Jennifer's (japaul22) 2015 Reading Log, Part 2

Hi everyone, welcome to Part 2 of my 2015 reading! My name is Jennifer and I’m back for my 4th year in Club Read, my 7th year on LT. I am a classical musician living in Northern Virginia, outside of D.C. I have two little boys who are 5 and 2 that keep me busy, but I still make time for reading. They know that Mom’s favorite thing to do is read.

I have a couple of goals for 2015. The main one is to remember to be more present in my current book. What I mean by that is that often I’m so focused on “the next book” that I rush a bit to get to that next, exciting book. I know I won’t stop thinking about what’s up next (that’s half the fun to me), but I need to remind myself to slow down and enjoy! My other main goal for the year is to read some of the books I’ve started purchasing. Last year I estimated that I had 54 books on my shelves that were unread. My LT tags tell me that now I have 124 books on my shelf and 34 on my kindle (I didn't count all of the free classics I've downloaded - just books I paid more than a dollar for). Yikes! I’m not used to reading off my own shelf since I used to read mainly library books or buy the occasional book to read immediately, so this is a new concept for me to have so many books on hand. I’m setting a goal of reading 36 books off of my shelf. That’s 3 a month and roughly half of what I typically read in a year.

I love to read classics, new fiction (often by women), books from the “1001 books you must read before you die” list (these tend to stretch me out of my comfort zone), and the occasional mystery. I definitely gravitate toward women authors, though not necessarily on purpose. I love this group for the variety of reading, the quality of reviews, and of course, the discussion and am looking forward to another great year of reading!

Here are my 2014 favorites.
Best fiction:
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley
Mapp and Lucia series
Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor

Best new releases:
Lila by Marilynne Robinson
The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt

Best Classics:
Alberta and Jacob by Cora Sandel
Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun
Evelina by Frances Burney

Books off the shelf
Slightly amending my goal as stated in post 1. I am pretty close to happy with the amount of books I have on my shelf right now, so I've decided that instead of a specific number goal, I'd like to read roughly 10% more books off of the shelf than I acquire. We'll see how that works! I'll amend the goal number for the ticker as needed when I acquire books this year.




Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
Sula by Toni Morrison
Gunnar's Daughter by Sigrid Undset
Can You Forgive Her by Anthony Trollope
Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson (kindle)
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Pride and Prejudice: An Annotated Edition by Jane Austen
The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (kindle)
Old Filth by Jane Gardam
Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen
The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (kindle)
The Remarkable Education of John Quincy Adams by Phyllis Lee Levin
The Saga of Gosta Berling by Selma Lagerlof
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
Chess Story by Stefan Zweig
The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam
Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope
Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England by Thomas Penn
Independent People by Halldor Laxness
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym
The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty
The Queen's Man by Sharon Kay Penman
Surfacing by Margaret Atwood
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Alberta Alone by Cora Sandel
Silence by Shusaku Endo
Between You & Me by Mary Norris
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas
The Great Influenza by John M. Barry
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
the White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Emma: An Annotated Edition by Jane Austen, annotated by Bharat Tandon
Cruel as the Grave by Sharon Kay Penman
A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr
What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
If on a Winter's Night a traveler by Italo Calvino
George, Nicholas and Wilhelm by Miranda Carter
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Phineas Redux by Trollope
Troubles by JG. Farrell
The Sun King by Nancy Mitford
The Foundling by Georgette Heyer
Northanger Abbey: An Annotated Edition by Jane Austen
Last Friends by Jane Gardam
Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
THe Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
Fair Play by Tove Jannson
A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Transit by Anna Seghers
To Love and be Wise by Josephine Tey
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner

