Book Nook Cafe discussion

Here is the Folder and thread to tell us what your monthly reads for October 2024 were.

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

I finished two books this month:

The Cole Trilogy: The Physician, Shaman, and Matters of Choice (5-stars) - each novel could be read as a stand-alone because generations occur between them. But, one should read the trilogy in order if reading the entire trilogy.
I found the writing well done, the stories believable, kind and interesting. and I liked this family of healers over the generations.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Survivor's Game (3-star) - I didn't realize that this was YA. This tells the story of David Karmi's life, including time in concentration camps. It's a testiment to strength.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Very nice, Petra.

I'm going to check out Survivor's Game. Even though it's YA, I'm interested.

Sorry I've been MIA. Still haven't really been feeling much computer use lately. LOL! I read 2 in October and both were really good.


by:
Joanna Goodman
5 Stars

I loved this one! It gives you all the emotions in one book. Would definitely recommend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

by:
Riley Sager
4 Stars

Definitely better than the other Sager book I read. It did keep me guessing throughout the book and had a couple of "whaaat???" moments. It was nice to read right before Halloween.

Petra wrote: "I finished two books this month:

The Cole Trilogy: The Physician, Shaman, and Matters of Choice (5-stars) - each novel could be read as a stand-alone because generations occur betw..."

Thank you for sharing what you've been reading, Petra.

The Cole Trilogy sounds good, particularly, as you note, because of the era about which it was written. There must be neat insights. While i do not know that i will read them, i have made a note, thanks for the era-appropriate contributions.

~*Kim*~ wrote: "Sorry I've been MIA. Still haven't really been feeling much computer use lately. LOL! I read 2 in October and both were really good. ..."

I'm sure as your wedding date nears, Kim, computers hold little charm for you. Thank you for making the time to tell us about these two novels.

~*Kim*~ wrote: "Sorry I've been MIA. Still haven't really been feeling much computer use lately. LOL! I read 2 in October and both were really good.

..."


Kim, The Home for Unwanted Girls is on my "for later" list at the library. Maybe I'll make a point in looking for it the next time I visit.
Thanks for the reminder.

madrano wrote: "The Cole Trilogy sounds good, particularly, as you note, because of the era about which it was written. There must be neat insights. While i do not know that i will read them, i have made a note, thanks for the era-appropriate contributions.
.."

Deb, the first book is easy to obtain but the others are harder, except in the ebook trilogy version. I'm not sure why.
I found them all to be relaxing, enjoyable reads.
If you read them one day, I will be happy to hear your thoughts.

Hello everyone! Well, at a grand total of six books, I certainly got my fill for the month of October!

The first book I started off the month with was The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G Wells. My review on it can be found here.

The plot of this one involves a guy named Edward Prendick who ends up stuck on a remote island with a mad doctor named Dr. Moreau, a doctor who performs messed up experiments on animals to turn them into beast folk.

Now, this book is considered a classic and damn I can see why! For one thing, it is not at all afraid to get extremely dark. Take the beast folk for example. To quote my review, "Despite being half-human, half animal and despite originally being full animals, they're forced to pretend that the animal side of them doesn't exist. Sometimes, it gets to a point where their original identity is unidentifiable (like with the grey furred creature). Despite their efforts, their animal natures come alive around night time and some just straight up rebel (like the Leopard Man). I think they go to show that you can't always win against nature, no matter how hard you try. Also, the fact that the beast folk are physically unable to laugh and are clearly victims of Moreau's abuse who never fully heal from it just adds this brilliant layer of haunting tragedy." Also, despite all the hell that Prendick goes through on the island, he ends up broken and alone, unable to live alongside other human beings. What's also cool is that the darker aspects don't feel pointless or contrived at all. Despite these aspects though, it does manage to have a bit of humor and the way that it gradually drops hints indicating that something is wrong with the island was also pretty well done.

This may just be something exclusive to the version I read, but the only real problem I had was a formatting issue where chapters wouldn't always start on a new page like every other book I've read and that did get kind of distracting at points.

Rating: A

The next book I read was The Haunted Forest Tour by James A. Moore and Jeff Strand. I go more in-depth with my thoughts on it here.

Some people go on a tour of a haunted forest. The tour goes wrong and they all have to escape the forest and save the world from destruction by the hands of a demon or something.

Gotta admit. I'm kind of disappointed by this one. I mean I wasn't expecting Shakespeare, but still.

Let me start with the good stuff though. Christopher and Eddie were some of my favorite characters. They're fun but complex characters with distinct personalities that still feel like they could actually exist in real life. The humor is also great. It's snappy, it's well thought out, and it made me laugh quite a bit.

Unfortunately, there were quite a few major problems that really dragged the whole book down for me. One of the biggest problems is how the authors seemed to go with the "More is more"/"Let's throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" approach. For example, the fauna of the haunted forest doesn't seem to have a set theme. Instead, it's just whatever the authors could come up with. Sometimes this can work (like with the bipedal, six hundred pound Chinese dragon thing). But most of the time, it's just stuff like "giant animal that isn't normally big" and "generic grey aliens". This book is also told from a million different POVs (which sometimes switch with little to no warning) when three or four would've done the job just as well and would've allowed for way more character development because my God did the rest of the characters seriously need it.

