Book Nook Cafe discussion

Share with us what you read February 2018 !

Please provide:

~ A GoodReads link
~ A few sentences telling us how you felt about the book.
~ How would you rate the book

I'll start:

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler (4-star): this is a retelling of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. I really enjoyed it. It's witty, warm and humorous.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

So, of course, I had to follow it up with an listen to the audio of The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare (2-star; audio). This was not witty, warm and only had a few mildly humorous lines.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Vanora Bennett (3-star; audio): I started this in early December. It was the audio I listened to while jogging. It made my jogs much more enjoyable. A good story.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Alphabet House by Jussi Adler-Olsen (3-star; audio): an interesting premise. A bit uneven in the writing. The first half was a bit drawn out; the second half was Hollywood exciting (exaggerated action). All in all, I think this would make a better movie than a book but it was an interesting enough story.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Half Sisters by Geraldine Jewsbury (3-star): an interesting, little-known Classic. There are some very progressive views on women and their standing in society in this book. It did get a bit preachy in the second half and the ending was weak but still a worthwhile read. I can understand why it isn't a better known Classic, though.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Notes Left Behind by Brooke Desserich (4-star): a heart-breaking story of a family who find out that their eldest daughter (aged 6) only has weeks to months to live. The parents documented their thoughts in a blog-like in-line format that became this book.
I find it difficult to rate such books. Literary merit plays no part. This is a much more personal story. It merits the stars for the heartfelt writing, the pain and the loss of a special girl (as are all the lost children).
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

With the Olympics my reading was slim this month. However, the two I read I enjoyed.

The Gingerbread Lady~~Neil Simon
Fiction - Play
Rate: 4/5
I enjoyed this Neil Simon play. Maureen Stapleton won the 1971 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The play focuses on Evy , a alcoholic whose career and life are ruined by her addiction. The play opens when Evy is returning from rehab. The play is dark but has some comic moments.

Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House~ Michael Wolff
Non fiction
Rate 4/5
This controversial book details the behavior of Mr. Trump and his staff during the presidential campaign and in the White House. The author had unusual access to the staff which are portrayed as a backstabbing, chaotic and dysfunctional. It's a disturbing portrayal to say the least.

Petra, i'm glad you mentioned the Anne Tyler book. She's a favorite of mine but i was unaware of this Hogarth Shakespeare Series, which has popular authors rewriting some plays from the Bard. https://www.goodreads.com/series/1586...
Nice comments rating books such as the person one by Desserich.

Alias, from excerpts shared by Barbara in her review of the Wolff book, i don't know that i could have stayed calm as i read. I'm glad others who are reading it are sharing their comments.

I read four books in February but i'm blaming our French class on keeping the number low. :-)

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter was somewhat disappointing as i was hoping for ideas, not motivation. Additionally author Margareta Magnusson (probably justifiably) used the book as a bit of autobiography, which wasn't as interesting as she must have thought. Still, if folks have never read a "Purging of Household Goods" book, this works nicely. Unfortunately, i had.

Having read an earlier biography by Richard Brookhiser, i knew what i was getting into and he didn't disappoint with Founders' Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln. Almost half the book was an examination of Lincoln's presumed affection for several founders (Jefferson, Paine, Washington) by examining some of AL's speeches. Still, he included enough biography in the beginning to satisfy me but toward the end one could easily forget he was even married. Meanwhile, on to Andrew Johnson: A Biography by Hans L. Trefousse.

Slow Horses by Mick Herron is about operatives who have been demoted in MI6 to Slough House, where they mainly stay in their building to work. It's a mixed bag of interesting characters and this is the first in a series about them. The story itself about a young man, apparently randomly kidnapped with on-line videos threatening to behead him. The misfit agents work together to solve the problem.

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race tells much more than just the story of these women. Author Margot Lee Shetterly writes about the simultaneous activities of the Civil Rights movement, particularly during the1950s. The women, working for NACA, precursor to NASA, are human computers (they are called "computers") who performed the math for each program needed to plan, improve and test both WWII aircraft and the later capsules for outer space.

(One sad and surprising fact which i can't seem to shed is that their local community knew the importance of Katherine (Goble) Johnson in the John Glenn-inspired final check of the numbers. It wasn't hidden from anyone, just not spread beyond that part of the state until this book. That was a lose for several generations of young women...and history.

Finally, i'll mention a long short story The Case of the Pocket Diary Found in the Snow - Augusta Groner Penguin books i finally read, after wanting to do so for over a year. Author Auguste Groner wrote detective stories featuring Joseph Muller, "Secret Service detective of the Imperial Austrian police" in the late 1800s. She was one of the first females to write mysteries, it seems. There are 5 stories in the series. In this one a young woman is kidnapped and the story is told in a diary she creates while imprisoned, thrown into the snow as she's transferred elsewhere. I think anyone liking Sherlock Holmes would appreciate these, although i didn't think they were as challenging.

madrano wrote: Alias, from excerpts shared by Barbara in her review of the Wolff book, i don't know that i could have stayed calm as i read. I'm glad others who are reading it are sharing their comments. ..."

Today's news about Hope Hicks quitting is something that really hits home if you read Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. According to the author she was one of the few people (others on the plane tried to basically hide so they wouldn't be complicit) on the plane when the memo was concocted for a cover story about the Russian meeting and getting on dirt on Mrs. Clinton. They claimed the meeting was about adoption. In the book, "Bannon screamed at Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks

“You don’t know what you’re doing,” shouted a livid Bannon at Hicks, demanding to know who she worked for, the White House or Jared [Kushner] and Ivanka. “You don’t know how much trouble you are in,” he screamed, telling her that if she didn’t get a lawyer he would call her father and tell him he had better get her one. “You are dumb as a stone!”
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...