Acquisitions (I'm not limiting these, just curious to see what I'm buying/receiving)
Oxford World Classics set of the 6 Palliser novels from eBay:
1. Can you forgive her?
2. Phineas Finn
3. The Eustace Diamonds
4. Phineas Redux
5. The Prime Minister
6. The Duke's Children
7. Foodist (kindle $.99 sale)
8. The Remarkable Education of John Quincy Adams, ER book
9-14 are birthday gifts
9. The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas
10. The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas
11. Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph by Jan Swafford
12. Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen
13. What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
14. George, Nicholas, and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I
15. The Giver by Lois Lowry (kindle, 2.99)
In Asheville
16. Independent People
17. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
18. Surfacing
19. The Charterhouse of Parma
20. The Optmist's Daughter
21. Therese Raquin
Library Sale 22-29
22. A Gate At the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
23. In the Forest by Edna O'Brien
24. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
25. Eventide by Kent Haruf
26. The Round House by Louise Erdrich
27. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
28. The Sea by John Banville
29. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
4 new Barbara Pym books
30. A Glass of Blessings
31. Less Than Angels
32. Crompton Hodnet
33. Some Tame Gazelle
34. Between You & Me by Mary Norris
35. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
36. Troubles by J.G. Farrell
37. Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee
38. A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka
39. The Master by Colm Toibin
40. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
41. The Nonesuch by Georgette Heyer
42. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
43. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
44. The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Christmas:
45. Christina, Queen of Sweden: The Restless Life of a European Eccentric
46. Where Monsters Dwell by Jorgen Brekke
47. Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography by Laura Ingalss Wilder
48. Between the Acts by Virginia Woolf
49. Iceland's Bell by Halldor Laxness
50. The Royal Physician's Visit by Per Olov Enquist
51. The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns
52. The Parson's Widow by Marja-Liisa Vartio
53. Fludd by Hilary Mantel
*Donated 10 books

William's Books:
1/18 Socks by Beverly Cleary
Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
3/1 Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary
3/13 Polar Bears Past Bedtime by Mary Pope Osborne

Isaac's Books:
1/18 Hot Dog, Cold Dog, ABC Metropolitan Museum of Art, Babies by Gyo Fujikawa, Farm Friends, Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb
3/17 No-No Bird, Little Blue Truck, Doggies, Goodnight Moon

Planned reads:
Start the Palliser series by Anthony Trollope
Annals of the Former World by John McPhee

Group Reads:
The Children’s Book – January
Sula – January 1001 books GR
Portrait of a Lady – February
Orlando – April
The Black Count – 3rd quarter (July-Sep)
Emma in August
Persuasion in December
Northanger Abbey in October
Troubles in September
Phineas Redux in September
I know why the Caged Bird Sings – 4th quarter (Oct-Dec) - maybe
Cecilia in Nov/Dec

Books I'd like to read before the end of the year:
Cecilia
Persuasion

Harriet Hume
La Reine Margot
Out Stealing Horses
The Double
Plainsong
The Lacuna
Like Water for Chocolate
The Virgin Suicides

Authors whose books I want to read more of (this is a lifetime goal - year included designates the year of the last book read):
Toni Morrison (2015)
Virginia Woolf (2015)
Edith Wharton (2015)
Hilary Mantel (2015)
Anthony Trollope (2015)
William Faulkner (2008)
Margaret Atwood (2015)
Sigrid Undset (2015)
Thomas Mann (2014)
Barbara Pym (2015)
Iris Murdoch (2015)

Books Read:

January: 3388 pages read, average book length 424 pages; 1 audiobook, 5h32m
1. The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport
2. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
3. The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
4. Sula by Toni Morrison
5. Gunnar's Daughter by Sigrid Undset
6. Bossypants by Tina Fey, audiobook read by Tina Fey, 5h32m
7. Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope
8. Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
9. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

February: 2268 pages read, average book length 454 pages; 2 audiobooks, 12h40m
10. Pride and Prejudice: An Annotated Edition by Jane Austen
11. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, audiobook read by David Case, 5h32m
12. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
13. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
14. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, audiobook read by Alfred Molina, 7h8m
15. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
16. Old Filth by Jane Gardam

March: 2352 pages read, average book length 392 pages; 2 audiobooks, 18h30m
17. Basin and Range by John McPhee
18. Longbourn by Jo Baker, audio book read by Emma Fielding, 13h31m
19. Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen
20. The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas
21. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
22. A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro, 5h59m
23. Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
24. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

April: 1579 pages read, average book length 316 pages; 2 audiobooks, 13h53m
25. The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson, audiobook read by Alan Sklar, 8h38m
26. The Remarkable Education of John Quincy Adams by Phyllis Lee Levin
27. The Saga of Gosta Berling by Selma Lagerlof
28. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, 5h15m read by Alex Jennings
29. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
30. Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
31. Chess Story by Stefan Zweig

May: 2930 pages read, average book length 419 pages; 1 audiobook, 16h49m
32. The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin
33. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
34. The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam
35. Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope
36. The Case for God by Karen Armstrong
37. The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
38. Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England by Thomas Penn
39. A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

June: 2741 pages read, average book length 305 pages
40. Independent People by Halldor Laxness
41. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
42. No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym
43. The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty
44. The Queen's Man by Sharon Kay Penman
45. Surfacing by Margaret Atwood
46. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
47. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
48. Encounters at the Heart of the World by Elizabeth Fenn

Books Read, 2nd half of the year:

