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1yolana
Last year I missed my goal but I'm determined to make it to 50 books this year. I also just celebrated my fifth thingaversary yesterday (I kept thinking it was my fourth but time flies i guess). Everyone gives my gift bookstore gift certificates and the books have started trickling in.
2VivienneR
Congratulations yolana. Isn't it nice to get useful gifts like bookstore certificates. Now comes the difficult part - deciding which books to choose!
4AnnieMod
Just redefine what a book mean (a short story can be called a book if so you choose) and we won't worry about you too much...
So... what are you reading? :)
So... what are you reading? :)
5wildbill
You have a good start with Cosmic Communist Constructions and The Odyssey: A Pop-up Book. They both look like fun.
6yolana
I think breaking down and going to the eye doctor will help my reading count. It turns out I needed glasses, bi-focals actually.
I finally made it through Dan Jones' massive The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens who Made England. I now have history and character to put to the names that vaguely ring a bell. Eleanor of Aquitane, what mensch, as was the rest of her family. Highly recommended if you have any interest in British history. I'm american and loved it.
Annie, I'm often tempted to count the books I read to my youngest son in the count, but so far I've resisted the urge.
Bill, looks like you and I share an interest in classics (after this I'm searching out your thread), I love the landmark series. the maps and notes are very well done. Cosmic Communist Constructions is a wonderful book, Taschen never disappoints, and I love Sam Ita's style.
I finally made it through Dan Jones' massive The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens who Made England. I now have history and character to put to the names that vaguely ring a bell. Eleanor of Aquitane, what mensch, as was the rest of her family. Highly recommended if you have any interest in British history. I'm american and loved it.
Annie, I'm often tempted to count the books I read to my youngest son in the count, but so far I've resisted the urge.
Bill, looks like you and I share an interest in classics (after this I'm searching out your thread), I love the landmark series. the maps and notes are very well done. Cosmic Communist Constructions is a wonderful book, Taschen never disappoints, and I love Sam Ita's style.
7yolana
Autobiography of Red: It's hard to categorize this one even though I enjoyed it quite a bit. Per it's own description it's a novel in verse by poet and classicist Anne Carson. I always enjoy her work and this is no different. It;s a love story between Herakles and Geryon. In her introduction Carson talks about Stesichoros and the difference he made in the usual depiction of the myth (geryon being a monster whom Herakles kills during the labor of stealing his cattle). Stesichoros' was the first to humanize Geryon, and give the monster a sense of tragedy. I had never even heard of Stesichoros so for me the translation she included of his version (only a fragment since most of the original is lost) would have made the book worth it. However Carson's version is wonderful. Herakles and Geryon are lovers in a modern (ish) setting, Herakles himself is not very heroic, and it's hard not to feel and sympathise with Geryon. Thankfully, while the book ends with the death of love Geryon's death is not depicted.
8witchyrichy
Thanks for the recommendation about The Plantagenets. I love British history so this one went on the TBR list. I'll be here to encourage you to reach your goal.
10yolana
Neither had I, I knew that Hercules had labours of some sort or another but I never really paid attention to what they were,
11avaland
Hi, Yolanda. Some people do count the books they read to their kids, some even review them. Happy belated Thingaversary.
13yolana
I took a break from S. which is frankly a slog to read The Enchanted: a novel. Despite the bleak subject matter, life, or what passes for it on death row, it was a good read though there were quite a few times i had to put it down because there were things I just couldn't bear knowing. There an odd sense of existing out of time in it though it's contemporary (lethal injection is the means used) and it's told from the viewpoint of a prisoner who is insane yet perspective which gives it an almost magical realism touch, but this is only in the prisoner's narration. I will need to read it again knowing what I know at the end of the novel so I can see events lead to the last page in a new light. The author, Rene Denfield is a journalist who investigates death row cases which unfortunately means some of the more horrific scenes are not merely flights of fancy, and I found myself feeling an intense pity for these men. Recommended, but not for the faint hearted.
14rebeccanyc
This is the second recommendation of The Enchanted I've read on LT recently! You make it sound quite difficult to read, though.
15yolana
Rebecca, There are parts that are very difficult to get through, even as they are beautifully written, and she can build a sense of dread with one turn of phrase, but definitely well written and well worth reading.
16yolana
I finally finished S. which went much better after I stopped switching back and forth between the marginalia and the actual book and tackled them separately. The story is pretty good and the secondary story in the marginalia was better.
The Antigone Poems for early reviewers. I've always loved the story of Antigone and I enjoyed this book quite a bit though it didn't follow the narrative so much as it followed Antigone's inner emotions.
Vienna Nocturne also for early reviewers. I had no idea when I requested it that it was really more of a romance novel which is not my cup of tea, but the parts that dealt with music were well written and it was ok for what it was.
