Book Nook Cafe discussion

Please share with us what you read October 2019 !

Please provide:

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

I'm embararrased to say I didn't finish a book this month. I am working my way through

Doing Justice: A Prosecutor's Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law by Preet Bharara

My next read I think will be
Prodigal Son---Edward Villella

Hi, everyone! These are my October reads:

Bomber Boys: Fighting Back, 1940-1945 by Patrick Bishop
Genre: Military History, WWII, Biography
Rating: B
Review: I haven't read anything on the RAF or Air Force in general in WWII and it's really and interesting topic. "Bomber Boys" were, at the beginning of the war, seen as heroes for their part in the war, but as the war was coming to it's close and the Western society realised the magnitude of damage inflicted to Germany and its occupied countries (we are talking about human casualties most of all), it started pointing fingers and ostracizing them. They are still today overlooked and kept quiet.
The great thing about this book (although it could be a bit dry at times) was that the author used memoirs and diaries of the very soldiers who were stationed with the RAF and also talks a great deal about the mental and emotional consequences of the war and all the death seen.

Bosnia y Herzegovina: un país con forma de corazón by Jasmin Krpo
Genre: Travel
Rating: C
Review: Another of the booklets I bought to learn about Bosnia and Herzegovina for my work. I did gain some new knowledge from it, but most of it I've already heard/read before.

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
Genre: History
Rating: B
Review: It took me a while to finish this book despite it being very interesting. It starts with Cicero's speech against Catiline, but goes back to to the very beginnings of Rome and also covers the period of Empire and the appearance of Christianity. Although it covers all of the known and important parts of Roman history, done by so many authors in many different books, this book is a breath of fresh air because Beard wrote a book that tries to debunk all (or most) of the popular myths about Roman history, and she does it with a very engaging style and a bit of a typical British wit.

Te deix, amor, la mar com a penyora by Carme Riera
Review only for Volver
Genre: Short Story
Rating: B
Review: A young woman, upon being informed by her mother that her estranged father is on his deathbed, rushes back to Spain from the US to see him, but finds many obstacles on her way to him.

The Lady of the House of Love by Angela Carter
Genre: Short Story, Audiobook
Rating: B
Review: One of the reasons why I can't listen to an audiobook is that I can't concentrate on the story if I'm not reading it myself. I loved the setting the story, the writing, and especially David Tennant reading it, but the complete meaning of the story simply passed me by. I had to read reviews to realise what was happening.

Bewitched by Edith Wharton
Genre: Short Story, Audiobook
Rating: B
Review: In this story Wharton tells us about New England's tradition of vampires.
A Mrs. Rutledge invites three men from the town to help her save her husband from a revenant.

Drink My Blood by Richard Matheson
Genre: Short Story, Audio
Rating: B
Review: This one made me chuckle a few times. In general, it's a rather funny story, despite all of its gory details but you can see it's not as Classic as the first two.

The Oxford Book of Christmas Stories by Dennis Pepper
Review only for A Lot of Mince Pies by Robert Swindells
Genre: Short Story, Audiobook
Rating: B
Review: Now this is a very eerie story, involving vampires and set at Christmas. Perfect combination.

The Phantom World by Augustin Calmet
Review only for Dead Persons in Hungary
Genre: Short Story, Audiobook
Rating: A
Review: This is more like a journalistic account of vampire legends and stories from Hungary. Very interesting.

The Family of the Vourdalak (Translated): A NEW TRANSLATION by Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy
Genre: Short Story, Audiobook
Rating: A
Review: This was a very action-packed story, written by Leo Tolstoy's cousin. The narrator comes to visit the family Vourdalak. The father of the family is going on a trip and warns his family that upon his return they have to be careful of what he might look like (a vampire or a human) and act accordingly. The father returns as a vampire and the family, of course, fails to act in time to prevent a tragedy. The narrator leaves in a hurry and comes back after some time to find the whole family and half the village as vampires.

