Readers and Reading discussion

Re-posting Schemerguls May reads....I forgot to start a new folder last night! His May reads are in two parts

Lifetime Number - Title - Author - Date Finished - Comment

4566 Words and Rules The Ingredients of Language, by Steven Pinker (read 1 May 2009) This is a 1999 book by a Canadian linguist, recommended in a listing in the Wall Street Journal. I should not have read it since I am not well enough versed in linguistics to understand most of it. It discusses regular and irregular verbs, and some of what he said was of interest, but most was not. I really should not read books so much of which I don't understand.

4567 The Flame Trees of Thika Memories of an African Childhood, by Elspeth Huxley (read 4 May 2009) The author was born in 1907 in London but in 1913 went with her parents to Kenya where her father expected to have a coffee farm. This book was published in 1959 and tells of her time in Kenya till her parents came back to England after World War One started. The book purports to tell of her time in Kenya when she was six years old. She seems a very precocious child, and tells of her animals in Kenya and of the people she knew--black and white--in Kenya. It is a rather amazing life she lived, in primitive conditions, but she seemed to enjoy it and her mother was an amazingly adaptable woman. I did not enjoy the book much while reading it, but in retrospect it tells a fetching story and one that somewhat amazes. The book ends when they leave Kenya--apparently about 1915.

4568 A Little Learning An Autobiography (The Early Years), by Evelyn Waugh (read 6 May 2009) This is the author's autobiography, published in 1964 (two years before he died) which covers his life from birth to a couple of years after he left Oxford. It is kind of precious at times. He did not become a Catholic till 1930 so this volume does not relate anything about that. Only this volume of his autobiography was written. I found this good reading, though his account of his time at Oxford palled some, since he talks mostly of people he knew there--many of whom are non-famous. This is the 16th book of his I've read. He is fun to read.

4569 The Master A Novel, by Colm Toibin (read 10 May 2009) This book got a great deal of hype when it was published in 2004, and I have been intending to read it ever since. It is a novel which tells of Henry James from 1895 to 1899, with lots of flashbacks. It is smoothly written and held my interest well, even though little happens, and much of the feelings expressed are subtle and 'precious'. It really isn't a novel , as it is so plotless, but the author's interest in James's mostly latent homosexuality did not inspire. He portrays a homosexual incident between James and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., for which the historical evidence is extremely thin. All in all, while the book is pleasant reading at the end I was disappointed in it.

4570 119 Years of the Atlantic, Edited by Louise Desaulniers (read 14 May 2009) The Atlantic Monthly was started in 1857 and in 1977 they took one item published in each of its 119 years and put those selected items in this anthology. Presumably they picked what was the best item for the year. If so, there must have been some boring years, since some entries were of little moment. For instance, the selection for 1948 was "The Death of a Pig" by E. B. White, which I thought was of little moment. The best item I thought was the one for 1908: "A Record-Breaking Balloon Voyage" by Henry Helm Clayton which told of a balloon trip from St. Louis to New Jersey--it was well told and exciting, and scary, although the author was very blase about it. Much variety in the selections, and most selections were only two or three pages so if not interesting one soon got to the next one. The one for 1968 "How Could Vietnam Happen?' by James C. Thomson, Jr. was actually quite incisive and scary and thought-provoking

4571 The Last of the Southern Girls, by Willie Morris (read 16 May 2009) This is a 1973 novel which tells of a beautiful Arkansas girl who goes to Washington D.C. and makes much waves. She marries a rich guy she doesn't love, has a son, divorces him, has various affairs, the last one detailed is with a Congressman who runs for Senator. Some of the conversation is boring. but the depiction of the rat race which is political life may have some authenticity. I did not like the book sometimes as I was reading, but the ending was strong though dire. I read it since Willie Morris is I think a great writer.

Now I am re-posting part 2 of Schmerguls's May reads

4572 Columbine, by Dave Cullen (read 18 May 2009) This account of the high school shooting on 20 Apr 1999 was published May 4, 2009. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were seniors. The first part of the book, telling of the events leading up to and occurring on April 20 were chilling and exciting. But thereafter the author alternated telling of the events after the shooting and events of the shooters' lives leading up to the shooting and the book became less engrossing, since the shooters were such evil persons and the quoting of their extensive writings became very hard to appreciate. They had high I.Q.'s but were so boringly stupid and moronic that one could only conclude they were devil-possessed. Their parents on the surface were not bad parents, but that they did so little to monitor what went on in their own homes is shocking: guns and explosives abounded and the parents apparently never knew it. The book jumps around a lot and I did not like the way it was organized. And I despised the evil boys and their evil stupid moronic lives.

