Book Nook Cafe discussion

This is the thread for you to list your books read in August 2011.

It would be helpful to others if you would:

- provide a GR link for the book title & author
- A few sentences telling how you feel about the book
- Give a rating

Thanks.

In the Woods Might have already caught my raving on another page, but I simply loved this book. A great murder/detective/cop novel if you’re into that sort of thing, with complex characters and situations. Loved it. My Review

Who Fears Death It wasn’t easy for me to relate to this story, because it was told with such an interesting African storytelling flavor to it. It seemed like it should be an epic book, but I was just kind of ehh about the whole thing. My Review

Vixen A book that was a lot more adult than I suspected from the premise, but still very young in some aspects. It kills me, because the author had a decently complex relationship and then one of those look across the room and fall in love ones. If you’ve written a complex one, you should know better than to write an across the room one! Anyway. Average. My Review

The Dervish House A really interesting but fairly complex book, it had a lot of characters dancing around Istanbul that eventually relate to one another. But the book was really more about Istanbul than any one of the characters, even though the characters were complex. Four stars.My Review

Behemoth A really interesting YA fantasy twist on WWII, where the sides are divided by Darwinists, who create semi-sentient animals for their uses (such as blimp-like creatures that exude helium) and the Cranks, who make everything mechanical (like the chicken walkers of Star Wars). It’s a fun world, and interesting to see the prejudices that arrive over these differences at the start of a war. It’s still based on some actual events. My Review

Leviathan The second book in the Behemoth series, a good continuation. I kind of wish the characters were a little deeper, though. The world is more complex than they are. My Review

Die for Me This was a lot better than I thought it was going to be as a paranormal romance. I was really dreading having to read it, but was pleasantly surprised. But a lot of other people hated it for the reasons I normally frown upon these, so not sure what made this one different for me and not them. My Review

The Iron King It was fine. An introduction to fairyland in a different way. My Review

The Door into Summer A bookclub reread, but I liked it a lot better this time around. It’s a time displacement novel, but doesn’t focus on the science but on the story. Good read. My Review

Doomsday Book A complicated and good story, another time travel one for my book club (can you guess our theme?). It had some really great characters, but dragged at times. My Review

Room I’d been hearing a ton about this book, and din’t think it lived up to expectations. It’s a fascinating premise—the view of the world as a five year old sees it when he’s the product of kidnapping and multiple rapes and doesn’t know that there’s more beyond the room he and his mother are kept in. I thought it went on far too long, and while it highlighted a lot of interesting takes on the world from this perspective, the kid doesn’t think he’s been wronged, so there’s very little character growth for him. The mom, on the other hand, goes through a ton, and I would have liked to see the ending more from her perspective instead. My Review

The Glass Castle An incredible read—you all probably already know my thoughts on it. I added my long comment from our discussion to my review. My Review

Demonglass I really love the female protagonist in this series. She has an older sarcasm to her (I think I just like snarkiness) and her life is complicated and emotional and I love it. This series is my weakness for this genre that I don’t usually like. But definitely not a serious book My Review

The Lightning Thief The next three are all part of the same series, a YA series of which a movie was recently made. It’s a fun series, with clever remarks and a lot of teenage sarcasm, but it’s formula writing too, as I noted in my review of the third book. Still, a fun series.My Review

The Sea of Monsters My Review

The Titan's Curse My Review

Great month, Maree ! Thanks for sharing with us.

My F2F book group is reading The Room next month.

I really enjoyed the group of books I read in August.

Only Time Will Tell is the first book in the Clifton trilogy by Jeffrey Archer. It's a multigenerational story set in Bristol, England, between the two World Wars. I found it to be a real page-turner. 4 stars.

Rebecca is one of my favorite books, and I was reading it for the third time for a local bookgroup. It's a Gothic thriller/romance. 5 stars.

How to Read Italian Renaissance Painting is beautifully illustrated. I read it because I enjoy art history. 4 stars.

Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship is a moving story about the friendship of two women writers who loved walking their dogs, swimming, rowing, and talking for hours. The grief that the author experiences following her best friend's death was overwhelming, and writing this book to celebrate their friendship may have been therapeutic. 4 stars.

