Paging All Bookworms! discussion

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Peter H. Lee, ed., The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Korean Poetry [2002] 359 pages

An anthology (in translation) of 134 poems by 112 known authors, as well as a couple dozen anonymous. The poems represent poets from the seventh to the nineteenth centuries, and eight different styles or genres; there is also a selection of poetry originally written in Chinese by Korean poets.

The subjects include nature, love, religion and satire. A few, particularly the religious ones, are somewhat obscure, but most were very accessible without any cultural background knowledge. Of course the poetry is of uneven quality (as far as I could tell in translation), but there was a lot of very worthwhile and enjoyable material here.

I was especially interested in the last poem in the book, the original version of the Princess Bari story, having read Hwang Sok-yong's novel based on it.

Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures [1990] 414 pages [Kindle]

Moving Pictures is the tenth book of the Discworld series; it's not part of any of the subseries, although it borrows characters from some of the others, most importantly C.M.O.T. Dibbler and the Librarian, and has a few cameo appearances by Death. The novel begins with an alchemist named Silverfish inventing moving pictures, and establishing a studio in Holy Wood. The novel is full of puns and allusions to various classic Hollywood movies. As moving pictures blur the distinction between the real and the unreal, the Discworld is threatened and the two main characters, the "stars" Victor and Ginger, with the help of a talking dog and various trolls and other denizens of the Discworld have to save reality. A good humorous fantasy.

The Gift of Rain – Tan Twan Eng – 5*****
Historical fiction set in Malaya during World War II. The 15-year-old main character, youngest son of an established British family, comes of age in a very unsettling time, and becomes the unwitting accomplice to a Japanese spy. The writing is atmospheric and poetic. The characters are complex and nuanced. I was on the edge of my seat in certain scenes. And Eng managed to have me empathize with all sides at one time or another.
My full review HERE

Merciless III: Origins of Evil (The Merciless #3) by Danielle Vega
4 ★

This is book 3 in the series and it takes us back to the beginning, before book 1. The reader meets Brooklyn before the evil sets in. She runs a teen helpline at her school and when she receives a call for help she decides to follow up on it herself. The call leads her to Christ First Church where she meets Gavin and Hope, the pastor’s kids. Brooklyn gets involved with the youth group and Gavin. When things with Gavin go a bit too far, Gavin’s dad gets involved and things go downhill.
It was nice seeing Brooklyn in a different light. The reader gets to see her being self-conscious and actually feeling bad for her actions. You also get to see Alexis and her friends again. Unlike Brooklyn, Alexis is the same dangerous conniving character. Gavin and Hope seem like really great people, but that changes quickly.
Like the other 2 books, this one takes a while to get to the action. It works though. The work up to the climax is full of information about the characters and just a great story. The last about 100 pages had me hooked and I was unable to put the book down. The action was constant and made me cringe at times. This is definitely not a series for someone with a low tolerance for torture, violence and vivid details. Personally, I enjoyed it and look forward to the next book.

Pecan Pies and Homicides – Ellery Adams – 1*
Book three in the “Charmed Pie Shoppe” series gets more ridiculous. I guess I need some pie, because I’m no longer charmed by the eccentric characters and the lead character, Ella Mae, drives me crazy. Oh, well. It was a fast read and it satisfied a challenge.
My full review HERE

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
5 ★

Celia and Marco are two young magicians in a competition that only 1 can survive. Le Cirque des Reves is the circus where they perform and eventually fall in love. Their love, though, has no effect on the competition. The fate of the circus and everyone involved is a risk.

This is one of the most vividly beautiful books I have read in a long time. Le Cirque des Reves is described as mostly black and white with very little color. The red worn by the circus regulars are probably the most color one will see. The descriptions of the activities in the tents are enchanting. I wish there was a circus like this around here.
Celia and Marco are great characters. I actually don’t think there is a bad character throughout the book. Even the devious teachers of Celia and Marco are interesting. The way the author describes the magic “tricks” in the book lets the reader almost see what is happening. My favorite part is the amazing clock that welcomes visitors to the circus.
The reader needs to make sure they read the chapter titles because they bounce around to different years and locations. It all comes together nicely at the end though. There are a few sad parts, but the surprises out number them.
This review does not do this book justice. It’s really hard to express the beauty and brilliance of the story. I highly recommend it.