Oh. Remember that demon I mentioned? Well, that's another major problem with this book. The demon is named Pestilence and he's basically the main villian. But he and his plan are just so damn stupid. I go in more depth about this in my actual review, but in short, his plan falls apart when you give it two seconds of thought and because Pestilence is stupid and lazy, he doesn't come off as the major threat that the book insists he is.

Rating: C-

Another book I read this month was Horror Movie by Paul Trembley. Full review is here.

This book is a little more complicated to sum up, but basically, it is comprised of three types of sections: The sections containing bits of the actual script for the original version of Horror Movie and the bits where the main character and his friends are making the movie, the sections taking place in the past that don't have anything to do with that, and the sections taking place in the present where a remake of Horror Movie is in development and whatnot. The book constantly switches between them. I hope that makes sense because that's the best way I can put it.

I have to say. While this is definetly not perfect, I still quite enjoyed it. Where this book shines is with the original version of Horror Movie, from the script to the making of to even the mystery of what the original plot was. It's very clear that there was a lot of thought and effort put into these elements. For example, the crew who made the original were a bunch of amatur filmmakers, so the script is formatted to reflect that and the making of scenes do a great job showing the obstacles an amateur film crew with limited funds and technology has to overcome and how they're able to overcome them against all odds. It makes for a very fascinating and satisfying read. Also, I love how the mystery is a nice slow burn in which each piece of the script builds upon the one that came before and slowly but surely makes things come together. The main character is also pretty good. Not only does he get a cool character are where he slowly becomes more comfortable and knowledgeable in his role as The Thin Kind, but even though he can be abrasive at times, it's usually coming from an understandable place and even then, he doesn't try to use it as an excuse to be awful and does regret some of it.

That being said, I think one of the biggest flaws that holds this book back for me is that it clearly needed at least one or two more rounds of editing. Case in point, the parts that I either had little to no idea as to what they were trying to convey and the parts that insisted the book was an audiobook, despite the version I read not actually being an audiobook and not being formatted in a way to reflect that. Also, the scenes taking place in the present day are just really dull. There's very little conflict and even then, that conflict is extremely repetitive and they don't really seem to serve much of a purpose. Like, you could cut these scenes out entirely and nothing of value would be lost.

Rating: B-

The fourth book I read in October was The Ghost on The Stairs by Chris Eboch. If you're looking for my review on it, you can find it here.

Two kids named Jon and Tania have to work together to help a restless spirit bride find peace and move on using their intelect and Tania's ability to see and communicate with ghosts.

This book may be less than one hundred and seventy-five pages, but damn does it make the most of it! One thing that really surprised me was that, when the book wanted to get dark and serious, it could get dark and serious (like with the character development of the main kids' mother and the like) and didn't do it for the sake of doing it and didn't try to do anything stupid like interupt it with a dumb joke. But that doesn't mean it had no sense of humor. In fact, there were quite a few moments that tried to be funny and actually worked (like one exchange between Jon and Tania in chapter fifteen). It also keeps the chapters short and sweet not only in length but in content as well because there were never really any moments that felt like padding.

The one complaint I do have though is that, when it comes to keeping Tania's ability a secret from their ghost show producer of a stepfather, the book really fails to show why Jon and Tania feel compelled to do so because when the stepfather interviews someone who seems to share Tania's ability, he doesn't express any desire to exploit her for the sake of the show despite their fears of him doing that to Tania. They never change their tune despite this revelation. Not only does this not make sense for Jon and Tania to double down after this point, but it makes the stakes feel weightless.

Rating: A-

Second to last up was Anoka by Shane Hawk. My whole review on it can be viewed here.

So this is a short story collection in which the stories take place in a place called Anoka and contain stuff related to Native American culture and the like.

For the most part, I think this was a rather solid collection. I go into more detail about the individual stories themselves in my review, so I'll just be focusing on the most reoccuring strengths and weaknesses across the collection.

One of this collection's biggest strengths was the imagery. Not only was it great at being straight up vivid and horrifying, but it was also quite creative as well. It's also clear that the author has a knack for build up, even in the stories I didn't particularly care for. Unfortunately, apart from a couple of stories, most of this collection seems to suffer from having endings that didn't make any sense, felt abrupt, and/or a combination of the two.

Rating: B-

The final book I read for this month was I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones. I go way more in detail about this book in my review, so go here if you want to read it.

So from what I understand, it appears that this book is supposed to be about how a teen named Tolly Driver became a teenage slasher or something.

I'm just gonna come out and say it. This fucking sucked and I'm genuinely shocked I never DNFed it. Now, don't get me wrong. It has its good stuff (like how the writing style seems to be partially influenced by the primitive and janky computer Tolly is writing the story on and how the allergic reaction scene had a lot of great suspense and tension while planting the seeds for Tolly's eventual killing spree and such).

