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What did you read last month?
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What did you read in ~ Sept. 2021 ?
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Non fiction
Rating 2/5
I read the eBook and also listened to the audio at times
The audio by Cosham was very good. He has a very soothing clear voice. The first ten pages briefly describe prehistory around 5 million years ago. Then the book really begins as the author tries to answer the questions of when, how and why starting around 3100 BC and quickly marches forward to the end of WWI where the book ends around 300 pages later.
This really isn't enough time to do more then just skim a few highpoints of history. That for me was the problem. He goes so fast through history that it quickly became a blur of wars and people.

Non fiction
Rating 2/5
I read the eBook and also listened to the audio at times. His narrating makes this unconventional memoir a bit more palatable.
A very few parts were funny but I found the majority of the memoir embellished stories that I just didn't find that interesting. In fact, quite a few I found disturbing or just gross. As to his poetry and life lesson that he imparts when he yells "bumper sticker!" or "Note to Self !" along with his stream of conscience journal notes that he sprinkles throughout the book... no. Please, just no. Please note, I am in the minority on this very popular book.

Fiction
Rate 2/5
Once again I am on the opposite side of most reviewers.
For me this novel failed on all levels. The writing style is pedestrian at best. The dialogue is stilted. The pacing is very slow and repetitious. The convoluted plot requires you to suspend belief beyond what can reasonable be expected of the reader.

Fiction
Rate 4/5
The only highlight of the month. The novel is about an elderly British woman who wishes to end her life with dignity. Don't be put off my that. It's well done and is life affirming.
If you enjoyed, A Man Called Ove I think you will find this book similar and equally enjoyable.

non fiction memoir
Rating 2/5
This memoir begins in 1994 when seven year old Wang comes to New York with her parents. Her parents were professors in China. However, they decide to overstay their visas. What follows is their trials and tribulations of being an undocumented immigrant. The problem I had with the memoir is that it is often contradictory, disjointed and also many of the young author's woes are a result of her parents behavior. For example, Wang wears the same dirty old clothes to school. She constantly says she is starving. She never brushes her teeth and later a dentist in Canada, where they move to later on, comments on the poor condition of her teeth. However, we also are told that her father joins a gym. He purchases a car. (NYC is a city were you don't need a car) He wears clean clothes to his job working for a lawyer. The mom has money to frequently travel to Long Island to visit a friend. She works in various terrible sweetshops. She is bitter about this so she frequently spits in her employers coffee cup. This she does in front of her young daughter. Yet, she also finds the money to go to grad school. The schools in NYC provide not only free lunch but free breakfast. The breakfast, for some reason, they don't get to school early enough to get. The mother also unloads all her personal woes on the young child including her abortions. Who does that? The child was racked with stress worrying about caring for the mother all the time. All these things annoyed me to no end. There's more but you get my point. The life of the undocumented is no doubt unpleasant to say the least. But I felt her parents added greatly to their problems. The memoir ends when the author is in sixth grade when they move to Canada. She doesn't go into the success part of her story when she returns to the U.S. attends Swarthmore college and Yale Law School.

non fiction
Rating 2/5
I ended the month on another low note. The majority of the book is simplistic platitudes and aphorisms to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. There's an obstacle in your way? Go around it! The problem is your attitude ! There aren't any actionable suggestions. I did find the brief section on Vietnam war hero James Stockdale interesting. I didn't know a young John McCain was a fellow prisoner with him. You may recall Stockdale was the running mate of Ross Perot. Unfortunately, he became the butt of jokes and portrayed as a confused old man for his debate performance because he had turned off his hearing aid. Though not many noted his eardrum was blown out by torture during his 7 1/2 year stint as a POW. (I got this from Wiki not the book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_S...
I do have the author's The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations for Clarity, Effectiveness, and Serenity I found this much more to my liking. A page a day to give you motivations and inspiration.
Let's hope October's Fall breezes usher in some Good Reads for me !


