Cindy's book of Millions of Cats is in here somewhere

Happy new years everyone! Welcome to my first thread of the year! Im a relative new comer here, joining in 2016. Not sure what took me so long! Im a retired teacher (early childhood special ed) for 35 years in Phoenix. Took a bit to get used to free time! Been enjoying it for reading and other pursuits of interest. I read just about anything; lately I have enjoyed reading works in tranlation and really opening up my world. Looking forward to another year of reading and discussing on CR

Just a warning tho: I have carpal tunnel and cubiatal tunnel (otherwise known as ulna nerve entrapment) Its not bad right now, Im wearing a brace when I am not typing and a brace on my elbow when I go to sleep, plus PT, special pillow exercises to do. So depending on the type of pain Im in, I might need to take a break from CR as far as typing in new posts and responding to others. I will however read anything wrtten here and will try my best to respond So if Im absent for a long length of time its probably that. Or its from falling down my TBR Mountain!

Last year I read more than I have in years (88) mainly because of the Asian Challenge and the enablement I mean the encouragement from all here to try new titles and authors. Plus I am retired so I can read more. With the African Challenge, plus RTT, RG, all the monthly themes etc I hope to read at least that many. these tunnels will not keep me from reading!!!

BOOK PLAN I don't do much planning, tho I will post monthly the books Id like to read usually from theme and challenges hereabouts. But I make sure that I have plenty of me books to read for my own pleasure.

Goals:
Dont usually have goals but there are a few things Id like to do this year:

Learn enough about African geography and history from the African Novel Challenge that I wont feel like a fool listening to the news or reading a book

Id like to continue to expand my reading by chosing more new to me authors than I did last year (36)

Last Years Favs
5*
the five thousand and one nights
Chasing Spring nf
wrong end of the telescope
the silence of Scheherazade
damnificados
a thousand ships
Memories Moscow to the black seanf
sovietistannf
when women were dragons
the day lasts more than a hundred years
the great passage
autumn
setting free the kites
wizard of loneliness
book of illusion
our missing hearts
terry pratchett a life with footnotesbio

rating system
1 usually DNF
2 I read it but not happy about it
3 a good read with some issues
4 memorable read
5 couldnt ask for more; usually books I will think about long afterwards, and often will reread

REVIEWS

im not good at these, I find I have a lot to say but have trouble putting it together. Im going to try something Lisa recommended, just answering questions

Why did I choose this book to read
Summary of plot w/o spoilers
What kept me reading
What was my favorite scene
What did I really not like
Who would I recommend read this book

sometimes I find a review that matches my thoughs perfectly, I may copy and paste it here. but will always credit the reviewer

My last book I read last year was the field the first one I am finishing for this year is the waiting room
I plan to review these soon here

The List

African Book Challenge

January - North Africa: Saharan Sands (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco)

hope and other dangerous pursuits4.5

February - Lusophone Africa

the book of chameleons 4.5
the first wife a tale of polygamy

March - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie or Buchi Emecheta

April - The Horn of Africa

May - African Nobel Winners

June - East Africa

July - Chinua Achebe or Ben Okri

August - Francophone Africa

September - Southern Africa

October - Scholastique Mukasonga or Ngugi Wa Thiong'o

November - African Thrillers / Crime Writers

December - West Africa

Reads for themes and challenges

theme books for reading thru time

January Feathered Friends
haven 5*

February 'lions and tigers and bears"
horses DNF

March Notorious Women
the jokes on you 4.5*

April April fool

quarterly reads for RTT

1st quarter WWI
Back to the front 4.5*

2nd quarter in between wars

global reading
1st quarter Jan - March 2023: The Baltic Sea region

fair play5*

the summer book 5*

The wonder adventures of Nils5*

2nd quarter April-June Between the Wars

historic fiction challenge

babel5*
the brothers ashkenazi 4.5
Books of Jacov

books read for ClassicsCAT

January adventure classics

February before 1900
the blazing world and other writings 4*

March: classics on screen
the bridge of san luis rey 5*

April: classics mystery

books for real life book clubs

January
wrong side of the telescope5*
March
The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade
The Assassins Apprentice 4.5*

Discworld: Death Novels Group Read
February Mort 4.5*
April reaper man

author reads
Febuary
Sylvia Townsend Warner
kingdom of the elvin DNF

April
Chaim Potok
beginnings in november

books for me!!

January

these precious days5*

mel brooks all about me4*

February

the lily hand 4.5*

small things like these 3.5*

the hero of this book 4,0

March

Royal Assassin 2.5

Dear Fahrenheit 451 2.5

gardens of light 4.5

lighthousekeeping4.5*

the necessary beggar3.5*

Madame Verona comes down the hill 3*

road to Litchfield 5.0

April

Welcome to Club Read 2023, Cindy! I too read more last year than I had in a few years, and for the same reasons. I look forward to following your thread when you are able to post and hope less time typing means more time reading for you. Be careful climbing Mt. TBR :-)

(reposted from duplicate thread)

Reposting... Happy New Year! Sorry about the carpal and other tunnels. Looking forward to another year with CR!

Happy New Year, Cindy. Sorry about the carpal tunnel. But also terrific about your reading last year.

I decided to put aside all my January reading for a book Ive been waiting for: these precious days Ive read and enjoyed Patchett since bel canto and have enjoyed her ever since I read the first of these collected essay in the NYer and knew I had to read this. Give me a day or so Ill get back in gear!

Im still trying to solve the problem of posting book covers. The formula Lisa gave me is not working. How are you all doing it?

>10 cindydavid4: I think you'll find this thread very useful. it has all of the HTML and formulas you need to do all sorts of things, including inserting images into your posts. It's where I learned how to do it.

OK, finally checking in with your CR thread '23. Have a great reading year. I'm looking forward to following along.

>11 Julie_in_the_Library: Thanks for this Julie, I added it to the Messages thread too.

>6 labfs39:, >7 WelshBookworm:, >8 dchaikin:, >11 Julie_in_the_Library:, >12 rocketjk:, >13 labfs39: Thanks for coming! good to see you all. Appreciate all the help and support. and looking forward to some good book talk here!

Hi, Cindy!

Not sure what the problem is, but fwiw, here's the string you need to post a pic--only change the brackets from curly to sharp:

{img src="link-to-pic.jpg"}

link-to-pic --- in general you can get this by right clicking on the image and pressing "copy image location". Then paste into the string.

in case the resulting image is too large, you can resize it by entering either height or width after .jpg" , for example height=200

Then the string becomes

{img src="link-to-pic.jpg" height=200}

Cindy, are you trying to post a picture in your thread or change the image of the book cover in your library? I'm asking because when I went to your profile, I noticed that neither book has a cover image.

As promised, my first review: the field



This was the last book I read last year. rated 4.5*

Why did I choose this book to readOver the yearsIve gotten many good book recommendations from Mark, and this was one of them. When I saw it was similar to a fine and private place and our town two of my fave reads, I knew I had to try it

Summary of plot w/o spoilers " In the Austian town of Paulstadt is a cemetery where the dead share their stories with the narrator. The author brings lives to life, revealing secrets, hopes, regrets and joys. There are premonitions and memories. Both can deceive " Le Monde

What kept me reading trying to see who connected with whom.

My favorite scene when the chickens come home to roost for a developer who will not listen

What did was I disappointed with That we dont hear what happened to the florist, and that it was too short!

What I liked How compassionate the author is with his characters and how much respect he has for each one. "he gives them a profound dignity"frankfurter allgemein zeitung

Who would I recommend read this book Anyone intersted in a character study and interested in how lives are lived. There is little action that takes place. If you need that, you might want to skip this one
https://www.librarything.com/author/seethalerrobert

Review of The Waiting Room https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+field+book+robert+seether&crid=O3GX3HN0FVXF&a...;

This is the first book I finished this year rated 3*

Why I chose this book to read I was looking through my selves trying to find a book I needed and this one happened to fall off the shelved. I recognized the author, Mary Morris, loved her travel narrative nothing to declare Realized I never read this book, so why not (I did find the book I needed)

Summary of plot w/o Spoilers"waiting for love to grow, for war to end, for life to move forwardis an experience shared by three generations of Colmen family women.Zoe returns home to visit herbrother whose years in Canada during the Vietna war were spentin a lonely drug induced haze. June, Zoes mother, had longed for her husbands return from WWII, only to find him transformed and estranged by what he has witnessed. Naomi, Zoes grandmother, had fled the pogroms of Russia to await her doomed love in America. The three women confront men, madness, dreams and ultimately themselves" fort worth star - telegram

what kept me reading The author does well introducing the characters and you quickly get a sense of the conflicts happening in their family. Wanted to see how these played out

favorite scene Sam, friends with Cal, Junes husband, comes to visit five years after the war, bearing gifts

what I liked How the three women interacted with each other, and how they found ways to live with the reality of their lives

what I didn't likethere was too much zoe, and I got tired of being in her head. But to be fair, I kept forgetting how really young she was.