July 2153 pages read, average book length 269 pages; 3 audiobooks, 34h55m
49. Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, audiobook read by Stefan Rudnicki, 14h34m
50. Alberta Alone by Cora Sandel
51. Lucia's Progress by E.F. Benson
52. Silence by Shusaku Endo
53. Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear, audio book read by Orlagh Cassidy, 10h22m
54. The Black Count by Tom Reiss
55. Between You & Me by Mary Norris
56. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
57. The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert, audio book read by Anne Twomey, 9h59m
58. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
59. The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas

August 3318 pages read, average book length 369 pages, 2 audiobooks, 21h25m
60. The Great Influenza by John M. Barry
61. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
62. The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope
63. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
64. White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, audiobook read by John Lee, 8h6m
65. Emma: An Annotated Edition by Jane Austen, annotated by Bharat Tandon
66. Cruel as the Grave by Sharon kay Penman
67. A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr
68. What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
69. Love and Louis XIV by Antonia Fraser, audiobook read by Rosalyn Landor, 13h19m
70. If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino

September 2403 pages read, average book length 401 pages, 2 audiobooks 13h52m
71. George, Nicholas, and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to WWI by Miranda Carter
72. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
73. Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope
74. Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear, audiobook read by Orlagh Cassidy, 11h11m
75. Troubles by J.G. Farrell
76. The Sun King by Nancy Mitford
77. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, audiobook read by Alan Bennett, 2h41m
78. Island of the Lost by Joan Druett

October 2293 pages read, average book length 459, 1 audiobook, 11h4m
79. The Foundling by Georgette Heyer
80. Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George
81. Northanger Abbey: An Annotated Edition by Jane Austen
82. Howard's End by E.M. Forster, audiobook read by Nadia May, 11h4m
83. Last Friends by Jane Gardam
84. Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel

November 2011 pages read, average book length 335, 1 audiobook, 3h11m
85. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
86. The Rival Queens by Nancy Goldstone
87. The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
88. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, audiobook read by Gary Sinise, 3h11m
89. Fair Play by Tove Jannson
90. Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser
91. A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym

December 2354 pages read, average book length 294 pages, 1 audiobook, 8h11m
92. Persuasion: An Annotated Edition by Jane Austen, annotated by Robert Morrison
93. Plainsong by Kent Haruf
94. Cecilia by Fanny Burney
95. Transit by Anna Seghers
96. The Nose by Gogol
97. To Love and be Wise by Josephine Tey
98. The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries that Defined America by Jeffrey Rosen, audiobook read by Alan Sklar, 8h44m
99. Not Safe for Church: Ten Commandments for Reaching New Generations by F. Douglas Powe Jr. and Jasmine Rose Smothers
100. Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
101. Lamentation by C.J. Sansom

Second half of the year: 14,532 pages read, average book length 346 pages, 10 audiobooks

Here is my half way through the year roundup. I have read 40 books and listened to 8 audiobooks. That’s 15,258 pages - about 84 pages a day. Average book length 381 pages.

I’m a little behind on my books off shelf challenge. I want to read 10% more books off the shelf or kindle than books that I buy this year. I’ve bought 33 books so I’d like to read about 36 books of the shelf. Right now I’ve read 31, so I guess that isn’t too far behind.

Decades read from
2015 - 3
2010s - 11
2000s - 7
1990s - 3
1980s - 2
1960s - 2
1970s - 3
1940s - 1
1950s - 3
1930s - 1
1920s - 2
1910s - 1
1900s - 2
1890s - 1
1880s - 2
1860s - 2
1810s - 2

Favorite fiction
The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt
Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
Independent People by Halldor Laxness
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

Favorite nonfiction
The Nine: Inside the Secret Life of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England by Thomas Penn

Least favorites
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen
Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

#49 Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
audiobook read by Stefan Rudnicki, 14h34m

Boring. I was just really, really bored. The female characters were simpering and ridiculous, the Indian characters were stereotypical, and I just never got invested. I did like the descriptions of nature, but this classic just wasn't for me.

I also am starting to suspect that classics on audio don't work very well for me. I think I might need to stick to nonfiction or faster paced fiction.

Original Publication Date: 1826
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 14h34m
Rating: 2 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: audiobook from library
Why I read this: on the 1001 books list and available at library

Goodness! You're having a really fascinating year in books. I'm looking forward to your reviews in the second half :)

I was lingering over The Children's Book in the library last week. I think I'll have to give it a go now that I see it's one of your favourite's from the year.