However, it's extremely clear that this book suffers from what I like to call "First Draft Syndrome". In the case of this book, First Draft Syndrome includes the following symptoms: Having numerous scenes that accomplish almost nothing and could've either been cut or truncated into one or two scenes, having chapters that are at least sixty pages in length when they could've been broken up into smaller chapters, having way too many interactions that are just very slight variations on the same thing, having moments that fall apart when you give them two seconds of thought, and having a power system with powers that have no payoff despite having build up or aspects that contradict each other (like Tolly being weak to belts despite using belts as a mask).

Rating: D

Overall, I'd say I had quite a solid October. Let's see what November brings.

I just finished 2 re-reads.
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro:I felt like I read this too fast the first time. The writing is beautiful in the way it reflects the upright image the Butler Stevens has of himself while quietly revealing his feelings for the housekeeper Miss Kenton. A description of the plot is a hard sell…butler travels to offer his old housekeeper a job and reminisces on events of 20 years ago during his travels…but it’s really good if you like language. It is one of the few times (in my opinion) that a movie version matched the book in quality

God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens: I still found his ideas to be interesting but the book did not stand the test of time mostly because it has an extended chapter on intelligent design which was newsworthy when it was written but is no longer in most peoples’ consciousness.

Petra wrote: "I found them all to be relaxing, enjoyable reads.
If you read them one day, I will be happy to hear your thoughts..."

I will make sure to share, Petra.

Hailey wrote: "Hello everyone! Well, at a grand total of six books, I certainly got my fill for the month of October!

The first book I started off the month with was The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G Wells. My rev..."

Hailey, thanks for the reviews. It has been my experience that some Classic novels, such as the Wells, do not begin a new chapter on a fresh page. I do not like this and am unclear why publishers do so. Were they paper versions, i'd say to cut expenses, but with e-books, this doesn't seem to be the case. It is harder to use the Table of Contents as a quick reference.

Thanks for the Wells review. This is one of his efforts i haven't read, as i'm not real cool with mixed species novels. It's a classic, so i'm the loser by not reading it.

In your review of Haunted Forest Tour, you mentioned that the authors changed POVs in the middle of chapters. This bugs me no end, unless it's done extremely well. (And even then, i 'd prefer they didn't!) I like your descriptions of what you liked.

From the Movie novel review, you wrote, "Speaking of the movie, I loved what this novel did with the actual movie scenes. So these scenes are formatted like pages from a movie script and have clear hallmarks of an amateur. This is so clever!" I like reading about your enthusiasm for this aspect. It sounds cool to me, too, but i like reading plays & screenplays.

While i can understand why you were perplexed with the ghost/father/publicity angle, it's neat that you still liked the book. As you noted, it's about pacing!

Hailey, i appreciate that you took the time to review each story in the Anoka collection, as well as grading them. Your comments were informative, too.

In your review of Teenage Slasher, you hit upon one of my own bête noir issues. To wit, quoting from your long review, "But the biggest problem with this novel is that the pacing was super egregious. No spoiler tags here. You've been warned. Anyway, for me, I think a big part of the problem stems from the ridiculous length of some of these chapters. Like, the Friday chapter alone is about sixty-two pages in length." WHY?!? I want to scream at the author.

I suppose you are correct to blame, as you did above, "The First Draft Syndrome" but it doesn't stop me from griping. lol

Thanks for sharing your opinions on these selections, Hailey. The comic moments you mentioned in some of the books were neat additions, too.

Denise wrote: "I just finished 2 re-reads.
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro:I felt like I read this too fast the first time. The writing is beautiful in the way it reflects the upright image the Butler St..."

I appreciate your comments on both the rereading of these books. Unlike usual, i had not read the book prior to seeing the film. So, i fully appreciated the film even more, as i read the book. I suppose this is why i've never wanted to reread the book but have, in fact, rewatched the film. It was beautifully done.

Your point about intelligent design is a good one. Isn't that an interesting note, on its own? That when Hitchins wrote it, so many of us were interested, yet now it's seldom even mentioned, as far as what i'm reading indicates.

Again, i appreciate your thoughts after rereading these two. Thanks for sharing here.

I am rather surprised at how many books i read in October. However, i came to realize that a couple were cozy mysteries or YA, so i haven't listed them, for the most part. Instead, most of the following were read to almost complete my 2024 Reading Challenge, so i will only link to the reviews/comments i made when i posted them on that thread. I've added the message numbers, as that's how you can locate them on the page.

The first two may be find on this Goodreads page--
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

MSG#241. Fulfilled prompt #30- Sports F/NF The Joy of Winter Hiking: Inspiration and Guidance for Cold Weather Adventures--Derek Dellinger. A short book but full of good info. And some very lovely photographs, whetting one's appetite to walk in snow!

MSG#246. Prompt #44- Book with one word title. Ilium--Lea Carpenter. For me, the best part of this novel is that it fulfilled the prompt. I missed some point, i suppose, but the entire "spy" business was most tame.