Rescue: A Novel is a book about an EMT that rescues a beautiful, tough, alcoholic woman from her car, and the story of their relationship. There have been other Anita Shreve books that I have liked more. 3 stars.

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading is the story of how the author is devastated by her sister's death, and decides to read a book a day for a year as therapy. I enjoyed both her book, and her READALLDAY website. 4 stars.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand was a charming book set in a country village in England. I loved the Major's dry British wit. 4 stars.

The Paris Wife is the story about the relationship between Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley. It was a very readable book which also had a lot of information about the other creative people in their circle of friends. 4 stars.

i just picked up The Paris Wife and am so excited to start it!

i just finished The Island.

I have read Rebecca more than once as well. One of my favorite books. And The Paris Wife is on my list.

The movie version of Rebecca is also very good.

Alias Reader wrote: "My F2F book group is reading The Room next month."

You'll definitely have to let me know what you think, Alias.

Rebecca is one of my favorites as well! Read it right after college.

Too busy to read in August so I only read two books but both were five stars.

- the battle for Stalingrad.

- the search for a lost city in the Amazon jungle.

Maree wrote: "...a time displacement novel".

I have never heard this term. Is it different than "time travel"?

Connie wrote: "Rescue: A Novel is a book about an EMT that rescues a beautiful, tough, alcoholic woman from her car, and the story of their relationship. There have been other Anita Shreve books that I have liked more.. ..."

ditto!!!!!

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "I have never heard this term. Is it different than 'time travel'?"

Essentially not, in this instance it was just me trying to be clever in relation to the book. The scientist who creates the machine which allows temporal displacement refuses to refer to it as time travel, so it's a minor bow to his wishes. :) I think the reason is that technically, you're not traveling through time but being placed in it, hence displaced from your time into another.

Maree wrote: ".I think the reason is that technically, you're not traveling through time but being placed in it, hence displaced from your time into another.
."

Hmmmm, then it is not for me!!!

It's really pretty much the same thing, lol, just a difference in terms.

A truly dismal reading month for me. I probably abandoned 10 books.

Here is a link to my books. I have no idea why one abandoned book is in my "read" list.

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

Sorry for no book links. Just too lazy....just look at my list!

Maree I enjoyed your descriptions. I have not read Rebecca and added it on my TR list...and it grows.

August was a good month:

I enjoyed this book, our group read. You all know my comments there. 3/5

Since I enjoy Sara Vowell I knew I would love this one. I think if she wrote history books more children would enjoy history. I think one comment I read about the book was Sara Vowell could make the DMV enjoyable...haha 4/5

This book was hard to get into, but after 100 pages I loved it. I think part of my own difficulty is I know nothing about phylosophy and France. But it was touching and made me feel like I was watching a french film with subtitles. 4/5

I read this during the hurricane. I literally could not put this down once I started. This should be mandatory reading, it is amazing and got me all upset. Sometimes you just need to read something that makes you feel like you been through hell. 4/5

I am also in the middle of Water for Elephants but I doubt I will finish it in time. Some how three of my girlfriends are reading it right now. That never happens since we all share books. Miraculously we all got the book on the same day. I have to mention it because it was really odd.

Connie wrote: "I really enjoyed the group of books I read in August.

Only Time Will Tell is the first book in the Clifton trilogy by Jeffrey Archer. It's a multigenerational story set in Brist..."
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Wow ! Excellent reading month, Connie.

John wrote: "Too busy to read in August so I only read two books but both were five stars.

- the battle for Stalingrad.

[bookcover:The Lost Cit..."
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The two books aren't light reads, John. So well done !

Sorry about your August reads, JoAnn. I hope Sept. is better.

My August 2011 Reads: 11 books.