Who Id recommend this to ? someone looking for a well written book about family dynamics

Now reading these precious days

>22 cindydavid4: Nope, I was just trying to understand. Ok, here's one last try:

Ok, so I went to Amazon and looked up the book Wrong End of the Telescope. The web page is here.

I right click on the image of the book, and select "Copy image address". Then I go to the post I want to write and type (pasting the URL I copied from Amazon between the quotation marks).

<img width=140 src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/WEBP_402378-T2/images/I/51NTx3WTmsL.jpg">

and this will appear

Hi Cindy, finally made my way over to your thread.

I use the same link Lisa put to post my book images. Post what you tried without the at the start and end to see if we can figure out what's going wrong.

Hi Alison! Let me see if I can find the original. In the meantime, another Review



It was my birthday and decided to put all challenges and plans aside and read something completely different

why I chose this book Have been a fan of his since Get Smart and have rewatched several of his great takes on movie genres like westerns, horror, silent movies, space movies etc. The book was on sale at my local indie, so had to buy it

synopsis w/o spoilers Really an autobiography of his early life his beginnings in theatre and in comedy on tv, then his work in movies

what kept me reading tbh, I skipped sections of his activites in the business and frequent name dropping; but got a kick out of reading how it was done in so many of my favorite movies:2000 year old man, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstien, High Anxiety, Silent Movie, Space Balls, Robin Hood Men in Tights...

Favorite Scene talking about how the movies got started and the behind the scenes work

what I really didn't like constently referring to all of his best friends; way too much name dropping. also got tired of his corny jokes; I know he's a comic writer but it got silly after a while

BTW I did not realize he was married to Anne Bancroft one of my fav actors as a teen, esp for her role in The Miracle Worker

who Id recommend it to Anyone who has seen any of these movies or want to know how Brooks got started . And are willing to roll your eyes alot

rating 4*

When I look at what you've got in your last post, there is no URL at all in what you entered for the image. For These Precious Days, I just went to the main book page, right-clicked on the cover, and chose "copy image address" (yours may say something slightly different if you're not on an Apple computer.

Then I come back here and type <img src="

At that point I again right click and say "paste" or I use ctrl-V.

Then what I have is:

<img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0063092786.01._SX180_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

So then all that's left to do is close the quotation marks and the brackets:

<img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0063092786.01._SX180_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg">

Which gives me:

Have you got the last " before the > at the end? I get it doesn't work if I don't include those, or if I put the wrong info between the two " " (I just right click on an image and choose copy image address and then paste it in between the 2 ").

>26 cindydavid4: I met Brooks and Bancroft once, about 25 years ago. I looked after their luggage at Milano Centrale railway station for a few minutes. I was totally non-starstruck because I had no idea who they were. My then-boyfriend, stuck in a ticket queue but watching what was happening, knew exactly who they were and was very upset that I got to meet his favourite actress without even realising!

Happy Belated Birthday, Cindy!

>31 rachbxl: Wow!

Cindy, I used to post pictures of book covers all the time, but once I started using my iPad, rather than my computer, I just couldn’t figure it out. If I can find a little down time (ha), I might give it a go.

>31 rachbxl: Great story, Rachel.

>31 rachbxl: Great story! That's me—I have zero celebrity recognition because of not watching TV. My husband is always saying he saw so-and-so on the street, when I have no idea what they actually look like. I probably would have recognized Brooks and Bancroft from their respective film careers, but the only people I can identify with any regularity are musicians.

Hi, Cindy, A belated Happy New Year and birthday good wishes! I’m looking forward to following your reading and reviewing this year.

As promised, my first review: the field

Why did I choose this book to readOver the yearsIve gotten many good book recommendations from Mark, and this was one of them. When I saw it was similar to a fine and private place and our town two of my fave reads, I knew I had to try it

Summary of plot w/o spoilers " In the Austian town of Paulstadt is a cemetery where the dead share their stories with the narrator. The author brings lives to life, revealing secrets, hopes, regrets and joys. There are premonitions and memories. Both can deceive " Le Monde

What kept me reading trying to see who connected with whom.

My favorite scene when the chickens come home to roost for a developer who will not listen

What did was I disappointed with That we dont hear what happened to the florist, and that it was too short!

What I liked How compassionate the author is with his characters and how much respect he has for each one. "he gives them a profound dignity"frankfurter allgemein zeitung

Who would I recommend read this book Anyone intersted in a character study and interested in how lives are lived. There is little action that takes place. If you need that, you might want to skip this one

>38 cindydavid4: It's good when you feel the book is too short, rather than the reverse.

Indeed!

back to the front

why did I choose this book?

For some reason I am drawn to learning about this war, Maybe because I know that much of the conflict in one way or anothher lead to the Holocaust whichI kno quiite a bit about. None of my family fought in it . From the first time I heard about it HS, I was appalled, but felt if I understood it better Id find a reason for it happening....well you know how welll that worked

I also am reading it for this months RT quarterly themes for this month: WWI

Synopsis the writer found many people in Canada knew next to nothing about that countries role in that war. He wanted to adress that, so people will remember, and learn. He travels to all of the towns near the trenches and reports on what happened there.

what kept me reading the whole concept interested me and I followed him from battle to battle. His writing is very good,and he includes detailed and readable maps! So rare these days it seems. He talks a great deal of the incompetence and idiocy of the war. He also has some unusual thoughts on all of the memorials which I found interesting, and agreed with

fav scene Not really fav, but cringe worthy I thought I marked it but didn't. Basically a city in France was about to be attacked by the germans. A sergant was given the job to makes sure that all gates were secure. The germans rolled right in: When asked why the sargent didn't protect that gate he said "why, thats private property it would be against the law"

what was I disappointed in sigh. this is all on me. He did just what he said he'd do and I indeed got a better sense what was happening But midway through, I just couldn't take all the battles and horrible conditions these boys lived and died in, the incompetence that caused more deaths. I just had to stop. I dunno, maybe I was expecting some sunshine and hope, but knowing what I know, I knew neither was in the works

what did you like see above in what kept me reading

who would you recomment this to? honestly anyone interested in the history of the war will appreciate what he finds on this journey and the detail and care he took in presenting the truth. Along with a stomach that can handle it more than I could

Rating You will laugh 4.5* Because there was really no fault in it.

I really like the format you are using for your reviews. There's enough information for me to discern what the book is about, and also how the book resonated with you. Great!

I've had great difficulty over the years I've been on LT posting pictures, and now that I'm exclusively using an iPad after my computer died, it's probably impossible (>34 NanaCC: let me know if you figure it out Colleen). I've pretty much given it up. Good on you for persevering.

Thanks for your compliment. The reviews I read that I like have great language and say things that I wanted to say but didn't have the right words. This way I can summarize with the words I have so it makes sense to the reader, Thanks again to lisa, who gave me the idea

review of these precious days

why did I choose this book Long time fan of Ann Patchett, figured reading her essays would be fun even if I read several from the NYer

synopsis w/o spoilers basically this is a memoir of her life: with family, friends, mentors, college, marriage book stores, writing, Tom Hanks and book covers

What kept me readingHer writing; doesnt matter topic, she just has a causual and intimate way of telling her stories. Kept turning the pages for me

fave scenes/stories There are no Children here. As a woman who loves kids but never wanted any herself, I so related to this piece. College was the first time this started up with my mom wondering when I was going to get married and give her grandchildren, (told her id just give them to her) from a school janitor who wondered whats wrong with me that Im not married with kids (I responded sorry you are not my type) to a dr who refused to give me contraception cause I was too young to make that decision, to an actual stranger asking about my kids told her I didn't want any, said I was selfish....some of the comments aimed at Patchett were even worse.

runner up Her time spent at the University of Iowa Writing workshop/ college of liberal arts and sciences. She has some rather pointed thoughts on the experience

what disappointed meNot so much disappointed, but noticed Some essays went on too long. This is especially the case in her title story. It was heartfelt, powerful, joyful story of friends and family during covid helping out someone with cancer. I appreciated their close friendship but she really could have used an editor. Just sayn

Who would I recommend read this Any fan of hers, anyone who wants to see her craft in action(she has a section explaining how she puts together her novels, how her characters often take over, how what was a straight road suddenly turns into curves, forks, trails and cliff hangers.), , anyone who enjoys a bit of dark humor now and then.

rating 4.5*

I do love Ann Patchet. Hopefully I will read these essays. Enjoyed your comments.

