Book Nook Cafe discussion

Here is the Folder to tell us what your monthly reads for December were.

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

Here are my December reads.

No book cover on GR
Neurofitness: A Brain Surgeon's Secrets to Boost Performance and Unleash Creativity--Rahul Jandial
Non-Fiction
Rate- 4/5
This was my top read for December. I thought this book was fascinating. The author is a neurosurgeon at City of Hope hospital which specializing in cancer treatment. The author takes you into the operating room where he explains some of his surgeries. He also give you tips on how to keep your brain in tip top shape. I recommended this book to friends and they also enjoyed it a lot. If you do a YouTube search with his name you will find a lot of good interviews. Okay, I'll say it, not only is this guy a brilliant surgeon but he is gorgeous. :) Verdict: Highly recommend.

-Eat Complete: The 21 Nutrients That Fuel Brainpower, Boost Weight Loss, and Transform Your Health---Drew Ramsey
Non-Fiction
Rate: 2/5
This book was a disappointment. I did like the first section which told you what nutrients you need and which foods contain these nutrients. However, the rest of the book is basically a cookbook which seemed too heavy on meat and shellfish. I didn't find any recipes that I felt the need to copy. Verdict: If you are curious, get it from the library.

Keep It Moving: Lessons for the Rest of Your Life----Twyla Tharp
Non-Fiction
Rate: 2/5
Last month I read her book The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life which I only gave a 2 rating. Perhaps if I were an artist I would have found it more informative. Still, I was looking forward to her new book. Unfortunately, I found it to be a bit of a jumbled mess. The few exercises she tries to explain have no photos and I found incomprehensible. It seemed she said wiggle around and jump up and down a few times.... Who knows. There is very little practical advice on diet or much of anything else. Sorry to say, it seems the book was published to make money off the authors fame. A friend at my gym also read it and ended up DNF it. Verdict: Do not recommend.

Grit----Angela Duckworth
Non-Fiction
Rate: 2/5
Possibly this book might appeal to people in the 20-35 age category. I found it ridiculously repetitive with too much anecdotal stories. Basically persevere, even when you don't feel like it. Do deliberate practice and make it a habit. Deliberate practice is practicing a bit outside of your comfort zone. This is not a new idea. James Clear in Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones explains it much better. His book I would definitely recommend. He offers a lot of practical advice which is sorely lacking from Grit. Here is a article by him on the topic. https://jamesclear.com/beginners-guid...
Verdict: Get Atomic Habits and skip Grit.

Sotah----Naomi Ragen
Fiction
Rate: 3/5
This one was on my 2019 Determination List. I've read some of the author's other books and enjoyed them a lot. I especially liked The Saturday Wife
The author writes about the ultra-Orthodox haredi community. You do learn about their customs and daily life. The title Sotah refers to a woman suspected of adultery. However, this story became a bit too soap opera like and stereotypical for my tastes. I would have cut about 75 pages to tighten the story up. Still, I read this 450 page book in just a few days.
Verdict: Get it from the library. My 3 rating means good, met expectations.

Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948---Madeleine K. Albright
Non-Fiction
Rate-- Still reading
I am enjoying and learning a lot from this memoir by the former US Secretary of State. It's a nice blend of history and memoir. The section about the Lidice massacre are especially horrifying. Honestly, I had to skip a few pages about it as I simply could not read them. I've never heard about this shocking event. The book is very well written. I find myself highlight quite a few lines where I like the way she turns a phrase. Since I am reading it on my iPod when I take the subway a short distance, I'll be reading it for a few months. Verdict: Read it.

Just started and enjoying
Where the Crawdads Sing
Fiction

It sounds like a full month of pretty decent reading, Alias. I’m surprised there were no photos of the exercises! That’s the only way i’m certain i’m doing them right. Weird.

I appreciate your comments about the editing of the Ragen book. I’m feeling that way too often myself. Perhaps the idea is to flesh out the story more but too often it feels as though someone told the author more words were needed, as they rarely add to thestory or plot itself. Sad.

I mentioned Cleopatra's Wedding Present: Travels through Syria previously, so will say here that it gives great background to that country's repressive regime a generation ago. Highly recommended.

Not so highly recommended would be Between the Stops: The View of My Life from the Top of the Number 12 Bus. I wanted to like it a lot more than I did - some was what I felt heavy-handed politics (your mileage may vary on that), as well as being poorly integrated memoir, history and current events.

