian writers Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini, it was first published in Italy in 1989.

The book is structured in a postmodern style, alternating between chapters of Dickens’ original text and the authors’ narrative. The story is set against the backdrop of a convention organized by wealthy Japanese patrons who aim to complete unfinished works of art. During this seminar, the chapters of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” are read aloud to the attendees.

In the intervening chapters, Fruttero and Lucentini introduce various famous literary detectives, such as C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot. Each detective presents their theories and discusses potential clues to how Dickens’ tale might have ended. This approach allows the authors to explore the mystery from multiple perspectives, offering a blend of literary scholarship and detective genre tropes.

The book’s conclusion does not provide a definitive answer to the original story’s ending. Instead, it presents a satirical and academic examination of the text, making it both accessible and scholarly. The novel is known for its humor and offbeat satire, as it delves into the intricacies of literary analysis while also paying homage to the detective genre.

“The D Case” has been appreciated for its innovative approach to literary critique and its engaging narrative that invites readers to ponder the possibilities of an unfinished classic. It’s a celebration of storytelling, detective work, and the enduring legacy of Charles Dickens

                WHAT DID I LEARN FROM THIS JOURNEY?

---

Just to steal from the synopsis above "The book’s conclusion does not provide a definitive answer to the original story’s ending. Instead, it presents a satirical and academic examination of the text, making it both accessible and scholarly. The novel is known for its humor and offbeat satire, as it delves into the intricacies of literary analysis while also paying homage to the detective genre.

I would emphasize that I didn't think of this as an "homage to the detective genre". To me it was more satire about the gymnastics that book detectives go through on speculations about who and how the solution to the mystery happened. Sporadically through the book there was built four different proposed solutions. Thesis A, B, C and D with various combinations of individuals and events pointing at possibilities.

It must be noted that there wasn't ANY data to support any solutions. All this was speculation. We readers of mysteries learn early on that the writer of the book has total control in setting up 'suspects' and final solutions. That is why I am not a who-done it speculator.

What did Dickens actually have in mind when he was at the point the book abruptly ended? There was mention in the D Case about so-called friends that he was supposed to have told his planned solution, but they were also speculative.

The most interesting thing I learned in The D Case was that, supposedly Dickens was envious of The Moonstone which was the first mystery written by Wilkie Collins And that the Dickens book was an effort to top The Moonstone. So, I used Copilot to see if this was a valid idea.

There is a documented instance where Charles Dickens expressed criticism towards Wilkie Collins’ “The Moonstone.” At a low point in their relationship, Dickens wrote to his sub-editor Wills that "The construction is wearisome beyond endurance, and there is a vein of obstinate conceit in it that makes enemies of readers"1. This comment suggests that Dickens had some reservations about the novel’s structure and Collins’ approach. However, it’s important to note that Dickens and Collins had a long-standing friendship and professional relationship, with Dickens publishing many of Collins’ works in his magazine, “All the Year Round.” The nature of any envy or jealousy is not well-documented beyond such critiques and would be speculative.

                THIS IS ALL I LEARNED

---

I also learned that my academic training, which is non-existent, in Shakespear, literature, literary criticisms and so forth undoubtedly caused me to miss much of the subtle humor.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

First published in 1952 and immediately hailed as a masterpiece, Invisible Man is one of those rare novels that have changed the shape of American literature. For not only does Ralph Ellison's nightmare journey across the racial divide tell unparalleled truths about the nature of bigotry and its effects on the minds of both victims and perpetrators, it gives us an entirely new model of what a novel can be.

With an introduction like this I was all set for a major read for myself. After struggling along for about 20% of the audio I reluctantly dropped the book.

I am wholeheartedly aligned with the racial divide subject of the book, but I had to work incredibly hard to continue. For the most mundane of reasons: I have always had difficulty with personal interactions with people that talk at a high velocity. It seems at my age the issue is even greater.

Why not move from audio to Kindle, you ask. My desire to listen is always tied to the emotional content and vernacular of the story, which I find to be difficult for me to acquire in a hard copy.

I can say that if you haven't read this book it is a masterpiece as described and should be high on the list for anyone interested in the subject.

In reviewing my books read during 2023 I realized that I haven't reported on one of my Most Memorable Books of 2023: Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

I did previously discuss a movie adaptation of the book, but I subsequently did obtain a Kindle version of the complete book. The book resolved many questions that carried over from the movie and it was even more rewarding.

For those unfamiliar with this book the publisher blurb is as follows:

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

It was a cloudless summer day in the year nineteen hundred.

Everyone at Appleyard College for Young Ladies agreed it was just right for a picnic at Hanging Rock. After lunch, a group of three of the girls climbed into the blaze of the afternoon sun, pressing on through the scrub into the shadows of Hanging Rock. Further, higher, till at last they disappeared.

They never returned.

Whether Picnic at Hanging Rock is fact or fiction the reader must decide for themselves.

Genres: Classics Fiction Mystery Historical Fiction Australia Horror Historical

This story is a classic of the literary mystery category. At the end a reader truly does not know what transpired.

The story is that the author actually submitted a final chapter which contained some revelations as to what events occurred. The editor convinced her to omit that final chapter. The author had her lawyer submit the final chapter for publication upon her death.

In that final chapter the girls were to have disappeared into a time warp through a crack in the rock. Apparently, such a concept was unacceptable to the original publisher.

This somewhat futuristic dimension actually clarified in my mind minor events beyond the girls' disappearance.

But today I started reading the book Broken Light by Joanne Harris and even though I am only into the first 6% of the book it will go on my Memorable Books of 2023. You might remember that my criteria for such a book is: "I really need to tell somebody about this book."
and I am doing that today.

I discovered this author in 2023 and placed that book on my memorable list as well as a new favorite author. I now plan to read more of her books.

The publisher blurb about the book in Goodreads is as follows:

Broken Light

Joanne Harris
3.92
1,571 ratings238 reviews
Bernie Moon is feeling invisible. She's given her life to other people - her husband, her son, her mother, her friends (not that she has any of them left). At 16, she was full of promise and power. Now, facing 50, she's a fading light.

But when a young woman is killed in her local area, it sparks childhood memories of a talent she used to have, one long since hidden.

She said she'd never use it again.