The Horla by Guy de Maupassant
Genre: Short Story, Audiobook
Rating: A
Review: I had no idea that Maupassant wrote such good fiction. I learned about him in school but never really read him.
This is a very suspense-filled story written as a journal. The narrator feels herself? getting sick and finally realises she? has a vampire in the house.

Luella Miller by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
Genre: Short Story, Audiobook
Rating: A
Review: I liked this one a lot. It's pretty simple but effective. The eeriness of the setting, the conclusion, all typical for this genre.

Clarimonde by Théophile Gautier
Genre: Short Story, Audiobook
Rating: A
Review: Love the prose in this short story. Beautiful and sensual. The Narrator is a young soon-to-be priest who, on the day of his ordination, lays eyes on Clarimonde and falls in love. Although he no longer wants to be a priest, he goes on with the ordination pressured by the society and his family's expectations. A year later, he sees Clarimonde dead in a coffin and he starts seeing her in his dreams.

by John Galsworthy
Genre: Short Story
Rating: A
Review: Great story about a small shoe-making shop that produced tailor-made shoes of great quality but in the end lost the battle with the mass-production companies.

Tempted by His Kiss by Tracy Anne Warren
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: B
Review: The first book in my go-to Historical Romance series. I go back to it every few years but I must admit that it becomes more and more cheesy. How perspectives change as time goes by!

The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs
Genre: Short Story, Horror
Rating: B
Review: An old man claims a monkey's paw, that supposedly grants three wishes, from his sergeant-major friend who got it in India. Him and his family are skeptic, but he still makes the first wish. Eventually, the paw does grant the wish but with devastating consequences.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A
Review: From the very first sentence, this book managed to transport me to that long ago era of British class. I don't know if I can explain it well, but I was immediately washed over with this sense of familiarity and the beauty of the English language. I felt like being in Downton Abbey. After reading so much literature for work and speaking almost only in Spanish for the past few months, it just felt so good to read a British Classic with this beautiful, poetic language. I missed it!

Alias, we all have months like that. Getting through the Bharara will be worth it all, i am sure.

Samanta, what a good reading month for you. Just this week i saw the Beard ancient Rome book calling to me. My husband read & liked it, but it was quite slow reading for him, so i have yet to approach it. I really liked the Ishiguro story, too. It evoked those years well, leading me to really like Downton, as you mentioned.

Edith Wharton isn't really known for her ghost stories but she has an entire collection. Because she is such a splendid writer, they are a pleasure to read even when the mystery isn't too scary. I purchased her The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton because they are so good. Sadly, i put it aside & didn't return. I hope to do so later, of course.

I'm awaiting my sister to pick me up for our holiday in San Antonio, so i'll first list my October books. If i have time, i'll flesh them out better.

Ellie and the Harpmaker--Hazel Prior. One of those whimsical books about a woman who happens to enter the out-of-town workshop or a harpmaker, who becomes enchanted by her & vice versa. She's already married & ends up nosing her way into his simple life. It's never stated why his life is simple but something in the autistic spectrum is my guess. The harpmaker's notations of the leaves, stones, landscape were wonderful but the story itself is like most of these sorts of books, sad to report. I'm not really a romantic, methinks.

Privy to the Dead--Sheila Connolly and (different series, same author) Killer in the Carriage House. I like this author's series about women who work in historical-context institutions. The first one is at a sort of historical library in Philadelphia; in the second the woman is just beginning to help rejuvenate a small town by turning it into a Victorian Village. I'm less thrilled with the second, due to Connolly's steady listing of things that need to be done, as well as clues to the mystery. She too often lists the clues in all her series but this one bugs me, due to the "to do" list for the Village. Still, i like reading them as a sort of palate cleanser.

Rutherford B. Hayes--Hans L. Trefousse. I've read an earlier Trefousse presidential bio, which was good and thorough. This is one of those American Presidents series. It's better than others i've read, as he truly does give a bio of Hayes. Even the author admits there wasn't much to Hayes, which i found refreshing.