>43 cindydavid4: I've read elsewhere as well that the title story is the weak link.

Too bad, because the story itself is good: How Patchett met her through Tom Hanks, they became email friends, and she invited her into her home while she had cancer treatment in nashville. This all took place during Covid. There was so much to love about it, but it just went on and on. Im sure she wanted to pay homage to her dear friend, instead it got tiring to read

hope and other dangerous pursuits

I read this for the January African Challengs Northern Africa .this is actually a short story but quite powerful. Four people from Tangier join a boat to immigrate to Spain. What happense to them during the journey, then their background before and the aftermath is quite telling why immigrants need to leave their homes, the danger of their journey and what they need to do to stay alive later . Liked how she sets this up, starting with present, past and future. Thought the characters were well developed as were their relationships back home with families and friends. My only 'complaint' is this wasn't fleshed out into a novel, but perhaps its better this way, Now want to read another of hers the moor's account 4.5*

>47 cindydavid4: the story sounds terrific. (So many good N. African reviews in CR lately)

Review of Haven

why did I chose this book
I haved loved Emma Donogues books since reading slammerkin Previously my fav book of hers was a collection of connecting fairy tales called kissing the witch This book overrides that now Also reading it for the January RTT theme feathered friends, as birds play a huge part of this story

synopsis w/o spoilers

"Artt, a self proclaimed scholar and mystic, visits a monastery and announces he has had a vision that he should found and set up a monastic retreat. He asks for two monks to attend him, the older Cormac, who converted after the death of his wife and children from the plague and the young, eager to please, Trian." from Amazon review.

what kept me reading?

Her incredible writing, her developmen of characters the relationships between them , Her little throw away lines that say so much : (one of the monks is making a parchment) "This is the skin of two and a half calves he holds in his hands. by the time the new book is finished it will contain a whole unseen herd. Trian imagines them nudging and bumping each other, lowing in the dark. " and then there is her plot development We as readers see what the characters cant, and you keep reading till they finally do

Also loved how they managed to find ways of solving problems , lots of imagination here

my favorite scene actually its really the theme; throughout the book they are praying to god to deliver them from evil, from the devil, from sin. They soon realize the devil is amongst them.

what disappointed me

Not a single thing. Some reviewers wanted to know what happens next. I found the ending rather perfect

who would I recommend this to?
anyone with an open mind.

gave this 5* would give it more if I could. This story is going to stay with me for a long time

I really loved Haven also. I'm still thinking about it months after reading it. I've found Emma Donogue's books to be a little hit or miss, but this was really good - confident writing, great themes and character development to dig into.

Great review, Cindy! So glad you loved it.

thanks guys! Next up is burning questions stay tuned

burning question

why I read this Atwood is another long time fav author, been reading her since cat's eye and robber bride. Ive read just about all of her novels and short story collections, but not as many essays so thought this would be good

synopsis w/o spoilers This is a collection of essays from 2004-2009 ranging through many of todays topics such as debt, feminism, technology, censuring, climate crisis, freedom, and the art of writing

what kept me reading This is the kind of collection that allows you to dip in for a bit, and while reading something else, thinking about going back for another dip. So this took me longer than usual to read, but that has nothing to do with the delights in this book, there are many

I most appreciated her essays on other authors and reviews of books, from eve-dawn,the echo maker Ryszars kapuscinski, Alice Munroe, Doris Lessing,the illustrated man,and many others. It didn't matter if Id read these or know of the authors, each essay gave me a different perspective on them

what disappointed me Its not her, its me: I have grown tired of essays that are basically preaching to the choir. I know these are necessary, for not everyone has joined the choir yet but I found myself skipping some of these. I may at some point decide to go back and read them. This does not affect my rating of this book

who would you recommend this to? Anyone who has only read and/or saw Hand maidens Tale. There is so much more here. Read this to discover how really briliant she is, and then go read more of her books. And if you are already a fan, these really are gold.

Rating 5*

I like the format of your comments, Cindy. Is this way of writing up your thoughts working for you?

Yes it is. Im feeling more confident writing my thoughts within the prompts also finding that I don't need to write a thesis, just a brief comment is enough And I still have flexibility for "my favorite scene" I can use "my fav story" "my fav character." Thanks for recommending I do that Lisa!

Babel edited

What made me choose this book I loved the world building this author did in the poppy war. And the concept fascinated me; I have long been interested in lanuage origins and history and issues in translation (for me, American sign language and spoken Englis). This so fit into my wheelhouse perfectly

synopsis w/o spoilers A young Chinese orphan is plucked from Canton by a mysterious professor of Babel, a special school in Oxford to train translaters . As he grows he learns many languages and becomes a translater. In the meantime Britain is planning on war with China over opium trade. The theme here is colonialism, identity, revolution, the perils of translation

what kept me reading the writing and character development and plot, all of which was stellar. When I wasnt reading it, I thought about it all day , then stayed up way too late to finish it

what intrigued me She uses footnotes to background from real history and people, as well background of origins of words. For the most part this works really well.

Also she introduces the four main characters in differnt places in the book rather than all at once which confused me at first though I saw a purpose for the placements by the end of the book

Finally this is a totally different book than her previous trilogy except that both take place in China. Her world building was incredible; even more so in this book. I can hardly wait to see what shes going to do

what pulled me out of the book

this book was about a hundred pages too long; towards the end there are negotiations happening that take weeks and she repeats herself here frequently. The ending is perhaps manipulative, but it was also chilling powerful and true, . It works, but some editing could have made this better.

A minor thing but a bit frustrating. The *s denoting footnotes are microscopic. I got used to just going to the end of the page read the footnot but was often unable to determine where it was from without some rereading

Recommended to anyone interested in speculative fiction, in world building and language. Or to anyone who just wants to dive into an incredible read

Despite my criticism, rating 5*. I will never forget this book and despite its length may very well read it again

>56 cindydavid4: seems this really generates a variety of responses. I’m intrigued by your review.

>57 dchaikin: What are other reviewers saying? (suspecting they are going with the sub title which I hadnt seen before)

Next read for Baltic Sea RTT theme summer book which hopefully will be a lot llighter than my previous read!

>58 cindydavid4: some liked it, some didn’t here in CR.

Funny as of yet there are no reviews on the site! but I read a bunch of others and most negative reviews talked about it being too long and complicated

Ive been trying to get into other books, but this book keeps interferring. So I decided to read the last section. This part had me in tears at times. Now tho with clearer eyes - I see some things differnt In particular I sympathized with the characters desire to change things in their home lands, and push back on colonialism but what they ultimately did was severly change things in their country they are living in. By the end, the damage is done, but was it worth the loss of lives and livelyhood. Will these characters be cheered or condemned?

By the end, my sentiments swithched from one character to another unlikely character, somewhat. Not sure where to go with this but the conflict is on my mind I do wonder about a sequel, since we never found out if the ending made any difference in the action they were trying to stop

so I chose the summer book as an antedote

the summer book

why I chose this Read this for the RTT quarterly theme Baltic sea. Lots of choices here, but I remember reading the authors moonmin series in college for a Scandinavian Lit Class and loved it. Heard about this and wanted to try it

synopsis without spoilers On a small island off the Finland coast, a grandmother, father and little girl spend the summer in cottage, after the death of her mother. theres no real plot, just some vingettes between the three characters

what kept you reading the relationship between the 6 year old and her grandmother, through explorations near their home .

what made me smiile all of it, but the chapters "sophias storm' and "of angle worms and others" a few bits:

Sophia loved storms and prayed to god to send her one. The result was much more than she planned on after seeing everything shattered and destroyed"

"how can you talk like that when its all my fault. I prayed for a storm and it came"

"listen to me it wasnt your fault, granmother said, there would have been a storm anyway"

"you said he listens, that he hears every thing you say'

"yes he does but its my fault, I prayed for it first"........

"did you take your medicine"

'Yes I did"

'Good then go to sleep and stop worrying about all the trouble you cuased. dont worry, I wont tell anybody"

what gnawed at me as fun as this was, I questioned that sophia was only 6years old. Just never heard a child so young in that kind of conversational style, but the, I taught preschoolers,so I could be wrong

recommend to any reader who needs a break from the heavy reading and depressing world. This is really darling, without being saccarine. Enjoy

4.5*

You make this book sound intriguing, and I need a break from heavy and depressing. Going to library website now to check availability.

Oh good! hope you enjoy it as much as I did. She also wrote winter which Id lik to check out as well! Do you have a thread?