I post my thoughts about each book as I read it during the month. So this is a recap of the books.
Rating on a zero - 5 scale

Incendiary~Chris Cleave
Fiction
Rate: 3 minus
An al-Qaeda bomb attack on a London soccer match provides the tragicomic donnée of former Daily Telegraph journalist Cleave's impressive multilayered debut: a novel-length letter from an enraged mother to Osama bin Laden. Living hand to mouth in London's East End, the unnamed mother's life is shattered when her policeman husband (part of a bomb disposal unit) and four-year-old son are killed in the stadium stands. Complicating matters: our narrator witnesses the event on TV, while in the throes of passion with her lover, journalist Jasper Black

Nothing to Do But Stay~Carrie Young
non fiction
Rate: 2
In the early 1900s the twenty-five-year-old Gafkjen boarded a train from Minneapolis to claim a homestead for herself on the western North Dakota prairies. She lived alone in her claim shack, barred her door at night against the coyotes, existed on potatoes and salt, and walked five miles to the nearest creek to wash her clothes. A decade later she had, by her own ingenuity, doubled her landholdings and became a secure women of property. Then, at an age when most other women would have been declared spinsters, Carrine Gafkjen married Sever Berg and had six children.

The Shack~William P. Young
fiction
Rating 1
Mackenzie Allen Phillips's youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in this midst of his great sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change his life forever.

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading~Nina Sankovitch
nonfiction
Rate 4 minus
Nina Sankovitch has always been a reader. As a child, she discovered that a trip to the local bookmobile with her sisters was more exhilarating than a ride at the carnival. Books were the glue that held her immigrant family together. When Nina's eldest sister died at the age of forty-six, Nina turned to books for comfort, escape, and introspection. In her beloved purple chair, she rediscovered the magic of such writers as Toni Morrison, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ian McEwan, Edith Wharton, and, of course, Leo Tolstoy. Through the connections Nina made with books and authors (and even other readers), her life changed profoundly, and in unexpected ways. Reading, it turns out, can be the ultimate therapy.

Genius of Common Sense~Glenna Lang
nonfiction
rate 4
Three books, all written by women in the early 1960s, changed the way we looked at the world and ourselves: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, and Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities. All three books created revolutions in their respective spheres of influence, and nothing affected city planning and architecture or the way we think about how life is lived in densely packed urban centers more than Jane Jacobs's far-sighted polemic. This was an era when the urban renewal movement was at its most aggressive, and Jacobs correctly perceived that the new structures that were being built to replace the aging housing of our older cities were often far worse, in both their impact on society and their architectural sterility, than what urban planners identified as the problem. She was ridiculed and pilloried by the establishment, but her ideas quickly took hold, and no one ever looked at what made for livable and viable neighborhoods the same way again.

The Great Depression: America 1929-1941~~Robert S. McElvaine
nonfiction
Rate 4
One of the classic studies of the Great Depression, featuring a new introduction by the author with insights into the economic crises of 1929 and today.

In the twenty-five years since its publication, critics and scholars have praised historian Robert McElvaine’s sweeping and authoritative history of the Great Depression as one of the best and most readable studies of the era. Combining clear-eyed insight into the machinations of politicians and economists who struggled to revive the battered economy, personal stories from the average people who were hardest hit by an economic crisis beyond their control, and an evocative depiction of the popular culture of the decade, McElvaine paints an epic picture of an America brought to its knees—but also brought together by people’s widely shared plight.

The Reluctant Tuscan: How I Discovered My Inner Italian~Phil Doran
nonfiction
rate: 3+
Rising From The Mist in the sun-blushed hills of Tuscany is Il Piccolo Rustico, a 300-year-old stone farmhouse that Nancy Doran dreams of lovingly restoring into an idlyllic home. All her husband Phil can see is a crumbling money pit that, as far as dreams go, is more of a nightmare. Reluctantly leaving behind high -octane, air-conditioned Los Angeles where he lives and works as a writer-producer, Phil is uprooted to a strange country intoxicated by O sole mio, virgin olive oil and oak-aged Chianti. The local village reveals itself to be a hive of seething passions, secrets and age-old blood feuds, and the newcomers find that life is not all strolls around town during the passagiato and relaxing under the awnings of picturesque cafes.

Up Close~Chris Crowe
nonfiction
rate 3
Thurgood Marshall changed American history by challenging it. In the first half of the twentieth century, African Americans were often treated as second-class citizens and subject to ???Jim Crow??? laws, which promoted both racism and segregation. This is the world that Marshall grew up in, and he became a lawyer to change it. As the head counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), he helped take the famous Brown v. Board of Education all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. And in an outcome surprising even to him, the court unanimously ruled to end segregation in schools. Thurgood Marshall had become a hero.