Also, We Bought an Island, which was interesting, though dated. Story ends with the sisters' first night on the island (as owners); sequel deals with their actual lives there. Not going out if my way to read that one. This book was very interesting from a metaphysical (woo-woo, "out there") perspective as from the beginning events came together in a continuous stream of coincidences that boggled the sister's minds at every turn, let alone the reader!

John, that last book sounds like a doozy! I'll have to check it out. Evelyn E. Atkins

Alias and John, that's some interesting and varied reading.

I missed this thread earlier. It must have slipped down the page. I'll post my Dec reads shortly.

Looking forward to it, Petra!

First, thank you, Alias. One of your lists mentioned Dachshund Through The Snow, which I saved for a December read. I liked the characters & humor so much that I read another Christmas title from the series and enjoyed it as well. I'll be starting the series with Book 1 soon.

Dachshund Through the Snow and Deck the Hounds - good hearted protagonists with a sense of humor. Loved the family side of these books and the warm-heartedness of the mysteries.
Dachshund review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Deck review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Fool on the Hill - I'm a fan of Matt Ruff's books. This is his debut novel and is a bit long-winded. I enjoyed it but would not recommend it as a first Matt Ruff read. This book, while good, does read like a first novel. I suggest starting with his later books and going back to this one once a fan.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The 19th Christmas - no, just no. Two story lines that are kept very separate; one so insubstantial that it could easily be left out. The other story is just not interesting.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Miss Marley: The Untold Story of Jacob Marley’s Sister - I enjoy a story told from the point of view from another character of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. This one, though, is told from the point of view of a non-existent character (Marley had no sister that we know about). However, being curious, and enjoying the side stories, I was looking forward to it. Unevenly told and a close retelling of the original (perhaps a bit too close).
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Rivers of London - an enjoyable story of London's rivers personified. I enjoyed the antics and the fantastical elements.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Petra, it’s neat that you tried to read Christmas themed books. Pity they mostly let you down, though. At least you found a gem in the dog series!

I have an issue with books like the Marley book, too. Why tell the story so close to the original? It seems to me the point is to retell to enhance the original. I have that quarrel with many of the Pride and Prejudice retelling efforts.

Petra wrote: "First, thank you, Alias. One of your lists mentioned Dachshund Through The Snow, which I saved for a December read. I liked the characters & humor so much that I read another Christmas title from t..."

I'm glad you found the book lists I post helpful. I will try and post a few today. Though I am still working on creating my 2020 Determination List and I want to get that done and posted today.

I primarily read mysteries last month. First, they are easier to pick up & follow because they draw you to hurry. This meant i read more books than i thought i would in December.

A Quiet Place, set in ‘70s Japan, is by Seichō Matsumoto, whose Inspector Imanishi Investigates i liked in Nov. This is about a bureaucrat in the Agricultural Dept of the Japanese government whose wife dies of a heart attack while he is away. Curious story & one wanted to talk some sense into the guy. Once again Matsumoto illustrates the changing culture in that pivotal era, blending old with modern.

A cousin told me about the Craig Johnson Longmire series, which i finally began. The Cold Dish is the first, introducing the Sheriff, his Native American friends and other regulars. This one appeared to be about retribution for white teen boys who raped a Native teen and were barely punished. The second i read was Death Without Company,which picks up weeks after the first novel. Set in Wyoming, cell phones may or may not work, making that and snow storms only a few of the challenges.

Someone here (maybe John?) mentioned Françoise Frenkel’s A Bookshop in Berlin, which mostly recounts her efforts in France to return to her parents in Poland. It illustrates the bureaucracy the Vichy gov’t, then the Nazi’s established for citizens and foreigners. This is an important contribution to the knowledge about occupation.

Dem reviewed The Giver of Stars a few months ago & i signed up immediately, it finally arrived. It is a fiction based on the real WPA program to bring library books to those who do not live near them. In this case five women deliver them by horseback in the Kentucky hills. Good story about the problems but the personal stories were less interesting to me. I’d like to find a nonfiction book about this program, as it fascinates.

Nice list, deb.

I especially love how we are all influencing each others reading. ♥

I also like how we are helping each other discover good authors and books.