4573 Slavery By Another Name The Re-enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War Ii, by Douglas A. Blackmon (read 20 May 2009) (Pulitzer Nonfiction prize in 2009) This book relates how many southern states in effect re-enslaved black men during the years from 1866 to 1941. The men would be arrested, often for things like riding on a train, or bad language in the presence of a woman, and found guilty after a farcical trial, fined and when they could not pay a guy would pay it and take the defendant and hold him as a slave or send him to a mine . It is really sickening to read of the treatment some were subjected to--worse than slaves because slaveholders were concerned about the health of their slaves.. Some of the recitation of awful things is tedious and unpleasant to read about. The best part of the book is the account of the Federal district attorney to get convictions of peonage--but he was not overly successful, Alabama juries being what they were. A sad and enlightening account.

4574 American Lion Andrew Jackson in the White House, by Jon Meacham (read 23 May 2009) (Pulitzer Biography prize in 2009) This is a great book and usually was enjoyable reading. It is the 65th Pulitzer biography winner I've read.. It is magnificently chronological and its page notes are the most complete I've ever seen. The author does a good job showing the good in Jackson, but he also shows his faults--Jackson's Indian policy is morally indefensible, and Jackson was oblivious to the evil of slavery. The book is eminently readable . It was a triumph to read.

4575 Tippecanoe and Tyler Too Famous Slogans and Catchphrases in American History, by Jan R. Van Meter (read 25 May 2009) This looks at about 57 slogans or catchphrases and has several pages about each and the events related to them. These little essays are really well-done and I found each account, without exception, of interest--really a way to skip through American history, including some on baseball, one on boxing, and one on football--but most are on politics or cultural history. There are a few dumb mistakes, but the book is fun to read, with good notes on further reading as to such phrases.

4576 The Giver, by Lois Lowry (read 26 May 2009) This novel for"young adults" is no. 34 on the 2003 list of "The 100 Favorite Novels of Librarians" and reading it brought to 72 the books on that list I've read. It is about life in "utopia" which is a 1984-like place without known evil, though people accept great evil as good. I found the book so impossible I could not enter into the fantasy, though one wanted to see its ending.

4577 Judge Richard S. Arnold A Legacy of Justice on the Federal Bench, by Polly J. Price (read 29 May 2009) Arnold was born 26 Mar 1936 in Texarkana, Texas, and was an outstanding Federal judge on the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.who died 23 Sep 2004. This biography is by one of his law clerks and is hagiographical--but still full of interest. The book was a joy to read.

4578 Imperfect Victories The Legal Tenacity of the Omaha Tribe, 1945-1995, by Mark R. Scherer (read 30 May 2009) I much enjoyed this book, since it deals wit a case I was somewhat involved in when I was a lawyer. It tells of the Omaha Indian Tribe and its troubles over the years,culminating in their effort to get back land in Iowa they claimed they were entitled to. The litigation went on for 20 years, and the tribe mostly lost--and rightly so, I thought, since I was on the side of its opponents when I was involved in the case, briefly. A good book to read.

Schmerguls, regarding the book "The Flame Trees of Thika".....how could this child have remembered enough, from six years of age, to write a book about it in her later years? This seems sketchy to me!

The Flame Trees of Thika is a classic. It's an autobiography. I know your skepticism when it comes to this sort of thing, JoAnn. I tend to go with the flow as long as it rings true.
http://www.amazon.com/Flame-Trees-Thi...
(love the Penguin cover)

I have it on my TBR stack along with the author's other classic book, Red Stangers. http://www.amazon.com/Red-Strangers-P...

243867362&sr=1-2


I see from Amazon that The Flame Trees of Thika was made into a movie in 1982. One of the stars is Haley Mills.

http://www.amazon.com/Flame-Trees-Thi...