Driving over Lemons~Chris Stewart
nonfiction
rate 2
No sooner had Chris Stewart set eyes on El Valero than he handed over a check. Now all he had to do was explain to Ana, his wife that they were the proud owners of an isolated sheep farm in the Alpujarra Mountains in Southern Spain. That was the easy part. Lush with olive, lemon, and almond groves, the farm lacks a few essentials—running water, electricity, an access road.

One Day~David Nicholls
fiction
rate 1
Read for my f2f book club
It’s 1988 and Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley have only just met. But after only one day together, they cannot stop thinking about one another. Over twenty years, snapshots of that relationship are revealed on the same day—July 15th—of each year. Dex and Em face squabbles and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears. And as the true meaning of this one crucial day is revealed, they must come to grips with the nature of love and life itself.

Living in a Foreign Language: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Love in Italy~~Michael Tucker
nonfiction
rate 2
The actor Michael Tucker and his wife, the actress Jill Eikenberry, having sent their last child off to college, were vacationing in Italy when they happened upon a small cottage nestled in the Umbrian countryside. The three-hundred-and-fifty-year-old Rustico sat perched on a hill in the verdant Spoleto valley amid an olive grove and fruit trees of every kind. For the Tuckers, it was literally love at first sight, and the couple purchased the house without testing the water pressure or checking for signs of termites. Shedding the vestiges of their American life, Michael and Jill endeavored to learn the language, understand the nuances of Italian culture, and build a home in this new chapter of their lives

August 2011
Contact -Carl Sagan (3 stars)
I read it because I loved the Jodi Foster movie. The characters were a little less real, but I liked the message at the end. Still a good read.

World Without End -Ken Follett (2 stars)
This book was, at best, so so. It was a very long epic harlequin romance with the same plot devices of Follett's previous book.

The Rise of the Creative Class and How it's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life -Richard Florida (3 stars)
Soft facts that would have served well as an essay, not an entire book. I loved the idea, but perhaps that's just because I lived in San Francisco, think opensource software is amazing, and love the creative class.

Mind of God: The Scientific Basis for a Rational World -Paul Davies (2 stars)
Diest view of the universe. It's a nice idea (and close to my personal beliefs) but unnecessarily long winded

Dawn: Lucifer's Halo -Joseph Michael Linsner (4 stars)
Graphic novel reread. For sure a big tits big pecs big guns kind of book, but with really great storyline and gorgeous artwork.

Dawn Volume 2: Return Of The Goddess -Joseph Michael Linsner (3 stars)
Also a reread. Not as good as the first book, but still beautiful.

August 2011 total pages: 2470
Total 2011 pages: 14828
Total all time pages: 23969

I have read only 2 of the books listed thus far. The diversity of our books is delightful. Here are mine from August. (And, look at me!, actually posting in the correct thread the FIRST time!)


Stand Facing the Stove: The Story of the Women Who Gave America The Joy of Cooking by Anne Mendelson. I have mixed feelings about this because i felt it was really two books, both of which i liked. Under one title, however, it didn't please me as much as it should, imo. The first book is a biography of the two women (mother & daughter) responsible for The All New, All Purpose Joy of Cooking. They were interesting and their story kept me hooked. The second "book" was about the history of that cookbook, as well as cookbooks in general. Again, a good story but combined, i felt my mind addled with each and it took me longer to read than i thought it would.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. This novel was mentioned on this board a month or two ago & sounded intriguing. It was but not as good as i'd hoped. However, one section, about people who obsess over murders and have theories, conventions and memorabilia from crimes, amazed me.

The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey was disappointing. She wrote much more about surfers than the science of waves, which was my interest. Indeed, i felt she wrote the book in order to get close to one of the surfers, a sort of overenthusiastic fan. When she interrupted a serious discussion with a scientist to ask herself what said surfer would have thought of what she was learning, i almost shut the book. HOWEVER, i was learning stuff i've been unable to find elsewhere, so continued. Mixed review. Hope someone somewhere is writing the book i want to read on this topic.



Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. This is a jewel in the form of one a 70ish minister's musings, written for the then 7 year old son he'll leave behind when he dies, which the doctor told him would be soon. Set in the early '50s, it covers his past life, as well as events going on while he's writing. Leading me to read its "sister" novel...

Home, which Robinson set over the same period of time but with the first minister's best lifelong friend & his family. The POV is of this minister's daughter & tells the fuller story of a black sheep character who effected both families. It is not nearly as good but is endearing, in its fashion.

Interior Desecrations: Hideous Homes from the Horrible '70s by James Lileks. A fun romp through those colorful, awful rooms of the '70s. Lileks has written comments and captions for most of them. Amazingly, i have read another, similar, book of his, The Gallery of Regrettable Food. Both share those vivid photos of unfortunate (at least in today's terms) aspects of the late 60s & early 70s. Here's a link to a page about the latter book, http://lileks.com/institute/gallery/ Oh! I just found a website for the book i read in August, too. http://www.lileks.com/institute/inter... In both cases, Lileks doesn't give attributes for the photos, which i would have appreciated.

Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart. Cute, quick book about an Iowa coed who lives in NYC the summer of '45 and works at the jewelry store.

deborah

Stephanie wrote: "August 2011
Contact -Carl Sagan (3 stars)
I read it because I loved the Jodi Foster movie. The characters were a little less real, but I liked the message at the end. Still a good read.

World With..."
-----------------

Very nice reading month, Stephanie. Thanks for sharing with us. That's a lot of pages read !

Madrano wrote: "I have read only 2 of the books listed thus far. "

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Deb thanks for sharing your reads with us. Though I am confused. You list 7 books but say you read 2. Did you not finish some ?

What I read in August!


1. The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin -- 320 pages//5 stars
2. The Gendarme by Mark Mustain-- 304 pages//5 stars
3. A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley -- 391 pages//5 stars
4. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris -- 320 pages//4 stars
5. The Snake Stone by Jason Goodwin -- 304 pages//4 stars
6. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk -- 208 pages//5 stars
7. The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark -- 117 pages//3 stars
8. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris -- 304 pages//5 stars
9. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris -- 320 pages//4 stars
10. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra -- 928 pages*//3 stars
11. Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda -- 304 pages//5 stars
12. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin -- 835 pages//5 stars
13. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls -- 320 pages//4 stars

August total: 13 books/4,975 pages

*Note: Don Quixote was read throughout 2011, I started it in January and was finally able to finish it this month. There's no way I would have been able to read the entire book last month!

Ooo, Game of Thrones! Have you seen the series, Jen? And the Fight Club movie?

Yup, I love the television series. That's what brought me to reading the book series. I really enjoyed the book, despite knowing what happens, and I can't wait to read the next one. And no, I haven't watched Fight Club yet, but I plan on it. I have it sitting on my hard drive, patiently waiting to be watched.

Jen wrote: *Note: Don Quixote was read throughout 2011, I started it in January and was finally able to finish it this month. There's no way I would have been able to read the entire book last month!
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Good reading month, Jen. I hear ya on Don Q. I opted for the abridged version. I found the full length book way too repetitive.

I just amended my list if anyone is interested. Turns out I read 6 books in August, 3 of which were 2 stars. Barely worth reading.

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

I abandoned 5 books (that I can remember). Three of them were audios.

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

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "I just amended my list if anyone is interested. Turns out I read 6 books in August, 3 of which were 2 stars. Barely worth reading.

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

I'm interested, that is why I asked. :)

Alias Reader wrote: "Madrano wrote: "I have read only 2 of the books listed thus far. "

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ALIAS WROTE >>Deb thanks for sharing your reads with us. Though I am confused. You list 7 books but say you read 2. Did you not finish some ? ..."

I can see how confusing that was. Sorry 'bout that. What i meant was that of all the books OTHER people had mentioned, i had only read 2 of them. THEN i listed the books i read in August.

deborah

Got, it, Deb. I misread your post. You were clear.