Deb, the library in the next town has a copy of A Quiet Place. I'll pick it up the next time I'm there. I also enjoyed Inspector Imanishi Investigates.

I also enjoy mysteries because they are easy to pick up, get engaged and put down. I listen to them a lot while out running. They entertain well.

Besides historical fiction, from time to time I like to reach for some spiritual book, which I did in December.

The Engineer's Wife: A Novel

5/5 Many of us have walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, but probably most of us don’t know the story behind this bridge and what an enormous achievement back then it was to build such grand bridge and to take on such massive project. And the dedication it took.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Raphael, Painter in Rome

5/5 Raphael Santi of Urbino (1483-1520) rises from a small town to the mightiest ceilings of the Vatican, becoming the master painter at the Vatican and to be known for capturing “a man’s soul with the flick of a brush.” Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, they become the great masters of the High Renaissance.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Jane Austen Society

3/5 The premise of the story is very endearing; people coming from different backgrounds, influenced by different situations in life, and what they all have in common is the love for books. The solace it gives them.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Last Arrow: Save Nothing for the Next Life

5/5 I have read my share of books in the genre of spirituality. I have come across authors that grasped my attention and I dived into their messages. And a year ago, I came across this author’s latest book “The Way of the Warrior.” He left me in awe with his wisdom and power of passing on meaningful messages in a straight forward manner.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Her Quiet Revolution: A Novel of Martha Hughes Cannon: Frontier Doctor and First Female State Senator

5/5 Martha Hughes Cannon (1857-1932) was a pioneer woman who knew what mattered to her and she pushed the limits to defy the odds. “Mattie” became one of the first female physicians and America’s first female state senator. She overcame tremendous odds.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Annette wrote: "Besides historical fiction, from time to time I like to reach for some spiritual book, which I did in December.

The Engineer's Wife: A Novel
[bookcover:The Engineer's Wife: A Novel..."

Wow, Annette. It looks like you had a stellar book month in December. All well rated books. Also a nice mix of books.

My December reads:

Gypsy Music: The Balkans and Beyond by Alan Ashton Smith
Genre: Music
Rating: C+
Review: A great sort-of-overview and introduction to not just Gypsy music of the Balkans but in general. The author also touches on the definition (both geographical and cultural) of the Balkans, the Gypsy, the Roma and the Gypsy vs. Roma. I've taken some very interesting book and music references from the book and will definitely look them up. The one thing that really bothered me was the margins of the pages. They weren't aligned properly and the text looked unprofessionally written.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss
Genre: Short Story
Rating: A
Review: Although I know who Grinch is, this is the first time I actually read the story, well technically listened to it on Youtube. I loved the rhyme and the message at the end. I'm really glad Grinch realised the real meaning of Christmas.

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Genre: Short Story
Rating: A
Review: Another one I've never read before, although I heard about it and watched the animated movie with Tom Hanks many years ago.
I don't remember much about the movie story (warrants a re-watch, methinks!), but again, love the ending and the message. Wish we did not become skeptical as we grow up.

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
Genre: Short Story
Rating: A
Review: What a lovely story and based on real life. It made me tear up in the end.

All I Want for Christmas by Amy Silver
Genre: Cozy, Christmas, Contemporary Romance
Rating: A
Review: I was looking for something "Christmasy" to read and found this on my bookshelf. I started it not expecting much, being a cynical romantic, but I was pleasantly surprised. The romance is almost a backstory in this story.

From Notting Hill with Love... Actually by Ali McNamara
Genre: Cozy, Contemporary Romance
Rating: A
Review: I was a bit skeptical about this book because I read a lot of mixed reviews about it. They were especially negative when it came to the main character, Scarlett. In the end I decided to try it because I'm a movie buff and well, the book title is made out of two very famous romantic comedies (of which one is one of my favourite movies ever). The book was fun from the beginning to the end. It had it's cheesy moments and Scarlett was a times living in the clouds too much. I loved all the movie references and suddenly want to watch all of those movies again. Also, it's the first in the trilogy. It's a really great read for when you need something cozy to relax your mind and survive the grey December weather.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: A
Review: The longest and the most challenging books of the seven originally written, not because of its length but because of the main antagonist. You might think it's Voldemort, the famous dark wizard who almost killed Harry Potter 14 years ago (in this book), but NO!, it's a conceited little witch by the name of Dolores Umbridge. I honestly think she is more evil than Voldemort himself. Reading the book, I was thinking about her upbringing and what might have happened to her to become like that, but by the end of the book I honestly didn't even care. She made me have anxiety attacks just reading the book (which is fiction!). This is my second time reading this book and I remember having the same feelings the first time which made me constantly postpone reading this book and when I finally did start, it took me very long (for my standards with Harry Potter) to finish it.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Genre: Classic British Fiction
Rating: F
Review: I think this is my most boring read this year. I had to skim through the last 15 pages because it was constantly putting me to sleep. Reading the reviews (I had to do it to understand what the book was about), I acknowledge the importance of the book but reading it was slow torture.