Yes! I loved The Children's Book. I also absolutely loved her book Possession. She has a dense, ornate style that I really love because she manages to also keep plot and characters developing. She also does a great job creating a sense of time/era.

Just planting myself here to watch the goings on. Don't mind me.

>9 reva8: Thanks! It's been a good first half of the year for reading.

>12 Nickelini: Glad to see you here!

Great set of statistics.

#50 Alberta Alone by Cora Sandel
This is the third book in a trilogy by Norwegian writer, Cora Sandel. The trilogy explores Alberta's life as she grows from a shy, young girl living in Northern Norway through her life in Paris during and after WWI as she struggles to become a writer.

In this last book of the trilogy, Alberta is at the French seaside with her son, Tot, and partner Sivert, a painter. Also with them are two other couples. They've all left for the seaside in an attempt to avoid the Influenza ravaging Paris. All three couples are unhappy, cheating on each other but more importantly all struggling to find their way both artistically and just as humans after experiencing the horrors of war. Alberta begins a relationship with one of the men staying with them, the married Pierre. Pierre and Alberta never have much of a physical relationship, but they connect over writing. Pierre was on track to be a successful author until the war changed him, physically taking away his hand and mentally his focus and desire to write. Alberta seems paralyzed by her own fears and insecurities and can't seem to do any work on her manuscript.

They all move back to Paris at the end of the summer, but things are not better. Sivert eventually decides to take Tot back to his parent's home in Norway and lets Alberta come along too. Though their relationship is over in all but name, they seem to both love Tot and as both are unwilling to leave him, they nominally stay together. When they return to Norway, things improve. Tot's health and confidence vastly improve. Sivert successfully returns to his way of painting (he had been experimenting unsuccessfully in cubism) and makes some sales. And Alberta finally begins writing again. Alberta finds the confidence to strike out on her own and make her way as a writer. The book ended with me convinced that she would make it.

Sandel's writing is beautifully subtle. The repercussions of the war on these young people permeates the book without being overly dissected. It's simply there. Alberta's struggles are internal and somehow undramatic and highly emotional at the same time. Most of all, Sandel's description of setting is wonderful, especially when she gets back to Norway. I also loved reading about Alberta's journey of writing her novel. Throughout the book there are ideas about what it is like to pour yourself into authoring a novel and I felt like I learned a lot about the writing process. I've read that Cora Sandel put many autobiographical elements in these novels and Alberta's writing journey struck me as the most authentic.

I've really loved discovering this trilogy. I highly recommend the first novel, Alberta and Jacob to just about everyone, especially anyone interested in Scandinavian literature. It is amazingly evocative of Norway. I didn't love the second book, Alberta and Freedom, but this last in the trilogy wrapped everything up beautifully for me and made me so glad that I read all three books. I think that Cora Sandel is an author that deserves to be more widely read.

Original Publication Date: 1939
Author’s nationality: Norwegian
Original language: Norwegian
Length: 284 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: purchased paperback
Why I read this: wanted to finish the trilogy

You've convinced me. I'll look for a copy of Alberta and Jacob.

I've never heard of Cora Sandel but I've enjoyed the Scandinavian literature I've read. So I'll look for her too.

Glad you both are interested! I'm sorry I made a mistake in saying that Sandel was a Nobel laureate. She was not!

#51 Lucia's Progress by E.F. Benson
These books are so silly but so endearing in the best sense of the word. Lucia keeps the upper hand on Mapp for most of this book. I liked reading about Mapp and Major Benjy's navigation of marriage. Just fun.

Original Publication Date: 1935
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 240 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: kindle owned
Why I read this: just for fun

>8 japaul22: - I remember liking the movie, but I think a lot of that was the visuals. I do remember it had the unfortunate "Noble Savage/Bad Indian" stereotypes where the good Native Americans helped the white people and the bad ones opposed them. It sounds like the book can be skipped.

>15 japaul22: - Good review - I'll have to look for Alberta and Jacob. Sounds like the trilogy had the usual problem of a meh middle book.

Alberta and Jacob goes on my wish list too. Jennifer, your thread is doing my wish list size no good at all!

>21 AlisonY: if it's any consolation, you have added a lot of books to my wish list as well!