Phantoms on the Bookshelves Meh. Rambling and dull and at times even nonsensical (though i suspect the translator in that). A few bright spots but they were few and far between.
Mockingjay a re-read because my son and I dis-agreed on some silly detail and I re-read it to make sure I was right.
The Antigone Poems for early reviewers. I've always loved the story of Antigone and I enjoyed this book quite a bit though it didn't follow the narrative so much as it followed Antigone's inner emotions.
Vienna Nocturne also for early reviewers. I had no idea when I requested it that it was really more of a romance novel which is not my cup of tea, but the parts that dealt with music were well written and it was ok for what it was.
Phantoms on the Bookshelves Meh. Rambling and dull and at times even nonsensical (though i suspect the translator in that). A few bright spots but they were few and far between.
Mockingjay a re-read because my son and I dis-agreed on some silly detail and I re-read it to make sure I was right.
17yolana
Just finished and reviewed The Boy in His Winter for early reviewers a great read:
Norman Lock's The Boy in his Winter is first and foremost a terrific read in which he re-imagines Huckleberry Finn's journey stretched out to become a journey through time into the future, thankfully sans Twain's famous use of vernacular speech. This may sound like science fiction but it reads like nothing of the sort or like magical realism, which it doesn't quite fit into either. It was quite hard to put down, and like Huck Finn on the river I would look up with time flown by and suddenly remember I should be making dinner or some such trivial task, and would put the book down quite reluctantly.
Lock's choice of one of the great American novels to explore the quintessentially American theme of self, self-invention and the restlessness of the American soul is inspired.
This is Huck looking back from his 80's, from a biological standpoint, though chronologically it has been over 240 years since he and Jim stepped onto the raft in Hannibal. Like Heraclitus, he believes that character is fate and he has spent those years trying to escape the character that Mark Twain, whom he loathes, set down in his novel, a novel which follows him through the years. Try as he might Albert Barthelemy, his current incarnation, never does escape Huck Finn. The river follows him as does Jim, even after his death (this is not a spoiler, one of the first things we find out is that Jim is dead). Even the Duke and Dauphin find their way back into his life at one point.
I quite enjoyed Lock's treatment of Jim despite a touch of Magical Negro about him. He is a force of nature, like the many rivers Albert finds himself on through his life, present in many of the small moments that change the course of Albert's life. He also represented Huck's truest self, for better and worse, a self he will never escape entirely and Albert's his relationship with the Jim in his life changes as he matures, both morally and psychologically, and begins to reconcile his selves, from a love mixed with hatred on through a more tender love.
Highly recommended, no reservations.
I don't usually post the review but I really enjoyed this book.
Norman Lock's The Boy in his Winter is first and foremost a terrific read in which he re-imagines Huckleberry Finn's journey stretched out to become a journey through time into the future, thankfully sans Twain's famous use of vernacular speech. This may sound like science fiction but it reads like nothing of the sort or like magical realism, which it doesn't quite fit into either. It was quite hard to put down, and like Huck Finn on the river I would look up with time flown by and suddenly remember I should be making dinner or some such trivial task, and would put the book down quite reluctantly.
Lock's choice of one of the great American novels to explore the quintessentially American theme of self, self-invention and the restlessness of the American soul is inspired.
This is Huck looking back from his 80's, from a biological standpoint, though chronologically it has been over 240 years since he and Jim stepped onto the raft in Hannibal. Like Heraclitus, he believes that character is fate and he has spent those years trying to escape the character that Mark Twain, whom he loathes, set down in his novel, a novel which follows him through the years. Try as he might Albert Barthelemy, his current incarnation, never does escape Huck Finn. The river follows him as does Jim, even after his death (this is not a spoiler, one of the first things we find out is that Jim is dead). Even the Duke and Dauphin find their way back into his life at one point.
I quite enjoyed Lock's treatment of Jim despite a touch of Magical Negro about him. He is a force of nature, like the many rivers Albert finds himself on through his life, present in many of the small moments that change the course of Albert's life. He also represented Huck's truest self, for better and worse, a self he will never escape entirely and Albert's his relationship with the Jim in his life changes as he matures, both morally and psychologically, and begins to reconcile his selves, from a love mixed with hatred on through a more tender love.
Highly recommended, no reservations.
I don't usually post the review but I really enjoyed this book.
19rebeccanyc
What an interesting idea!
20SassyLassy
>13 yolana: I heard Rene Denfield interviewed just last week about The Enchanted, which I hadn't heard of 'til then, and now here's a review of it. It sounds fascinating. One of the things that impressed me was Denfield's determination to protect her clients' privacy. Not living in the US, I had no idea there was such a career as death row investigator, or a licensing body for it. Thanks for the review.