I like seeing reviews where the person clearly states why they had issues with a popular book. I have Honeysett on my TBR, though haven't read Ove.

Hope October brings you only the best books.


Bury the Lead (4-star) - I find this series warm and touching. The main characters and their friends are humanitarians who want to help people who need it. They are caring individuals. That alone makes the books worthwhile. There's also humour and a cozy murder mystery to top it off. And dogs.....there's dogs!
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Ben, In the World: The Sequel to the Fifth Child (4-star) - I felt badly for Ben in The Fifth Child and we never got to hear his side of the story. He's stayed with me since that reading. I'm glad I read this book as it told us about Ben, from his point of view.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Glass Hotel (4-star) - there are so many circles within circles in this book and they all play out so well. This is a good story about choices and the fallouts therefrom.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Last Camel Died at Noon (4-star) - Love me an Amelia Peabody mystery. Well......not really the mystery part; they can be rather lame.....but Amelia Peabody & family! I'm sold and in like a dirty shirt. That said, this mystery was twisted enough to keep me guessing.
I enjoyed this episode. It had all the humour and fun storyline as the others. In this book, the family stumbles into a hidden society that lives with the old customs and ways of Life.
My review is short and non-descript in order not to give away much of the plotline. Immersing oneself into Amelia's life without preconceptions makes it more fun.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...



I really liked Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven, so am tempted by Glass Hotel. Like you, i'm not fond of reading about economics, even in novels but your description makes it tempting.
Thanks for all these descriptions. It's clear that some day i must try another Peabody book, as i failed to "get" her humor when i read the first two.

How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America--Clint Smith. This is about the way we learn US history, particularly slavery. By visiting Jefferson's home, Monticello, in Virginia, and Louisiana's Angola prison, Smith explains how slavery is still with us and how even our language can help remind us that we have yet to overcome our understanding of history. The chapters were long but the sites varied enough to keep a reader's interest.
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois--Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is a novel following one family's history, including their pre-slavery past. It's a long novel and jumps around somewhat but not so much i was confused. Jeffers is a poet and her talent shines in the book.
The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America--Elizabeth Letts. In 1954, a poor woman with a fatal diagnosis decide travels across the US on horseback with her dog, primarily leaving because she owes too much tax on her home. Entertaining story about a unique woman, the animals with whom she shared the journey, as well as the generous people who helped her along the way.
Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest--Suzanne Simard. This combined bio and science book helps readers understand the work and mind of Simard, who learned through research in Canada forests that fungi aid trees in preserving their lives, as well as some growth nearby. It was a bit long but this helped readers understand how she came to some of her conclusions.
The Housekeeper and the Professor--Yōko Ogawa, who is a fascinating writer. In this seemingly simple story, a woman takes care of a mathematician who can only remember what happened in the last 80 minutes. Really good novel.
The Collector's Daughter: A Novel of the Discovery of Tutankhamun's Tomb--Gill Paul. The story of a titled woman and her love for her father, her husband and Egyptology. Well presented.
The Scapegoat--Sara Davis. Postmodern novel about a man seeking more information about the death of his father. Prepare to be disappointed if you feel this is a mystery or even that it will come to any conclusion whatsoever. :-)
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax--Dorothy Gilman. I read this because Simard mentioned reading it in Finding the Mother Tree. It was unexpected, so i had to try it. And it was fine, although i won't be reading more in this series. A woman in her 60s takes her physician's advice and follows the career path she wanted as a child--to be a spy. LOL! Written in the 1960s, most is improbable but amusing.
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers--Mary Roach. Chapters address some of the things that happens to bodies donated for research after one dies. These include practice for plastic surgeons, bullet-proof vest testing, composting for plants and being put into a body farm, where scientists learn what happens to the dead as they decompose. Fascinating subjects but Roach's sophomoric humor dampened my enthusiasm for the book. Still, i learned much.