Next up Leo Africanus a imaginary biography of the geographer from Morroco in the Renaissance

Yes, it’s called “Diane’s Reading Life”—since threads are new to me, I never thought to use the dianelouise100 name, lol

>61 cindydavid4: what book are you discussing in this post?

um sorry, Bable was responding to dan's comment and sort of sequed from there

>65 dianelouise100: heh got it

>62 cindydavid4: oh, very nice on The Summer Book. Definitely an author and book I would to get to.

Thanks! I never read her Nials book which looks fun as wlll

Im sticking with lighter fare, so Im readingthe lily hand and other stories by one of my fav HF writers Edith Pargetter.. also author of the Caedfael series. Recognize a few of these, esp the first story a grain of mustard seed (did not realize she wrote this story Ive read similar stories like it elsewhere

Also startingn horse for the RTT Feb Theme "Lions and tigers and bears oh my"

and rereading mort for the Death books of Disc World

The Lily Hand Rating 4.5*

Why did I chose this?

Elizabeth Pargetter is one of my fav HF writers. As Eillis Peters, she wrote the most wonderful Cadfael mystery series that takes place in the early 12th century. This is one of those books on my shelves that I discovered cleaning. No idea how long its been there s decided to try it

Synopsis w/o spoilers

(from the back cover) :the stories range geographicaly across the world, from India to Europe, and to the old eastern block, and the cover diverse themes including murder,ghosts, humanity and courage,loss, faith and rebirth,music,revenge, love, and the absolute horror of war"

One of the themes that came out of every story for me was giving-a gift of some sort, often involved in redemption. They are not religious in anyway, just felt a strong sense of it.

what kept me reading? her writing shows her storyteller skills, I was captured by the descriptions of the setting, character development, and the stories themselves. She also cares about her character; there is a positive sense to these stories, that there can be redemption, and hope

My favorite stories

a grain of mustard seed I heard this story told many different ways; think I like hers the best

the man who met himself filled with twists and turns and an ending I didn't see coming

the linnet in the garden a young girl in an abusive environment, finds comfort in song

the cradle Despite knowing how this was going to end, I loved the journey

the lily hand This title story broke my heart

what didn't work? T

he stories that I didn't care for either went on too long or it was the author hammering the message into my head, A message I agree with but can do without the hammmering

who would I recommend this too

my 6th grade teacher had us read short stories by Twain, Saki, OHenry and others, stories with the ending usually an ironic surprise. If you like any of those authors or ones similar, you will probably like this one.

a far cry from kensington

why did i choose this read?

Seemed like several people here were reading it and it sounded fun. The Spark novels ive read have been good, so thought id try

synopsis w/o spoilers

In A Far Cry from Kensington envy and paranoia pervade the world created by Muriel Spark, where down-at-heel lodgers, failing publishers and unpublishable writers make their way through life in London nine years after the second world war.Mrs. Hawkins, thenarrator of A Far Cry from Kensington, takes us well in hand, and leads us back to her threadbare years in postwar London. There, as a fat and much admired young war widow, she spent her days working for a mad, near-bankrupt publisher ("of very good books") and her nights dispensing advice at her small South Kensington rooming-house.

WHAT KEPT YOU READING?

The character; Loved Mrs Hawkins and wanted to know what happens to her and her fellow boarding house fellows. There is a mystery here, and a tragedy; both written very well. Its a page turner, finished in a day, very satisfied

And then there were lines like these

(Hector is a nemisis of the Narrator who has called him a Pissuer de copia. She is talking to a luncheon partner)

"How did you come upon this job mrs hawkins"

I told him the story

"and what was the name you called the man?"

"pissuer de copia"

'which means? "

"in the literary world there are many pissuer de copia but Hector Bartlett is the top poc"

"Oh but I have met him.....poor fellow does he have a real problem with is bladder then?"

and

2. "Mrs Hawkins I take incalculable pains with my prose style", said Hector

He did indeed ,She thought. The pain shows.

what disappointed you?

Only that the book was missing two pages (66,67) and despite the good folk here suggesting how to find them, couldn't. so I continued the book without those pages and seem to have made it through ok. Certainy not the books fault or the author

who would you recommend this to?

Anyone interested in reading about london in the early 50s, along with the publishing at the time, and need a comfortable page turner

Rated 4.5*

I loved mrs. Hawkins too. Nice to read your take. I’m glad you read and enjoyed it.

oh forgot to add this gem from Kensington:

H :"you must have an interesting life"

Brigadier "could write a book'

"why dont you?"

"Tried, cant focus"

"For concentration you need a cat"

"Got no cat just dogs"

So I gave him this advice"If you want to concentrate deeply on some problem, you shoud get a cat. Alone with a cat in the room where you are working the cat will invaribly get up onto your table and settle placidly next to the lamp, The light from the lamp gives the cat satifacion. The cat will settle down and be serene, with a serentiy that passes all understanding. And the tranquility of the cat will gradually come to affect you, sitting there at your desk, so that all excitable qualities that impede your concentration composes themselves and gives you your mind back. You need not watch the cat the whole time Its presense alone is enough. The effect of the cat on your concentration is remarkably mysterious"

Years later he published the book. It was quite dull. But I only explained that the cat would help your concentration, not write your book for you

>74 cindydavid4: one of favorite lines and pieces of advice in the book. 🙂

Review for Mort

why did I choose this this is a re re read, for the Discworld DEATH series for this month.

Synopsis w/o spoilers Death is bored and decides he needs a replacement so he can go learn what humans are like. He picks Mort, a dreamy child that cant seem to find the right job in his villiage. Mort turns out to be more than was bargained for

what kept me reading remembering how much i liked it and wanted to make sure I still did. and then there were all the LOL footnotes.

disappointed? If I hadn't read the book before I'd have thought it was too short and perhaps not as well written as I would have liked. But this was only the 4th in the discworld series, and it sets the stage for many of his later books. Knowing that makes me forgive a lot

Recommeded to those who enjoy fantasy worlds, who enjoy brit humor and appreciate plots that are a bit crazy but do have a point. That being said if I was to recommend a first discworld book Id choose Small Gods, or Soul Music or Lords and Ladies, for they are the best early "stand alone" books, but if you want to start near the beginning this works just fine, realizing things will progress as you read

rating 4.5*

Finished and greatly enjoyed the book of chameleons review coming soon

Belatedly catching up, Cindy. Great reviews! Glad you've decided to review this year. Sounds like you've had a great run of decent books too.

thanks alison, yeah I have, tho there were a few duds I didn't bother listing. But lucky so far

review for the book of chameleons

Why did you choose this book

For the African Challenge February Lusophone countries whic includes Angola

Synopsis w/o spoilers "Félix Ventura trades in an unusual commodity; he is a dealer in memories, clandestinely selling new pasts to people whose futures are secure and who lack only a good lineage to complete their lives. In this completely original murder mystery, where people are not who they seem and the briefest of connections leads to the forging of entirely new histories, a bookish albino, a beautiful woman, a mysterious foreigner, and a witty talking lizard come together to discover the truth of their lives. Set in Angola, Agualusa's tale darts from tormented past to dream-filled present with a lightness that belies the savage history of a country in which many have something to forget -- and to hide. " from back cover

what kept you reading? I was interested from the start, even more so when Felix discovers this new occupation. This was a short book but the author manages to tell you a lot through conversation. I don't think it would have had the punch if it were longer. Lots about memories, and dreams,which are very short and are necessary to the story. When I realized the twist had to reread the beginning again, so it made even more sense. It doesn't have much to say about the civil war , but whatever he brings up he adds a bit of humor with it.

It took me a while to realize that the chameleon is the narrator; I don't usually like that but it fit with the story.

what bothered meSimon and Schuste interviewed the author at the end of the book and made it almost impossible to read. I was really interested in his thoughts as he wrote this. But it was printed in type so small I had to use a magnifying glass. The rest of the book is normal font and size, so whats up with this? There are discussion questions which I usually ignore, that are the exact small print.

recommended to If you like tales with a twist, and don't mind the talking chameleon (aka magic realism)

Rating 4.5*

>79 cindydavid4: I enjoyed your review, Cindy. I hope that my clumsy poem review didn't give the ending away too easily. x

Hee no, I don't mind spoilers usually, especially when they give me a hint to what's happening

Review of small things like these

why did I choose this bookI already had some knowledge of the Magdalen Laundries and Mother and Baby homes in Ireland, I was told there was a powerful example here. Plus it helped that Hilary Mantel and Colm Toibin praised it.