THE NEXT FOUR books are reviewed on this Goodreads Page--
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

MSG#252. Prompt #29- cosmology, space, astronauts, outer space Rocket Girl: The Story of Mary Sherman Morgan, America's First Female Rocket Scientist--George D. Morgan. A son writes a biography of his mother, whose career as a rocket scientist he knew nothing about until after she died. The first form this book took was as a play, performed in California.

MSG#262. Prompt #47- Translated into English The Darkness--Ragnar Jónasson. I liked this very much and found developments unexpected. From there, i've since read the next in the series (The Island), which was good but not as exciting, imo. I will read more by this author.

MSG#263. Prompt #38- Weather related F/NF Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places--Bill Streever. Oddly, a surprising number of aspects of the cold were covered in my first selection, about the joys of winter hiking. Had i read this first, possibly my feelings would be better about this one. Maybe not, as he included too much about his own adventures, in introducing different subjects.

MSG#264. Prompt #40- Dystopian Make Room! Make Room!--Harry Harrison. This is the basis for the film Soylent Green, if you are familiar with it. But far from the same, i hasten to add. I felt the heat and the cold of the over-crowded Manhattan, let me tell you!

Two other novels i will mention follow:
Erasure--Percival Everett. I rather liked this shortish work. Oddly, the author included the entire speech his MC gave to colleagues, as well as the entire "ghetto" novel he wrote & had published to prove a point. His point was made, i believe, but the novel within was uncomfortable to read. This middle class black author of lesser-read books was an interesting character, experiencing the loss of loved ones.

REREAD: I haven't reread many novels lately and even less often reread (intentionally, that is), more recent works. However, Universal Harvester--John Darnielle was a novel i found fascinating the first go 'round, a little over a decade ago, so wanted to revisit it.

I'm glad i did, as i liked it even better. The first time, i rushed my reading, in an effort to find "the answer". My reread was more rewarding and i liked it even more. It's mostly about those living in a small Iowa town. (in the late '90s) not a long distance from Des Moines, but far enough. Suddenly, one, then another customer of a Video Store, mention there was an interruption in the movie. What was that? This is the story.

I liked the book enough to follow it up with another book by the author, who, incidentally, is also a somewhat well known musician, apparently. Wolf in White Van, which moved me. Again, it's not always comfortable, as the young man is lonely. However, it seemed to offer a look into a life i do not know.

Presently, i'm reading Darnielle's first writing effort, Black Sabbath's Master of Reality. Set in a juvenile hospital ward, it's a slower read for me, even though it's much shorter. The primary reason is that the MC is writing about the musical group Black Sabbath, about whom i know little. However, as the teenager describes how the music feels to him, i find helps in understanding him.

It sounds like a lot of reading, which is true. What is also true is that i didn't do much else in October. LOL!?

~*Kim*~ wrote: "Sorry I've been MIA. Still haven't really been feeling much computer use lately. LOL! I read 2 in October and both were really good.


by:
[author:J..."

Kim, it's wonderful that the two books you selected were winners. Thank you for sharing the titles with us.

Hailey wrote: "Hello everyone! Well, at a grand total of six books, I certainly got my fill for the month of October!

The first book I started off the month with was The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G Wells. My rev..."

I'm glad to see you were able to read six books in October, Hailey.
I see your ratings were a bit mixed. You had only two clunkers. That's a win in my book ! Thank you also for sharing your reviews. They are really helpful and insightful. Thanks !

Re: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens

Denise wrote: post #10

"I just finished 2 re-reads.
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro:I felt like I read this too fast the first time. The writing is beautiful in the way it reflects the upright image the Butler St..."

I also enjoyed The Remains of the Day. I found the butler a sad character.

As to Hitchens, I can't recall if I read it. My memory is horrid. I think I did. I see it was published in 2007. I do recall the book caused a bit of a stir. I may not always have agreed with Hitchens, but I found him to be very interesting and quite knowledge. Something in his manner or speech reminded me of William Frank Buckley, Jr.

madrano wrote: Post #14

"I am rather surprised at how many books i read in October. However, i came to realize that a couple were cozy mysteries or YA, so i haven't listed them, for the most part. Instead, most of the foll..."

Wow ! You sure read up a storm in October, deb.

Thank you for participating in the challenge. I think we all benefit to see the wide variety of books the group selects.

madrano wrote: "Hailey wrote: "Hello everyone! Well, at a grand total of six books, I certainly got my fill for the month of October!

The first book I started off the month with was The Island of Dr. Moreau by H...."

Thank you, madrano! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed my reviews.

In the case of the e-books that have their chapters not start on a new page, I suspect that in some instances, it may be because the original file may not have been converted properly or because of some other technical issues at play, though I'm just taking a wild guess.

I read a few books in October, but I promised Alias a comment on this one, and so I'm reporting that I read (very slowly, with plenty of time savoring each tale) You Like It Darker by Stephen King (OK, so I was treating it a bit like a Tootsie Pop . . . you know, making it last.)