Nocturne: A Journey in Search of Moonlight by James Attlee ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Daughters of Cain by Colin Dexter ⭐⭐⭐⭐
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym ⭐⭐⭐⭐
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Pushkin Hills by Sergei Dovlatov ⭐⭐⭐⭐
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A Man Called Jones byJulian Symons ⭐⭐⭐
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
All the Roads Are Open: The Afghan Journey by Annemarie Schwarzenbach ⭐⭐⭐
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert's Year of Living Dangerously by Jessica Pan ⭐⭐⭐
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Swimming Home by Deborah Levy ⭐⭐⭐
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I think this book may be one my neighbor would like. I'm passing the title on to her. Thanks !

After reading your review on Nocturne: A Journey in Search of Moonlight I told a friend about it. She likes travel, walking etc books. I also mentioned that it was a follow-up to, Isolarion: A Different Oxford Journey. I noted the author in my TBR notebook. Thanks!
Sorry to hear that Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert's Year of Living Dangerously by Jessica Pan wasn't that great. I mention it only because I do love the title of the book. :)

Having just finished a book which used astericks for endnotes (Stiff), i understand your frustration with Puskin. In my case, not many of the notes were worth pursuing as i read the text. I did, however, click on them at the time, rather than wait until the end. I have no idea why authors do this.
Thanks for sharing further about your reading from September. You read many books that i wouldn't have otherwise heard about or looked into.


Thanks, as usual, for your thoughtful comments.

I've read The Housekeeper & The Professor and Stiff; enjoyed them both.
I'm intrigued by the tree book. I have another one on my TBR list that seems to be about the same topics. It's amazing what scientists find out about trees.
The Collector's Daughter also sounds very interesting.
Nice reading! Thanks for the titles.


Since then i've read a couple of books about how trees & resulting wood helped make North America what it is today, American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation. It was mostly history from Eric Rutkow but i liked what i learned about trees and why/when they were harvested.
Reading Simard's book was enlightening. (Soon i'd like to read The Overstory, a novel which has one character based on Simard.) I must say that since reading these, i look at plants and woods with a brand new lens. And i never read history about the Americas without thinking about the ancient trees Europeans coveted here.

So off I go to list my books for September:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
So that is my wrap for September. I still seemed to read more than 11 books, but with that trilogy I really read 13. lol


So off I go to list my books for September:
[bookcover:The Ke..."
Well, you can't ask for a better reading month that this. All 4 & 5 stars. Nice !

Thank you, John! I just checked out your shelves John and see that you have quite a few true paranormal books that you have read. I too read true paranormal books and have read quite a few for a long time.
Here are a couple of recs for you to check out:

and

I found both books to be spooky. :)

Thank you, Alias! :)

I, too, am reading a long series (Outlander) where I have to wait (sometimes years) between the last and next book. It can be frustrating but, oh.... when the next book is released! It's always so fun to dig into that next book to see what is going to happen.
Nice reading!

August's Eyes intrigues because there is already an odd sense with some dreams. To see them become mixed in with reality would be alarming. Neat idea.
I know how you like the Hexecutioner series, so it's interesting to read your reviews of each. I also liked that Phineas Troutt has a few books of his own. It's neat when an author does that with his characters.
What a great reading month for you. And now it's OCTOBER, which must be the most thrilling month of reading for you. Enjoy!

