Readers and Reading discussion

Please post the books you read in January. Comments are optional but appreciated......

My January books and small comments can be found here:

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

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "My January books and small comments can be found here:

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

Good to see that you enjoyed the new Maeve Binchy. I am a few books behind and need to catch up.

Your description of Sleeping Arrangements is pretty spot on. Probably my least favorite of Madeleine Wickham's.

My library has Making Toast: A Family Story as a downloadable audio book and I think I will try it in that format though the author does the narration and sometimes that can be a disaster.

January 2011


~ At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream
Rate 4/5

~Margaret Mead: A Biography
rate 2+ /5

~I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Rate 2- /5

~I Remember Nothing: and Other Reflections
rate 1+ /5

~Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me
rate 3 /5

~Homer and Langley
rate 4/5

~Up from Slavery
rate 3 - /5

~Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels
rate 3+ /5

~Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
rate 4/5

A good start to the new year. Here are my January reads:

Top Reads

Air
Geoff Ryman
A thought provoking science fiction tale that was nominated for a Nebula and won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for best novel. One of the better depictions of how technology can so utterly change and sometimes destroy old ways of life. I found the main character, Chung Mae, fascinating. A true heroine who is definitely not perfect. The descriptions of life in a small Third World village were also quite believable. The story meandered a bit in the middle and there were a couple of plot points that seemed extraneous but the technology never became overwhelming and overall I thought it was a very good read.

Betrayal
Karin Alvtegen
Tense, taut tale of psychological suspense set in Sweden. Great characterizations, a chilling atmosphere, and an exploration of betrayals from various points of view made this a real page turner.

The Sentry
Robert Crais
I really don't know of a more readable author than Robert Crais. Even though I had a few quibbles with some of the plotting I could not turn the pages fast enough.

Good Reads

The Seduction of Water
Carol Goodman
A novel about searching for the truth and family secrets. Iris Greenfeder is a struggling writer who, after selling an essay about her mother (a semi-famous fantasy writer who died under mysterious circumstances and never finished the third book of her trilogy), is commissioned to write a memoir about her mother and takes a job at the hotel in upstate New York where they lived. Deliberately paced with well described settings, I enjoyed this book for the most part but did think there were a few too many coincidences that helped the plot move forward.

The Butcher's Boy
Thomas Perry
In the introduction to this 1983 Edgar winner for best first novel, Michael Connelly promises the reader a great suspense ride and the book lives up to it. A lean, spare prose style with a dual narrative that follows a Justice Department employee and the title character that was read with a low key style by Michael Kramer made this an enjoyable audio.

The Haunting of Hill House
Shirley Jackson
I finally got around to listening to this tale of the supernatural which is considered a classic. I did enjoy it for the most part but had some problems with the narration by David Warner which I felt was too fast (usually I have the opposite problem and think that most narration could be sped up a bit) and made it hard to grasp all the plot points.

Life
Keith Richards
A pretty engaging memoir with some fascinating anecdotes about the whole rock n' roll life. A fairly straight ahead narrative that, once it started flowing, felt like Keith was just sitting next to you spinning yarns. His love of music was readily apparent and it was interesting to learn that he is also a big reader.

Marcelo in the Real World
Francisco X. Stork
Perfectly pleasant story of a young man with Asperger's who is challenged by his father to work in the mail room at the law firm his father heads so he can get some experience with the real world. Marcelo's voice is really well done throughout the entire book but I felt most of the other characters were a bit slight and wished the author had a lighter touch at certain points during the book. I listened to the audio version read by Lincoln Hoppe who really excelled with Marcelo's first person narration.

The Tartan Sell
Jonathan Gash
Lovejoy must head to Scotland to clear his name and, as always, manages to sniff out antiques and romance numerous women along the way. It has been ten years since I read a Lovejoy book and I will not wait that long again. A twisty plot and some hilarious situations made this one of the best books in the series so far.

Kim
Rudyard Kipling
While reading Thrillers: 100 Must-Reads I came across an essay on this book written by Tom Grace about how this was one of the best spy and adventure novels of all time so I decided to listen to the audio version read by Ralph Cosham. Perhaps a bit too long and the prose style was somewhat too flowery for my taste but I did enjoy the great friendship between Kim and the Lama and learning more about "The Great Game".

Man in the Middle
John Amaechi
John Amaechi was one of my favorite Big Ten players ever. He was a wide body who always worked hard and, with his English accent, gave great post game interviews. I had no idea of his sexuality, which is the hook of this memoir, but it is handled with proper English reserve and the rest of his story is pretty interesting though told in a somewhat plodding prose style.

Short list as usual, but February should be better. Had foot reconstruction surgery on 1/20 and I am non-weight bearing for 6 weeks, so I am enjoying the reading time!

Twas the Night Before: A Christmas Allegory
When I read this, I thought it was the best Christmas book I'd read, even though it was a re-read and I didn't remember reading it before, but now I can't even remember what it was about...though that could be do to age and anesthetic fog. LOL! I may try re-reading it next year because I do remember it gave me warm fuzzies.

True Light

Third in the Restoration series...lots of action in this one and I really like Terri Blackstock's writing style. Christian fiction.

Nancy, hope your recovery goes well. Are you using a wheelchair? When I broke my leg and was non-weight-bearing, I was too nervous to use crutches or a walker, for fear that I would somehow put weight on the bad leg.

My January reads can be found here:

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

Brief synopsis and rating is there as well.

January Reads......a very good month!