In this collection of 12 recent works, there are five novella-length stories, including a very long one ("Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream") that almost could have been published on its own -- it is certainly longer than King's 2018 book Elevation, and it is a marvelous tale, more of a crime story rather than a work in the supernatural or horror genres -- however, as the title promises, a very disturbing prophetic (or is it?) bad dream sets the table for the action that follows.

There are callbacks to other King works in this collection; the protagonist of "Rattlesnakes" was a central character in King's 1981 Cujo (and the story references other King works and characters as well, including two characters from another story in this collection who make a cameo appearance here) but "Rattlesnakes" is a ghost story that stands wholly on its own.

I enjoyed every story in this collection, but I have to say that my favorites happened to be those two with perhaps the least "supernatural" elements; in "Laurie", a grieving widower is given a dog to care for by his sister; "The Answer Man" uses a roadside fortune-teller of sorts as the linchpin of the tale, and in my opinion it is among the best of all King's stories ever. It has elements of themes that King often likes to explore -- the feel of generations passing in a small town, nostalgia for another time, and the bittersweet notes of tragedy and triumph that mark the history of a life. It's the perfect end to this collection.

I'll comment (perhaps less effusively) in another post on a couple of other books that I read in October, but I will quickly mention an "Amazon Original" story that was a freebie for Prime members last month -- Ushers: A Short Story, another delightful supernatural/crime story from Joe Hill (who also has some pretty decent literary DNA, in my opinion . . . )

Here are mine (including one from late September):

The Fine Art of Uncanny Prediction by Robert Goddard ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


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



The Prester Quest by Nicholas Jubber ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


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



Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


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



Overweight Sensation: The Life and Comedy of Allan Sherman by Mark Cohen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


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



American Ramble: A Walk of Memory and Renewal by Neil King Jr. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


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

Thanks everyone for sharing! I get the majority of my recommendations for my TBR here and appreciate the links and thoughts on each :)

Here's what I read in October:

Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York's Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist by Jennifer Wright
2 Stars
I didn't love this one. The premise is fantastic - the history of one of the most famous Abortionists in America, a woman no less. I just didn't enjoy the author's style of writing and some of her assumptions and personal interjections about how she thought the characters' lives/what they thought/how she interpreted things. I woudn't have known of Mme Restelle without this book though, so I appreciate that.


The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer
4 Stars
I adored the main character Clover and enjoyed following along her story as a "Death Doula". Very quick read, cute fiction that will make you think a bit about life and death and the things most important in life.


The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi
4 Stars
Another cute, quick read. Translated from Japanese and great for anyone who enjoyed the "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" Series. There's a bit more to this one with a surprise ending that was somewhat bitter-sweet.


Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson
3 Stars
Solid Historical Fiction novel about Phoeby, a slave who's been "spoiled" a bit by living in the "Big House" and thus has avoided beatings, time in the field, etc. We follow her story as she ends up in one of the worst Prisons in our nation's history. I appreciated that it was based on real-life characters.


El Deafo by Cece Bell
3 Stars
Middle-Grade Graphic novel about a young girl who loses her hearing at age 5 and her struggles as a result. This was set in the late 70s and based on the author's life. Some fun scenes where the mothers were smoking were kind of funny; the author really stayed true to the time in her illustrations which was fun.


The Wife Upstairs by Freida McFadden
3 Stars, maybe 2...
This was just ok - a Thriller about a woman in her mid 20s who's struggling to make ends meet and is offered a job several hours outside of the city as the caretaker of a wife who's had some type of accident. I think the author could have done so much more with this story. It just seemed too obvious to be a true thriller.


Weyward by Emilia Hart
3 Stars
Fun seasonally appropriate fiction about a family of "witches" who struggle to find their way among those who fear them. I liked that the story was told in 3 parts (3 generations of Weyward woman and their lives, struggles and triumphs.)


A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀
3 Stars
I might have gone into this one with higher expectations, hence the 3 stars... I really enjoyed this story and the author's writing, but it just felt like it took the entire book to get anywhere. Set in Nigeria, the book jacket mentions that the 2 main characters' lives become intertwined by a violent act at a party, but that scene happens in the *very* end of the book.

Hailey wrote: "Hello everyone! Well, at a grand total of six books, I certainly got my fill for the month of October!..."

Hailey, these sound perfect for October. The spooky factor rated high in your reading this month.

Denise wrote: "I just finished 2 re-reads...."

I recall being impressed with The Remains of the Day, too. The writing drew me in.

God Is Not Great is on my TBR list. It's sometimes nice to read an outdated book. It gives a look at how ideas have changed over the years and gives an idea of how we got to our way of thinking today.

madrano wrote: "I am rather surprised at how many books i read in October. l..."

I am certainly familiar with Soylent Green! Loved that movie back in the day. Make Room! Make Room! certainly sounds like something I would like.

Winter Hiking sounds nice. There's a magic about walking in the snow, especially outside of the city.

James, Steven King's writing is hit or miss for me. When it's a hit, it's a big hit. I've never read his short stories and appreciate this review. His writing can really pull one into a story.

John, thanks for the reviews.

The Prester Quest sounds fascinating. I've never heard of it before.