She knows it could destroy not only her, but everyone around her.

Bernie Moon is no longer invisible, but is everyone else ready for what she's about to become?

On the surface this book is about a female issue, which I certainly don't have any experience with. I was captured by the first page in the story and I can hardly stop the audio because it is so well written, and it contains so much more then menopause.

The tags for the book on GR are: Fiction Magical Realism Mystery Thriller Contemporary Fantasy Crime Literary Fiction Audiobook Urban Fantasy

If you can accept magical realism this book delivers for me.

The description below is all I could find that I made in an earlier posting. The commenting I was doing at that time was quite different than now in 2024.
I could write a new set of comments but I want to show what I was saying back then

I just finished two more wonderful books. I wonder if I will be able to find books which held my interest so strongly.

The Solace of Open Spaces is such an evocative picture of my youth in Wyoming. I personally didn't have personal experiences with sheepherders and cattlemen as she writes about, but I lived around them and had to deal with the environmental challenges she writes about.

The postings above bring together as best I can my book reading journey through 04/01/2024.

There are a number of side trips I could include, especially comments by other members who followed along as I produced other 2024 threads. I am sorry that I didn't include those and I apologize to them for not including their comments.

Comments/questions of any variety are welcome, and I will reply to such as they come through in this thread.

The book I am reading now is The Hunter by Tana French and my posting will be the next one I present

It occurs to me that in completion of next stops on this journay it would be useful to display the books that are currently on hold to read soon.



I don't know yet when I will read these as reading time isn't large right now and hold times quite long for some.

Hi Joe, I've placed a star here and look forward to following along.

The site that is mentioned in >16 kjuliff: is the Reading Through Time Group. We are a group of historical fiction readers that work on both a quarterly theme and a monthly challenge. The first quarter of 2024 was themed on prehistoric history and the next quarter (April - June) is Ancient/Biblical times. The monthly challenges are set by different members, for example April's challenge is to read a book that features a character with disabilities. May is going to be International Labour Day so work related or themed books will fit. If you wish to check this out, here is a link: https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/8853/Reading-Through-Time

>35 DeltaQueen50: Thanks. I’m a member of that group but it’s not the one I’m trying to find. The one I’m looking for has pre-history as its current theme.

Hi Joe, you've been finding some great reading. I'll be following along.

>34 JoeB1934: Of the covers you’ve posted the one I’ve both read and highly recommend is The Best Minds. I reviewed it last year I think. It’s a striking book and though non-fiction it reads like a story. I think you’d like it Joe.

Am enjoying reading about the books you like in this thread.

Thanks for letting me know about your new thread. I have read several of the authors and a few of the same books. I like your genres and will be checking back here for more ideas!! And your write-ups are fun and interesting. My hubby would love that you threw in some AI writeups. ; )

I like the idea for your new thread, Joe. This will be easier to follow for folks who aren't as interested in the data analysis (which I find interesting, by the way). It was fun revisiting your book writeups for the year.

>34 JoeB1934: I'm enjoying your reorganised thread. Looking forward especially to your comments on Tana French's The Hunter as I just read it myself.

Inspirational to see this all laid out. Great thread, Joe.

I just finished the latest book by Tana French, titled The Hunter and I decided that it is very important for you to understand how I think about her books.

Simply stated, her books are at the pinnacle for me when I am searching for a book to read.

I struggled with what words I could say, and certain phrases kept me awake. The problem is my skills with words and language are far short of what she deserves to have said about her.

I then went to Copilot, the AI tool from Microsoft and asked it the following question.

      Why do I Like Tana French Books so Much?

---

Tana French’s writing style significantly contributes to the atmospheric richness of her novels. Let’s explore how:

Use of Imagery and Setting Details:

French masterfully employs figurative language, including idioms, metaphors, and similes, to evoke powerful sensory experiences.
Her descriptions help readers vividly picture scenes, from the scent of odors to the movement of characters around them.

By immersing readers in sensory details, she creates an atmospheric tension that draws them deeper into the narrative.

Richly Developed Characters:

French’s characters are meticulously crafted, with complex inner lives and emotional depth.
Their thoughts, motivations, and interactions contribute to the overall atmosphere of the story.

Readers feel connected to these characters, enhancing their engagement with the novel.

Psychological Depth and Morally Complex Themes:

French delves into the psychology of her characters, exploring their fears, desires, and vulnerabilities.
She tackles morally complex issues, adding layers of depth to the narrative.

This psychological depth contributes to the overall atmosphere, making the story more thought-provoking.

Suspense and Anticipation:

French’s pacing keeps readers on edge, creating anticipation for the consequences of each action.
Whether it’s a detective’s investigation or a character’s personal choices, the suspense builds throughout the novel.
The atmospheric tension heightens as readers wonder what lies ahead.

In summary, Tana French’s expressive and persuasive writing style immerses readers in her fictional worlds, making her novels a captivating experience that lingers long after the last page.

Aren't you pleased with this summary of her writing? I know I am, as each of these highlighted sections contain the words I was struggling to produce.

If you too like this style of writing take a serious look at all of her books and you will be as excited as I have been over the years.

In my next post I will discuss The Hunter and how that book carried on her tradition with me.

>43 JoeB1934: interesting review Joe. I can get it on audio but I’m not keen on the narrator’s voice. Were you happy with the narration?

>44 kjuliff: At the beginning of the audio I was a bit underwhelmed, I haven't gone through prior Tana French narrators, but I think I should. As I went through to the finish, I became more accepting mostly because I thought he did an excellent job of handling the various characters and the Irish dialog.

>45 JoeB1934: OK. So it seems it’s worth persevering then. I borrowed it from the Talking Books library (no hold times there) - the the same narrator as with the Audible one, and had trouble getting interested, but your review has encouraged me to try again.

>46 kjuliff: I have been thinking about this narrator issue and have concluded that the quality of writing, as described by the Tana French description overwhelms who the narrator is by far. When I am listening to the emotions and consequences for the characters, I am oblivious to the narrator's contribution.

>47 JoeB1934: That’s what makes a good narrator. The listener should be oblivious as you say. Too overnight now actors are narrating with some, not all over-emoting.

After my synopsis of the Tana French oeuvre It is time to discuss her latest book.