Tariq Ali, Street Fighting Years: An Autobiography of the Sixties [1987, rev. 2005] 403 pages

I'm preparing to read Tariq Ali's Islam Quintet, a five-novel fictional history of the Islamic world, for a group on Goodreads, so I decided to learn somewhat more about the author first. Today, he is probably best known for his novels and plays of the eighties and nineties, but in the sixties and seventies he was better known as a socialist and antiwar activist, and that's how I first heard of him at the time. This autobiography deals with that period of his life. The subtitle is ambiguous -- is this his autobiography from the sixties, or an "autobiography" of the Sixties? Actually, it's a bit of both.

The first sixty pages of the revised edition is a new introduction, asking the question why the Sixties are still such a controversial period, remembered with nostalgia by some of us, but vilified by others, and particularly the conservative/liberal media. The introduction also pays homage to some people from that time who have died in the intervening years, and gives a thumbnail sketch of various wars and other political developments up to 2005.

The original book begins with a chapter called "Preludes", which describes his childhood and adolescence from 1946 to 1962 in newly-independent Pakistan, but also chronicles year-by-year the major events of the period, such as the Chinese Revolution, Nasser's revolution in Egypt, Kruschev's revelations about Stalin, and the Cuban Revolution. He came from a secular left-wing family; his mother was an active member of the Communist Party. Tariq himself was basically sympathetic to the Maoists, until the 1967 massacre of the Indonesian communists caused him to question Mao's policies. In college, he became a leader of student demonstrations, and his family decided it was safer to pack him off to study at Oxford.

The next two chapters go from 1962 to 1967 and deal with his activities at Oxford and in the left of the Labour Party, and his eventually disillusionment with the Labour Party as Harold Wilson abandoned all his promises and showed himself as an obedient lieutenant of Washington, particularly in supporting the war in Vietnam. He describes among other things his meeting with Malcolm X at Oxford, the beginning of his work with the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, and the first British teach-ins around Vietnam. This is followed by a very interesting chapter about his fact-finding trip to Hanoi for the Russell Foundation's War Crimes Tribunal. The founding of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign and the Black Dwarf magazine, the two axes of his political work for the next few years, are described in a short chapter.

There are three chapters focused on "The Year", 1968. The first and third are largely about the VSC, and are the real essence of the book; the second is about May '68 in France and the Prague Spring, neither of which he was able to witness first hand due to legal restrictions on his travel. This is also the time at which he joined the International Marxist Group, the British section of the (Trotskyist) Fourth International, which at the time had about fifty members, though it grew to about 200 as a result of the big anti-Vietnam War demonstrations of the next couple years. There was less about this than I was hoping for. I had had the impression that Ali was somewhat of an "ultraleft", but from this book it seems that much of his effort was to combat the more ultraleft elements within the VSC and keep the demonstrations from ending up in confrontations with the police or worse. He heads up one of the chapters with a perfect quotation from Lenin: "A terrorist is a Liberal with a bomb." A final chapter deals with the years 1969-1975, marked largely by defeats, and ending with the beginning of the long period of reaction which has more or less continued until the present. There is a sort of epilogue called "Heretics and Renegades", a "where are they now?" kind of thing which separates those who have retained the spirit of the sixties from those who sold out, and of course those who had died by 1987.

The book ends with an interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, added in the revised edition, which is interesting but not really connected to the rest of the book.

The real interest of the book to me was the description of the antiwar movement in England. The biggest weakness was its serious misunderstanding of the dynamics of the antiwar movement (and left politics in general) in the United States, one country that he never visited but relied on information about from visitors to the Black Dwarf offices. Ali greatly overestimates the role of SDS in the antiwar movement (in fact the national organization basically abandoned the antiwar movement after the first big demonstration) and dismisses the role of the American Socialist Workers Party as "aparatchniks pure and simple" (who actually played a major role in organizing the movement). This made clearer to me some of the polemics from that time, although I suspect that his remembrances may be colored by later factional developments. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to know about the antiwar movement abroad, but suggest that it be read along with Fred Halstead's Out Now on the United States as a necessary corrective.