American Ramble seems to be another wonderful read. It's too bad that politics got into it somehow.

Lindsey, that's a great assortment of books.

I also read The Yellow Wife awhile back. It was an interesting read.

James wrote: Posts #20
"I read a few books in October, but I promised Alias a comment on this one, and so I'm reporting that I read (very slowly, with plenty of time savoring each tale) You Like It Darker..."

Thank you, James. I am putting this on my TBR list.

I tend to prefer the non supernatural stories he writes. That said, they are all good.

I can't believe Joe Hill is 52. Where the heck do the years go? I've not read any of his books. Though one of my friends who is a huge SK fan also likes his books.

Alias Reader wrote: "Something in his manner or speech reminded me of William Frank Buckley, Jr.."

Cultivated arrogant erudition, mayhaps?

Hailey wrote: "it may be because the original file may not have been converted properly or because of some other technical issues at play, though I'm just taking a wild guess ..."

This makes sense to me, as little as i know about tech matters.

John wrote: Post #21

"Here are mine (including one from late September):
..."

John, I really enjoyed all your reviews. I especially like how you explain your ratings. You write solid reviews without spoilers.

I'm going to add American Ramble and Overweight Sensation to my TBR list, if I haven't already.

James wrote: ""The Answer Man" uses a roadside fortune-teller of sorts as the linchpin of the tale, and in my opinion it is among the best of all King's stories ever. It has elements of themes that King often likes to explore -- the feel of generations passing in a small town, nostalgia for another time, and the bittersweet notes of tragedy and triumph that mark the history of a life. It's the perfect end to this collection..."

Thanks for the review, James. I've highlighted the above because you mention an element i loved about a book i mentioned in my October post, Universal Harvester--John Darnielle. This small town existence pleased me, despite what amounted to a small mystery/horror (?) aspect. I'll have to track down the story you mentioned. I've not read any King novels but have a couple of his stories under my belt.

Again, thanks.

Lindsey wrote: Post #22

The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer
4 Stars
I adored the main character Clover and enjoyed following along her story as a "Death Doula". Very quick read, cute fiction that will make you think a bit about life and death and the things most important in life.
-------------------

The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi
4 Stars
Another cute, quick read. Translated from Japanese and great for anyone who enjoyed the "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" Series. There's a bit more to this one with a surprise ending that was somewhat bitter-sweet."
--------------------------------

Lindsey, I never heard of a Death Doula until the person I used to work for, his wife became one. I think it takes a special person to do this.

One of my friends enjoyed When the Coffee Gets Cold, so I am going to pass the title The Lantern of Lost Memories on to her. Thank you.

Congratulations on a very nice reading month !

John wrote: "Here are mine (including one from late September):..."

Terrific round up, John. I already mentioned that i added Ramble to my TBR, as the venture sounds fascinating. As usual, i will not be listening to the audio, though.

The Sherman bio sounds a bit sad but also interesting. Thanks for the info about his family ties.

I'm fairly certain i mentioned i wasn't going to read any further Tey mysteries. And yet, darn you!, i've added Brat to my list. It sounds intriguing.

Around the turn of this century i first heard of Prester John but didn't follow up, once i thought he wasn't real. Then, i learned maybe he was but didn't pursue it. Now, i think i'll give the book you reviewed a go, even though it's a novel & not how i like to learn about historic people. Yup, it was the travel narrative angle which persuaded me. Thank you.

Your closing words on the Goddard sums up the way i feel about quite a number of series, "If there's a third Wada adventure, I'm in; but if not, that's okay, too/" Thanks, that's a line i may borrow on this board a time or two. :-)

I appreciate your monthly recap, John. Thanks.

Here are my October reads.

Pearl Harbor Christmas: A World at War, December 1941 by Stanley Weintraub
Non Fiction
Rate: 2/5 Did not meet expectations

The attack on Pearl Harbor was December 7th 1941. Christmas was just a few weeks away. This book covers that period up to the New Year. For some odd reason I never thought of Christmas being so soon after this attack.
This book also had some very interesting photos.

Unfortunately, the writing I thought was all over the place. The author jumps around as he covers the day to day events around the globe. There is little background information so it seemed very disjointed and at times hard to follow.

Good idea, poor execution. I gave it 2/5 stars - did not meet my expectations.

Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power by Timothy W. Ryback
Non Fiction 2/5 stars - did not meet expectations

This book starts in 1932 and ends in January of 1933 when Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany. This happened even though Hitler and his party never won a majority in any of the elections.

The book goes into a lot of minutia. Too much for me. There is a lot of corruption, backroom dealings, backstabbing power grabs and inside politics. I found all the names hard to keep track of as they all were double crossing each other.

For the research I would give the book 4/5 stars
For the story I would give it a 2/5. Which is did not meet my expectations or rather what I was expecting from the book. Still, there is a lot to learn here. Perhaps most importantly, it vividly shows how quickly a democracy can crumble.