Schizophrenie - Die Krankheit Verstehen
It´s a book about schizophrenia. As it is for each patients, relatives and health professionals it was easy to understand and also brought some points up that I haven´t thought of yet (e.g. the role of the related persons)
4/5
Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne Series:
The follow up of Sanderson´s Mistborn trilogy. It´s a mashup between fantasy and western. It was a nice reading but I missed the feeling of the first trilogy, the "certain something".
I think I rated it 3/5, but probably it´s rather a 3.5/5
Lost at Sea
A graphic novel about growing up and noticing what is really important in life. I liked especially the narrating perspective.
4/5
Der kleine Alltagsphilosoph
("The small everyday´s philosopher"). This book has certain topics like "environment", "religion" and others and gives a short answer what certain philosophers of world history have said about it. Nice reading, but probably I won´t remember much of it.
Reise Zur Erdmitte
("Journey to the middle of the earth") In Germany there is a monthly comic series called "Das lustige Taschenbuch" ("the funny pocketbook") with stories from DuckVille (so with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and so on). Probalby there is also something like that in the US, but I don´t know hoe it is called there.
Nice read for the holidays
4/5
Offline - Du wolltest nicht erreichbar sein. Jetzt sitzt du in der Falle.
A pschothriller in a well known setting: 10 people who don´t know each other are in a mountain cabin with no contact to the outside world and one gets murdered.
The caharacters and the writing style weren´t that good, but the pacing was quite good.
4/5

Schizophrenie - Die Krankheit Verstehen
It´s a book about schizophrenia. As it ..."
If the topic interests you, you may want to read
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
"The heartrending story of a midcentury American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science's great hope in the quest to understand the disease."

I, too, am reading a long series (Outlander) where I have to wait (sometimes years) between the last and next book. It can be frustrating but, oh.... w..."
Thank you, Petra! :)

August's Eyes intrigues because there is already an odd sense with some dreams. To s..."
Thank you, Madrano! I am looking forward to this reading month - going to try and squeeze in some Halloween reads. :)

Thanks for sharing with us.

Schizophrenie - Die Krankheit Verstehen
It´s a book about schiz..."
Thank you for the tip. Mental disease are a quite interesting topic as they show how your brain makes your world. A good example from my book was where it described how paranoia develop. The author described that when you hear a stranger say your name, you look to him to see what´s happening. But when you notice that he spoke to someone else who coincidentally has youe name, you can say to yourself "ok, he meant this other person." But schizophrenic people apparently can´t do that. With the time they refer everything to themselves, just because they can´t differentiate between themselves and the adressees other people talk to.

Interesting. I never knew that. It's such a sad disease. In the book I mentioned to you, it seems the drugs given to manage it are also quite debilitating.
Unfortunately the book you read has not been translated into English yet.


This must be so hard for both the person who's ill and their loved ones. Hopefully, treatment and medication helps somewhat?

She isn't alone, either. Back when the entire family was seeking answers, we learned that more suicides of those with a bipolar diagnosis occur while off meds which once helped them. It's a lifelong struggle.

I wonder if people's metabolism changes when they're 'temporarily' off the meds, making it harder for them to work again.


And yeah, with mental illnesses it´s sadly that the prgnosis sometimes can´t be foretold, as there isn´t really a "cure". What we know that far is only which neurotransmitters are affected in the diseases and then develop meds that interact with these.
Plus, the meds are only meant as a "help"; in severe cases a psychotherapy is necessary. In depression the drugs can help the patient to get more active, but as it is a disease that interferes with your daily life, the patient has to learn (again) how to organize a day, to avoid triggers etc. In schizophrenia, the drugs help the patient to get an understanding that they are ill and that their hallucinations, paranoia, ... aren`t real. Of course, in less severe cases sometimes the drug alone can help, and every patient is different from another, so you have to be careful with generalizations.
And I wish your sister all the best.

It is a twisted road for by standers. I appreciate you wishes for my sister but she died two years ago, due to other health issues.

1. Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist 5 stars, it's a third in Emily Windsnap series about a semi-mermaid, semi..."
Nice reading month ! I think my niece has read and listened to the Harry Potter books a million times. She is a reading teacher.

Books mentioned in this topic
Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist (other topics)Schizophrenie (other topics)
Outlander (other topics)
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family (other topics)
Schizophrenie (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Liz Kessler (other topics)Robert Kolker (other topics)
Guy Lyon Playfair (other topics)
Caroline Mitchell (other topics)
Graeme Rodaughan (other topics)
More...
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