The Last Romantics – Tara Conklin – 3***
A family epic following the four Skinner siblings over several decades. I love character-driven novels, getting to know and understand the psychology of the characters as they cause and/or react to events in their lives. That these four people are damaged by their childhood is without question. The ways they find to cope, or not, is what fascinated me in the novel. I was sorry that COVID19 interrupted our book club’s scheduled meeting on this work. I would certainly have enjoyed that discussion.
My full review HERE

Notorious RBG – Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik – 5*****
Subtitle: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Oh, my stars, but this is one HELL of a woman! I've admired her for some years, but I really enjoyed learning more about her. I thought the authors did a great job of making this a very approachable biography. There is no truth without Ruth!
My full review HERE

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
3 ★

After Florence Green’s husband dies she decides to open a bookshop on Hardborough. She buys an old run down house that the locals didn’t want…until now. Mrs. Gamart is a local arts enthusiast who now decides that she wants the house for an arts exhibit. Unfortunately Mrs. Gamart will do anything to get the house from Florence.

I enjoyed the idea of the story, but I found it very slow. Florence Green is a great character who knows what she wants and won’t take crap from anyone. She puts Mrs. Gamart in her place when need be. My heart broke for Florence though. She’s alone and all she wanted was to open a bookshop. It was infuriating that the town people made it so hard for her. Many of them did enjoy the shop, but quickly turned on her toward the end. Overall, a quick read with interesting characters.

Upstairs At the White House – J B West & Mary Lynn Kotz – 4****
Subtitle: My Life With the First Ladies. J B West served as the chief usher in the White House from midway through the years of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s terms through the beginning of the Nixon administration. This is an interesting and engaging memoir of his experiences running the private residence for a variety of first ladies. Some interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits, but no real juicy gossip. Discretion was – and is – a chief characteristic of JB West’s.`
My full review HERE

Melissa wrote: "
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
3 ★

After Florence Green’s husband dies she decides to open a bookshop on Hardborough. She buys an old run down house that the..."

You more clearly outlined why I also found the book just "meh" ... not bad, but not great.

Honoré de Balzac, Les Chouans [1827] et "Une passion dans le désert" [1830] 458 pages [in French]

Les Chouans, written in 1827, was Balzac's earliest novel, although together with the twenty page short story "Une passion dans le désert" it makes up the Scènes de la vie militaire, one of the later divisions of the Comédie humaine. A Romantic historical novel in an exotic, somewhat primitive location, the book is written in a style very obviously derived from Sir Walter Scott's novels of the Highland Scots which were extrememly popular at this time in France as well as Britain; this is not necessarily a bad thing-- I like Scott's novels -- but, while the narrative is very exciting and faster paced than most of Balzac's novels, one misses the psychological complexity and social realism of his later works. It's also the earliest in terms of the historical setting, in the year VII (1799).

The action takes place in Brittany during the second revolt of the "Chouans", the Breton royalist partisans who fought for the king against the French Revolution. It begins with one of the two main adversaries, the "Chief of Demi-Brigade" (equivalent to Colonel) Hulot (the same Marshall Hulot who dies at an advanced age in Cousine Bette) bringing a convoy of conscripts from the town of Fougères to the garrison in Mayenne. En route, the convoy is ambushed and has to fight off the Chouans. The conscripts escape with the Chouans, but to Hulot's surprise the Chouans continue fighting rather than withdrawing after rescuing the conscripts, which is their normal practice; he attributes this to a new leader, an émigré recently returned from England, who is known as "The Gars" (actually the Marquis of Montaudon). He catches a glimpse of this figure among the Chouans, who is the second major figure in the novel. Somewhat later, we meet the mysterious Mademoiselle Verneuil, the third main character. Of course there is a romance . . .

The short story which is published with the novel is very different. It tells the story of a French soldier lost in the desert of Upper Egypt who encounters a panther.

Book Concierge wrote: "

Notorious RBG
– Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik – 5*****
Subtitle: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Oh, my stars, but this is one HELL of a woman! I'..."

I loved this book! It was a local book club pick, otherwise I wouldn't have read it. But I'm so glad I did!

Love is Murder (Lucy Kincaid #0.5) by Allison Brennan
5 ★

Lucy and her brother Patrick take a vacation to a lodge to do some skiing after Lucy breaks up with her boyfriend and end up dealing with a murder.

This short novella is the perfect start to the Lucy Kincaid series. Lucy is not yet an FBI agent, but it shows the reader how smart she is and determined to do right. She has pretty much recovered from her ordeal around her graduation, but still has some lingering trust issues. She does a great job piecing together the clues in this story and uncovering the killer. Patrick helped, but Lucy did most of the work. I really like how parts of the previous books are mentioned in this one. It brings back many feelings from the events that happened.
I highly recommend reading all of Allison Brennan’s books up to the Lucy Kincaid series. You’ll meet many characters who make appearances elsewhere. It will also help the reader understand parts of this book.