Madrano, I've read 2 of the Hogarth Shakespeare series and enjoyed both. I highly recommend Hag-Seed.
I will read the rest over time. It was a nice experience pairing the novel with Shakespeare's play, despite not liking the play of Taming of the Shrew.

Thanks also for the comment about memoir reviews.

I haven't yet read Hidden Figures and really want to. Thanks for the reminder.

Alias, wow! What more can one say about what you shared? Unless one wants to comment on the White House in general under this administration...and i don't. I appreciate that you took the time to share this.

Petra, i, too, am no fan of The Taming of the Shrew but, as mentioned, am a Big Fan of Tyler's. Yet again, another reason i cherish these monthly posts of what we've read!

My February reads

Murder on the Ballarat Train byKerry Greenwood
Rating 3.5/5 This was the third in the Phryne Fisher mystery series. I am enjoying these books wish take place in 1920's Australia

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Rating 4.5/5 This book about the rise of Hitler in the 1930's and how it was viewed by the US ambassador and his young daugher was fascinating.

Aunt Dimity and the Buried TreasurebyNancy Atherton
Rating 3/5. I needed this light and quick paranormal cozy read after In the Garden of Beasrs

Meredith wrote: "My February reads
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Rating 4.5/5 This book about the rise of Hitler in the 1930's and how it was viewed by the US ambassador and his young daugher was fascinating..."

I agree, Meredith. In The Garden of Beasts is excellent.

Thanks for sharing your Feb. reads with us.

Meredith, i like what you wrote about the Atherton mystery--good palate cleanser, so to speak.

Meredith wrote: "My February reads

Murder on the Ballarat Train byKerry Greenwood
Rating 3.5/5 This was the third in the Phryne Fisher mystery series. I am enjoying these books wish ta..."

I love Erik Larsen and I would read anything by him.

Hello, everyone! Sorry for the late response, but I just got back from vacation, so my access to Goodreads was limited. Due to traveling, I've read only three books in February.

The Age of Ra by James Lovegrove - A surprisingly good book about a modern world where Ancient Egyptian Pantheon is worshiped by the whole planet Earth. It is far from a perfect world, because ever since the Pantheon defeated all the other deities a hundred or so years ago, the planet has been in constant war between the worshipers of different gods of Egypt. The only place where the gods have no influence (apparently by mutual agreement) is the Motherland, a.k.a. Freegypt. The author used the real-world politics and infused it into his story and did a great job out of it. I believe he gave a truthful picture of all of the players in our universe and not one of the big ones was spared the criticism. - 4 stars

Hôtel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Very much in the manner of Anne Rice and written at the approximately same time, Hotel Transylvania is the first novel in the series of novel about a very old vampire that in this book goes under the name Saint-Germain. Like in Rice's novels, vampires are not necessarily evil and are actually romantic souls (I guess it was all the rage at the time). Unlike Rice's novels, this happens in past and is not a story of the past told by the protagonist in the present. According to the author, Hotel Transylvania was a real establishment in 18th-century Paris and Saint-Germain was a real person, an enigma who befuddled the society of the time. - 4 stars

Diana, o La cazadora solitaria by Carlos Fuentes - apparently this is a sort of a fictional autobiography of Carlos Fuentes in which he describes in detail his short relationship with the American actress Jean Seberg, a relationship that was supposedly never mentioned in any of her biographies. The style of writing gives you the idea that Fuentes was not overly happy with this and that he wants to make himself known. The main character often sounds like a chauvinist, but also like a person spurned by a woman who just couldn't be satisfied in life. I don't know anything about Seberg, but she is, in general, not portrayed positively here. - 3 stars

Samanta, i always like reading about the books you've read because there are usually a number of books i've never heard mentioned. In this case the one about Seberg, an actress i only know by name. Interesting story.

Age of Ra sounds as though one could learn much about ancient Egyptians in the process of reading the book. I see this is just the first in a series, too.

Thank you, madrano.

I didn't even know her by name. But she was, apparently, a fighter for social justice and civil rights.

You will definitely learn a lot of Egyptian gods' names and their purpose. This is the first in the series, but, as far as I can tell, the books are not connected.

Samanta wrote: "Hello, everyone! Sorry for the late response, but I just got back from vacation, so my access to Goodreads was limited. Due to traveling, I've read only three books in February.
"

Thanks for sharing. Hope your vacation was all you hoped for.

It was, Alias. I went back to my beloved Andalucia, and if things work out as I hope they will, it's not the last time this year. :)

We'll cross our fingers for your quick return. It's wonderful to be able to return to special places in short order.

I only read two books in February and I didn't read anything in March 2018 so there will not be a post there. I was in the process of moving in March of 2018 so I wasn't up on reading.

So here is the two I read in February:

Psycho USA: Famous American Killers You Never Heard Of by Harold Schechter - 4 stars.
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


Called, Depths, Corrupted by Robert J. Crane - 5 stars.
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Marie, moving can play a number on reading, can't it? Looking at my Books Read list, i can see gaps for those times we moved over the years. But reading also has me realizing i'm back to my own reading "norm" once we settle down.

When i read about killers from the past, pre-1900s especially, i wonder how they were ever caught. One family which amazed me moved as a unit every time the law began taking note. They left a trail of homes which ended up as the sort of crime scenes we see today. Recently i read a bio about the Ingalls family, made famous by daughter Laura Ingalls Wilder. Apparently one such family of murderers lived not far from where the Ingalls built their home in Little House on the Prairie, near Oklahoma. The family of killers, who brought strangers into their home, usually killed them after a few days. It's the first time i've read about that the Ingalls were near them & the author even made it sound as though Pa spent one night there. Hmm.

How they ever caught many killers who roamed, i'll never know.