. Key Tags: Mystery, Crime-Fiction, Thriller, Family
The Hunter by Tana French With an Average Rating 4.23 For 9,862 Ratings on GR


The Story

The Hunter by Tana French is a crime novel set in the small mountain town of Ardnakelty in Ireland. The story revolves around Trey, a teenager living with her mother and younger siblings. Their lives are disrupted when Trey’s long-absent father, Johnny Reddy, returns to town with a get-rich-quick scheme that promises to make everyone wealthy.

The novel also features Cal Hooper, a retired Chicago police officer, and his partner Lena, who have been caring for Trey in Johnny’s absence. They are concerned about the impact Johnny’s return and his plans will have on her. Trey, harboring resentment towards the townspeople for the death of her older brother Brendan, is initially willing to participate in her father’s scheme.

The narrative is tense and atmospheric, with a slow burn that builds to a dramatic conclusion. The novel is the second book in the Cal Hooper series but can be read as a standalone story.

Relevant Background

The series of books written by Tana French are NOT a traditional series of books about a police officer that brings the 'bad guy' to justice. Any individual book of hers can contain such a situation but the link from book to book is how she chooses a relatively minor character from a book and makes the life of that person the central character in the next book. This plot choice is maintained all the way from book 1 In The Woods through book 6 The Trespasser.

She broke to a new character in book 7 The Witch Elm, and again in book 8 The Searcher, when Cal Hooper in Ireland was introduced.

The key to understanding her books is to remind yourself that French emphasizes the Use of Imagery and Setting Details and Richly Developed Characters by immersing readers in sensory details, she creates an atmospheric tension that draws them deeper into the narrative.

It takes time in each book to create these ingredients and, as was mentioned above there is of necessity a "slow burn" in reading a book of hers.

If you want fast paced action don't read these books. Think of these books as a train ride where you watch as the landscape changes until you reach the surprising destination.

My Thoughts are as Follows

I enjoyed this book as her previous because of her Richly Developed Characters of the small rural Irish community and all of the participants in the story as outlined above.

It was very useful to me to learn about the members of this Irish community as I can imagine how such a community could exist in my ancestral Scottish village. The role of centuries of prior occupancy was brought forward to today when technology affects all their lives. Meanwhile those ancient biases and internal conflicts are still resident.

The 'mystery' at the heart of the story was very believable. Each of the key characters were portrayed down to and including the psychological ingredients driving every person in the story. The 'star' of this story was the teenager undergoing many of the coming-of-age behaviors one can expect. The final conclusion was totally a surprise to me, but French made it to be the most rational ending.

When I look back on all of the French books, I have read I think of The Hunter as a solid performance by the author and well worth the time for me.

However, if you haven't read any books by French I strongly advise you to start at In The Woods. Each of her books can be read standalone but her style of writing seems to me to be enhanced by reading them in sequence.

>49 JoeB1934: Interesting review Joe. I liked Tania French’s The Woods, but others I’ve read of hers have had unbelievable plots which are a turn-off for me. She does write well, but I need to be taken in by the plot.

I appreciated your Copilot synopsis of Tanya French (and showed it to my Hubby who uses Chatbot), but I really enjoyed your personal thoughts on the book itself. I have read In the Woods and gave it 4 stars. Guess I should read another one!

>51 Berly: I would suggest reading the Dublin Murder Squad books (1-6). You might find some of the plots somewhat unbelievable like kjuliff does, but I enjoyes them all.

I use Copilot because I have a windows machine and when I am into LT Copilot is down on the lower right corner of the screen. I can bring it up as a panel on the right side of the screen and I can ask anything. When it retrieves what I want I can do a copy and paste directly into my open chat message I am writing.

Having finished The Hunter I spent some time evaluating my current list of holds. This resulted in the following set of books.

I was scanning my books on hold for my next read and was impressed to try a new author to me. This led me to O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker. I was especially drawn to this book because of my Scottish heritage.



About the author

Elspeth Barker was a novelist and journalist. She was educated in Scotland and at Oxford.

Barker's novel O Caledonia won four awards and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize. She has reviewed extensively and written features for the Independent on Sunday, Guardian, Sunday Times, Observer, LRB, TLS, Harpers & Queen, Scotland on Sunday, Country Living, Vogue, etc. She edited the anthology Loss for Dent/Orion in 1997.

Her first husband was the poet George Barker by whom she had five children, including the novelist Raffaella Barker. In 2007 she married the writer Bill Troop.

The blurb for this book is:

In the tradition of Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, a darkly humorous modern classic of Scottish literature about a doomed adolescent growing up in the mid-20th century—featuring a new introduction by Maggie O’Farrell, award-winning author of Hamnet.

Janet lies murdered beneath the castle stairs, attired in her mother’s black lace wedding dress, lamented only by her pet jackdaw…

​Author Elspeth Barker masterfully evokes the harsh climate of Scotland in this atmospheric gothic tale that has been compared to the works of the Brontës, Edgar Allan Poe, and Edward Gorey. Immersed in a world of isolation and loneliness, Barker’s ill-fated young heroine Janet turns to literature, nature, and her Aunt Lila, who offers brief flashes of respite in an otherwise foreboding life. People, birds, and beasts move through the background in a tale that is as rich and atmospheric as it is witty and mordant. The family’s motto—Moriens sed Invictus (Dying but Unconquered)—is a well-suited epitaph for wild and courageous Janet, whose fierce determination to remain steadfastly herself makes her one of the most unforgettable protagonists in contemporary literature.

GENRES: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Gothic, Scotland, Horror, Classics, Literary Fiction, Coming Of Age, Historical Mystery

      I Was Hooked by the Maggie O Farrell Opening Introduction

---

“O Caledonia” is a modern Scottish classic by Elspeth Barker, and it has recently been reintroduced to readers. The novel opens with a striking scene: the lifeless body of sixteen-year-old Janet lies beneath the stained-glass window of her Highland home, dressed in her mother’s black lace evening dress. The circumstances surrounding her death are murky, and there is no shortage of suspects. Janet was not a popular child, and her family hastily buries her, eager to forget her existence. The sole mourner is Janet’s jackdaw, who searches for her unceasingly.