English Creek – Ivan Doig – 4****
This is a coming-of-age story set in Depression-era Montana. Doig really puts the reader into the era and landscape of this novel. The sky is vast, the landscape majestic, the weather sometimes brutal, and the dangers – both natural and man-made – palpable. Fourteen-year-old Jick McCaskill is a keen observer, if sometimes perplexed. There were times when Doig’s work made me think on my own father, and how he taught us love of the land and nature. That made the book all the more enjoyable for me.
My full review HERE

Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation [2014] 195 pages

Annihilation is the first book of the Southern Reach trilogy of science fiction novels, which were highly recommended to me by one of my coworkers. The narrator, a biologist, is a member of an expedition of four women who are exploring the mysterious Area X. There have been twelve previous expeditions -- according to what they have been told -- and most have ended in disaster, mass suicide, murdering one another, or returning changed and with no memory of what happened to them. Area X reveals itself to be a strangely interconnected ecosystem, with a seeming ability to mimic "normal" realities. If you are thinking Solaris, you are certainly on the right track, although this is definitely a very original novel, it has the same feel -- and the same powerful writing -- as Stanislaw Lem's best novels, the same strangeness, the same sense of the total alienness of the alien.

The Right Stuff – Tom Wolfe – 4****
This is the story of the Mercury Astronauts and how they came to be chosen – evaluated to ensure they had The Right Stuff to succeed in this vital mission. Wolfe does a great job of giving us the background of those first seven astronauts – warts and all. I was fascinated by the extensive testing they underwent to evaluate their fitness for this work. And I think Wolfe did a great job of explaining the differences in their personalities that resulted in success, or missteps.
My full review HERE

Enrique’s Journey – Sonia Nazario – 4****
Subtitle: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite With His Mother. Journalist Sonia Nazario first heard of mothers who leave their children behind from her cleaning lady. Her interest piqued, she sought to document what such a journey entails … for the mother who goes ahead, for the children left behind, for the boy who was determined to travel nearly 2,000 miles alone to find the mother he had not seen for more than a decade. Their stories are heartbreaking and eye-opening.
My full review HERE

Merciless IV: Last Rites by Danielle Vega
5 ★

Berkley Hubbard takes a trip to Italy with a couple of friends and finds herself kidnapped and tortured. The kidnappers believe she is possessed and needs to be saved.

Sofia Flores makes her return in this book. She is Berkley’s roommate in the institute that Sofia went to at the end of book 2. The main idea of the story is the same as the others, but the torture Berkley goes through is different. Just as brutal, but different. I liked how the author links the books together. Book 3 actually feels like it’s placed out of order.
As usual, Berkley has a secret that she must reveal in order to get out of the institute. The secret isn’t as bad as Sofia’s was, but it had the same effect. The scene between Berkley and Sofia at the end of Berkley’s stay at the institute is interesting. The book jumps between the past and the present, so the reader doesn’t know the full story till the end of the book. It breaks the story up well and adds suspense.
I have really enjoyed this series and look forward to reading more by Danielle Vega.

Jeff VanderMeer, Authority [2014] 341 pages

The second book in the trilogy, the focus here shifts from the mysteries of Area X itself to the more human mysteries of the Southern Reach, and we learn more about the previous expeditions and the truth beneath the lies that were told to the expedition members. The book is in the third person, from the perspective of "Control", the new director of the Southern Reach agency. Much of what he is trying to learn is about the psychologist of the twelfth expedition, and there are several revelations. We also see the biologist again -- or is it a copy?

