Readers and Reading discussion

Starting this early due to the weekend and Halloween...please post your October reads here --- and we would love to see comments or reviews if you feel so inclined.

I didn't read a lot of books because two of the books were big books. I may not have had quantity but I did have quality. The writing and the stories were wonderful. So it was a good reading month for me. :)

You can click on the links to get a synopsis of the book.

Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears~~Pema Chödrön
Non fiction
Rate: 3/5
Pema is a Buddhist nun. The title of the book pretty much tell you what it is about. I enjoyed reading her take on this topic and found it to be useful.

Freedom~~Jonathan Franzen
Fiction
Rate: 4/5
I enjoyed Franzen's latest novel. I think he is an author you love or hate. I love his books. The guy sure can write ! I enjoyed his other book The Corrections too. In fact, if you enjoyed The Corrections you will enjoy Freedom.

I Know This Much Is True~~Wally Lamb
Fiction
Rate 5 +
This book was a re-read for me. I read it back in 1999 when Oprah selected it and I re-read it now for my f2f book club. The novel is simply excellent !

Here is the link to "my books"....the 7 at the top were the ones I read in October, and I wrote brief comments.


http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...

Best book of the the month- The Reversal by Michael Connelly. I can always count on him for a 5-star book.

My October reads were:

Sara Gruen Rating 4/5 This novel which tell the story from a ninety something's voice was enjoyable. I particularly enjoyed the ending

rating 3/5 aquick enjoyable but predictable read


rating 305 I enjoyed this mystery whichtakes olace during the period between the two world wars with a stron female protagonist.

Meredith

I read three traditional books in October:
1. Smith, Betty—A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Finished 10/10/10. Rating 10; fiction; read with Book Buddies. Had also read as a teen and again as an adult. Lovely story of Francie Nolan’s poverty stricken life in Brooklyn before WWI. Her love of reading and of life shone throughout the book.

2. Kean, Sam—The Disappearing Spoon and Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements. Finished 10/22/10. Rating 9; non-fiction. Interesting look at the elements that became somewhat tedious towards the end. I am considering making a quilt someday of the periodic table.

3. Woodsmall, Cindy—The Bridge of Peace. An Ada’s House novel. Finished 10/29/10. Rating 8; fiction. LenaKauffman, an Amish teacher, realizes that she loves a friend from childhood who recently lost his wife to a bull attack.

I listened to one book on tape:

Wiseman, Beth—Plain Perfect—read by Renee Ertl. Finished 10/20/10. Audio; fiction; rating 8. Lillian Miller leaves a bad relationship to live with her Amish grandparents in Pennsylvania.

>>FreedomJonathan Franzen
Fiction
Rate: 4/5
I enjoyed Franzen's latest novel. I think he is an author you love or hate. I love his books. The guy sure can write ! I enjoyed his other book The Corrections too. In fact, if you enjoyed The Corrections you will enjoy Freedom.<<

My Mother was visiting this weekend and mentioned that Jonathan Franzen was going to be the featured author at the Dogwood Festival in Dowagiac MI. She moved there a couple of years ago after retiring and has seen quite a number of big name authors like Ann Patchett and Dennis Lehane at this event.

What I Read in October 2010

4759 Room A Novel by Emma Donoghue (read 3 Oct 2010) This book is told in the voice of the 5-year-old boy who all his life has been confined to a room without windows but with a skylight--imprisoned there with his mother who was captured at age 19 and kept in the room by "Old Nick"--the father of the child. It is a novel setting (though it reminded me of John Fowles' The Collector which I read 21 Oct 1985) and at first seems intriguing. But the story palls, and when the boy and his mother escape one is glad because the account of the confinement was getting to be boring. As the boy learns to be outside it is quite novel again, but again one gets tired of it and I was glad to have the book end. The concept is worked out inconsistently--the boy can read but does not "get" hyperbole--though he uses it himself, e.g., counting to a million, I hoped the book would win the Man-Booker prize as then I would have it read--I try to read each winner of said prize, and often the winner is not a fun book to read. But it didn't, so one of these days I will read the winner.

4760 Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen (read 6 Oct 2010)This is Franzen's 2010 novel, published to a lot of hype. It is a big book and I found it absorbing but often was much disturbed by its characters and their amoral behavior, and the grating anatomical sex scenes the book if overloaded with, as well as the annoying overuse of obscene four-letter words. As I was reading I sometimes thought I would give it 1 star out of a possible 5. The story is of Walter Bergland and his wife Patty, who live in Minnesota for years after they marry and have a daughter, Jessica, and a son, Joey. Walter has a friend, Richard Katz, who is a musician and has a fatal attraction for Patty. Walter is into nature preservation, and Patti was a college basketball star. The story of their lives is told in searing and usually well-put-together prose. The last pages blew me away, and redeemed the book for although to say this is a SPOILER--but it is true. A reading experience indeed, full of things unlikable and some likeable.