But “O Caledonia” is not a typical whodunit. Elspeth Barker weaves a different kind of tale—one that delves into Janet’s life, from birth to early death. The novel explores sibling bonds, parental intolerance, the challenges of adolescence, and the solace found in books. Set against the backdrop of prickly tweed coats, grimly strict nannies, irritatingly perfect younger sisters, eccentric household pets, and enormous freezing castles, the story captures the essence of Highland life.

Barker’s writing is exquisite, filled with evocative imagery and subtle word choices. The novel resurfacing in bookshops has been met with unadulterated glee among those who know its brilliance. “O Caledonia” is a rare literary phoenix—one that deserves to be celebrated and shared. It’s a book I’ve proselytized about, gifted to friends, and read aloud to creative writing students to showcase its impeccable craftsmanship. Elspeth Barker, born in Edinburgh in 1940, grew up in the neo-Gothic Drumtochty Castle in Aberdeenshire. Her upbringing mirrors aspects of Janet’s life in the novel, making “O Caledonia” a captivating exploration of adolescence, family dynamics, and the Scottish landscape.

The highlighted paragraph perfectly describes my literary mystery reading objectives.

. Key Tags: Literature, Mystery, Literary-Fiction, Historical-Fiction, Relationships, Scotland, Coming-of-Age, Scottish-Literature, Mystery, Crime-Fiction, Thriller, Family
O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker With an Average Rating 3.99 For 6,388 Ratings on GR


Using Copliot the Synopsis Is:

Janet’s Isolation and Loneliness:

Janet’s life is one of isolation and loneliness. She turns to literature, nature, and her Aunt Lila for brief moments of respite.
The harsh climate of Scotland serves as a backdrop, evoking a sense of foreboding.

Atmospheric Gothic Tale:

Elspeth Barker masterfully evokes the gothic atmosphere, drawing comparisons to the works of the Brontës, Edgar Allan Poe, and Edward Gorey.
The castle, the wild landscape, and the eerie surroundings contribute to the novel’s rich and haunting ambiance.

Janet’s Unforgettable Character:

Janet’s fierce determination to remain steadfastly herself makes her one of the most unforgettable protagonists in contemporary literature.
Her family motto, “Moriens sed Invictus” (Dying but Unconquered), encapsulates her wild and courageous spirit.

Award-Winning Novel:

“O Caledonia” won four literary awards and was shortlisted for the Whitbread first novel prize.
Elspeth Barker’s brilliant writing captures the essence of adolescence, reputation, and the mystical moodiness of desire and impulse.
In this hidden gem, Barker weaves a tale that transcends time and place, leaving readers haunted by Janet’s tragic fate and the atmospheric world she inhabits.

      How Did I React To The Story?

---

Have you ever witnessed an upcoming accident that you observed was about to happen to someone else? One time I was driving to my job, and I saw ahead of me an automobile careening on the road ahead. I saw the car flying through the air and rolling over before coming to rest on its roof.

Reading this book was in some ways a literary replica to me. From the first page I knew that Janet would end up dead, but as I read on the sense of foreboding slowly, but surely increased. As mentioned in the synopsis above, Janet had a life of isolation and loneliness which we followed through year by year ending in the finale we knew was inevitable.

Even though the setting for the story is mid 20th century the author definitely invokes images of a gothic atmosphere. Occasionally. more current situations in life break the gothic analogy. But the tone stuck with me.

A major part of my interest was the Scottish location and other related aspects. The language was so familiar to me because my mother came from Scotland, along with other family members. As a young person I didn't even realize that my mother had such a distinctive brogue.

When I introduced my parents to friends in college, they all said they really enjoyed hearing my mother talk. I was somewhat shocked to hear that. The narrator in this book did an outstanding job of reflecting that Scottish atmosphere.

Enough about my reactions to this book! As I reviewed my reaction to the book in my mind, I kept going back to the Introduction by Maggie O Farrell. What can I say that hasn't been said with so much more authority than I can muster.

So, I searched for a way to bring to you that introduction in a way so much more impactful than I did earlier. I found on Lithub.com the complete introduction.

https://lithub.com/maggie-ofarrell-on-elspeth-barkers-modern-scottish-classic-o-...

Please do yourself a favor and go to that link.

As a final endorsement by Maggie O Farrell consider the following extract from that Introduction

"I once decided to become friends with someone on the sole basis that she named O Caledonia as her favorite book; I’m happy to report that it was a decision I’ve never had cause to regret. When I taught creative writing, I would read aloud the opening chapters to my students and I would constantly break off to say, “Are you hearing this? Do you see how good that image/word choice/sentence construction is? Do you?”

On one level, it’s possible to read O Caledonia as autobiographical fiction: the strict upbringing in a windy castle, the fiercely bright and non-conformist heroine who finds love and companionship only in the animal kingdom. But this would be a reductive take on a skillful and brilliant novel because O Caledonia is a book that at once plays with and defies genre. To give it that most vague and limiting of categories—the coming-of-age novel—is to miss its point and to underestimate the ingenuity and droll subversion Barker is employing here.

I am simply unable to add ANY meaningful comments about this book beyond what Maggie O Farrell says so magnificently in her introduction.

I listened to an audio from Simon and Schuster that was so perfect that I can't imagine reading a print copy of the book. As I listened to the last 20 minutes, or so of the audio I felt my chest tightening with stress/tension about the end to the story. Be prepared for those last moments if you listen to it.

In 2023 I created a list of what I called the Memorable Books of 2023 by use of a single statement about the book "I really need to tell someone about this book".

I am enthusiastic about this book certainly to at least the same degree now.

Overall, I must say that this literary masterpiece is a very SAD story.

Book holds finally come up and I have started my next book already.




. Key Tags: Nonfiction, Memoir, Psychology, T rue Crime, Biography, Mental Health, Biography, Memoir, Mental Illness, Crime
The Best Minds by Jonathan Rosen With an Average Rating 4.19 For 13967 Ratings on GR


Acclaimed author Jonathan Rosen’s haunting investigation of the forces that led his closest childhood friend, Michael Laudor, from the heights of brilliant promise to the forensic psychiatric hospital where he has lived since killing the woman he loved. A story about friendship, love, and the price of self-delusion, The Best Minds explores the ways in which we understand—and fail to understand—mental illness.