#52 Silence by Shusaku Endo

Apostatize = to abandon one's religious faith

If you didn't know what apostatize means, you will know after reading Silence. This word, which I did not know before this book, is probably used hundreds of times. Silence explores the world of 17th century Portuguese Catholic missionaries to Japan. I know very little Japanese history and had no idea that this mission work had happened. Apparently, the Christian missionaries originally were welcomed in Japan, or at least not persecuted. They converted a decent amount of people and then the government decided that Christianity was not welcome in Japan and began to torture and kill Japanese Christians and the missionaries who served them. If a Christian apostatized by trampling on a picture of Christ thereby renouncing his/her faith, they would be spared death. The book is told through a series of letters/reports by a Portuguese priest, Rodrigues, to his home church in Portugal. The book focuses on Rodrigues's personal struggles to decide how best to obey God - by apostatizing and saving some other Christians but denying his God, or by sticking to his beliefs and dying for those beliefs along with the Japanese Christians.

The historical elements of the book were very interesting to me. I found the book fairly easy to read and the story to be gripping. What I wasn't as convinced by was the theology. Rodrigues is appalled by the silence of God in the face of the torment of His followers. To me, I kept thinking, "really, what does he expect to happen?". I found it unlikely that Rodrigues would not have been prepared to see Christian suffering with no visible help from a benevolent God. I can't imagine life in 17th century Portugal was so easy that people didn't already have questions and answers to the problem of why God doesn't intervene to save people from disease, war, famine, etc. The element of silence from God is central to the book and it was unfortunately the weakest part for me.

One thing that did work, though, was the exploration of how Japanese Christians had morphed the teachings to suit their culture and daily life, sort of creating a hybrid Christian god. I would have preferred a longer and more detailed look at this aspect, personally. I was also interested by the question of whether denying God verbally, especially to save another person, really makes you an apostate. This touched on in the last chapters, but I wish it had been the bigger part of the book.

Overall, I am glad I read this and I learned a lot from it, but it had some weaknesses that lessened its appeal to me. I would be curious to know if readers with a deeper understanding of Japanese culture and the missionary tradition get a better reading experience than I did. I would suspect that they do.

Original Publication Date: 1966
Author’s nationality: Japanese
Original language: Japanese
Length: 200 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: paperback at library sale
Why I read this: 1001 books group read and off the shelf

I had very mixed feelings about Silence when I read it a few years ago, largely because, as a non-Christian, I just don't get the whole missionary idea. I did find it a compelling portrait of a time and a place.

Not sure it's a book for me, but very interesting review.

>24 rebeccanyc: Yes, the missionary aspect is troubling, and I am a Christian! I believe very strongly in mission work, but actively converting other cultures is not my thing (I know I may be in the minority of Christians who feel that way).

>25 AlisonY: I read lots of glowing LT reviews about this book before starting it, so don't base your decision solely on my reaction. (I always feel guilty turning people away from a book they might love!)

#53 Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
audio book read by Orlagh Cassidy, 10h22m

This was a lot of fun. It is the third book in the Maisie Dobbs mystery series. The books are set in the aftermath of WWI and have so far always had some tie to the war. I like the historical aspect and I love the clothes description of what the women are wearing. Just a fun series and this worked very well on audio.

Original Publication Date: 2005
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 10h22m
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: audiobook from the library
Why I read this: just for fun

I picked up a copy of Silence earlier this year. No idea when I'll get around to reading it. Enjoyed your review, which actually encouraged me to want to read it.

I'd love to hear your take on Silence, Dan. Your biblical reading might make it a different experience from mind.

#54 The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss

This nonfiction account of the life of Alex Dumas, father of the great writer Alexander Dumas, was a lot of fun to read. Alex Dumas lived at a volatile time in French history. His father was a French aristocrat who went to Sante Domingue (present day Haiti) to find his fortune in the wealthy sugar colony. He had Alex with a black slave on the island. He later brought Alex to France.

The most interesting part of the book to me was actually the experience of Alex Dumas rising to General in Napoleon's army as a black man. I had no idea about the civil rights that the French Revolution introduced. They didn't last through Napoleon's rule, but there was a good decade or so where black men had rights in France and slavery was abolished. I really had no idea.

I also have done fairly minimal reading about the French revolution, and the reading I have done has mainly surrounded the politics in Paris, not much about the fighting that went on. So that aspect was also new to me and pretty interesting, though it got bogged down a few times for my taste.

And then of course, there is the connection to the writer Alexandre Dumas. Alexandre idolized his strong, courageous father. The includes mainly of Alexandre's written memories of his father and draws examples of General Dumas's influence on his son's writing, particularly using the elder Dumas's unjust imprisonment in Naples as the influence for Edmund Dantes's experience in The Count of Monte Cristo.

Overall, this was a fun biography to read of an interesting man set in an important moment in history.

Original Publication Date: 2013
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 432 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: kindle book from the library
Why I read this: group read with category challenge

>23 japaul22: I loved Silence when I read it a few years ago. For me, I think what made the book so intriguing was the fact that the main character really struggles with his decision - and his faith. I remember thinking Endo's writing was beautiful, almost poetic.