4761 The War Lovers Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire,1898, by Evan Thomas (read 8 Oct 2010) Because I so liked the books by Evan Thomas I've read (The Wise Men,on 8 Dec 1991; The Man To See,on 17 Jan 1992; and Sea of Thunder on 18 Aug 2008) I read this 2010 book by him. It is merely an account of the Spanish-American War: how we got into it, and the action in Cuba. At first I thought the author could have been more expansive in the telling and his footnotes could have been more informative. He works mainly from secondary sources. But he ends well, and I liked the book. Teddy Roosevelt and Senator Lodge and Hearst were hot for us to go to war, and T.R. of course gloried in it. Bill Clinton in 2001 gave T.R. the Medal of Honor--I imagine T.R. was very happy about that, wherever he is.

4762 The Immigrant Church New York's Irish and German Catholics, 1810-1865, by Jay P. Dolan (read 10 Oct 2010) (John Gilmary Shea prize for 1975) This is a rather narrow work, covering only part of the 19th century and all its research is confined to New York City. It discusses much about the tension between Irish and Germans, and seems to somewhat blame the Germans for chafing under Irish rule of the Church. Archbishop John Hughes (whose biography I read 1 May 1988) did a lot for the Church and did a pretty good job in a tough position. The book was of too limited scope to satisfy my interest in 19th century Catholic history.

4763 Farm A Year in the Life of an American Farmer. by Richard Rhodes (read 12 Oct 2010) This book is quite a change of pace for Rhodes, whose books on the making of the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb I much enjoyed. This is an account of a Missouri farm family--but the names and places are changed so that one cannot tell exactly where the farm is, but it is about an hour east of Kansas City, Mo. He tells of what the farmer--called Tom Bauer--did most every day during the fall of 1986 and less thoroughly till the next summer. It was all strange to me--nothing of the 20 or more years --1928 to 1946--I spent on a farm resonated in what I read. In fact, though they had much fancier machinery than we did they worked awfully hard and there did not seem to be as much enjoyment as we had when I was growing up on the farm, unless you enjoy farm work. There was a lot of machinery talk, all of it mostly strange to me, yet I found the book good though not exciting reading. I think the author made the account well worth reading.

4764 Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers (read 13 Oct 2010) This is gritty novel about a black kid from Harlem who joins the Army and has tough experiences in Vietnam, It is listed as for juveniles but our library has it on the regular fiction shelves. It uses all the expletives common in Vietnam war accounts, but the characters are not immoral and they pray some--so I suppose that is why the book is deemed OK for juveniles. It paints a tough picture of Vietnam fighting and is not likely to cause any kid to regret he was not around to fight in Vietnam. Fortunately, the central character is not crippled or dead at the end, as I feared the novel might end.

4765 A Way of Life Vol. 1 A Story of the Sioux City Stockyards, by Marcia Poole (read 14 Oct 2010) This is lavishly illustrated book which well tells the story of the Sioux City Stockyards, from its beginnings in the 1880's through its glory years in the 1950's to its total end--in March 2002. It is an amazing story--so vital a part of Sioux City for so many years, and such a vital part of so many people's lives. The story of the last years is eminently poignant and this book tells of the good and the sad very well. it is a good book to read.

4766 A Way of Life II: Stories from the Yards, by Marcia Poole (read 15 Oct 2010) This second volume was published in 2007. It relates the history of the yards in briefer form than the first volume, but tells of the labor troubles in 1938 up to 1946, mainly at Swift's. Those were exciting years and I am surprised I did not hear more about them when I came to Sioux City in 1955. The book is poignant, now that the Yards are only memory.

4767 She Stoops To Conquer or The Mistakes of a Night, by Oliver Goldsmith (read 16 Oct 2010) This is a famous play, first performed in 1773. (Goldsmith died in 1774. age about 44.) The play plays on mistakes brought about by a trick Tony, son of Mr and Mrs. Hardcastle, plays on Marlow, coming to see his sister. Marlow treats her parents as innkeepers, and this incenses her father. I found the play hard to follow--it should, no doubt be seen, not merely read. It is a famous work but I did not find it of moment. Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest, touching on a similar scenario, is much much funnier.

4768 The United States and the Origins of the Cold War 1941-1947, by John Lewis Gaddis (read 18 Oct 2010) (Bancroft Prize in 1973) On May 7, 1999, I read an excellent book by this author on Rethinking Cold War History. This book was published in 1972 --it carefully assesses how the Cold War came about. It of course has no data from Soviet sources, but I cannot but conclude Harry Truman did things right and that the Cold War was inevitable given the situation at the time and the intransigence of the Soviets. This book is in opposition to the "revisionists" who in the 1960's and 1970's were blaming the U.S. for the commencement of the Cold War. Now, that the Cold War has been won, this book is a good review of the momentous events of 1941 to 1947, but it confirms my belief that Harry Truman was a greater man than I sometimes in those years gave him credit for being.