>58 JoeB1934: Oh, that’s a terrific book though very sad. I think you will like this one Joe. It’s very well written. My review of it is here.

Given the book I just finished and my new book I thought it would be timely to update my Books on Hold for the direction I am heading.

I started another book to give me relief from many hours reading a given story. This one is a powerful one.



. Key Tags: Literature,Mystery,Literary-Fiction,Indigenous,Suspense,Crime-Fiction,Historical-Fiction,Family,Romance,Relationships,Racism,LGBTQ+
The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage With an Average Rating 4.19 For 13967 Ratings on GR


First published in 1967, Thomas Savage's western novel about two brothers now includes an afterword by Annie Proulx.

Phil and George are brothers, more than partners, joint owners of the biggest ranch in their Montana valley. Phil is the bright one, George the plodder. Phil is tall and angular; George is stocky and silent. Phil is a brilliant chess player, a voracious reader, an eloquent storyteller; George learns slowly, and devotes himself to the business.

Phil is a vicious sadist, with a seething contempt for weakness to match his thirst for dominance; George has a gentle, loving soul. They sleep in the room they shared as boys, and so it has been for forty years. When George unexpectedly marries a young widow and brings her to live at the ranch, Phil begins a relentless campaign to destroy his brother's new wife. But he reckons without an unlikely protector.

From its visceral first paragraph to its devastating twist of an ending, The Power of the Dog will hold you in its grip.

>61 JoeB1934: You might enjoy the movie “The Power of the Dog”. It’s very well done, directed by Jane campion. It’s currently on Netflix.

>60 JoeB1934: I look forward to reading your thoughts on these books. A few favorites are Lonesome Dove, The Heart's Invisible Furies and The Power of the Dog.

>61 JoeB1934: If you are interested, the Vintage edition has an essay at the end by Annie Proulx...she makes the connection between Savage's life and his work. The movie was good, but it is hard to do justice to such a powerful and complex story in 2 hours.

>43 JoeB1934: Tana French is a favorite of mine and I enjoyed her Dublin Murder Squad series. I haven't delved into AI, but I do like this particular description of Tana French's writing, I think it describes her style perfectly.

>23 JoeB1934: Good review, added to my list of TBR. Thanks.

. Key Tags: Nonfiction, Memoir, Psychology, Biography, True Crime, Mental Health, Audiobook, Biography Memoir, Mental Illness, Crime
The Best Minds by Jonathan Rosen With an Average Rating 4.11 For 7,356 Ratings on GR


The Best Minds is a poignant and gripping memoir by Jonathan Rosen. It delves into an American tragedy, exploring themes of friendship, madness, and the unforeseen consequences of good intentions.

Summary:

When the Rosens moved to New Rochelle in 1973, Jonathan Rosen and Michael Laudor became inseparable childhood friends. Both children of college professors, they were keen competitors and seemed destined for success. Michael blazed through college, graduating summa cum laude and landing a top consulting job. But beneath the surface, all was not well. One day, Jonathan received a call: Michael had suffered a serious psychotic break and was in a locked psychiatric ward. Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, Michael’s life took a tragic turn. Despite his struggles, he traded his halfway house for Yale Law School and even sold a memoir with film rights. But then, in the grip of an unshakeable paranoid fantasy, he committed a horrifying act.

---

For an outstanding review of this book I urge you to go to the kjuliff review at
https://www.librarything.com/topic/356213#8350603

That review has a tremendous amount more information than I could ever produce and your decision to read this outstanding book will be derived from there.

     My Personal Observations

This book is really a biography & memoir, which is not my favorite genre. I tend to become anxious for the story to move on more rapidly to details that I am anticipating.

The first 100 pages, or so were very compelling in setting the story up and essential. From these pages the author was revealed to be an incredibly precise and literary author with all the capacity to keep me absorbed in this human tragedy of a mind that had enormous potential but was destroyed by schizophrenia.

The author interweaves details about his relationship with Michael, his own academic journey, and the medical understanding of schizophrenia. From my standpoint I did feel that there was more time spent on these details than I would have preferred.

I did learn a lot more about the role of schizophrenia in the medical and political world, but even so I don't actually understand much about schizophrenia's treatments, causes, or other important factors in the disease.

Similarly, the details about what Michael was going through was, by necessity limited by the behavior of Michael due to schizophrenia.

This is a classic case of what I learned as an employer dealing with an employee's problems. "The problem gets in the way of solving the problem."

Please don't take my comments as being negative about this book, as I am very pleased with having read it and my reactions should be taken as idiosyncratic to me.

>67 JoeB1934: I’m glad you enjoyed Great Minds Joe. I had thought you would, though it is not one of your usual genres. I liked your comments. And thank you for the positive mention of my review. Your review though stands on its own.

. Key Tags: Literature, Mystery, Literary-Fiction, Indigenous, Suspense, Crime-Fiction, Historical-Fiction, Family, Romance, Relationships, Speculative-Fiction, Racism, LGBTQ+
The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage and Annie Proulx With an Average Rating 4.19 For 13,992 Ratings on GR


First published in 1967, Thomas Savage's western novel about two brothers now includes an afterword by Annie Proulx.

Phil and George are brothers, more than partners, joint owners of the biggest ranch in their Montana valley. Phil is the bright one, George the plodder. Phil is tall and angular; George is stocky and silent. Phil is a brilliant chess player, a voracious reader, an eloquent storyteller; George learns slowly, and devotes himself to the business.

Phil is a vicious sadist, with a seething contempt for weakness to match his thirst for dominance; George has a gentle, loving soul. They sleep in the room they shared as boys, and so it has been for forty years. When George unexpectedly marries a young widow and brings her to live at the ranch, Phil begins a relentless campaign to destroy his brother's new wife. But he reckons without an unlikely protector.

From its visceral first paragraph to its devastating twist of an ending, The Power of the Dog will hold you in its grip.

---

After I read this book I went to GR to see how they summarized the book. One of the first reviews I saw was so interesting to me. It was posted on April 8, 2019 by Robin who has 511 reviews and 3,086 followers.