Deb wrote:
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. This is a jewel in the form of one a 70ish minister's musings, written for the then 7 year old son he'll leave behind when he dies, which the doctor told him would be soon. Set in the early '50s, it covers his past life, as well as events going on while he's writing. Leading me to read its "sister" novel...

-----------
I have this on my TBR. Glad you liked it. I read her other book, Housekeeping and found it interesting. I think it was a group read.

Alias Reader wrote: "Genius of Common Sense~Glenna Lang
nonfiction
rate 4
Three books, all written by women in the early 1960s, changed the way we looked at the world and ourselves: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, and Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities..."

I am trying to get a hold of this one. Rachel Carson is my hero. For some reason I can't seem to get it at the library when I type in the title. Hmmm

I found Silent Spring a bit of a slog to read.

Does you library allow you to search by isbn # or author.

You can find the isbn # at Amazon.

These are probably books from both July and August, since I don't keep careful records.

The Paris Wife McLain, The Paris Wife. 4. I picked this up after enjoying the new Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris, since this covers the same period and many of the same people. Fiction….history…. I don’t care what it's labeled. This is frank historical fiction, about Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley, and their bohemian lives in Paris, as Ernest struggles with writing his early novels and getting them published. I just got a copy of the newest edition of Hemingway’s memoir A Moveable Feast, which covers the same era from his perspective (as edited by later wives).

The Last Time I Saw You Berg, The Last Time I Saw You. 2.5 This was a sweet novel about a 40th high school reunion, and how people have changed and grown, yet carry so many of the same anxieties and dreams.

Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children. This is the second time I’ve tried to read this highly regarded classic. I got much farther this time, but just got tired of the writing style.

Rescue Shreve, Rescue. 3. I agree with Connie about this novel. It has interesting characters, an OK plot, interesting details about how EMTs respond to emergencies, but it was predictable and not very compelling.

Fragile Unger, Fragile. 2.5. An OK psychological crime novel, involving parallels between a current crime and a crime from years ago, involving a psychologist wife, detective husband, and relationships going back to high school days.

The Lacuna Kingsolver, The Lacuna. 4. I was very pleased with this imaginative novel about a young Mexican-American who became enmeshed with Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Leon Trotsky (during his exile in Mexico), and then faced the anti-Communist fervor of the 1950s in the USA. Lovely writing, although Kingsolver indulges in some of her usual preachy polemics in some parts.

Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India Joseph Lelyeveld, Great Soul. This is a thoughtful analysis of Mahatma Gandhi, with an effort to de-mystify his legend. It’s not a biography. Instead, Lehleveld is figuring out how the legend took hold, and comparing it to the actual beliefs and actions of Gandhi at important times in his political/spiritual career as a social reformer. After awhile, the reading became a chore for me, in part because the author assumes the reader is already reasonably familiar with India’s history, the caste system and Gandhi’s role in it. Also, Gandhi appeared much less admirable than I assumed he would be.

Child 44 Tom Rob Smith, Child 44. 4. I enjoyed this thriller about an investigation of a serial murderer in Stalin’s Russia. It gives new meaning to “police procedural” when the police are corrupt ideological totalitarians.

Alias Reader wrote: "I found Silent Spring a bit of a slog to read.

Does you library allow you to search by isbn # or author.

You can find the isbn # at Amazon."

I think so, its NYC Public library....the system keeps having a stack error today. Really annoying since I have to renew something today.

I was getting error messages on my Nook today also. Do you think there is something in the air??

hmmm, something in the air scares me right now, Earthquake, Hurricane, My car ws broken into AGAIN!!! I need things to go right. haha. I am looking forward to a nice weekend of reading some paper back books!

Sarah wrote:
The Paris Wife McLain, The Paris Wife. 4. I picked this up after enjoying the new Woody Allen movie midnight in paris..."
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Thank you for reminding me about this movie, Sarah. I want to see if my library has it.

re: silent spring

Yes, Elaine, NYC Public Library lets you search by isbn and author's last name.

I am sure they have the book. If not, you can request a inter-library loan.

Sarah wrote: "These are probably books from both July and August, since I don't keep careful records.

The Paris Wife McLain, The Paris Wife. 4. I picked this up after enjoying the new Woody All..."