Reading with Patrick: A Teacher, a Student, and a Life-Changing Friendship by Michelle Kuo.
Non Fiction
Listened to the audio as I read along with the eBook.
Rate: 4/5 - Exceeded expectations

This memoir is about race, privilege, the judicial system, and education in America. The picture is bleak. Michele Kuo is a Harvard grad who upon graduation joined Teach for America where she taught for two years. She was sent to a school for trouble youth in Helena, Arkansas. Helena is in the Delta and it's an extremely poor, economically disadvantaged and run down area that has a mostly black population.

I found the book very poignant. It's a moving memoir that really pulled me into the story. A thank you to Deb, who recommended the book.

Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment by Robert Wright
Listened to the audio as I read along with the eBook.
Non Fiction
Rate: 3/5 Good

I listened to the audio as I read along with the eBook. I wasn't a big fan of the narrator, Fred Sanders. I felt his narration sounded too robotic with little inflection in his voice.

The type of meditation covered is Insight meditation, also known as Vipassana. Usually this is done by focusing on the breath. It helps when observing the world and your feelings without judgment. Wright, who is not a Buddhist, posits that the brain is designed over the years by natural selection to do one thing. That is to get your genes passed on to another generation. However, because of this we are often deluded and don't see reality. This causes much stress and anxiety in our modern world. He says that meditation is the answer and has helped him with many day to day problems. It should be noted he makes it very clear in the intro that the Buddhism he discusses is "secular Buddhism". He doesn't discuss Gods, reincarnation, karma etc.

I'll be honest and say many of the concepts discussed I found interesting but I also found his explanations difficult to follow.

If you are new to meditation and are looking for a how to and also a discussion on some basic non religious Buddhist philosophy, I think there are probably better books to start your journey.

Lindsey wrote: "I adored the main character Clover and enjoyed following along her story as a "Death Doula". Very quick read, cute fiction that will make you think a bit about life and death and the things most important in life...."

Lindsey, my daughter looked into Death Doulas a few years ago. She attended some meetings & liked what she was hearing from the practicioners. Somehow, she ended up editing their monthly newsletter. When we drove together to California in Sept., i learned more about the group & their aims. Bottom Line: i'm passing this title on to her & am adding it to my TBR, as well. Thank you for this recap.

I've also added Sanaka Hiiragi's work, if for no other reason than the neat cover. . I love those lanterns/lamps. Also, i must add, i liked Before the Coffee Gets Cold. :-)

Thank you for sharing about all your titles, as well. Cece Bell's sounds particularly charming.

Petra wrote: "Winter Hiking sounds nice. There's a magic about walking in the snow, especially outside of the city...."

I agree. As i recall, not a single one of his photographs included city scapes in the snow. They aren't quite as full of adventure, i suppose, but walking in a city, in the snow has it's own charm. Not the slush, though. lol And he mentions the hazards of slush, in country walks quite often.

madrano wrote: Post #14

MSG#241. Fulfilled prompt #30- Sports F/NF The Joy of Winter Hiking: Inspiration and Guidance for Cold Weather Adventures--Derek Dellinger. A short book but full of good info. And some very lovely photographs, whetting one's appetite to walk in snow!."

I love walking in the winter. Though not hiking literally in the snow. I like my snow plowed. :) I think what I enjoy most is the the quiet after a snowfall.

Still, I am curious to see the photos. I love winter photography.

Thanks for the feedback, folks! The Prester Quest is a long book, but I liked his style (humor) enough to put Drinking Arak off an Ayatollah's Beard: A Journey Through the Inside-Out Worlds of Iran and Afghanistan on my TBR pile. It's a long book, which I now associate with my recent three-week trip through South America.

Brat Farrar isn't really a mystery as such. I'd call it more a fiction novel with a theme of "Will the imposter be able to maintain the scheme permanently?"

Alias Reader wrote: "Still, I am curious to see the photos. I love winter photography..."

I want to make clear that these photos were good, but not great. For the most part i was just tickled to see them. Like you, i find winter photography wonderful, so i didn't want to lead you astray, Alias.

John wrote: "Thanks for the feedback, folks! The Prester Quest is a long book, but I liked his style (humor) enough to put Drinking Arak off an Ayatollah's Beard: A Journey Through the Insi..."</i>

Neat, about finding another book via reading this. I like when that happens, even if i'm not as pleased as anticipated by the subsequent one. It's the idea of following a trail, in a way.

<i>John wrote: "Brat Farrar isn't really a mystery as such. I'd call it more a fiction novel with a theme of "Will the imposter be able to maintain the scheme permanently?"</i>

Thanks, John. Tey seemed to specialize in this, imo. Certainly, there were no conclusive answers in [book:The Daughter of Time. Maybe this is why they continue to have appeal.

Petra wrote: "Hailey wrote: "Hello everyone! Well, at a grand total of six books, I certainly got my fill for the month of October!..."

Hailey, these sound perfect for October. The spooky factor rated high in y..."

Thank you, Petra. Spooky month is always a fun time for me and I think reading spooky books is one of the reasons why.