The Brontë Cabinet: Three Lives in Nine Objects--Deborah Lutz I mentioned this earlier in last month. Lutz offers a bio by employing nine items from the Bronte Haworth Museum collection. It's a neat way to read a bio because in the process she shares a sort of history of the items, too.

Lair of the White Worm--Bram Stoker. While i liked the early British history, this story is such a let down after Dracula. Apparently he wrote this in a rush near the end of his life, which might explain something.

Bruegel--Marguerite Kay. While this offers a brief bio (not much is known for certain) of Bruegel, it had color plates of most of his work with notes about them. Additionally, it put some of the work in context of the history of art in the Netherlands and that area. I hesitate to add it, as it wasn't much reading but i wanted to remember which i read.

The Handmaid's Tale--Margaret Atwood. Atwood's poetic words carries the book. Initially it was what kept me reading. Then the story took over & i wanted to know more. Unfortunately i was disappointed by the ending, which was basically a symposium speech about the supposed tapes onto which this handmaid's story was related. Still, it was a good, strong story.

Lookit there! I got my thoughts about the books on too. LOL! Later--

Hello Book Nook Cafe members (I love the name by the way),

Instead of listing all the books I've read in October as I read a few books each month, I'll pick the one I liked the most.

It's not an easy pick for October as I read 4 good books. But I have to go with the one that touched me the most.

A Memory of Violets: A Novel of London's Flower Sellers


Set during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. This story gives a glimpse into a world of two drastic social classes: one very rich and the other very poor; the aristocrats and the poor Irish immigrants living in the slums of London’s poorest neighborhood. It offers a glimpse into the lives of crippled and orphaned girls, who sell flowers to survive and are afraid to be taken to workhouse, which is like a death sentence. And a quest of one man with a charitable heart to make a difference. He creates a home for those poor girls, and gives them purpose, confidence, and hope.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

madrano wrote: "Alias, we all have months like that. Getting through the Bharara will be worth it all, i am sure.

Samanta, what a good reading month for you. Just this week i saw the Beard ancient Rome book calli..."

Beard's Rome was a very slow read for me, too. It took me a few months, but I like her style.

I've mentioned my reads during the month in other threads, but will say that Care of Wooden Floors was the one I'd most recommend, though perhaps too quirky for some readers.

Samanta wrote: "Hi, everyone! These are my October reads:
."

Wow ! You had quite a reading month, Samanta ! Well done.

madrano wrote: Even the author admits there wasn't much to Hayes, which i found refreshing..."

:)

Another great reading month for you, deb. And another notch on your presidential bio challenge.

Alias, you read such intense books. It takes time to give them the true attention they need and to get out of them what you want to. Always take time to enjoy each page.

Samanta, you've read a great selection of books. You do a lot of interesting reading to keep up with your job.
I'm also a fan of The Remains of the Day. Wonderful story.

Deb, you've also read a great selection of books last month.
I'm intrigued with Ellie & The Harpmaker. Thanks for that title.
I think The Handmaid's Tale is deliberately left vague like that. I was taken aback, too, with that final chapter but it did leave a lot of questions for the reader to answer for themselves. Isn't that how many history books/stories end up? We have details but not all and have to fill in the rest. In the end, we just don't know, do we. LOL.

Here are the books I read in October:

Little Shoes: The Sensational Depression-Era Murders That Became My Family's Secret by Pamela Everett (3-star) - a sad story of murder and it's affects on a family
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley (audio; 3-star) - a fun visit with Flavia.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Inspector Imanishi Investigates by Seichō Matsumoto (3-star) - written and set in the early 60s, this is an interesting murder mystery. I liked the look at Japanese life & culture. Some dated views of husband/wife relationships.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Omens by Kelley Armstrong (4-star) - a fun, entertaining mystery. I enjoyed this story and will continue with the series if I can find the other books.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Petra wrote: "Alias, you read such intense books. It takes time to give them the true attention they need and to get out of them what you want to. Always take time to enjoy each page...."