Synopsis w/o spoilers

"In a small Irish town in 1985 Bill Furlong, a family man and a coal merchant during the Christmas season. During a dilivery to the local convent he makes a discovery that forces him to confront both his past and the comlicit silences of a town controlled by the church"

what kept you reading I knew what was going to happen, but it was how well the book described the journey I loved the little family getting ready for the holidays, and soft hearted father confronting is less so hearted wife. I got the feeling she didn't know him very well

what was I surprised by that this was still going on in 1985.

what disappointed me "A slim novella. Perhaps I expected more. More depth, more about the Magdalen Laundries, more about Bill Furlong, the Catholic Church, and what happened to the young Sarah. A touching story, but just not enough depth." vancouverdeb

Was also wondering how his actions would affect him, his family and his employees in this place where the church rules

who would I recommend this too anyone interested in this subject, interested in reading about Ireland

Rating 3.5 Wanted to rate it higher, but was really disappointed by how the book ended with little to no resolution

I only found your thread recently, and managed to catch up. Lots of interesting readings, and I like the unusual structure of your reviews!

>62 cindydavid4: I was looking for a lighter read last week, so too bad I had not seen your thread, as The Summer Book seems really nice. i'll keep it in mind for another time.

>79 cindydavid4: I think I read The Book Of Chameleons some time ago. I have no memory of it but I don't think I liked it as much as you did.

>82 cindydavid4: Same feeling as you on Small Things like These. I might try something else from this author, but was not as moved as I was expecting after the glowing reviews I had come across..

>83 raton-liseur: Welcome abd thanks! good to know Im not the only one re Small things. I was feeling a bit guilty about it knowing how serious the situation was. And indeed expecting much more.

The unusual structure of the reviews is because its hard for me think what to say about a book,which is funny because I can do it elsewhere here. So it gives me a structure to follow, and I find it much easier to work with, tho I still from time to time find another reviewer who is able to say what I am thinking much better than I possibly can. Which is strange coz I seem to do just fine in real life, too much in fact....

next up the hero of this book Ive love McCracken since reading the giants house and esp like that she is married to Edward Carey, writer of incredibly quirky books that sometimes mirror hers. Anyway its a short book...Im working up the courage to start the books of jacob all 1000 pages of it so I keep circling around. Ill get to it

>76 cindydavid4: nice to see some Discworld pop up here

>82 cindydavid4: i’ll read this soon for the Booker list - April or May. Interesting

>85 cindydavid4: Mark left me wanting to read The Book of Jacob. I’m still intimidated by the length. I hope you read and report 🙂

I dunno, I am also intimidated by the lenght. I think If I just take one book at a time and try not to worry about the rest it will work. Ive heard such good things about it so it shouls work for me; Ill report back once I do

The Hero of This Book review

why did you choose this book Ive been a fan of this author sincethe giants house and was eager to read her new one

synopsis w/o spoilersA writer travels with her mother to London; after her mother dies, she returns to visit the places they went to for remembrance, mourning, learning

what kept you readingI was curious how this 'not a memoir' marketed as fiction was going to work out. She had promised her very insular mother that she would never appear as a character in her books. Its not long before you realize that the narrator is the author . The writing was good.

what did you like Her desciptions of London, one of my fav cities, and her obvious love for her mother. There is a scene when they go to the London Eye, a very large ferris wheel with glass capsels so you can see the whole city. The hesitation the fear and excitement were palapable. I also loved her descriptions of her mother

I didnt care for The author claims, with great frequency, that it's not a memoir, no matter how much it seems like one. There is a point when she really does break the fourth wall and for some reason it t bothered me. But it shouldn; and really, does it matter? There were also way too many times that I skimmed through; tho the writing was heartfelt, I found many repetitions of comments, esp continuing to declare this is not a memoir..

Also this review from amazon is influencing me.

How do we remember those we love who have passed? In McCracken’s case, it’s by writing. This novel, framed as a memoir revolving around her recently deceased mother and a trip to London that brings back memories of being there with her, is a lesson in the possibilities and impossibilities of knowing another person.

There’s more truth—more memoir—than fiction here, and I know, because McCracken’s mother was my boss and friend for more than two decades. She was truly remarkable. Well under five feet tall, walking with canes most of the time I knew her, and riding a motorized scooter in her later years, she was in fact indomitable. She used to say that “bodies are such a bother,” and hers was for her, but there was no challenge she backed away from, physical or otherwise. She had, as McCracken says, “weapons grade self confidence” and was immensely kind and smart.

We see McCracken’s mother as a daughter, sister, wife, theater Ph.D., mother, boss—and we meet a fictionalized but also quite real McCracken, daughter and teacher, with her own strong views on life, just as her mother had. In an age of bloated books, there’s not a wasted word in this slender volume, which left me recalling many memories of my own, and will leave you, who will be meeting Natalie McCracken for the first time, marveling at the character she was.

Recommended to:

anyone in grief, or knows about it, trying to recall the relationship between you, I think will find much in common here

rating thinking 3.5

>88 cindydavid4: enjoyed this post. I might be moved to read this now. Maybe after I have some distance from The Color of Water (also about mom).

I also enjoyed your review of The Hero of This Book, Cindy. London is also one of my favorite cities, and since my local library has a copy of it I'll probably borrow and read it next week.

looking forward to your comments

Ok the last few weeks it seems Ive been trying to juggle six books. The Kingdom of Elvinis a DNF for me; Its one I would have eaten up back in college, now it just feels dated and I ceased to care about it
After considering them all, I chose two to focus on in on the joke for the February RTT theme Notorious Women and the brothers ashkenazi* for the Pre holocaust thread and probably the historic challenge.

*As I read the thia well written book I dont understand why I did not pick this up earler (thanks for Jerry who keeps mentioning it!)

I am reading my first bok on my brand new kindle! the assassins apprentice just in time for my Sci/Fi Fantasy book group.Loving that I can make the text larger! However when I do that, the page readings are different, so there are a couple more 'pages' for each page.Thats fine but I am having trouble turning the pages sometimes, not sure if im not swiping fast or hard enough? Im still learning. I end up going to the bottom to find the page index, but there has to be an easier way. Suggestions? But Ive been wanting to read this for a long time and really loving it! Once I get the hang of it I think Ill be reading more ebooks

>92 cindydavid4: You only need to lightly swipe your finger right or left (in the middle of the screen) to go forward or back. You can also just tap the screen lightly to forward a page.

>92 cindydavid4: sometimes Kindle honors page numbers and sometimes it doesn’t, and so the page numbers change with font size. I hate the changes. I want to know what page I’m actually on, and that requires some permanence.

>94 dchaikin: Although we could have two different editions of the same novel and have vastly different page numbers. Page number is relative.

>94 dchaikin: that didn't bother me too much; I figured the pages would change when I changed the font. Much prefer that then what happened when our school bought us all Lenovo lap tops, and any change to the font meant the one page went on forever with practically no pause.

thanks Lisa,got that figured out!

>95 labfs39: true, but a physical copy doesn't change page numbers while I'm reading it. It also doesn't change font size, which can be useful sometimes.

the assassins apprentice

why did I pick this?
My sci fi/fantasy book group is reading this and Id heard so many glowing comments about it so how could I resist

synopsis without spoilers
Im tempted to call it a boy and his dog and leave it at that :) But heres the real one "Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father's gruff stableman. He is treated like an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him secretly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz's blood runs the magic Skill--and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family. As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. And though some regard him as a threat to the throne, he may just be the key to the survival of the kingdom"

what kept me reading

where should I start? the writing, the character development of young fritz, the story and its twists. I started this a few days ago and just finished it, and have already ordered the sequel Also loved the drawings for each chapter, there is one that had me in tears

what disappointed me
The postscript and epilogue while useful, really just dragged esp as the rest just did not let up. But it didn't bother me all that much

who would I recommend this to?

To anyone who loves one of those old fashioned fantasies we read back in the 80s. Excellent writing great world building, characters that come to life. This is like those

Rating 4.5*

>99 cindydavid4: one of those old fashioned fantasies we read back in the 80s Lol and there were so many!

>99 cindydavid4: I enjoyed this a lot! I love when a book reads so quickly.