21yolana
bragan and rebeccanyc, it was a terrific read and I think it was only around 300 pages. It comes out next month.
SassyLassy Here in the states death row has it's own micro economy of lawyers, advocates, the prison system that profits from the extra money that death row inmates bring. Of course now there is real push back from drug companies who don't wish to have their drugs associated with death row, not quite the image they were looking for. Who knows how it will all pan out in the end.
SassyLassy Here in the states death row has it's own micro economy of lawyers, advocates, the prison system that profits from the extra money that death row inmates bring. Of course now there is real push back from drug companies who don't wish to have their drugs associated with death row, not quite the image they were looking for. Who knows how it will all pan out in the end.
22yolana
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin. Somehow I missed this when I first binged on Baldwin in my twenties. Definitely a book of the 60's in some of it's language, yet still a very modern and tender love story between David, an American who can not, will not, come to terms with his sexuality and Giovanni, an Italian bartender living in Paris. It's no spoiler to say that things do not turn out well since David states this in the first few pages of the book. Baldwin quite often deals with race in his novels but this is the first that I've read where he deals openly with homosexuality and gender roles.
I did have a problem with how Baldwin handles women though I realize that most of that is reading it with a 2014 mindset. Hella, David's fiancee with whom he hopes he can have a "normal" life, is the least sympathetic of the characters, and her harping on what it means to be and become a woman is, despite her obvious anguish, tiresome, especially her declaration that until she is tied to a man she can't be a woman.. Giovanni as well, for all his sweetness, spouts off quite a bit about what he feels is a woman's place in the world (well beneath that of men). In spite of this I did enjoy the book however.
23yolana
We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas This is an ARC that came with my Powell's indiespensible. It has gotten a lot of great buzz but I feel like I must be missing something. To me it read like a checklist of an MFA checklist. Character development, prose, conflict, everything was there but in the end it felt like parts with no sum. I will have to read it again and see if I like it any better.
24baswood
like the cover picture you posted of Giovanni's Room
25yolana
24 baswood I only wish it were the edition I have. I love cover art but my LOA edition is very plain vanilla.
In Paradise Peter Matthiessen's last novel, he died the day before I received my copy in the mail. This is an utterly depressing novel but despite this is wonderful. A Polish American professor visits a retreat at Birkenau, and digs into his own family's past while there. I had no idea that this was a thing but apparently Matthiessen went on a retreat there himself, and even as a master of non-fiction could not write a satisfactory account of his time there so chose to write a novel instead.
At this retreat there are Germans, Catholics, American Jews, and Poles whose attitudes and reactions towards the camp and the idea of a retreat there Matthiessen delves into as well as the motive of his main character, Clements Olin. If you're looking for an uplifting experience or a tale of redemption this is not for you.
However, I will have to reread this in a year or so because I can't really say if the book's release on the heels of Matthiessen's death has influenced my reading of it.
In Paradise Peter Matthiessen's last novel, he died the day before I received my copy in the mail. This is an utterly depressing novel but despite this is wonderful. A Polish American professor visits a retreat at Birkenau, and digs into his own family's past while there. I had no idea that this was a thing but apparently Matthiessen went on a retreat there himself, and even as a master of non-fiction could not write a satisfactory account of his time there so chose to write a novel instead.
At this retreat there are Germans, Catholics, American Jews, and Poles whose attitudes and reactions towards the camp and the idea of a retreat there Matthiessen delves into as well as the motive of his main character, Clements Olin. If you're looking for an uplifting experience or a tale of redemption this is not for you.
However, I will have to reread this in a year or so because I can't really say if the book's release on the heels of Matthiessen's death has influenced my reading of it.
26yolana
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Biting the Wax Tadpole by Elizabeth Little recommended by Bragan, thanks.
Late Starters Orchestra by Ari Goldman
very brief because I hate posting from my tablet
Biting the Wax Tadpole by Elizabeth Little recommended by Bragan, thanks.
Late Starters Orchestra by Ari Goldman
very brief because I hate posting from my tablet
28yolana
Embassytown China Mieville
;Marina Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Ploughmen Kim Zupan
The Magicians Land Lev Grossman
The Albertine Workout Anne Carson
ETA: I always forget about my kindle reading. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell a re-read to see if i feel as strongly about it as I did ten years ago, itt turns out I do.
;Marina Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Ploughmen Kim Zupan
The Magicians Land Lev Grossman
The Albertine Workout Anne Carson
ETA: I always forget about my kindle reading. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell a re-read to see if i feel as strongly about it as I did ten years ago, itt turns out I do.
29yolana
In the Garden of the Beasts Erik Larson