AH, LUDNICA by Sanja Pilić
Genre: Short Story
Rating: C
Review: A short story written by a renown modern Croatian writer, who, if I'm not mistaken is mostly dedicated to writing literature for children (though, this is most definitely not one of those). The story follows a woman who is put into a mental hospital (I'd say willingly and with the support of her whole family) just before the start of the war (not sure if the author is referring to the Homeland War or some fictional one). Unlike other patients of this kind of hospitals, she is perfectly content to be there and when everyone starts running away when the war starts, she is the only one that stays there.

Novela od Stanca; Dundo Maroje by Marin Držić
Genre: Classic Play, Croatian Literature
Rating: C
Review: These are the two most famous Classic Croatian plays written in the 16th Century. They are always required reading in our schools. They are supposed to be comedies, and I'm sure that, in a way, they are, but I just didn't feel it. Maybe I would have felt the stories better while watching them because reading them leaves me flat. The problem might also lie in the fact that they were written in the 16th century, moreover in a 16th-century-Dubrovnik dialect.

Petra, i hope you like it. I’ll admit it was slow in places but overall. I liked all i learned in it.

Annette, that Raphael book is calling to me. And Jenner’s novel sounds good, too you had a good reading month.

Samanta, i enjoy reading your comments on the holiday-related books. Sorry to see Conrad let you down. It’s a heavy reading experience. I was glad i read it with a group, which helped me stay with it.

I was particularly touched by your comments about the margins in the Gypsy music book. Some things like that can really disturb reading a book. The topic is cool, i think.

Annette, i wanted to affirm what you wrote in your review of Erwin Raphael McManus’s book. You stated it well and i couldn’t agree more. As i am sitting in an airport awaiting our flight to Rome i know I’m prepared to lose it all, so only packed my nightgown in my carryon. LOL It’s part of the journey as we touch other nations—be open.

Samanta wrote: "My December reads:

Gypsy Music: The Balkans and Beyond by Alan Ashton Smith
Genre: Music
Rating: C+
Review: A great sort-of-overview and introduction to not just ...
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss
Genre: Short Story
Rating: A
Review: Although I know who Grinch is, this is the first time I actually read the story, well technically listened to it on Youtube. I loved the rhyme and the message at the end. I'm really glad Grinch realised the real meaning of Christmas."

Every year I have to watch The Grinch and A Charlie Brown Christmas. :)

Samanta wrote: "My December reads:

Gypsy Music: The Balkans and Beyond by Alan Ashton Smith
Genre: Music
Rating: C+
Review: A great sort-of-overview and introduction to not just ..."
Heart of Darkness was required reading plus we had to do a essay on it when I was in school. Glad you got through it - not my favorite book.

Samanta wrote: "My December reads:

Gypsy Music: The Balkans and Beyond by Alan Ashton Smith
Genre: Music
Rating: C+
Review: A great sort-of-overview and introduction to not just ..."

Regarding gypsy music, I hope you've seen the movie Latcho Drom? I had the CD from it, though not sure I could locate it easily.

John wrote: "Samanta wrote: "My December reads:

Gypsy Music: The Balkans and Beyond by Alan Ashton Smith
Genre: Music
Rating: C+
Review: A great sort-of-overview and introduct..."

John, I have it no my PC but haven't watched it yet. I did listen to some of the music from it and loved it.

Thanks for that title, John. I look forward to locating it.

madrano wrote: "Thanks for that title, John. I look forward to locating it."

Madrano, the director, Tony Gatlif, is of Berber - Andalusian Romani descent and has made various movies about Romani culture. I am a big fan of Flamenco and consider Andalusia my dream place to live, so I watched his movie Vengo about two Romani families in Andalusia with a blood feud they culturally can't escape from. There is some beautiful Flamenco music included in the movie.

