Book Nook Cafe discussion

Share with us what you read October 2018 !

Please provide:

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

I'm not going to finish any more books tonight. I've posted some of these already so you may feel a sense of deja-vous. :D

The World to Come (4-star) - Dara Horn is a new author to me and I'm really glad I found her books. This was a terrific story with a lot of elements. It's a family saga, Jewish folklore (wonderful stories), family history, art and more. It's an eclectic blend that comes together well.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Bloody Lessons (3-star) - I got an ebook volume of the first 4 books of this series and am reading through them. It's an interesting series for character development but light on the mysteries. I am enjoying the interplay between everyone and learning more about them. A light, enjoyable series.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Magpie Murders (3-star) - this was an interesting audio book. Very Agatha Christie in tone.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (5-star) - loved this story. It's quirky, odd and mysterious.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World (4-star) - I thoroughly enjoyed this look at the time of the dinosaurs, before them and, of course, the disaster that destroyed them.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Wow ! October just seemed to fly by. I only finished one book. :(

It was the selection for the NY Times /PBS NewsHour book group.

It's about the reintroduction of the wolves into Yellowstone park.

American Wolf----Nate Blakeslee
Non Fiction
Rate: 3 plus

I wish the book had photos of the people in the book, the wolves and the park. It was a huge missed opportunity.


O-Six. The main wolf followed in the book.

Video
The Wolves of Yellowstone National Park
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-h89...

At the end of each month the author of the book selected appears on The PBS NewsHour. Here is author for this book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aviGm...

Very nice month, Petra !

My October reads:

A New England Nun and Other Stories by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
Genre: Short Story
Rating: B
Review: Louisa is a solitary woman who lives alone and is used to her way of life. She was supposed to marry a young man who went in search of his fortune before they got married, but his absence lasted for 15 years. Although Louisa waited for him all those years, now that he is back she is too much used to her way of life, the marriage does not sound as appealing as it did before.

The Ink Readers of Doi Saket by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
Genre: Short Story
Rating: D
Review: I am not particularly impressed with this story. I might be missing some very important point to it, but I somehow think there is none.

A Guidebook Trakošćan by Davorin Habrun
Genre: Tourist Monography
Rating: A
Review: I really love this short guide through my favourite castle in Croatia. It gives you the short history, and the explanation of each room in the museum.

The Matchmaker's Playbook by Rachel Van Dyken
Genre: NA Romance
Rating: B
Review: Fun story! Easy to read.

The Deal by Elle Kennedy
Genre: NA Romance
Rating: A
Review: Forever one of my favourites. I think I read it at least four times.

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
Genre: Science, History
Rating: A
Review: A wonderful and very engaging overview of all the pseudo-beliefs people have been having since the beginning of time. Carl Sagan does his best to question those and try to offer scientific solutions without offending anyone. His tone is sometime incredulous and sarcastic, but I do think that, with some topics, you just can't avoid it. This book was definitely written for the general public, those of us who are definitely science dummies, in an effort to make us want to know more about science, and not consider it something unapproachable.

The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster
Genre: Short Story, Science Fiction
Rating: A
Review: I didn't know Forster wrote these kind of stories. A great short story that describes a dystopian world in which the man has created the Machine to help people live bellow the surface (as the surface of the Earth is no longer good for living). The human society has become totally dependent on technology and no longer has the need to move a finger. Sounds familiar?

The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe
Genre: Short Story, Horror
Rating: A
Review: Typical Poe descriptions and the horror feel of the story. I read it to late in the evening and have to admit I couldn't concentrate properly on the details.

Petra, even though you shared your comments on the books throughout the month, it's neat to see them together. I like seeing the breadth of what folks read in a month, as well as the cumulative ratings. It's neat knowing you had a successful reading month, for instance, with many rewards. (Not to mention this offers a reminder to add some books to our TBR lists!)

Alias, i feel your frustration with a lack of photos in the book. They offer a depth to the text that i miss in some works. I try to remember to look folks up for a vision of them, but too often fail to do so. At least your one book for October was a winner!

Samanta, i've had Freeman's short stories on my TBR for decades and have yet to read a single one. Thanks for the impetus to do so. It's neat to see your comments on short stories, whether i've read them or not. I've read the last two. Like you, i was surprised to find "The Machine Stops" was written by Forster, who is one of my favorite authors. liked it very much, too.

I'll post my October reads in my next post.

My October was fiction heavy but i managed to read three more from my DL, so i'm pleased. I anticipate more books read after the election, when i'll have more free time.

Sheila Connolly has written a mystery series i am enjoying. It's set in Philadelphia and the main character, Nell Pratt, is the president of the Society for the Preservation of Pennsylvania Antiques, a small prestigious museum. In the process of reading her first three, i've learned bits and pieces about museums and libraries, which her establishment is, more or less. Fundraising the Dead was the first in the series, at which point she was a fundraiser, which was most informative for me, a woman who has never worked as one. The next two i read this month were Let's Play Dead and Fire Engine Dead. I've tried two other series by her but none clicked as this one did. (Actually, i came to it via the first Connolly mystery i read Murder at the Mansion last month, in which Pratt appeared in one chapter.)

As i read it i believe i mentioned i was trying Sackett's Land, part of a trilogy of the first Sackett books by Louis L'Amour. This is primarily set in bogs of Elizabethan England, which was a surprise as i was geared for a US western. He went back to the original clan, which was neat. The book i own The Sacketts Vol 1 includes the first 3, so i intend to finish those.