>30 japaul22: That sounds really, really interesting! That one goes on the wishlist!

>30 japaul22: I loved The Black Count when I read it a few years ago, especially because it combined extreme readability with pages and pages of scholarly notes. After I read it, I wanted to read more books by Reiss and so came to The Orientalist, his first book, which was also intriguing.

#55 Between You & Me by Mary Norris
If you're a grammar nerd, you will probably think this book is fun. Mary Norris is a long-time copy editor at The New Yorker and she has written a book about grammar, spelling, and the editing process. She writes each chapter is essay style, throwing in bits of her life and background.

Overall, I liked the parts best that stuck to explaining grammar or describing her various jobs at The New Yorker. I did not really think that her anecdotes were all that funny. I was really hoping for an equivalent of Anne Fadiman's writing about reading and I didn't get that. But that is not to to say this wasn't enjoyable, it just wasn't an instant favorite. I'm still happy to have read it and learned a few things in the process.

Original Publication Date: 2015
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 200 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: purchased hardback
Why I read this: I have absorbed most of my grammar knowledge and am always looking for entertaining ways to learn the mechanics behind the usage.

#56 Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

I'll start with a short recap of the circumstances regarding the release of this book as I have understood them. Harper Lee wrote Go Set a Watchman in the late 1950s and sent it to a publisher. Someone there read it, saw promise in the writing, but asked her to try again, focusing on the main character's childhood instead of her young adulthood. To Kill a Mockingbird was the result of this rewrite.

First for a review of Go Set a Watchman on its own merits. In this book, Jean Louise Finch returns from New York City to her small, Southern hometown in Maycomb County, Alabama. She is in her 20s and being courted by a Maycomb young man who she grew up with, Hank Clinton. Atticus, her father, is aging and has rheumatoid arthritis which is slowing down his body, but not his brain. Coming home brings up memories for Jean Louise; she feels both tied to the town and separate from it. She remembers several scenes from her childhood and teenage years, and I did find that these flashbacks were the most genuine and best written parts of the book. Then Jean Louise's world is shattered when she finds that her father is not the perfect person that she grew up believing him to be. She finds him at a meeting of a Town Council that is united in opposing the Civil Rights legislation that is being passed throughout the country. There is a lot of the "n" word being thrown around, and a lot of hate and invective speech being spewed. It is not easy to read. And it is not easy to see Atticus agreeing that blacks are too simple and backward to deserve the same rights as whites -- that there is no way he will sit back and accept the federal government's ideas as a way for Southerners to live. The last half of the book is highly political and racist and sort of loses the story line to arguments between Jean Louise and various characters about the topic. In the end, Jean Louise will have to decide if she will stay in Maycomb and try to change the town from the inside or escape back to New York and leave it all behind.

This is a grown up book with grown up ideas. I can't imagine it would have gone over well in the South, or really anywhere, being published in the 1960s. It would have been so raw - it still feels raw to read. Leaving aside the segregation and politics, the writing itself is a bit uneven. It's good, but not great. I was annoyed by the relationship between Jean Louise and Hank (something a little too demeaning toward Jean Louise) and some of the potential story lines get a bit lost in the politics. But, really, it's good overall, just uncomfortable because of the topic.

Now, if you have reverence for the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, especially Atticus and Calpurnia, you should probably skip this because it will color your view on these characters. One reason I read Go Set a Watchman was because I was so interested in the writing process of taking one book idea and creating another from it (especially when that rewrite turned in to such an amazing book). I was surprised at just how little of the material was used in TKAM. Almost nothing at all, even the childhood flashbacks in GSAW, made it in to TKAM. Go Set a Watchman absolutely does not have the charm or follow through of Lee's subsequent masterpiece. Scout's childhood voice gives charm, innocence, and an element of fantasy to To Kill a Mockingbird that makes it a great book. Go Set a Watchman is an interesting book, a good book, but is not destined to be a classic.

Original Publication Date: 2015, probably written in 1959
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 289 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: purchased hardback
Why I read this: too interested not to

Great review of Go set a Watchman. I read To kill a Mockingbird for the first time a couple of years ago and now my bookclub has chosen to read Go set a Watchman

>35 baswood: I'll be very interested to see what you and the members of your group think!

I have a few more thoughts about Go Set a Watchman that I'd like to write out. Some of these sort of made it into the review, but I'd like to highlight them to try to clarify my thoughts.