Review of In on the Joke

why I chose this book someone here mentioned it. Since Ive always loved comedy, I was interested in finding out about some of the women pioneers of stand up.

synopsis without spoilers The author takes us through very detailed chapters of six comedians: Moms Mably, Bell Barth,Rusty Warren, Elaine May, Phyliss Diller and Joan Crawford

what kept me reading
He did what he set out to do "Ive tried to present their lives and work with accuracy, empathy and appreciation. to understand them in the contexts from which they emerged and indicate their deserved places in the history of comedy, of women in entertainment, of American popular culture"

He does this in an easy informal manner, and by the end of each chapter you have a better understanding of where they fit in their time, they struggles that slowed them down, and the highlights of their careers All of these women were pioneers and blazed the way to so many of our female comedians today

my favorite chapters had to do with Moms mabley, who I had heard about but had no idea what she did, at a time when Jim Crow kept so many POC back, esp the women. Elaine May who was instrumental in the style of improvisation we are used to todat, and Phyliss Diller, who I remember watching on the variety shows my parents watched in the 60s and 70s. Learned that she was a muscian and a singer, in fact she was asked to perform for the pittsburg pop orchestra, playing Beethovens 9th. She also told Barbara Striesand not to fix her nose, and actually met Moms Mabley The other women were intersting, but I focused on these three much more

why I skimmed some parts He was very detailed, and often the list of people and places and times felt like data dumps., I apreciated the information but I skipped some parts that were confusing or repetitious. (sort a like telling Mozart that his music had too many notes, I guess)

Rather than all of the details,I wanted more examples of their bits. He gives a few for each but I wanted more. Yes I can google, but I was surprised by that

One very small thing that was strange to me. Every time he mentions a dollar amount, he has a footnote indicating what that amount would be in 2022. I don't get why he did that, cI certainly didn't need to know that. He does indicate how much male comedians get over their female colleagues, but I could probably figure out the general worth without it

I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in strong capable women who are able to be successful in a mans world, and anyone interested in the roots of comedy in our culture

4.5* and a hearty bravo!

Just popping up to say that I am enjoying your review format.

Thanks, I like it too because I can change the prompt to make it flexible depending on what I want to say!

Sigh.I can't toss a kindle against the wall like you can a nice big book , just not satisfying enough. So here is my review of royal assassin

why did I chose this book just finished the first book and loved it so much that in moments I had the second one in the queu. Had high expectations

synopsis without spoilersFitzChivalry has survived Prince Regal's attempt to poison him, but is left weak and prone to unpredictable seizures. Fitz vows to never return to Buckkeep and his king. A vision of Molly fending off an attack by Red-ship Raiders convinces him otherwise, and he returns to the royal court of the Six Duchies.

what kept me reading hobbs writing is incredible and couldnt wait to see how she writes the next chapter in FitzChivalry's life.

why did you stop in a coming of age story you assume that the protagonist is going to learn from his mistakes and develope confidence as well as a spine. By the time I got to the 40% point, I knew this was not going to happen. Its like he remains a child, and makes the same mistakes over and over again, constantly moaning and complaining about his life. He also is constantly abused by the other characters, even ones who supposedly have his back, so his sense of inferioty gets even worse. Whats crazy that in book 1 he is smart and brave and eager to learn. But over and over again he plays the idiot. Think maybe he should change places with the Kings Fool,in fact that could be the title of the book, he was much more interesting and mysterious

There is a romance thats actually honestly just puppy love, there is no real chemistry and it just all falls apart

There is a point early in the book that the new young queen calls the people to arms to go after zombie like creatures. This was an incredible section and I cheered for her. But the one time she gets some agency, she is pulled back to the passive role she had.

There were many problems with the plot that were contradictory or just nonesensical I was so disgusted with the way the protagonist was going, I just stopped reading. the problem with a Kindle i you can not take the book to the local bookstore for trade credit. Ah well, I learned my lesson - read a real copy of the book to see how it goes before you buy it on Kindle

who do I recommend this to iIf you have read the first book, lower your expectations, and perhaps youll get something from it

Rating DNF

Thank you for your review, Cindy. I loved the first book in this series too, have been thinking when to get to the next installment. You’ve cleared that issue up—too many other things on my lists!

glad im not the only one!

Oh joy! one of my favorite authors Kelly Barnhill, has a new book out, titled the crane husband heres a review from the site https://www.librarything.com/work/28196068/reviews

not sure when it comes out but this is a must find for me!

Ok I thought dear fahrenheit 451 would be a fun read; librarian writing letters to favorite books. While the concept was great, it turned into a memoir, which I was not expecting or wanting. Her letters are rather childish, and while we share a lot of books, her comments were so juvenile. And the fact that she did not like wicked puts me off. Its an amazing take on Baums masterpiece. The last part are her reading recommendations, some of which were interesting, but by that time I really lost interest

Speaking of her language I did like this review from Amazon: "Dear Author, Annie Spence, your thoughtful, often insightful reviews of books are marred by your constant swearing. For someone who who is educated and obviously well-read, I was quite surprised by the constant use of profanity. No, I am not a prude. What I am is someone who prefers a writer who can use descriptive words to explain how they feel and a leave profanity for effect. When you swear constantly, it loses it effect, and only shows your lack of imagination, unfortunately."

rating 2* mainly for the concept and her attempt to encourage reading

>102 cindydavid4: One very small thing that was strange to me. Every time he mentions a dollar amount, he has a footnote indicating what that amount would be in 2022. I don't get why he did that, cI certainly didn't need to know that.

It can be difficult, especially for younger readers, to know how much spending power an amount had in a different era, especially if you don't want to break your reading flow to look it up or think it out. The modern equivalent provides some context for the numbers so the reader can know if the sum represents, say, a middle class income, versus barely making ends meet, without stopping for longer than it takes to check the footnote before continuing on.

Ok guess Im not a younger reader any more thanks for the reminder :) you are right of course, hadn't thought of that

review of bridge of san luis rey

why did I chose this? The classics march theme is to pick a book that has been adapted to a movie. I saw this one listed and remembered how much I liked the authors plays in HS, decided to choose this on

synopsis w/o spoilers aboutseveral interrelated people who die in the collapse on an Inca rope bridge in Peru, and the events that lead up to their being on the bridge. A friar who witnesses the accident inquires into the lives of the victims, seeking some sort of answer to the question of why did they have to die.

what kept me reading like in Our Town, Wilder makes his characters come alive in ways that make you care very much for them, despite some traits each of them have that might make them them otherwise. He very much cares for them. Their stories, and the interactions they have with others make this book a stunning character study.

My favorite story was of Eustace and Manuel, twins who were orphaned and were very close until one dies over love, and the other takes his brothers name. But love is involved in every story. Here is the way the author sums them up

"all memory of these five will have left the earth, and so ourselves shall be loved for a while and then forgotten, But the love will have been enough; all those impulses of love return to the love that made them, There is the living and there is the dead, and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning"

disappointe? that it was not longer, but its brevity works so well

recommended to anyone questioning the meaning of life, or just a good group of stories about it

rating 5*

>112 cindydavid4: I finally read this last year and I also really enjoyed it.

Now reading gardens of light, set in one of my fav places, Mesopotamia, and least known times, 3rd century CE. Based on what little is known about this mystic, whose philosophy feels a lot like Gilbrans the prophet is a turn pager of that time. this is the third book Ive read by Maalouf, and he never disappoints

>112 cindydavid4: Great review. Reminded me that I have a nice edition of this and have never read it.

>112 cindydavid4: Bridge Of San Luis Rey I read this with the book club that I belonged to at the time and everybody loved it.

Its making me want to read another one of his books. Any suggestions?

Review of gardens of light

why did I choose this book this is one of the first recommendations that came up for me on my new Kindle. Id read the authors other books and this intrigued me esp because it takes place in ancient mesopotania, a place I have always wanted to visit. I knew absolutely nothing about the man, or the time period, so I was intrigued

synopsis w/o spoiler "The Gardens of Light tells the life story of Mani, painter, doctor, and prophet born in Mesopotamia—modern day Iraq—in the early third century of the Christian era. He advocated “The Gospel of Light”—a religious system which was a mixture of Gnostic Christian beliefs, ancient Persian Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and some pagan elements. This came to be known as Manichaeism and attracted vast numbers of disciples. The mystic exercised a powerful attraction over his disciples—rulers and scholars, itinerant merchants, shippers, baptists and sages who inhabited the shores of the Tigris—and was hated by the Magi, the high priests of Zoroastrianism "

"In 1969 in Upper Egypt a Greek parchment codex dating to c. AD 400 was discovered. It is now designated Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis because it is conserved at the University of Cologne. Combining a hagiographic account of Mani's career and spiritual development with information about Mani's religious teachings, and containing fragments of his writings, it is now considered the most reliable source of information about the historical Mani"

what kept you reading the writing and character development, esp with Mani as he starts with a difficult childhood to turn into an advisor to the King of Kings during the Sassanian Empire . I really felt a strong sense of Kahil Gibrans the prophet in his teaching here (not surprising as the author is from Lebanon tho I don't know if that made a difference)

what I really needed A decent map of the area. Needed to google the cities and empires to get a sense of place. Should have been in the book. That usually means I subtract half a star; I think maps are vital to telling a historic fiction esp when the journey or place are so important to the story

I recommend this to readers who enjoy stories that take place in ancient times, and enjoy a fictional account of a real life person.