First from my DL list in October was The Birchbark House, a sort of "Little House" book about a Native American tribe in the middle north of the US, written by Louise Erdrich. I liked it very much. The book follows 7-year-old Ojibwa girl Omakayas, or Little Frog, through a year where her family moves into a birchbark house for summer, followed by a cabin in the winter, then back. Nice story. There are more in the set, i understand.

I saw Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova on Lawrence O'Donnell's "The Last Word" in early October and i liked her enthusiasm, so checked out her book,
Read & Riot: A Pussy Riot Guide to Activism. In it she shares here story in a random way, as well as doling out thoughts from activist and political, etc., books she's read. She points out how similar fighting the Russian government and US/Trump government is. Midway through the book she relates the story of her time in prison, where her most recent activism has been focused since her release. In all, it was a somewhat tedious reading experience but i liked her enthusiasm and found many good ideas in it. I'm not one to rate books but this one would be a toughie...i'd probably give it a below-average rating, however. Someone should have edited the piece better.

The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People : An Untold Story of Ethnic Cleansing in America began as a sort of genealogical treatise for author N. Brent Kennedy, which disappointed me. So, the main "sin" for this book is that he put his own family first, imo. A history would have been more in order, as it was fascinating. Melungeons (pronounced Muh-luhb-juhn) have basically been described as Americans who are "dark-skinned, reddish-brown complexioned people supposed to be of Moorish descent, who were neither Indian nor Negro, but had fine European features, and claimed to be Portuguese. They pronounced it “Portyghee”." Most descendants of this group have lived in the Carolinas, Tennessee and Kentucky and have been pushed off their lands for much of the early US years. The book shares family stories, which were instructive, as well as some deductions sure to tickle a historian's fancy--for instance, the question as to whether Abe Lincoln might have been Melungeon, based mostly on descriptions by Carl Sandburg in his biography of Abe. It was a short book & overall i liked it. There may be better books out there about these people but this was the only one my library had. DL book, btw.

How the States Got Their Shapes was a fun romp of a discussion about how each US state attained the boundaries they now have. I learned plenty and think many would enjoy this book. One thing i particularly liked was learning about the little protruding bits of many states & the names they were known as. This is the final DL i read this month.

On a whim, while visiting a library ebook website, i checked out If You've Got It, Haunt It by Rose Pressey. Cookie Chanel owns a vintage clothing shop in a small US Southern town. While shopping at an estate sale for vintage pieces for her business, she acquires the ghost of the estate's owner, who wants Cookie to solve her murder. The writing was fine but if i were writing the book, i'd insist on photos of the clothing she mentioned. On the upside, i learned some style terms such as Cigarette Pants and Spectator Shoes.

Samanta wrote: "My October reads:

A New England Nun and Other Stories by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
Genre: Short Story
Rating: B
Review: Louisa is a solitary woman who lives alone and i..."


Wow ! Very nice reading month, Samanta.

madrano wrote: "Petra, even though you shared your comments on the books throughout the month, it's neat to see them together. I like seeing the breadth of what folks read in a month, as well as the cumulative rat..."

Totally agree !

Thank you for doing this, Petra.

madrano wrote: "My October was fiction heavy but i managed to read three more from my DL, so i'm pleased. I anticipate more books read after the election, when i'll have more free time.
"

Deb, you win the Most Eclectic Reads in a Month award !

madrano wrote:How the States Got Their Shapes was a fun romp of a discussion about how each US state attained the boundaries they now have. I learned plenty and think many would enjoy this book. One thing i particularly liked was learning about the little protruding bits of many states & the names they were known as. This is the final DL i read this month."

Was this from the TV series ?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772281/

Deb, that's nice to know. Thank you. I sometimes don't post throughout the month because of posting at the end. I like seeing all the books listed as well as it shows, as you say, the entire month at a glance. And I like posting throughout the month because it's great to share.

Alias Reader wrote: "Deb, you win the Most Eclectic Reads in a Month award !..."

LOL! She does.

Deb and Samanta, you've both had terrific reading months.

Samanta, it's so much fun to reread a favorite book. I'm glad you enjoyed one of your favorites again.

Deb, awesome choices. I love the variety.

I didn't realize how varied the books i read last month were, isn't that funny? Because it was mystery-heavy, that was my impression. I appreciate the comments that led me to realize this. :-)

Alias, i think the book about state shapes came out first but am not positive. It would seem to make sense, as i came to see the book as more a reference book than anything else. And it was easy to read because most chapters were only about one state, so i could read it in quick grabs of time, so to speak.

madrano wrote: "My October was fiction heavy but i managed to read three more from my DL, so i'm pleased. I anticipate more books read after the election, when i'll have more free time.

[author:Sheila Connolly|11..."

I would read the states book-that looks interesting.

Julie, your son may like it too. It was my son who first told me about it...and he isn't a reader. He also really liked the tv program based on it, i must add.

October was a bad month for me as I had a whole lot going on and was not in the mood for reading, but I did read one of the best horror books that ended up being one of my favorites of 2018 and ended up on my favorites shelf. :)

by Tom Lewis - 5 stars.
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

One outstanding book can make such a difference, as you noted. You know you are in the midst of a winner when you just can't find a place to stop! Thanks for introducing us to this one, Marie.