In May I read:

The Virgin Of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Secret Of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay

by Katherine Valentine I've liked other KV books better. This one involves a group of women quilters at the local Catholic church who try to help the current priest figure out the haunting at the rectory which has resulted in several priests fleeing and one found dead. 4/5

Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy. I've liked other of her books better as well. The beginning was captivating, but after the first background story of one of the employees of the clinic, it didn't seem to get into any depth of characters. Still very readable. 4/5

Pills for Parents in Pain/Prescriptions for the Headaches & Heartaches of Parenting Lee Ezell I found this book by accident at a rummage sale. It seemed to jump off the shelf and into my hands and was exactly the book I've been looking for. Finally a pep talk to help me realize that I'm responsible TO my teenagers not FOR them. 5/5

House and Home by Kathleen McCleary Even though the main character got a bit annoying after awhile...just how many times can you say you don't want to move, and then contrive some big (illegal) plan in order to stay there. Of course, everything comes out in the end. Still a good Memorial Day weekend "beach" read. 4/5

Alias Reader wrote: "The Flame Trees of Thika is a classic. It's an autobiography. I know your skepticism when it comes to this sort of thing, JoAnn. I tend to go with the flow as long as it rings true.
http://www...."

Maybe back when it was published, people/readers were less suspicious. LOL Nowadays, such a "memoir"/"autobiography" would be much more throughly vetted and examined for its veracity.

It is pretty common knowledge that a person would have only the vaguest of memories of what happened when she was six years old, Alias. My skepticism has nothing to do with it!

Re. Flame Trees. I recall seeing the film on PBS long ago. Iirc, the girl was bored & her mom (Hayley Mills) suggested she write about what she was seeing because most kids would know nothing about such a world. In fact, i think (i hope this is the same show!) she credited her journal-keeping with becoming a writer. So perhaps this accounts for some of the memories.

deborah

As we were traveling most of this month, my reading was very light -

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - I swore I'd never read another Oprah choice, but broke my promise to myself after reading the back of this book - "As the characters move from distrust to friendship and from friendship to love . . . ." which doesn't sound too awful, does it? Well, that positive part of the book takes up about 2 chapters, the rest is unrelenting horror and misery in India. You know how bad the story was in "Slumdog"? This is worse. Everyone lives unhappily ever after. Now I've really learned my lesson - no more Oprah books!

Elizabeth and her German Garden and A Solitary Summer by Elizabeth Von Armin - these slight memoirs of an upper class, intelligent, charming, kind, eccentric, thoughtful, amusing woman in the early 1900's were such a pleasure to read, I may remember them long after I've forgotten the trip I was on while reading them. Elizabeth struggles a bit with the restraints of her class, i.e., she can't actually physically plant a flower in her garden, but she does sometimes creep outside in the middle of the night and plant one in some obscure corner where no one will notice. She notes that women, children and idiots are not allowed at political meetings.
Fortunately, her husband believes he should say yes to anything she wants because it saves time, thus allowing her the solitude she needs to write, read (and her reading is prodigious, everything from Goethe to Sandburg), think and spend hours in her garden. I have rarely read an author I was so in tune with, especially when she says, "If you have to have neighbors at all, it is at least a mercy there should be only one; for with people dropping in at all hours and wanting to talk to you, how are you to get on with your life, I should like to know, and read your books, and dream your dreams to your satisfaction?" Perfect books.

Bunny, A Fine Balance was a very popular book on the aol message boards. Like you, I found it to be a steady stream of one horror after another. It became so bad, I was never surprised when the next bad thing happened. I just expected that some tragedy was soon to follow on the next page. In fact, if something good happened I would have been surprised. And since the book clocks in around 600 pages, I was just numb by the end.

On the plus side the writing style was very good.

Alias Reader wrote: "Bunny, A Fine Balance was a very popular book on the aol message boards. Like you, I found it to be a steady stream of one horror after another. It became so bad, I was never surprised when the n..."

The writing style was very good, which is probably why we both kept reading. If I'm lucky, I'll forget the vivid picture the author painted on the last page before I die.

On the other hand, I read a book about misery and suffering, possibly all accurate, and hate it, then read two lovely books by a well off, at the time unsffering woman, and love them. What does that say about me?

On the other, other hand, both realities exist side by side in our world. It may not be as shallow as I fear to prefer the brighter one.

My comment on A Fine Balance when I read it:

4021. A Fine Balance a novel, by Rohinton Mistry (read 11 May 2005) This book by a man born in Bombay, India, and living in Canada, is laid in India during the time, around 1975, that Indira Gandhi was ruling by Decree. The novel reminds one of Dickens, at least in the beginning, but the story is stark and all of the characters are daunted by events. There is much violence and apparently no effective rule of law. I could not like the book much, since its theme is so stark and the characters live such alienated lives--at least after the evil befalls them. I like a more affirmative theme in a novel and so this long (603 pages) novel was not greatly appreciated, though Mistry is a facile and clear writer. But it is not a joyful book to read.