Rating 4.5

>117 cindydavid4: I have not read anything else by him

review of the first wife a tale of polygamy

why did you choose this book this is for the February African Novel Challenge - Lusophone region. A little bit late but I know thats fine. Was very intrigued that this author the first woman from Mozambique ever to publish a novel.

synopsis w/o spoiler (warning, if you have the book from archipalago books, the front flat has a major spoiler) This book is about Rami, a happily married woman in Mozambique who finds out her beloved husband and father of her children, has been cheating on her, with not just one woman but 4 others! The rivals ultimately join together, protest and demand their rights The story becomes one of rage but also of empowerment, and turning tables

what kept me reading the writing in this is really wonderful, using vivid language, with twists and turns I didn't see coming. I started underlining quotes but gave up and just read. Its also has many hilarious scenes, esp when there is a family meeting and there are m any of them. Its a bit soap operatic, but she expresses the pain and frustration of women living in a very toxic world where they are abused every day, invisible, put down, by the men they live with; it will sound very familiar to women all over the world. I was curious about what she would do

One of my favorite scenes is when Rami tells her mother in law what happend and realizes that each wife has had several children she is estatic! Oh, grandchildren!!

What made me sad, is that along with the abuse that come from men in their lives, women from different regions are verbally abusive to each other. It was interesting to read the differences between them but upsetting as well to hear how they hurt each other.

what I could have used less The author brings up many themes of feminism, of rights and empowement and how put down the are, to the point where its like, ok, we got it, move on to the story. Also the main character goes off on these long moody swings from sorrow and self hate to the swells of ectasy and flight. I liked the women, they were fun and very smart but they did go back and forth SO much about their feelings for Tony that my head started to spin. But it wasnt enough for me to complain too much

who would you recommend to If you are interested characters who are very smart, interested in the region, interested in womens rights, interested in the issues surrounding polygamy, and dont mind a bit of soap opera, this may be for you

rating 4.5, and very very eager to read her next book!

>119 baswood: just realized I responded to the wrong post. Ive just read his two plays by the skin of our teeth and our town will have to check out his other works

>121 cindydavid4: I read this last month too, and it's quite a ride! One thing that struck me (and I didn't think of it when I was writing my review) is that Rami is torn between wanting to empower the other wives, yet doing so inevitably worsens her situation economically. Yet she also says she personally gains from having allies.

Thats true,and shes constantly wanting Tony even as the other women are getting their turn. But i did love the relationships between them

lighthouse keeping

Ive been having such a run on wonderful books, I open the covers now half expecting to be disappointed. I certainly wasnt with lighthousekeeping

what made me choose this book Ive heard of this author before but never thought to check out one of hers until now. a couple of posters were talking and I decided to take up their recommendation

synopsis w/o spoilersTells the tale of Silver an orphaned girl who is taken in by the blind Mr Pew, the mysterious lighthouse keeper on the Scottish coast. Pew tells her stories about a nineteenth century pastor named Bable Dark who or may not be related to Pew or to Silver

what kept you reading the little girl wanting stories, and the old man telling her. Simple but lovely language, I flew through this book in a day This book is about stories,and who we choose to love Here is just one exmple of something that made me smile and nod my head

" I know that the real things in life, the things I remember, the things I turn over in my hands are not houses, bank accounts, prizes or promotions. What I remember is love-love of this dirt road, this sunrise, a day by the river,the stranger I met in a cafe, Myself even. which is the hardest thing to lo, because love and selfishness are not the same thing It is easy to be selfish, hard to love who I am.No wonder Im surprised if you do"

misses not badly, but towards the end I got confused by where she was and at what time. All I know was that she had grown up; But that didn't last long and didnt spoil it for me at all

who do I recommend it to? If you love stories, some that are good some that are tragic, if you dont mind a little bit of magic realism. if you like to read LBGTQA books

Rating 4.5

next book the necessary beggar

finished Necessary Beggar. Need to think about a review for this

Now reading jane of hearts short stories by a fellow online reading group member from a few decades back, should be fun

Ive been jumping between books lately , not sure what I want. Seems like i have been reading the brothers askenazi forever but needed to take lots of breaks from it because its so heavy and at times really hard to read (emotionally) so i came across a few alternative reads

I think I reviewed dear Fahrenheit 451 which I did not care for at all, but was wanting a similar book of a Librarians list. So I found check these out which has been a breath of fresh air. Ive been goint through the 20 categories of books and writing down favs, Il review this soon i hope

also started just one damn thing after another which is a happy light read that I needed right now,

and think Ill go to bed with jane of hearts and other stories written by an online book buddy from years back

Great review of The First Wife, Cindy; I enjoyed it as well.

thanks. cant wait to read another of hers

thank you jerry for the correction, I thought it was the younger who won the prize but got mixed up who was who

I have 4 books to review, and decided to start with the one that took me a month to read: the brothers ashkenazi not because it was difficult, but because emotionally it just drained me and needed less fraught reads

In case you didn't know the author Israel Joshua Singer had a brother, Isaac was the younger and won the Nobel prize. Israel was the older and died relatively young.

why did I choose this bookIve been wanting to read this for ages, but hadnt thought of it in years. . So Jerry started a new post Pre Holocaust, which considers the years that lead up to it. This one was also recommended to me by my cousin telling me it fits perfectly.

synopsis without spoilersabout twin brothers living in a Polish town Lodz. circa 1880, examines the rilvary between the two. There parallel fortunes match the city's though 1935

what kept you reading

The story takes you through post Napolian era,with the coming of German weavers asked to take up jobs in Poland. As time goes on the trade gets bigger, population larger which requires bigger machines. Union strikes starting up leading to socialist influences. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer,and of course the Jews are always to blame. The Russian Revolution comes in to play as does WWI and the depression. needless to say I was hooked early, and kept turning pages no matter how tired I got. And I kept coming back for more.

A review from the Wall Street Journal "as similar to Tolstoy with a vast and wide ranging characters,a strong feeling for the movement in history,and playing out the drama of men and women trapped in the machinery of forces greater then themselves"

caveats

there are slow parts, esp in the beginning when there is a lot of family tree stuff, but it picks up stean

there is a huge amount of Jewish customs and religious traditions that might be confusing. Fortunatly the yiddish is all translated

random thoughts

was this based at all on the two brothers? It was the younger one one who was awarded a Nobel prize in literature. But then the older one died much earlier.

lots familiar here from Fiddler on the Roof

quote "as long as there are jews there will be pogroms"

quote "she inherited, from her grandmother, an extraordinary faculty for getting rid of money"..."the extravagance she inherited from her mother was matched by the ambition she inherited from her father. No place but first would satisfy you

many biblical references: jacob and esua, the younger one taking elders birthright ,

"the seven fat years are finished and there is nothing to live on during the seven lean years"

man marrying his brothers widow

who would I recommend to

readers who love family sagas over several generations. those who love BBs. those who love reading about history,

rating 5* 10* if I could; this is going on my list of the best books Ive read

>131 cindydavid4: Great review. I should add this somewhere in my reading of Isaac B. Singer. Small point of information . . .

"It was the older one one who was awarded a Nobel prize in literature. But the younger one died much earlier."

You have that backwards. Isaac was the younger and won the Nobel prize. Israel was the older and died relatively young. Israel was already in the U.S. and was able to swing his younger brother Isaac a visa to the U.S., which was very hard to do, as by the 1930s the U.S. State Department was letting very few European Jews, and especially Eastern European Jews, into the U.S.

thanks I was getting confused obviously made the edit at the top

Its makng me was to read the family Moskat by his brother , recall you singing its praises

wonder about the two brothers writing similar stories, how they compare and contrast be interesting to know how they influenced each other

they have a sister who was asio a writer Ester Kreitman. I have her deborah which I suspect is somewhat autobiographical. It was the inspiration for IBs Yentl,the Yeshiva Boy which was adapted for the film Yentle with Barbara Streisand

Would love to read a biography of this family

>133 cindydavid4: "Would love to read a biography of this family."

Isaac Singer did write a series of memoirs, which I guess at least tell the family's story from his point of view. I've only read the first, In My Father's Court, which is about his childhood in Poland.

>133 cindydavid4: oh I think I have that

>133 cindydavid4: I read IB Singer's Love and exile : an autobiographical trilogy a few years ago. I enjoyed the first part, A little boy in search of God : mysticism in a personal light, the most. I wonder if it's similar to In My Father's Court? The next two parts, A Young Man in Search of Love and Lost in America, didn't impress me. Perhaps it was his many, many affairs, sometimes simultaneously, but I didn't like him as a person, with his self-absorption and hypochondria.

Interesting; giving the number of affairs that the character has in his book, maybe theres somr reality there. Does he mention his relationship with his brother at all> Ill take a look at that first part, and just found my copy of Fathers Court so Ill find that out soon

Just read an interesting review about the trilogy, and this is quoted from it.