Thank you.

Petra wrote: "Here are the books I read in October:

Little Shoes: The Sensational Depression-Era Murders That Became My Family's Secret by Pamela Everett (3-star) - a sad story of murder and it'..."

The book cover is quite poignant.

Petra, that is a good point about history/story novels & how they often end with more questions. I hadn't much considered it, to be honest with you. And still i was frustrated. However, what i knew that previous readers didn't was that Margaret Atwood finally wrote a follow up, so if i am inclined i can see if she let's us know what happened. :-)

Thank you, Petra, for mentioning the Seichō Matsumoto series of mysteries. One of my favorite things about reading literature from overseas is the introduction into different lives, as well as different ideas on crimes. This isn't a name/series i recognize, so will check it out. Again, thanks.

Deb, I enjoyed the Inspector Imanishi book. The cultural aspect of this investigation really added to the story. I'm not sure if this is part of a series but if so I would read the next one.

I've often thought about History and how the history books may or may not be telling what truly happened. The books do their best to tell the truth (I hope) but how much don't we know and therefore just can't make it into the books? It's these forgotten & lost details that I'd be really interested in reading about. I'm sure these details would add to our understanding of the past.

I really enjoy reading history based books but over the years, particularly when reading older ones, i realize often a fuller accounting of historic events tend to alter my understanding, and therefore opinion, of such moments in our past. And then there's the whole concept that the importance of some events don't seem evident until decades later! How to handle that? I do not envy people who write about history, fiction or non.

Still, it's better than not even trying, imo. We can usually agree with customs, such as might be included in the Matsumoto book but might differ on how they became the norm or the significance. And this is as enlightening to me as the fact of it.

One of many joys about reading!

My October reads
A Single Thread byTracy Chevalier
Rating 4/5
This book takes place in the period between the two World Wars. The main character changes her life by joining a group of ladies stitching the kneelers for the Winchester Cathedral. As I needlepoint I enjoyed the information about embroidery. It was a lovely store about life in England between the wars.
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan
Rating 3/5
This book takes place in a village in Kent in the early days of WWII. The story is told by either letters or journal entries of five characters. It gave a look at life in a small village and its reaction to what was going on in Europe at the time
Distant Shores by Kristin Hannah
Rating 3/5
A story about a couple who after 20 years of marriage grow into a relationship based on what they both need
Tell No One by Harlan Coben
Rating3/5 A thriller

Meredith wrote: "My October reads
A Single Thread byTracy Chevalier
Rating 4/5
This book takes place in the period between the two World Wars. The main character changes her life by jo..."

Looks like a solid reading month for you, Meredith !

Meredith, I loved the Chilbury Ladies’ Choir. This one was 5 stars for me.

I like Tracy Chevalier, but I haven’t read this one yet.

Nice reading month, Meredith. I like Chevalier's books but have only read a couple. This one sounds like a good one.

And the Choir novel sounds neat. I'm a fan of what they call epistolary novels. It's neat to see that authors haven't confined themselves to letters but branched into electronic communication, too. It's fun to read them. I'm checking this one out since Annette, too, liked it very much.

Thanks for sharing with us.

Backtracking to October - Halloween month - a little more horror for you all! :) Also I am doing a change up as well - to give you all a little more insight of the books I have read - going to post my review after each book. My review contains how I felt about the book. :)

The Witch of Halloween House by Jeff DeGordick - four stars.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Prank Night by Kristopher Rufty - five stars.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I love the idea of Halloween in Autumn Creek. How evocative. What great books for October, Marie.

Thank you for the reviews. A review, comment or rating is very helpful.

madrano wrote: "I love the idea of Halloween in Autumn Creek. How evocative. What great books for October, Marie."

Thank you Madrano! :)

Alias Reader wrote: "Thank you for the reviews. A review, comment or rating is very helpful."

Thank you Alias. :)