May Reads........a very good month

Lost in Place: Growing Up Absurd in Suburbia - Mark Salzman. In this memoir, Salzman writes about his middle class childhood in the Connecticut suburbs and how he never felt he fit in with the traditional life he saw around him. He never takes himself too seriously, and laughs at his earnest attempts to train to be an astronaut by sitting still in a cardboard box for hours. Later when he becomes interested in martial arts, he decides he wants to grow up to be a wandering Zen master. As a huge fan of Mark Salzman, I'm glad he grew up and became an author. A-

Still Alice - Lisa Genova. I guess I'm never really going to love a book about Alzheimer's, but this one was pretty good. Alice is a brilliant 50 year old Harvard professor who develops the early onset form of the disease, and the novel is the story of her decline. I thought there were some very good insights into the progression of the disease, but I also thought Alice was portrayed slightly unrealistically, especially as it related to the things she continued to accomplish even as she got worse and worse. And I take issue with the concept that love survives even when memory is gone. I've been there and done that. I wish it did, but it doesn't. B

The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University - Kevin Roose. Roose transferred from Brown University to spend a semester in Virginia at Liberty University, what he refers to as "bible boot camp." He intended all along to write about his experiences, but not with an eye to mocking the school, and he did not mock it. He wound up liking the students, respecting the teachers and advisors, even if he didn't always believe in what they were teaching or advising him. He benefited from the experience and I think I benefited from reading about it. I shook my head a lot in disbelief, but for the most part it was interesting, well-written and highly recommended. A

This month I was also fortunate enough to reread two wonderful books for my F2F book groups - Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Stoner by John Williams. I don't like rereading, and I intend not to do any more of it for a while, but in the case of these two books, which I loved the first time, I found that I loved them even more on second reading. I think that when I read a book once, I'm usually interested in what's going to happen next. The second time, when I know what's going to happen, I'm able to focus on the language and the metaphors and the foreshadowing and all the wonderful details. A+ and A+

Bunny wrote: "As we were traveling most of this month, my reading was very light -

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - I swore I'd never read another Oprah choice, but broke my promise to myself after reading..."


I just had a customer in the store this week who was buying a second copy of FB because she had just finished reading it herself and wanted to have a copy to share with her friends and family......she thought it was the best book she'd ever read! And interestingly, through our conversation, I learned that she had no idea Oprah had ever recommended it.

Connie

Great comments, Connie. I read Salzman's book a long time ago and shared it with a friend whose children had gone to HS with him in Ridgefield, CT (the town next to where I lived). Her kids remembered him as fitting okay, so maybe he thought he was worse than he really was!

Being the memoir-skeptic that I am, I remember appreciating his disclaimer in the book that his was an altered perception (or words to that effect). Maybe if more memoirists would do this, I would not be so skeptical.

linreadsalot wrote: "In May I read:

The Virgin Of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Secret Of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay
"

What did you think of The Secret of Lost Things? I have that on my order list at my book club?

Connie wrote: "May Reads........a very good month

Lost in Place: Growing Up Absurd in Suburbia - Mark Salzman. In this memoir, Salzman writes about his middle class childhood in the Connecticut suburbs and how..."

Sounds like a good one, Connie. I appreciate the way you take time to comment on the books you read, even though it results in my lusting after even more new titles!

RNOCEAN wrote: "linreadsalot wrote: "In May I read:

The Virgin Of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Secret Of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay
"

What did you think of The Sec..."

I did not like it as much as I hoped I would. The story of Rosemary and her leaving Tasmania for NYC and making a life there I liked. Towards the middle it got bogged down for me.

My May reads:

The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte -- This was chosen by my local book group. I wasn't too thrilled by the choice (I hadn't voted for it) but I actually liked it quite a lot. A well-written novel about a book detective, and what develops as he looks for a particular rare book on the occult. Complex but interesting.

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl by Fannie Flagg -- Not as funny as I expected from this author, but a very readable book about a (fictional) popular TV news personality who had been abandoned by her mother when she was fifteen. Her story is told by hopping back and forth through the years and between Dena and her southern relatives. I found this a bit confusing early on. And there's quite a surprise near the end.

Cold Quarry by Andy Straka -- Interesting story about a Virginia private detective who is a falconer. This is the third in a series, and I would like to read the first two as well.

Trouble for Lucia: Part VI Make Way for Lucia by E.F. Benson -- I enjoy this type of book, about English characters back in the 20s and 30s. This is the first in this series for me, but it was a hoot. Lucia is quite a character--bright, manipulating, and the new mayor of their little town. She may have trouble, primarily from the conniving Elizabeth, but she's never down for long.