By Book Or By Crook – Eva Gates – 3***
Lucy Richardson leaves a failed engagement and her job at Harvard’s library for a visit with her Aunt Ellen on Bodie Island in the Outer Banks. There she snags a job as assistant librarian for the Lighthouse Library. And becomes enmeshed in a mystery when a priceless first edition is stolen during a private party and a body is found. Interesting premise if a few bumps in the execution. Still, I was entertained and I’ll likely read more of this series.
My full review HERE

The Snow Leopard – Peter Matthiessen – 2.5**
In general, I love nature and wildlife nonfiction, especially when it deals with endangered species and the efforts to protect them from extinction. The snow leopard is one of the most endangered. Unfortunately for me, and for my rating, this book isn’t really about the snow leopard. As in real life, the creature is extremely elusive in the book, hardly ever mentioned, and not making an actual appearance until late in the journey. Instead this is more Matthiessen’s personal quest for enlightenment. I grew bored and struggled to keep reading.
My full review HERE

Murder Plain and Simple – Isabella Alan – 3***
I found this moderately entertaining as cozy mysteries go. There’s a decent premise, and I did like Oliver (her bulldog, who is afraid of birds). Alan gives the reader the beginnings of a possible love interest, which will likely develop in subsequent books in the series. And there’s a reasonable cast of supporting characters.
My full review HERE

Practical Magic (Practical Magic #1) by Alice Hoffman
5 ★

If you have seen the movie, don’t expect the same story from the book. Gillian and Sally Owens have grown up with the whispers of witchcraft going on behind their backs and grew up with 2 unique aunts, but there is so much more going on in this story. The reader follows Gillian as she runs away and tries to make a new life while Sally gets married, has kids and then moves away herself. Gillian does return when her boyfriend, Jimmy, dies unexpectedly. What happens with that situation is very different from the movie.
This book is amazing. It takes the reader from the girls’ childhood through adulthood. It ends around the time Sally’s girls are in high school. The relationship between Gillian and Sally is strained at times, but they always find a way to work it out. The family bond is very strong. There is also a lot of back story that makes me excited to read The Rules of Magic. The book makes you happy, sad, and mad all at the same time. It’s well written and very visual. Over all this is a fabulous story about family.
If you are a reader who likes chapters, this book may a challenge for you. It’s broken up into 4 parts. There are breaks throughout the parts, but not many. There are good stopping points though.

Jeff VanderMeer, Acceptance [2014] 341 pages

The final book in the Southern Reach trilogy, this is written in a different style from the other two, with alternationg sections from the viewpoints of Ghost Bird, Control, the Director/Psychologist, and the Lighthouse Keeper, from various points in time from the beginning of Area X to the ending of the trilogy. Some things are vaguely explained, while others are left mysterious. Readers of traditional science fiction may find the ending of the trilogy unsatisfying.

Two For the Dough – Janet Evanovich – 3***
Book two in the series starring totally inept bounty-hunter Stephanie Plum. The great cast of supporting characters carries the series for me: Lula, Steph’s long-suffering mother, and especially Grandma Mazur. A fast, fun read.
My full review HERE

Because Of Winn-Dixie – Kate DiCamillo – 5***** and a ❤
DiCamillo has written a lovely book that deals with some serious issues. India and her father struggle to come to grips with their new reality now that her mother has left and they’ve moved to a new community. But with the help of a smiling dog, they begin to heal. No, everything doesn’t turn out perfect, but DiCamillo gives her readers a sense of hope that India (and her father) will come out of this period of their lives with full hearts.
My full review HERE

Marcus Chown, The Ascent of Gravity: The Quest to Understand the Force that Explains Everything [2017] 267 pages

This is a history of the theories of gravity: Newton, Einstein, and beyond. Marcus Chown is a former astronomer and a consultant for The New Scientist magazine, which I would describe as the British equivalent of the old (Freeman, pre-"dumbed down") Scientific American. He has written many books of popular science, but this is the only one I have read. My first impression was that he is similar to Neil DeGrasse Tyson; the book was simply-written and lively, probably within the ability and interest of a scientifically-minded middle school or high school student but with enough "new" material and anecdotes to be of interest to an adult who has read much other popular science. As of now (2020) it is still reasonably up-to-date with new discoveries such as gravitational waves and dark matter and energy, as well as the theories about the early movements of the planets.

The book begins with Newton's discovery of Universal Gravitation and the consequences of that; the most interesting chapter in the book to me was the third chapter on the explanation of the tides which contained some interesting things I hadn't come across before. The second section is on Einstein and relativity, and was rather superficial compared to other popularizations I have read. The third section was on black holes, the Big Bang, and the search for a more fundamental theory of gravitation. This section was the worst; not only because it was superficial and somewhat "gosh-wow", but also because Chown is convinced that string theory is "the only game in town" (his own words) and other approaches are ignored (there is just one endnote which mentions loop quantum gravity in a rather dismissive way). By the end my impression was less Tyson than Michel Kaku -- not my favorite popularizer.