Although he maintained an interest in science, Singer began looking for answers elsewhere. At a very young age, he began studying the cabala, Jewish mysticism, which fueled his morbid imagination and dreams. Then he began devouring philosophy, psychology, and especially the occult, in an effort to solve certain questions to his satisfaction, such as the existence of evil. He developed an ethic of protest in which every compassionate act done by a human is a thumbed nose at a God who doesn't deserve our love because of the existence of evil.

"This ethic of protest, I told myself, existed in all people, in all animals, and in everything that lived and suffered. Even the evildoers protested when things started going badly for them and other malefactors did to them what they had done to others... The moral person protests not only when he is personally wronged but also when he witnesses or thinks about the suffering of others. If God wants or feels compelled to torture His creatures, that is His affair. The true protester expresses his protest by avoiding doing evil to the best of his ability."

Oh wait, that was your review! interesting

>137 cindydavid4: Lol, yup. I thought that was the most interesting section of the trilogy.

now reading in my fathers court

review of the necessary beggar

what made you choose this book Keith wrote about this and I found it interesting, a sci fi about exile and refugees.

synopsis w/o spoilersin a world in another dimension a family is sent in exile after one of their members commits murder, They end up in Nevada, in a refugee camp

what kept you reading this story hooked me from the start, this family is mourning for their idyllic home while trying to deal with the usual horrendous refugee experience in America. What makes it worse is that they are not able to tell anyone where their home is, how they got there, or what their language is, so they are not allowed to leave. there is some magic realism with ghosts and communication with the dead which I thought beautifully done. I loved the discussion of the necessary beggar And I thought the families experiences and reactions very believable

what slowed me down I can usually stretch my sense of believability when it comes to sci fi, fantasy, magical realism. But the ability of Zama, a 6 year old just learning English to be able to carry on a conversation with medical, legal, social services, and church members was to me over the top. I know that refugees often depend on their children to interpret for them, but they need to learn the language first. That being said, I found the conversations about the necessary beggars in their culture fascinating, and the way the family needed to deal with what was happening aroung them realistic.

In the second part of the book we don't get a sense of how much time has passed but all of a sudden Zama is in HS with a boyfriend. This suddenly turns into a melodrama with teenage angst, and and I started losing interest.

There is little sci fi here; I wanted to know more about their world; instead there was a lot of magic realism, with many coincidences and deux en machina to end the story.

that being said I found the themes of familial love, redemption, hope, and forgiveness worth the read. This did in some ways feel like Isabelle Allende or Garcia Marquez which were two of my fav reads

Reading other reviews, its apparant this is one of those love it or hate it kind a books. Im inbetween; the concept is interesting, and its a look at what happens to any family in this situation. But I was disappointed in how it was written

who would you recommend this to Its not really sci fi, but if you like magic realism and interested in how families react to a troublesome environment, You might like this one

Rating 3*

Memory Road Trip: A Retrospective Travel Journey

from my Amazon review

I love travel narratives and Kindle recommended this to me. The author is a travel agent who has traveled around the world, and lives in my town. . the first several chapters s talk about her on and off and on and off again boyfriend and their travails, um i mean travels. She finally ditches him and goes traveling alone. For someone who is a travel agent, she is incredibly naive and clueless. She doesn't bother to look a map to see how far she needs to walk, or call to see when a museum in a small town is open, frequently misjudges distances, size, and doesn't bother checking the temperture and is either burning up or freezing. Almost dies of thirst forgetting to take water on a trail to the Valley of Fire in Nevada

She doesnt seem to talk to people but when she does she is totally tactess In Germany after seeing Daccau.she asks a guide what its like to live in such a horrible place. Trying to get reboot ticket to Paris after 9/11 she aske the agent to save the ticket for her so she can have it for a souvenir
I can just imagine the looks on peoples faces yikes. Every place she goes to makes me feel embarrasssed for her

She often goes off on a philosophical discussion about what she thinks while spending little on that she is seeing she even goes to visit the small villiage where her grandparents came from with abxolutly no background. Some of her descriptions are lovely like seeing the Chartes Cathedral in Paris. And her travels around the ruins in the four corners area really were splendid; Ive visited some of them but a long time ago, and I now want to plan at trip there sometime (when its not summer)

I thought about giving her the benefit of the doubt, but kept remembering shes a travel agent. Glad shes not mine. At the point when I couldnt read any more I was getting a headache, I stopped. There are much better travel narrators out there without wasting time on on this one not recommended at all

Oh and she has a sequel, which I will not bother with no matter what kindle tells me

rating DNF

>142 cindydavid4: Ugh. Was it vanity press?

Possibly, its ‎ Memory Road Press. sounds like it to me

>142 cindydavid4: Yikes, indeed!

Enjoyed your review of Memory Road Trip. Hope people in your town are not all like that.

Oh there likely are, but they don't tend to write travel narratives!

Just finished road to litchfield which was really good; I need to read more of her work.Review coming

review for Road to Lichfield

why I chose this Kindle recommended it. since Id read some of her work before, thought Id try it. Its her first novel and it won a Booker

synopsis "Ann Linton leaves her family in Berkshire and sets up camp in her father's house when he is taken into a nursing home in distant Lichfield. As she shares his last weeks she meets David Fielding, a friend of her fathers". While it tells the story of an affair, there are suprising ways this is different from other similiar books

what kept you reading From the beginning I was hooked on this family The writing is extraordinary( Ive noted some quotes but Im unable to fine them, Ill add them later)No slow points, no slogs, no out of place moments. Lots of talk about saving the past made for some intersting thoughts

anything wrong> No actually; it flowed well from the different situations to the final surprising end. The book was written in 1977, a completely different world in terms of writing. It was so different from books we read nowl. Cant put a finger on why,

A reviewer here made this comment and I think it fits what Im trying to say
"It left me with a feeling that if we can only discern it, life is more like traveling along a road than sitting in one place. Even if that traveling involves going up & down the same road fairly often, we see different things each time. By implication, perhaps if I open my eyes a bit more (outwardly, inwardly, back in time) there's a lot which can be revealed.

recommend to anyone who likes a solid plot, good writting, strong characters

rating 5* I need to go back and find others of hers that ive missed

ps can anyone tell me how to find highlighted notes for me to pull up? thx

>148 cindydavid4: ps can anyone tell me how to find highlighted notes for me to pull up? thx

On my Kindle, if I tap the top of the screen, then the three dots stacked on top of one another, a menu pops up with the option "Notes & Highlights".

No I found them on the book page icon, but its in the same general place. but thanks

>147 cindydavid4: noting. I’d like to read more Penelope Lively. (I just finished The Photograph which i liked, although it’s maybe nothing spectacular.)

>151 dchaikin: um perhaps a caveat; I can think of some reasons readers might like it, so wont be surprised if you have a different view.

review of The Wedding of Zein and Other Stories

why did I choose this book? I needed a book for Aprils African Challenge, the horn of africa. Cant remember who mentioned it, but Thought it sounded like a fun read

synopsis w/o spoilers
"Zein, the titular character, is the village idiot, more a tolerated outsider than a fully integrated member of the village. The story is as much about community as it is the story of Zein and his upcoming, surprising marriage. The community can't believe that any woman would want to marry this odd character--that any woman would consider it. Their bafflement and their ultimate acceptance of this outcome is the narrative that drives the story. Each person in the village, one by one, and finally the group as a whole must come to terms with Zein's humanity. At the wedding feast itself the people finally allow Zein to enter fully into a community of his peers; indeed he becomes the focal point of their shared humanity" poingu

I am not sure he is a villiage idiot but someone different enough to be thought odd, but loved nonetheless

what kept me reading the writing, descriptions of people and events, the character of Zein, esp the whole wedding, with the women's ululuations (which I could hear in my head)

what was missing? um the bride was not mentioned at all during the wedding which I thougt odd, but it is titled the marriage of Zein, so maybe thats why. Which begs the question - did he really get married or was this a great excuse to write about a villiage in the Sudan and a wedding. Think it was the former however

"Readers of Jamilia by Chinghiz Aitmatov and Madame Verona Comes Down the Hill by Dimitri Verhulst, two other "folk tale" books I've recommended, will also enjoy this." Thanks Avaland, you were right!

who to recommend it to: see above

rating 5.0 Its a short novella, but one I think I will come back to frequently

>153 cindydavid4: If you liked this, you might try his novel, Seasons of Migration to the North. I liked it even more, but then again I almost always prefer novels to short stories, so YMMV. I liked all three of the books Lois/Avaland mentioned!

>154 labfs39: so did I! Ill have to check that book out, thanks