Sarah, I loved The Paris Wife, The Lacuna, and Child 44. They all kept me totally engrossed. Glad you liked them too!

Madrano wrote: "I have read only 2 of the books listed thus far. The diversity of our books is delightful. Here are mine from August. (And, look at me!, actually posting in the correct thread the FIRST time!)


[b..."


[book:Gilead|68210] was wonderful. Thanks for letting me know about Home. I will be reading that as I really liked Marilynne Robinson's writing style.

Alias Reader wrote: "My August 2011 Reads: 11 books.

I post my thoughts about each book as I read it during the month. So this is a recap of the books.
Rating on a zero - 5 scale

Incendiary~Ch..."</i>

I didn't like [book:The Shack either!

My August reads were:
Three Men in a Boat 5 stars
What an enchanting novel! I loved it because it made me happy to read it. I found the story totally a lark about three men and a dog on a boat trip together down the Thames. It was one of those novels that makes the reader laugh so much that tears often roll down your face. Taken within the context of totally inept men who do not see the follies of their ways, the book is one that seems to poke so much fun at the British way of life that these men grew up in. Originally intended as a bit of a travel log, the funny repartee between the men and of course the dog, make the reader laugh so hard with that sense of utter enjoyment and outright fun.

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin 4 stars
I always love when a book informs and teaches you things you never knew about events in history. This novel taught me many of the issues and ideas that I was never aware of in the establishment of the Nazis in post war Germany. It was a very well written novel about our ambassador , Dodd and his family as they navigate the ins and outs of Berlin society while Hitler assumes power and begins his annihilation of the Jews and others.

State of Wonder 3 stars
For those of us who like a bit of science mixed in with a bit of intrigue, this was a fine book. It was written so well that the writing propelled you though to a somewhat disappointing conclusion. The story and the characters were exciting as scientists/doctors try to figure out, deep in the Amazon jungle why woman in a particular tribe continue to have children well into their seventies. (I know god forbid) The premise was interesting and the doctors dedicated. There was, however, a pharmaceutical company involved out to make big money on the proposed drug.

Old Filth 4 stars
Sir Edward Feathers, aka Old Filth is a sort of mysterious character introduced to us through the dialogue of people in the beginning of this book. Told through flashbacks, Old Filth's character and motivations are made clear to us by the time we hit the last page. It was a sad telling many times as poor Edward born in Malaya, is sent away from everything he knows, including an unfeeling father to live with the Didds in their bleak house in Wales. His two cousins are sent to the same environment where we are led to believe something bad happened which is revealed at the end of the story.

Dragonfly in Amber 3 stars
While I liked the continuing saga of Claire and Jamie, I found this book to be a bit long winded. Granted they are an enchanting couple, but when we are listening to every thought that Claire has, it does get a bit boring. I still think the characters are fairly exciting, the story a good one, but the on and onness of this novel really made me look forward to the ending.

Maine 2 stars
This was an ok summer read about probably the most dysfunctional group of women one could ever meet. The characters of these women were what propelled the story lead by one cantankerous matriarch. All of the women had many flaws, including greed, weak morales, alcoholism, difficulties with their mates etc. They all seem to float in and out of anger followed often by many stiff drinks.

The Way We Live Now 4.5 stars
Actually I am rating this a 4.5 essentially because I was disappointed in the ending. This book by Anthony Trollope really packed quite a telling of the ills of Victorian society. The characters he presented with all their foibles and issues were fascinating. Trollope really made such a fine commentary on the Victorian age with this novel. The sole purpose of society was to have money, to marry money, and essentially to not work at all.

The Devil Colony 5 stars
Let me preface this by saying that I have loved anything James Rollins has written and this book is certainly no exception. Mr Rollins takes us into the world of nanotechnology, coupled with the lost tribe of the Israelites, and the missing Anazai even have their time in the sun (or should I say the cave).

Love and Summer 5 stars
This was such a tragic,sad, compelling, yet uplifting novel for me. Having read a few other of Trevor's novels, I have come to appreciate the simple manner in which he writes of the people of everyday. He allows his readers to draw their own conclusions as he presents in limited but spot on prose their lives, their faults, their tragedies, and their salvations.