1) I've read some press from people who hadn't yet read the book where the hope is that racist Atticus is a totally different character than he ended up being in the rewrite that was TKAM. In my reading of GSAW, I didn't feel this was the case though I had hoped for the same. Jean Louise does seem to be remembering the same father that we all knew and loved in TKAM. Part of the point of the book is that her childhood beliefs of a perfect parent are being crushed. She can no longer judge all of her own actions and thoughts by "what would Atticus do or think." In that sense, the readers' sense of that "great man" Atticus is pretty crushed too. It is upsetting and I think it must inevitably color any rereading of TKAM. I actually wonder if Harper Lee was able to change Atticus in her mind to write TKAM, or if she was thinking that Scout would find out his failures later in life as she does in GSAW. It's such an interesting thing to think about from a writing perspective, but I know so little about the writing process, that I don't know what to think about how easy it would have been for her to start fresh vs. thinking of these characters as the way she wrote them originally.

2) Another thing I've been thinking a lot about is Harper Lee's legacy. I heard some concerns that a sub-par book would tarnish her legacy as the author of To Kill a Mockingbird. I personally was not concerned about that. I went in to this not expecting a great book, but more from a level of curiosity. What I think this does prove, however, is that Harper Lee did write TKAM! I know I've heard rumors that her good friend Truman Capote actually wrote it, or at least helped a lot, and I love that this book, to me at least, proves that all that was baloney.

3) I think that considering the racial inequalities that are still present in the U.S., the themes in this book are still important today. It's sad that, though we've come a long way, the arguments presented in this book are still relevant, even if they are not to the extreme presented in the book.

Great review and analysis of Go Set a Watchman. I'm still not sure if I want to read it, other than for the curiosity factor.

Really excellent review. I've gone back and forth on whether I'll read it, given it's publishing history, but I suspect I will eventually.

>34 japaul22: Thanks for that great review of Go Set A Watchman! I paged through a copy in the book section of the store the other day and thought it was interesting to see the attitudes and beliefs that were prevalent in the South. I thought maybe the value in this book would be getting at the roots of Southern (or any other) racism - like Lee was airing out the dirty laundry for the world to see. I'm also on the fence about reading Go Set A Watchman.

I'm planning on starting Go Set a Watchman on Thursday, and I appreciate your thoughts on Atticus' character. I'll keep them in mind as I read!

>38 NanaCC: The curiosity factor was so high for me that I had to read it right away!

>39 RidgewayGirl: the publishing issue made me feel a little sketchy reading it, but really, now that its out there I think it deserves to be read. I can see the other side though, too.

>40 avidmom: she definitely puts racism "out there" - it is not at all hidden in this book. Still an important conversation.

>41 Cait86: I'll look forward to your review!

Did you ever finish A Spool of Blue Thread? I'm almost finished - it was such a quiet Anne Tyler-kind of book, but I can't stop reading it.

My library has an ebook copy of To Set a Watchman. I placed a hold, thinking I'd have a few months to wait, but I must have gotten there right after they added it as I am next in line. Guess I'll be reading it soon.

Great to read a first CR review of Go Set a Watchman (maybe there are others but I'm still playing catch up).

>43 RidgewayGirl: Hmmm, I think you got me confused with someone else, Kay. I haven't ever read Anne Tyler, but maybe I should! I'll be very curious to find out what you think of Go Set a Watchman. I'm still thinking about it and would really like some other perspectives!

>44 AlisonY: Thanks, Alison!

#57 The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
audiobook read by Anne Twomey

The Sixth Extinction is a nonfiction account of what we know of both past extinctions that have taken place on our planet and the current ongoing extinction that is happening before our eyes. Kolbert's book is entertaining; she takes some difficult subjects, both in terms of their scientific content and their ramifications, and makes them understandable and entertaining. She does a great job mixing her personal experience in. I'm not sure I learned much new information, but it was good to hear it all laid out in one book.

I listened to this as an audiobook and it worked really well in that format.

Original Publication Date: 2015
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 9h59m
Rating: 4 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: audiobook from the library
Why I read this: just interested

#58 Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

Jhumpa Lahiri writes beautiful stories about families straddling cultures, usually Bengali and American, that are filled with the common experience of loss and loneliness. Her writing is fluent and insightful, but, in this book at least, so sad. Even though I read this over a couple of weeks, spacing out the stories, I still found each one to be sad in some way which made the whole reading experience kind of depressing.

The collection is presented in two parts, the first five stories sort of linked thematically, but not containing repeat characters. The second part is three stories with two main characters, Hema and Kaushik. I'll avoid any plot synopses because with short stories there is just too much to give away.