Robin Said:

"I wonder how extraordinary writers fade into obscurity. I pondered this the whole time I was reading this 1967 novel, and asked myself a few pertinent questions such as: Why isn't Thomas Savage a name that easily rolls off the tongue of many a book lover? Why isn't his name the answer to a Jeopardy question? Why isn't "Thomas-Savage-ian" an adjective?

Maybe it's because we decided that it was no longer fashionable to read slow burning, ruthless stories.

Nah, we said, forget about it. We're not into writers who are ahead of their time.

We don't need no western settings. Nor do we need to read the father of Brokeback Mountain. No sirree.

Psychological tension that just about strangles you with its looming dread and doom just doesn't do it for us anymore.

Satisfying endings are just so last-mid-century."

One could call this review sardonic but notice certain key phrases in these few sentences actually describe the book quite well.

(1) slow burning, ruthless stories
(2) writers who are ahead of their time.
(3) western settings
(4) the father of Brokeback Mountain
(5) Psychological tension that just about strangles you
(6) Satisfying endings

Annie Proulx the acclaimed author of Brokeback Mountain, contributed an afterword to this book. In her insightful commentary, she described the book as “gripping and powerful”. She also considers this book to be Thomas's most outstanding book and has numerous other comments which magnify the quality of the book.

It is interesting to note that The Power of the Dog was published in 1967 and Brokeback Mountain was published 30 years later in 1997.

---

      My Personal Observations

I'm actually not sure how I came across this book as a candidate to read. I don't tend to read 'westerns' and I certainly had no idea that it was a precursor to Brokeback Mountain, which I had heard about, but never watched.

When I started the book the first sentence I heard was "Phil always did the castrating". This was followed by a description of how Phil was an expert at this function and that he relished in it.

I have never been around any castrations, but I was aware of the process, and revolted by the idea that a person could have this attitude. Of course, it is a common process but somehow repugnant at the same time.

I hadn't read any descriptions of the plot, but I was struck quite rapidly that this was going to be a book about 'real' people and a situation taken from actual lives.

The Power of the Dog was a real page-turner for me. Not because there was a dramatic event always happening. Instead, as Robin said, it is slow burning with psychological tension that just about strangles you.

The more I think about this book the more I conclude that the key words are Toxic Masculinity.

The western ranching community is not critical to the story. Any small town with a predominately male employment could suffice. I grew up in such a community, which wasn't predominately ranching. I did enjoy the descriptions in the book and related to those details.

Four of the five central characters, not named Phil, in the story were recognizable to me. While each of them had personalities which were somewhat limiting to them I would venture a guess that most of us could recognize such aspects in themselves, or friends.

Just to review:

Plot Summary:

In 1925 Montana, the wealthy ranch owner brothers Phil and George Burbank meet widow and inn owner Rose Gordon during a cattle drive. The gentle-mannered George is quickly taken with Rose, while the volatile Phil, much influenced by his late mentor “Bronco” Henry, mocks Rose’s son Peter for his lisp and effeminate manner. George and Rose soon marry. Charismatic rancher Phil Burbank inspires fear and awe in those around him.

I haven't watched the movie about this book, but one reviewer stated.

The film subverts Western genre conventions and challenges traditional notions of masculinity, leaving viewers with questions and a sense of discomfort. It explores complex relationships, hidden secrets, and the impact of ego on destruction.

The thing about Phil isn't that he is a bully, but that he is impressively smart, talented, and very perceptive about how to subtly destroy another person. Such as driving Rose to alcoholism simply by not talking to her, but by looking at her.

I certainly have never been aware of anyone I knew about that had such toxic masculinity.

I don't want to tell you how this story ends, but Robin said:

Satisfying endings are just so last-mid-century.

I do plan to watch the movie of this book now that I have read it.

The afterword by Annie Proulx is extremely valuable as she explains in detail the background of Thomas Savage. You will find it to be very supportive of his work.

It turns out that the character named Phil in the book is modeled after his actual brother. Savage had an intense dislike of him and really wanted him 'killed', which he did in the book. There are a lot of details in the afterword about the Savage family and their position in Montana ranching. Very fascinating and the reason why I always thought the book was about 'real' people.

>69 JoeB1934: interesting review Joe. Did you think about seeing the film version I mentioned earlier? It’s a good film. You can get the information about it here.

>70 kjuliff: Yes I am planning it.

>71 JoeB1934: I don’t normally watch Westerns but I enjoyed that movie. It’s directed by world-renowned New Zealand’s Jane Campion.

My updated Books on Hold

>73 JoeB1934: For what it’s worth I give a thumbs up to The Hours , but only if you’ve already read Mrs Daloway. And I give the thumbs down on The Nightinggale , unless you plan to read it on an airplane 😉

>74 kjuliff: I've added Mrs Daloway to my holds so I can read it first

>75 JoeB1934: Good idea, I thing The Hours wouldn’t make a lot of sense without it.

>7 JoeB1934: I don't know if you, or many others use the Recommendation display which show when I go to the book page for The Hours. Here is that for me with green checks for the books I have read, or plan to read.

Mrs Dalloway is first on the display. Many others that I could also read are there also. I especially noted Possession, which is one of my all-time favorite books.
I hope your eyes are good enough to see these covers. I could produce a list of the books if that would be useful.

Also, I am curious about this display for the books you have read.

. Key Tags: Literature, Mystery, Literary-Fiction, Indigenous, Suspense, Crime-Fiction, Historical-Fiction, Family, Romance, Relationships, Speculative-Fiction, Racism, LGBTQ+
The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage and Annie Proulx With an Average Rating 4.19 For 13,992 Ratings on GR


A postscript on this book after I finished watching the award-winning movie.

The movie certainly was faithful to the book and very enjoyable to watch. Since I had read the book, I knew what was supposed to occur. Thus, I had far less anxiety building as the movie progressed.

One major advantage to the movie was the 'clarification' about the relationship between Phil and Buck Henry. Another for me was the role of Peter in Phil's death.
I had in my mind both situations and the movie substantially clarified them for me.

As to, should I have watched the movie first, my conclusion is definitely not.

>78 JoeB1934: Glad you enjoyed the movie, Joe.

My next book to read is:



The Art of Mystery by Maud Casey

Everyone that has seen my prior threads knows that I am always looking for books of literary and mystery elements. They also know that, to me the mysteries I look for are NOT limited to crime stories. The key is for a story to have an element of uncertainty about something, almost anything, that keeps me moving through the book. Unfortunately to many people the mystery genre does imply crime.