4769 Sowing An Autobiography of the Years 1880 to 1904, by Leonard Woolf (read 20 Oct 2010) This covers Woolf's life from his birth on 25 Nov 1880 till he when in 1904 he set out for Ceylon. He tells of his time at St.Paul's School and at Trinity, Cambridge. He spends a lot of time telling how he has no belief or faith in the supernatural--seems to me he protests overly much. His account of his time in school before Cambridge deprecates his education greatly--seems to me he'd have been better off appreciating the education he was receiving. His account of his time at Cambridge, stressing he is an intellectual but also good at sports, is of interest, though nothing much happens. Whether I will read the other two volumes of his autobiography --written in 1960--he died 14 Aug 1969--remains to be seen.

Schmerguls wrote: "What I Read in October 2010
."

WOW, that was a lot of reading for a month!!!

Shirley wrote: "I am considering making a quilt someday of the periodic table. ..."

Now that would be something to see! Most unusual.

I remembered reading this about 2 years ago. The way the author managed to capture the very essence of raw human thought process an sometimes action of the same situation frightened me. Not an easy read for me but a good book.
This book was a re-read for me. I read it back in 1999 when Oprah selected it and I re-read it now for my f2f book club. The novel is simply excellent !

I meant the book ' this much I know is true'

Shirley The Disappearing Spoon and Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements

Shirley, I also enjoyed this book a lot. I enjoyed the part you considered tedious toward the end because of the new take on properties of some elements. Who knew?

I LOVE the idea of a quilt of the periodic table! If you ever do it, I want to see a picture of it!

Sharon

x-posted at M/T Reading Friends

Between work and vacation I did not get much read this month. Thank goodness for audios.

Top Reads

20th Century Ghosts
Joe Hill
A really entertaining collection of short stories that, while classified as horror, really seemed more like suspense with perhaps of a touch of the supernatural. None of the stories were really graphic, which is what I was expecting, so I was pleasantly surprised. Some of my favorite stories really had no horror elements at all. The audio was read by David Ledoux who did a masterful job keeping the pace and tone in tune with the level of tension the stories conveyed.

Fallen Into the Pit
Ellis Peters
The small village of Comerford is trying to come to terms with the end of the war and integrating the returning men back into the lives they left when it is rocked by a murder. Much darker than the Cadfael series but well plotted with interesting characters (including a couple of youngsters who are precocious but believable). I listened to the audio version read by one of my all time favorites narrators Simon Prebble

Good Read


Mortal Causes
Ian Rankin
Another good solid read in this series. A tortured body is found in a medieval cellar during the Edinburgh Festival and Rebus and his team investigate. I have really started to enjoy this series. Rebus and his supporting cast are becoming more fleshed out and believable and the plots in the last couple of books have been much more to my liking.

OK Reads

The Widening Gyre
Robert B. Parker
Not one of my favorites in the Spencer series. The audio only ran for a little over four hours, though the narration by Michael Prichard was as good as usual, and it seemed like Parker was fixated on the Spencer/Susan relationship and the main plot about blackmail, politics, and organized crime was an afterthought.


Martin Misunderstood
Karin Slaughter
The best part about this audio novella was that it was very short, only 2.5 hrs. Otherwise it was pretty dark with a few laughs here and there but not really something I would strongly recommend. Wayne Knight did the narration and at the end of the audio there is also a short interview with him.

Bad

In the Shadow of Gotham
Stefanie Pintoff
Not very good at all. This book was nominated for the Anthony Award for best first and won the Edgar in the same category which, frankly, baffles me. The plotting was simplistic (Whodunit was painfully obvious), characters were thin and wooden, and even the historical details were not interesting. This ranks up there as one of the most boring books I have ever finished.

Marine One by James W. Huston

The first novel by Huston I've read. I enjoyed it quite a lot.


Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field

Read this for a group that's reading/discussing Newberry books. It was OK - from a historical perspective it was quite interesting.


Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith

I just recently discovered this series - loved this 2nd one!


Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great-Granddaughter by Sidney Poitier

Absolutely enjoyed these letters. It revealed so much of the famous actor's thinking, - and he IS a thinker. It is interesting to see perspective from an older person on how early events shaped his life.


Maid For Murder by Barbara Colley

A fun diversion, as are all the cozy mysteries I take time to read. This one takes place in pre-Katrina New Orleans.


The Root Cellar by Janet Lunn

Interesting "time travel" story - probably aimed towards younger teens. Gives insight on why some Canadians fought in the American Civil War. What I liked most about it was that it gave a realistic picture of what the war was like - not glamorized, and not overly gruesome. I think it would help a younger person clearly understand the impact/aftermath of what the war brought to those who fought, along with their families.


The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting

Somehow I missed this book growing up! Really enjoyed reading it together with my 10-year old son.

>>Tears of the Giraffe<<

I enjoy this series too. Especially like the audio versions read by Lisette Lecat

I read the following in October:

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson
The Wise Woman - Phillipa Gregory

I would transfer them over from the 'books read' area but I don't know how.

I read 11. The best were:
and
My 4-stars:
Three stars go to:
And two go to:

Sandi wrote: ">>FreedomJonathan Franzen
Fiction
Rate: 4/5
I enjoyed Franzen's latest novel. I think he is an author you love or hate. I love his books. The guy sure can write ! I enj..."

Thank you for the information. I live in Western Michigan and will try to get to the Dogwood Festival to see Franzen.