Mudbound - Hillary Jordan. Two young men, one black and one white, return to the Mississippi delta after fighting in World War II. The black man returns to the Jim Crow south where his distinguished war record means less than the color of his skin. The white man returns to his dysfunctional family, headed by a hateful racist father. The story is told in different narrative voices and reveal the characters beautifully. I always like to start out a new year with a great book, and Mudbound was an excellent choice. A

Dirty Secret: A Daughter Comes Clean About Her Mother's Compulsive Hoarding. Jessie Sholl. When her mother became ill, Sholl had to return to the family home to care for her, and discovered that the messy house she grew up in had become the home of a hoarder. The story is as much about Sholl herself as it is about her mother and I learned a lot more about scabies than I had ever known before. Since I am endlessly fascinated by hoarders and hoarding I enjoyed this book. If you're not, you probably wouldn't. B+

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson. A retired British military officer begins a relationship with an attractive Pakistani shopkeeper, much to the dismay of the people in the small village where they both live. Despite the obstacles and their reluctance to go too far with what they envision to be a doomed relationship, I found myself cheering for them to get together. And while many of the characters are stereotypes, they all step outside those stereotypes at some point in the book. There is so much tea drinking in this novel that I found myself dipping into the Earl Grey myself. A-

The Paris Wife - Paula McLain. Ernest Hemingway married Hadley Richardson in 1921 while he was a struggling reporter and she was a nice Catholic girl from St. Louis. They moved to Paris shortly after and began their famous friendships with Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald etc, and this novel is based on those years. Hadley narrates this story and although she loves Hemingway desperately, I never got the feeling that he loved her as much. And by the end of the book, he has moved on to his second St. Louis born wife. I used to love reading about those years in Paris so I really enjoyed this book. A-

Connie wrote: "January Reads......a very good month!

Mudbound - Hillary Jordan. Two young men, one black and one white, return to the Mississippi delta after fighting in World War II. The black man returns to ..."

This sounded really good when you reviewed it, so I put it on my pbs wish list.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Nancy, hope your recovery goes well. Are you using a wheelchair? When I broke my leg and was non-weight-bearing, I was too nervous to use crutches or a walker, for fear that I would somehow put wei..."

thanks JoAnnn. I can't do crutches either...to unsteady. I have a regular walker and also borrowed a "rollator" from a friend which works well. Kneel on it with the bad knee and scoot with the other foot and if I get tired, I can turn around and sit down!

Connie, did you ever wonder how such a timid man (a "milquetoast") as Major P. ever became a military officer?

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Connie, did you ever wonder how such a timid man (a "milquetoast") as Major P. ever became a military officer?"

We discussed that in our book group and figured that Major Pettigrew probably wasn't in the military during any major wars. So he probably just rose through the ranks during peace time and most likely never served in battle.

Connie wrote: "JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Connie, did you ever wonder how such a timid man (a "milquetoast") as Major P. ever became a military officer?"

We discussed that in our book group and figured that Major P..."

And also, replying to myself, the Major wasn't all that timid throughout the book. He was quite heroic at the end. That's one of the stereotypes that proved not to be true.

Maybe the British military is different, but here, someone with his personality would stay at a low-level forever. EVen if one is not in a major war, one is stil expected to be a leader (as an officer).

Nancy/nanckopf wrote: "JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Nancy, hope your recovery goes well. Are you using a wheelchair? When I broke my leg and was non-weight-bearing, I was too nervous to use crutches or a walker, for fear that..."

I had my broken leg when scooters had just been "invented" but I was so clumsy that I could not maneuver it, and it also hurt my good knee. But I got really good with a wheelchair!

I'm discovering fun OLD books that I'm able to get for free from the Kindle store, so here are two I found this month:

The English Orphans by Mary Jane Holmes
The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole by Mary Seacole (a Jamaican/Scottish woman who becomes a doctor with highlights of her time in the Crimean war. Her interactions with Florence Nightengale are priceless.

a third from the Kindle store, but contemporary:
Stumbling Along the Beat by Stacy Dittrich. Life as a cop

Others this month:

The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President by Taylor Branch. Branch wrote three books on America in the King Years, which is what got me hooked up to this book. He and Clinton spent time over 8 years talking about the events that a president dealt with. I am in awe of the details and complexities of so many issues that had to be dealt with at one time. It was fascinating to run through events that I remember from living through them.

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan. Devastating stories of Africa, written from the perspective of children. Definitely one of the best I've read in ages.

In the Place of Justice by Wilbert Rideau. Rideau spent 44 years at Angola Prison in Louisiana, some of it on death row. I've been having a good conversation about it with a friend who'd sent it to me. Having worked in a prison in the last decade, it was fascinating to read about prison practices in the 70s and 80s. Wilbert was often on the road, speaking at schools and Rotary Clubs, without an armed escort!

My January reads were
Thai Dieby Monica Ferris
rating 3/5 nice little cozy quick read to start off the year

Risk Pool by Richard Russo
rating 5/5 Another well-written book by Russo. His descriptions are so vivid you can visualize the characters and their settings.

Meredith

>>Meredith wrote:

Risk Pool by Richard Russo
rating 5/5 Another well-written book by Russo. His descriptions are so vivid you can visualize the characters and their settings.
<<

Risk Pool along with Nobody's Fool and Straight Man are my favorite books by Richard Russo though I have also enjoyed all his others too.

This will go on the February thread, but I read "The Red Garden" by Alice Hoffman and LOVED IT!

I have yet to read anything by Ms. Hoffman that I didn't like..........

RNOCEAN wrote: "This will go on the February thread, but I read "The Red Garden" by Alice Hoffman and LOVED IT!..."

I am starting this tonight and really looking forward to it. Glad yuo enjoyed it.

Just finished "William and Harry Behind The Palace Walls" by Katie Nicholl (rated 3/5)

I always love reading about British royalty and this book was interesting in that it described Diana's lives after her death. I think she would have been very proud of both of them.