Recently I learned about this book and thought it might shed some light on such stories. It does that, but in ways that I had difficulty following. Consider the Copilot summary of the book.

“The Art of Mystery: The Search for Questions” by Maud Casey delves into the enigmatic allure of literary fiction. Rather than focusing on plot or descriptive language, Casey explores how great writers create bewilderment and uncertainty—taking readers to the land of “Un.” Through compelling examples, she reveals how mystery can seduce, conquer, and transform characters, environments, and private worlds. This slim but astute volume invites readers to explore uncharted, frozen, and mysterious waters in their reading journey.

This summary is still somewhat opaque to me so I went to Kirkus Reviews.


Not whodunit, but why and how it works.

Ask a professional how great fiction is created, and you will usually receive an answer about the importance of a good plot, descriptive language, and writing “what you know about.” Casey (English/Univ. of Maryland; The Man Who Walked Away, 2014, etc.) goes for something deeper: how do great writers create that alluring kind of bewilderment that makes literary fiction unique? “Mystery in fiction,” she writes, “means taking the reader to that land of Un—uncertainty, unfathomability, unknowing. It’s Kafka’s axe to the frozen seas of our souls. In other words, it will—and it should—mess you up.” Using a variety of compelling examples, the author shows the myriad ways mystery can seduce and conquer. Writers like Isaac Babel create a structure of innocence where readers, along with his young protagonists, reach an epiphany. Mystery can make characters come alive as we learn a character’s secrets; perhaps even more so when we don’t. As the writer Paul Yoon tells Casey, just knowing that one of his characters has an undisclosed secret may be a way of knowing him “more deeply, having caught a glimpse into something so very private.” Mystery can also pull us deep into the lives of terrible people—e.g., the protagonist of J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians—or ones, such as Merricat in Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in a Castle, whom we’d best avoid. These writers know how to normalize the most brutal or absurd private worlds. There is also imagery—whether it’s poor Hulga’s wooden leg in Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People” or the multiplicity of windows in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”—that can transform the very environment of the story itself.

For Casey, the search is the thing, whether as a writer or reader.

Books by Maud Casey

City of Incurable Woman
The Man Who Walked Away
Genealogy


Even though some of her details were difficult for me to follow, I do believe that she has hit on the issue about mystery that I have been searching for.

I contemplated reading one of the books highlighted in this book, but abandoned the idea when I learned about horror dimensions in the book. If interested, you could take a look at:

The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns. Rating 3.90 with 2,330 readers and Genres: Fiction,
Classics, Gothic, British Literature, Horror, Literary Fiction, Magical Realism, Novels, 20th Century, Female Authors

And in parallel this one:


The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

>77 JoeB1934: I’ve read about 60% of these and like quite a few. The only one that I would describe as a favorite is Beloved, but it’s very disturbing. The Lines of Beauty is well written but it’s about gay love so I didn’t identify. Julian Barnes is one of my favorite writers but I wouldn’t pick either of those for you(or me). I didn’t appreciate The English Patient but believe it’s excellent. I think it just wasn’t for me at the time. Same with A God of Small Things . The Master is brilliant but a heavy read. I read but can’t remember The Stone Diaries. dchaikin loves White Teeth but I can never get into it. I loved Possession but you’ve read it. And anything by Ian Mcewan is worth reading.

>81 JoeB1934: Thanks for those comments. The fact that you have read about 60% of those books is very significant. When I look at this display for an author I am unfamiliar with there is one thing I look for.

The number of books I have read and if there are quite a few I believe that I would probably like this new book.

I am only about 6% into The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne and I can already see why this book has an avg rating of 4.51 on GR. It is a long audio listen at 21 hours but absolutely engrossing.

All of your recent reading intrigues me. Great reviews and summaries.

My evolving list of books on my holds list.

>85 janoorani24: I had you in mind as I was reading O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker

>87 JoeB1934: Oooh, coming of age in Scotland, with birds, and books! I just ordered it. Thanks!

>88 janoorani24: O Caledonia is really fun (though also dark). But mostly fun.

>31 JoeB1934: All of these look amazing. Especially The Solace of Open Spaces. I'm going to find a copy. Thank you!

I have decided once again to modify my basic structure of this thread.

The main difference will be that as I decide to read a book, I will present details on the book as I have been doing after finishing a book, followed by the Copilot synopsis of the book.

My personal reaction to the book is what I have been including as I finished a book. These reactions occupy an inordinate amount of time and I'm not sure that the product of the effort is very valuable to anyone. In my new structure those personal reactions will not be presented unless there is in my mind an importance to them.

My next three postings will be for books I have open and reading in pieces depending on my mood. They will be with my new format.

. Key Tags: Historical Fiction, Fiction, LGBT,Ireland,Historical,Literary Fiction,Audiobook,Contemporary,Queer,Irish Literature

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne With an Average Rating 4.51 For 163,450 Ratings on GR


“The Heart’s Invisible Furies” by John Boyne is a captivating historical fiction novel that spans several decades in Ireland. The story revolves around Cyril Avery, who grapples with his identity, sexuality, and the complexities of life. Born out of wedlock and adopted by an eccentric Dublin couple, Cyril embarks on a journey to discover himself, his country, and the redemptive power of the human spirit. Through his eyes, we witness Ireland’s transformation from the 1940s to the present day. Boyne’s writing will make you both laugh and cry as you follow Cyril’s remarkable life"

. Key Tags: Historical Fiction,Fiction,Mystery,Historical,Audiobook,Mystery Thriller,Historical Mystery

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang With an Average Rating 3.86 For 10,753 Ratings on GR


“The Phoenix Crown” presents a riveting tale that weaves the destinies of four formidable women. Two of them are the protagonists: Gemma, a soprano with a voice as striking as her determination to reignite her faltering career, and Suling, an embroideress from Chinatown with the resolve to free herself from a world that imprisons her. Their lives intersect when they are drawn into the orbit of Henry Thornton, a charming railroad magnate whose extraordinary collection of Chinese antiques includes the fabled Phoenix Crown, a legendary relic of Beijing’s fallen Summer Palace. However, their lives are thrown into turmoil when a devastating earthquake rips San Francisco apart, and Thornton disappears, leaving behind a mystery reaching further than anyone could have imagined. The story unfolds from the chaos of the San Francisco earthquake to the glittering palaces of Versailles, where Gemma and Suling embark on one last desperate quest for justice."