From Vengo:
Remedio Silva - Naci en alamo (not tu be confused with Alamo in Texas :))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeGXb...

From Latcho Drom:
La Caita - El pajaro negro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_VRF...

Thank you for information, Samanta. I’m going to make note of Gatlif’s name & these productions for exploring later.

Do you dance Flamenco, Samanta. Watching those moves are mesmerizing. What a very nice place to live—or dream of living near. Good luck on that front.

madrano wrote: "Thank you for information, Samanta. I’m going to make note of Gatlif’s name & these productions for exploring later.

Do you dance Flamenco, Samanta. Watching those moves are mesmerizing. What a v..."

Flamenco is next on my dance Bucket List, but I want to learn it properly and I can't do that with my current job and the country I live in. Another incentive for the Andalusian dream. :D

Ole! It looks as though it is quite the workout—just keeping the arms up seems lovely but demanding.

madrano wrote: "Ole! It looks as though it is quite the workout—just keeping the arms up seems lovely but demanding."

Very! I tried a few classes and by the end of a class, you fell all your muscles. :D

Samanta wrote: "madrano wrote: "Ole! It looks as though it is quite the workout—just keeping the arms up seems lovely but demanding."

Very! I tried a few classes and by the end of a class, you fell all your muscl..."

I love dancing for exercise. It's so much fun. At the Y I take beginner classes in: Tap, Ballet, Jazz/theater dance, Salsa & Retro dance (dance to 60s, 70s and current songs. These last two are more of an exercise/aerobic class than traditional dance class.

Alias, is Flamenco ever offered? It seems your part of New York would have many national specialty dances to offer.

Not at my Y. Though I am sure there are dance schools offering it. There is one lady I see practicing it when the studios are not in use, so she takes class somewhere in NYC.

This makes sense. I recall when our daughter moved there, she took belly dancing classes in Astoria’s Y. It’s neat such opportunities arise there.

My December reads
The Case of the Lame Canary by Erle Stanley Gardner
Rating 3/5
Another one of the series completed. As previously noted the language in these early books is a bit stilted as they were written in the late thirties and early forties, however, the mysteries are still intriguing
Merry Christmas, Alex Cross by James Patterson
Rating 3/5
It has been awhile since I have read a book in this series. I felt like I was visiting old friends. This was a quick read
Women in Sunshine by Frances Mayes
Rating 3/5
Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry by Mary Higgins Clark
Rating 3/5

Meredith wrote: "Women in Sunshine by Frances Mayes
Rating 3/5.."

Just wanted to correct the title if anyone wants to check out the book.

Women in Sunlight by Frances Mayes

Nice reading month, Meredith. Favorites such as you mentioned are comforting, i think.

Alias, thanks for that link. I was wondering about it. The reviews seemed mixed but the premise nice.

I am working my way backwards it seems - so I will do my December reads. :)

The Crane War by Graeme Rodaughan - five stars - fifth book in an urban fantasy vampire series - I love this series as all the books are action packed with intense situations. The series is a work in progress as another book is suppose to release this year.

Ghostland by Duncan Ralston - five stars - a theme park that has ghosts as its attractions - a mishap happens and the ghosts are turned loose - they wreck havoc on the park. This is a great book as the author goes into great detail of the park attractions. There is a little bit of graphic detail in the book though. But it is a major page turner!

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - five stars - loved this classic Christmas story and I wanted to read a classic to finish up the end of the year. :)

Nice reading, Marie.
I enjoy reading The Christmas Carol in December, too. I haven't done it for a few years now and miss that tradition.

Marie, the Ralston book sounds as though it could be a fun one. Thanks for backtracking for us.

Each year I try to watch some version of A Christmas Carol. I loved the book, too.

madrano wrote: "Marie, the Ralston book sounds as though it could be a fun one. Thanks for backtracking for us."

You are welcome, Mandrano! It was a fun read! :)

Petra wrote: "Nice reading, Marie.
I enjoy reading The Christmas Carol in December, too. I haven't done it for a few years now and miss that tradition."

Thank you Petra! :)

Alias Reader wrote: "Each year I try to watch some version of A Christmas Carol. I loved the book, too."

I also try to watch some kind of Christmas movies. :)