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah -- This was another book group choice that I didn't vote for. A light, way too long novel about two "best friends forever"--from their teens till forty-something. I stuck with it, but really wasn't happy to have to spend so much time (about 500 pages worth) on something so unsubstantial. There are too many unread books on my shelves that I really want to read. However, there were some members who just loved it. It would make a good Lifetime movie, I guess.

Carolyn (in SC) C234D wrote: "My May reads:

The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte -- This was chosen by my local book group. I wasn't too thrilled by the choice (I hadn't voted for it) but I actually liked it quite a lot..."

Carolyn, thanks for the title. It sounds interesting and when it's about books...well, you may well imagine.

deborah

In May, I listened to one book:
Taylor, Patrick—An Irish Country Christmas. Read by John Keating. Finished 5/17/09. Fiction; audio; rating 9. Conflict arises when Dr. Laverty realizes that Patricia may not come home from Cambridge for Christmas, but enough is going on in Ballybucklebo to keep him and Dr. O’Reilly occupied.

I read five books:
1. Joyce, Kathryn-Quiverfull—Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement. Finished 5/2/09. Non-fiction; rating 10. The book explores the movement encouraging women to be submissive to their husbands and to have as many children as God allows them to have following Psalm 127:4-5: “Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.” Because of exposure to several of the people in the movement (such as Mary Pride and Greg and Joshua Harris) while homeschooling as well as remembering a comment by a fellow homeschooler that she and her pastor husband were getting counseling about the necessity of having as many children as possible, this book was especially interesting. Most of the people I’ve known who followed this seem like good, loving people, but in reading the book one realizes the more frightening aspects of the movement in which women lose their equality and are susceptible to the control of men with questionable goals. An example given was of Andrea Yates who killed all five of her children in 2001 while under the mentoring of quiverfull pastor Michael Woroniecki. In addition to the problem of women losing their equality, the movement tends to be racist as discussed in the demographic winter fear in which white couples are encouraged to keep a higher birth rate out of fear of losing demographic advantage when people of other cultures (such as Muslims) have a higher birth rate. I believe in the equality of women as set out in Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
2. Bostwick, Marie—A Single Thread. Finished 5/10/09. Fiction; rating 9. Enjoyable read about Evelyn Dixon who leaves Texas following her divorce and opens a quilt shop in New Bern, Connecticut and the friends that she gains in her venture—Abigail (a wealthy woman who has been unable to relate well to people), her niece Liza who was estranged from Abigail because Abigail did not contact Liza or her mother Susan as Susan was dying of breast cancer, and Margot who has a heart of gold and superb organizational skills.
3. Lewis, Beverly—The Secret—book one of Seasons of Grace. Finished 5/16/09. Fiction; rating 9. Lettie leaves her husband and four children with only a vague letter to her daughter Grace. The reader finds out that Lettie has decided to search for Samuel--her first love and father of an unreaveled child to let him know of the child’s existence after she learns from his twin sister Sarah that Samuel’s wife has died and that they had no children. A non-Amish woman, Heather, seeks solace after her mother’s death and her cancer diagnosis by staying a summer at a farm near Lettie’s farm and near the farm that her father had recently bought.
4. Morris, Mary McGarry—The Last Secret. Finished 5/22/09. Fiction; rating 10. About the time that Nora Hammond learns that her husband has had an ongoing affair with her friend Robin, Eddie Hawkins shows up and threatens to tell her role in the beating of a man he had tried to rob when she had run away with him when she was 17. Hawkins winds up stalking her and the family leading up to a dramatic climax.
5. Brunstetter, Wanda—A Cousin’s Promise; Book 1 of Indiana Cousins. Finished 5/30/09. Fiction; rating 7. While on a trip together, the van driver and two of the eight passengers are killed. Lorraine’s fiancé Wayne loses his leg. He decides that he will be unable to support a wife so breaks the engagement and encourages her to start seeing her old boyfriend Jake. When a tornado hits the area and Wayne saves her life, they both realize that they still love each other. Since my daughter had recently been dumped by her boyfriend and is quite upset, the book was annoying realizing that fictional Lorraine had two men who loved her and my dear daughter can’t even have one.

Interesting list, Shirley. Thanks for the synopses too.

Someone else (name lost to my memory) recommended The Last Secret to me.

the book was annoying realizing that fictional Lorraine had two men who loved her and my dear daughter can’t even have one.

Well, let's hope that situation is rectified soon!