The book is a "low-level" popularization, occasionally too over-simplified and I thought a few things were inaccurate, although since I'm not a scientist I could be misunderstanding. I would recommend this to younger readers or as "light reading" for the anecdotes.

Tariq Ali, A Banker for All Seasons: Bank of Crooks and Cheats Incorporated [2008] 254 pages

The Bank of Credit and Commerce International, the BCCI, often known by the nickname Bank of Crooks and Cheats Incorporated, was a multi-billion dollar international bank founded in Pakistan in 1972 and headed by Agha Hassan Abedi. It collapsed in 1991 in one of the biggest financial scandals of the late twentieth century. It had already been partly exposed ten years earlier in articles by the author, the activist and writer Tariq Ali, in the New Statesman, which are printed here as an appendix. Ali wrote this screenplay soon after the collapse, but it was never submitted to anyone at the time. It's not really clear to me how much is fictionalized and how much is based on fact, and while the involvement of the US and British governments is not impossible, and at some level is quite probable, the details seem like a "conspiracy theory." Of course, in this case we know there actually was a conspiracy, just not who it involved.

Lover Mine (Black Dagger Brotherhood #8) by J.R. Ward
5 ★

In this installment of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series we get to know John Matthews better and get to see him mature and fall in love. His love for Xhex and strong and, he soon learns, painful. We also learn a lot about Xhex and see quite a change in her. There is a fabulous connection between her and John that is played out in chapters throughout the book. I loved the change in scenery. There is also a new character introduced, Payne, and her story is quite interesting. I’m looking forward to reading the next book which focuses on her.
The conflict with Lash continues in this book and Lash’s transformation is disturbing. Everything throughout the book is so vividly described and keeps the reader entranced.
This book took me a while to read, but not because of the story. The paperback edition is very thick and the writing is small. Although the story was amazing and intriguing, I had to take breaks. I have the next book in the series and although it is the same format with small print, I can’t wait to start it. This series is just too good to wait on.

The Overstory – Richard Powers – 3***
I am having a very hard time pinpointing what it was about this book that I found so interesting. I tend to gravitate towards character-driven works, and this is certainly that. But nine “main” characters is a daunting task and I think it detracted from Powers’ message of environmental stewardship, and what a bad job humans are doing of that.
My full review HERE

It’s a Long Story – Willie Nelson – 4****
Oh, Willie! I’ve had a long-standing crush on the “red-headed stranger” and am glad to have learned more about him, because I like him even more now. Willie lays it all out there … from childhood to stardom, the good, the bad, the ugly and the shiningly beautiful.
My full review HERE

The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories – H P Lovecraft – 2**
Of course, I’ve heard of H P Lovecraft for years, but I’d never bothered to read anything by him. Just not my genre of choice, but I needed “science fiction” for a challenge, and I happened to have this one in the house. First, these stories are mostly NOT science fiction. Second, as horror stories, I didn’t find them all that horrifying. And reading them one after another in this collection made them seem formulaic and dull.
My full review HERE

The Simplicity of Cider – Amy E Reichert – 3***
Yes, the plot has been done before and includes most of the rom-com tropes. Yes, the heroine’s hard shell will be cracked by the genuine goodness of the hero. Yes, she – a confirmed avoider of children – will come to love the hero’s precocious son. Yes, there will be major obstacles to their getting together. But has that ever stopped a couple in a rom-com? Well, Reichert is not about to break that mold. It’s a fast, fun, enjoyable read. And I loved the food references!
My full review HERE

Peter Handke, Das Gewicht der Welt: ein Journal (November 1975-März 1977) [1977] 325 pages [Open Library, in German]

This is a diary made up of mostly small entries, a phrase or a few sentences; very few are close to a page. The content is very similar to the style of Handke's fiction; random observations of people and things, especially the landscape, and descriptions of his thoughts or rather of his thinking or not thinking without actual content. As in his novels, there is never any context of planning or purpose; he doesn't plan to go somewhere for some reason but suddenly he is describing the streets or the landscape in another country, or looking out of a hospital room window. At first I thought this was just a stylistic device, but as I went along I began to suspect that this is how he perceives the world; he constantly talks about his anxiety, his thoughts about death or even suicide; he sometimes talks about depression, and the entries seem like a description of someone suffering from depression, complaining that he can't feel or empathize with people, objectifying them, being afraid of them or disgusted by them. At other times he is manic, talking in an exaggerated way about how healthy and powerful and in control of himself he feels. There is no indication that he is seeking or undergoing any type of treatment or therapy. The scariest thing is that he is apparently responsible for a young girl he refers to as A., presumably his daughter, and they are living together without any other adult. (Nearly everyone he mentions is referred to by a letter, or just a pronoun without any apparent reference.) I was hoping to find out something from this diary about his works, but they are barely mentioned; I did begin to suspect that they are expressions of his distorted sense of reality rather than simply being an artistic style. Despite realizing what this actually was, the diary of a sick person, I couldn't help but consider it boring and repetitious.