. Key Tags: Historical Fiction,Fiction,Magical Realism,Fantasy,Historical,World War II,Holocaust,War

The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman With an Average Rating 4.19 For 33,477 Ratings on GR


In “The World That We Knew” (2019), master storyteller and lyric stylist Alice Hoffman explores the difficult history of Nazi Germany and the struggle of oppressed Jewish people for dignity in the face of the Holocaust’s brutality and inhumanity. A work of historical fiction, the novel chronicles the heroic adventures of three courageous Jewish girls in occupied France. Hoffman freely mingles the hard realities of war with stunning, elegant touches of magic and the supernatural. This fusion sustains a tender and inspirational environment of possibility that celebrates the triumph of love and compassion against the grim tyranny of fascism, violence, religious intolerance, and hate. The novel received the 2020 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, an international humanitarian award recognizing works that promote peace and understanding across cultures and viewpoints. 📖❤️

I am experimenting with a replacement of the cover display listing my current books on hold. The following listing SHOULD lead to touchstones for titles and authors, but for some reason some of the touchstones lead to nonsense books. Please use the title and author combinations to do your analysis.

Producing the list this way allows me to provide two measures that are important to me. The first one is the Average Rating for all members in LT, I realize this measure is somewhat suspect, especially for new books but I have found over the years that any book that gets a rating of 3.7+ and has tags which indicate a genre I like then I most likely will like that book. Books with rating of 4+ are preferred.

I have a set of 35 sub-genre like tags that I look for in a book. Not all of these tags are needed on a book, but more the merrier for me. Two tags that are very important are literary fiction and mystery. I rarely read a book which isn't literary fiction, but mystery can come and go.

I don't know enough to produce columns in html so the 2 numbers at the end of each book are the Avg Rating and the number of sub-genre tags I associate with that book.

                My Newest Books On Hold List

Title                  Author                  Avg Rating                  Number of Tags

A Refiner’s Fire: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery Donna Leon 4.2 35
First Frost: A Longmire Mystery Craig Johnson 4.2 29
None of This Is True: A Novel Lisa Jewell 3.9 27
A Long Long Way Sebastian Barry 4.1 26
James: A Novel Percival Everett 4.3 23
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay Michael Chabon 4.2 22
Indian Horse Richard Wagamese 4.3 21
Mississippi Blood: The Natchez Burning Trilogy (Penn Cage, 6) Greg Iles 4.4 20
The Wishing Game: A Novel Meg Shaffer 4 18
The Nickel Boys: A Novel Colson Whitehead 4.3 17
A Man Called Ove: A Novel Fredrik Backman 4.3 16
The Game of Kings (Lymond Chronicles, 1) Dorothy Dunnett 4.3 16
Cutting for Stone Abraham Verghese 4.3 16
Beartown: A Novel (Beartown Series) Fredrik Backman 4.2 16
The Bird Hotel: A Novel Joyce Maynard 4.1 16
North Woods: A Novel Daniel Mason 4.2 12
The Women: A Novel Kristin Hannah 4.4 11
The Nightingale: A Novel Kristin Hannah 4.3 11
Road Ends Mary Lawson 4.2 11
So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men Claire Keegan 4.2 11
Table For Two Amor Towles 4.4 10
Wandering Stars: A novel Tommy Orange 3.9 9
The Hours Michael Cunningham 3.9 9
Mrs. Dalloway Virginia Woolf 3.9 9
Cathedral Raymond Carver 4.2 7
Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, 3) Larry McMurtry 4.5 6
How to Say Babylon: A Memoir Safiya Sinclair 4.3 4
Flight of the Wild Swan Melissa Pritchard 4.5 3
Martyr!: A novel Kaveh Akbar 4 3

You can ignore my previous post as I fell back to the concept that some members might want to know how I choose books to place on hold. If you simply want to see a list of books I am interested in for your own consideration here is my traditional cover display.



I have concluded that the most valuable comments I get on this thread are from members that can comment +/- about any of the books on this list. Those comments can help me avoid losers and concentrate on winners.

>23 JoeB1934: I was interested in your comments on this boook and decided to find out more about the writer. I found an interesting interview with David Joy with the owner of The Poison Pen Bookstore. You can watch it on YouTube
here

>97 kjuliff: Thank you so much Kate for your work on this book. I think it is a book that has my highest regard this year. The interview is fantastic and shows that I have been negligent in not obtaining his other books. Listening to the David Joy talk about his process is so powerful in my understanding of him and Appalachia.

>96 JoeB1934: The newest book by Craig Johnson caught my eye, and I'm adding it to my list. This prompted me to check my list of Longmire books and I realized that I haven't added a bunch of his later novels to my library, and that I even have a couple I haven't read yet. So I am adding the first of these, Depth of Winter to my list of books to try to read this year. It's on my Kindle along with Next to Last Stand, and I'll need to get a copy of Land of Wolves, since it is between Depth of Winter and Next to Last Stand.

As always, your lists really help me in choosing books to read.

>98 JoeB1934: Youre very welcome Joe. Thanks for putting me on to that writer. I often enjoy reading about writers that are new to me, and the interview with the Poison Pen Bookstore was very interesting. Loved David Joy’s accent!

I have been 'encouraged' by several members to provide more personal thoughts about the books I read within my new book selection process.

My Display for the 3 books currently being read by me provides, I hope, sufficient details for any other member to determine if a book is of interest to themselves.

I am not a quality reviewer and I do not believe that if I say a book is 4 stars it is possible for anyone else to use that as a measure for their interest. Those displays I presented for the 3 books show the avg rating by all GR readers of the book, as well as the genre-like tags that drew me to the book.

It is obvious that those displays can be augmented by personal reactions to the books. Not a provision of more qualities of the book, but what about the book struck a chord with me.

So, as I finish each book, I will produce a post-reading addendum that provides my reactions to the book. These reactions probably will be different from others but at least you will hear from me.

.