Loving Frank 4 stars
I usually find myself disliking a book when I dislike the characters. Here, however, I have to make an exception to that mental rule. This book was great! Fantastically written (as a new author), Ms Horan captured the elements of good writing and made the characters of Mamah and Frank come alive with all their foibles and imperfections.

Slaughterhouse-Five 3 stars
I had read this one in high school and found it to be a very wild ride then as well as now. The book is brutal in its telling and although it has been quite a few years since my last reading it still did pack a punch.

Bossypants 2 stars
This is one of those books one can read if they care to in a day. It is a sort of limited reflection on the life of Tina Fey who has certainly been in the news for awhile. Since I do not watch TV, it was hard for me to make any kind of judgement calls on that section of the book. I did watch Saturday Night Live when I was younger, but feel that it has lost much of its allure in its modern format.

American Gods 4 stars
Strange, metaphysical, fantastical, and alluring are words to describe my experience with this book. I am still, days later not quite sure of what I think. This was one of those books that you had a love/hate relationship with and oftentimes as I thought to give up on it, it kept on drawing me back in.

For further reviews: www.goodreads.com/review/list/1277371...

Marialyce wrote: "Gilead was wonderful. Thanks for letting me know about Home. I will be reading that as I really liked Marilynne Robinson's writing style. ..."

I will be very interested in reading what you think of Home when you read it, Marialyce. I read Housekeeping, liking it enormously. When i read Gilead my feelings about her writing increased. However, with Home i was let down. I suspect it's because i was on such a high with Gilead. This is one reason i'd like to read the thoughts of others about this one.

Alias, i didn't realize HOUSEKEEPING was read by the group. I read it alone after seeing the Christine Lahti filmed version. Thanks for that info.

deb

My August list:

Executive Power I enjoy this Mitch Rapp series very much. Very realistic thrillers, which I know a lot of you are not interested in. I space them out. This story involves the rescue of an American family being held captive in the Philippines, as well as a Palestinian terrorist who will do anything to bring about a Palestinian state. 4*

The Book Club Not my favorite of the Mary Alice Monroe books that I have read. I found it predictable, with stereotypical characters, but OK enough to finish. 2.5*

Police at the Funeral It had been some time since I'd read an Albert Campion mystery, and I was glad that I did so again. I enjoy reading these old masters. Love the dry British wit, as well as the difference in the details between the 30s and now. 4*



Sarah's Key This was an interesting story, but I really didn't care very much for the way it was written. Too much back and forth, even in the same time period. I didn't care for the way the child Sarah's thoughts were presented. The main character in the book, Julia, wasn't very sympathetic to me. On the contrary, the film was excellent. The inevitable changes that were made (from book to film) made the movie better and the characters more sympathetic. 2.5*

Death in Paradise Robert B. Parker was a favorite writer. This is a pleasant Jesse Stone novel. He is police chief in a small Massachusetts coastal town, after having been a homicide cop in Los Angeles. Has an alcohol problem. The body of a 14-year-old girl is found, and since her parents aren't interested, Jesse has a heightened desire to solve the case. 3*

No great literature this month, but some good reads.

Madrano wrote: "Marialyce wrote: "Gilead was wonderful. Thanks for letting me know about Home. I will be reading that as I really liked Marilynne Robinson's writing style. ..."

I will be very interested in readin..."

I did not like any of her books. Surprised?!?!

Carolyn (in SC) C234D wrote: "My August list:

The Book Club Not my favorite of the Mary Alice Monroe books that I have read. I found it predictable, with stereotypical characters, but OK enough to finish. 2.5*."

I listen to her books and find them okay. I do not have to pay a lot of attention.

Marialyce wrote: "My August reads were:
Three Men in a Boat 5 stars
What an enchanting novel! I loved it because it made me happy to read it. I found the story totally a lark about three men and a dog ..."
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I so have to read this one.
I really enjoyed reading your reviews, Marialyce.

Carolyn (in SC) C234D wrote: Sarah's key..."
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I totally agree with your assessment on SK. I liked the parts that took place in the past. I didn't care for the current day parts. I just couldn't understand her obsession.