I read 6 books in October:

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 4*
I gave it four stars, but the more I think about it, the more problems I have with it. In the book, a female nurse has authority over male inpatients in a mental hospital. She is portrayed as misusing her authority, but the book was written in 1962, so I wondered if the issue was simply that a woman had authority over men. The narrator clearly had issues that made him experience an alternate reality to the rest of us, so his interpretation of events was not reliable. However, it was clear that the "hero" was a criminal who was preying on the other patients and the nurse appeared to be trying to stop it.

Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions 5*
This is a cosy crime with some humour. It was a re-read for me. Auntie Poldi's a German widow and a bit of a battleaxe, whose husband was Sicilian. She moves to Sicily at the start of the book and when a young man who worked for her as a handy man is murdered she decides to find his killer. It may sound implausible, but it's meant to be a bit of fun and not to be taken too seriously.

The Masquerades of Spring 5*
This was a novella in the "Rivers of London" series and a homage to Jeeves and Wooster at the same time. It also featured one of my favourite characters from the series, so it was almost a foregone conclusion that I would give it 5 stars. It's probably not a good book to start this series with, in my opinion this is a series that's best read in order.

The Roanoke Girls 1* - DNF
Oh dear. The main character, a young woman, had had some sort of estrangement from her family, but moved back home when her cousin disappeared, to help search for her. A major part of the mystery was blurted out on page 30 (for shock value, I think) after which the plot descended into a bonk-fest (I think that's a boink-fest in the USA), although the main character did occasionally remember to make a feeble effort to find clues, although that mainly consisted of searching places the police had already searched.

I'm Traveling Alone 4*
This was a debut book and it was very good, although the author overdid the drama a little here and there for my taste. However the mystery was intriguing and I have put the second book on my TBR.

Looking Glass Sound 1 * DNF
This was described as a psychological horror. However I read slightly over half of it and it was reading like a coming-of-age novel, albeit with a sensational episode that's not typical of coming-of-age books. I suspect this may have been a "novel within a novel" situation, but I loathe coming of age books. I bailed out when someone sent the main character a novel based on his youth, which wasn't even well written (it wasn't meant to be well written). I got annoyed. I was over half the way through the book and the author was still faffing around. Although, having thought about it, it was a type of psychological horror, just not what I wanted!

madrano wrote: #41
"I want to make clear that these photos were good, but not great. For the most part i was just tickled to see them. Like you, i find winter photography wonderful, so i didn't want to lead you astray, Alias.
."
Thanks for the follow-up.

I think it was when this group was still on AOL and someone mentioned a book on snowflakes. I got it from the library and the photos were beautiful.

It might have been one of these.

The Art of the Snowflake: A Photographic Album

Snowflakes in Photographs

KeenReader wrote: post #44

"I read 6 books in October:

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 4*
I gave it four stars, but the more I think about it, the more problems I have with it. In the book, a female nurse has a..."

We had to read Cuckoo in my high school.

Nurse Ratched, was a cold, heartless tyrant. "Nurse Ratched has become the stereotype of the nurse as a battleaxe."

The 1975 movie with Jack Nicholson is good.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073486/

YouTube
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest 1975 Best scene
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBHN7...

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Final Scene - Re-Scored
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtECH...

Sorry you had two DNF's. I hate when that happens. :( DNF or very low rated books slow down my reading month as I don't look forward to picking the book up.

Alias Reader wrote: "Hailey wrote: "Hello everyone! Well, at a grand total of six books, I certainly got my fill for the month of October!

The first book I started off the month with was The Island of Dr. Moreau by H...."

I'm glad to hear you find my reviews helpful and insightful, Alias.

Considering the amount of books I read in October, I'm a little surprised that I didn't have more clunkers.

KeenReader wrote: "I read 6 books in October:

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 4*
I gave it four stars, but the more I think about it, the more problems I have with it. In the book, a female nurse has a..."

KeenReader, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the books you read last month. As it happens, i've read two of them and agree with you.

What was amiss with Cuckoo's Nest was a puzzle to me but i just found it unappealing for me. As you note, the nurse was doing her job and i cannot imagine dealing with some of those patients. Could she have more compassion? Who knows? But, to be honest, i didn't like the movie much either.

I found I'm Traveling Alone rather haunting but i liked it. What's with Nordic mysteries & killing children?!? Looking at the next in the series (& apparently the only other one translated into English, thus far) but it didn't call to me. It also made is sound as though Holger was pushing Mia too hard in it.

Thank you for listing the others, even (especially?) when you didn't like them. It helps us all.

Alias Reader wrote: "I think it was when this group was still on AOL and someone mentioned a book on snowflakes. I got it from the library and the photos were beautiful...."

I vaguely recall someone mentioning the snowflake photos but my then library didn't have it. Of course that was before e-books. I'll have to see if i can find it.

madrano wrote:

I vaguely recall someone mentioning the snowflake photos but my then library didn't have it. Of course that was before e-books. I'll have to see if i can find it."

This was years ago when we were on AOL. So I read a hardcover of the snowflake book. I recall the photos were amazing.

If I can find the time, I will try to look back over my journal and see if I can find the exact book.