Weekend Warriors (The Sisterhood Series #1) by Fern Michaels
4 ★

The Sisterhood: seven women who have been wronged by the law and by those they thought they loved come together to get justice.

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and I wasn’t sure about it at first. There were some scenes that made me feel like it was going to be unrealistic, but then the Sisterhood was formed and I fell right into it. The characters are a fabulous group of women from different walks of life that all deserve justice. The way they bicker at the beginning and then bond throughout the book is inspiring and true to life. You can feel the respect they all have for each other.
Charles is the boyfriend of the leader of the group, Myra. He used to work for the Queen of England and has so many connections that it seems impossible for anything to go wrong. And almost nothing goes wrong. I was expecting a bit more nail biting moments. The only real issue is Myra’s daughter Nikki’s ex-boyfriend, D.A. Jack Emery. He’s very nosey and tries to make thing hard for Nikki. He’s messed up on a case and is trying to prove that Nikki had something to do with it.
All in all I really enjoyed the story and the women involved. They are just a great, fun, energetic group of women. I’m looking forward to following their adventures as they seek justice for another sister.

The Sixth Idea (Monkeewrench #7) by P.J. Tracy
4 ★

When Detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth discover that a series of murders are all connected and the reason may be a 60 year old secret, they join up with Grace MacBride and her crew at Monkeewrench to find answers.

There was a 4 year gap between this book and the last, but it was like having dinner with friends you haven’t seen in just as long. You realize how much you missed them and that nothing has changed. Grace and Leo’s relationship seems a bit stronger and Annie and Roadrunner are now having meetings all over the place to get contracts. This story takes place close to the Christmas holiday and it was delightful to see Harley in the spirit with his house decorated to the nines.
The whole topic of this book is a bit scary. It’s very realistic and plausible. It makes one nervous to have a computer in your house. The Sixth Idea happens to be a dormant program that could bring on the downfall of all electronics and put the world back 200 years. The path to this discovery is dangerous and they get a lot of help from an ancestor of one of the original creators, Lydia Ascher. There are parts of the story that I loved, but I don’t want to spoil the surprises. The only thing that bothered me was the ending. It seemed to end too quickly. One big event and that was it. I was expecting some kind of cliffhanger, but was disappointed. There is one very big reveal at the end that makes me very excited to continue reading this series as soon as possible. I’m so very happy that the author decided to continue writing about Monkeewrench.

Saud Alsanousi, The Bamboo Stalk [2012, tr. 2015] 384 pages [Kindle]

This is another work of contemporary Arabic fiction for the World Literature group I am in on Goodreads. As Americans, we tend to think of immigration in terms of immigration into the United States or Western Europe, and the Arab world as a place people emigrate from; but to workers from a poor country like the Philippines, Kuwait, with one of the highest standards of living in the world, is a destination. The first person narrator of this novel, José/Isa, is the son of a Kuwaiti father and a domestic worker from the Philippines; born in Kuwait and a Kuwaiti citizen, he is raised by his mother in poverty in the Philippines, but returns as a teenager to his father's country. He suffers rejection from his father's family.

On the surface, this is in the tradition of immigrant and mixed identity novels, and that is certainly an important part of the book. However, Alsanousi is a Kuwaiti writer, not a Filipino, and I think the novel uses the device of the immigrant to comment on and criticize aspects of Kuwaiti culture, particularly what he calls the "class" divisions. He's using the term "class" more or less the way it would be used in a novel about the British "upper class", that is in terms of social hierarchy rather than modern economic classes. The Taroufs are what might be called an "old" family; wealthy, certainly, but the source of their wealth is never made clear. Their main concern is with their social prestige.

The writing is very good but there are things that don't quite make sense to me.