Overall, I really love Lahiri's writing for its flow and insight, but I wish her stories weren't all so sad.

Original Publication Date: 2008
Author’s nationality: American?, British?, Bengali?, Indian?
Original language: English
Length: 333 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: gift from a friend
Why I read this: wanted to get to it sooner rather than later since it was a gift

#59 The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas

The Ice Palace is the story of two young girls on the brink of friendship. Unn has recently moved to a cold, rural Norwegian town to live with her Auntie after the death of her mother. There she meets Siss and after months of seeing each other at school, Unn finally invites Siss over to her house. They are on the brink of friendship, about to tell each other secrets and excited to get to know each other, when Unn disappears. Siss is devastated by her disappearance and makes a promise to herself to never pass a day, or even a moment, not thinking of Unn. Her reaction worries her parents and her friends as she withdraws from her community.

The backdrop of this book is the enormous, beautiful, and dangerous Ice Palace, a large waterfall that has frozen over during the cold, dark winter. The descriptions of the Ice Palace are amazingly beautiful and frame the entire book.

Again, I find myself loving a Scandinavian novel with characters and plot that are somehow both highly dramatic and subtle, set against a background of a harsh climate that is an accepted part of the characters' lives, but feels foreign, beautiful, and a bit scary to me.

I read Vesaas's The Birds earlier this year and loved this just as much.

Original Publication Date: 1963
Author’s nationality: Norwegian
Original language: Norwegian
Length: 175 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: birthday gift, paperback
Why I read this: sounded good

Love many of the Nordic novels too. Sounds like another goodie.

I'm just catching your review of Go Set A Watchman and very happy to have read it. I'm hoping to read the book just out of curiosity.

Lots of other intriguing stuff you have been reading - The Black Count, The Sixth Extinction, Unaccostumed Earth and The Ice Palace all sound good.

Hi Jennifer, I'm catching up after a long stretch away from Club Read. I especially enjoyed your reviews of four books I'm interested in reading, Independent People, The Optimist's Daughter, We Need to Talk About Kevin, and The Black Count. I skimmed over your review of the Laxness, as I intend to read it next month. Have you read or are you planning to read anything else by him?

>51 kidzdoc: Great to see you back and thanks for checking in! I loved Independent People though it is a challenging book with characters that are not easy to like. I've not read any other books by Laxness, but I was glad to have read some other Scandinavian works, like Growth of the Soil and The Saga of Gosta Berling which I felt prepared me for the tone and pacing of the book. I am interested in reading more by Laxness but don't have anything planned right now. The other three books you mention are also great, all in very different ways, and are all worth reading in my opinion.

The Ice Palace sounds like a good one, Jennifer.

#60 The Great Influenza by John M. Barry
This was a fun book (I know that sounds wrong given the topic) about the influenza outbreak that happened at the end of WWI. I knew that it had happened, but I really didn't know how hard the United States was hit or that it likely started here. I was under the impression it took place mainly in Europe so the whole book was basically news to me.

I appreciated that Barry took the time to give a little background on the history of medicine in America and also spent a lot of time on medical research about and around influenza. I though he got a little overly sensational at times, especially when discussing possible current day epidemics. That's not to say I think it couldn't happen; I just thought his tone was a little repetitive and over the top.

All in all I enjoyed reading this and learned quite a bit both about the history of medicine and the social history of the outbreak. It's definitely a topic that I hope our government and medical facilities have contemplated and done some planning for in terms of future outbreaks.

Original Publication Date: 2005
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 465 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: paperback, library sale
Why I read this: sounded good and on the shelf

I think I read The Great Influenza but I remember liking Barry's book Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America a lot more.

>55 rebeccanyc: I thought that one looked good. Maybe some day!

#61 Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

This was a clever little novel that is a long word play game. An island off the East coast of America has always revered language and especially its most honored member, a man named Nollop who created the sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" which uses all the letters of the alphabet with minimal repetition. A statue to Nollop is in the center of the island and when letters begin falling off of the alphabet printed on the statue, the town council decides that it is a sign from Nollop that they need to challenge themselves linguistically to not speak or write any letter that falls from the statue. There are harsh penalties for anyone who slips up. Since the book is an epistolary novel, the author as well must not use the letters as they disappear.

The idea is clever and it was fun to think about this but definitely the idea was better than the actual book. The word play stays front and center and I never felt much character or plot development though there is an attempt at some. This was fun to read and I'd recommend it, but more as a novelty than anything else.

Original Publication Date: 2001
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 208 pages
Rating: 3 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: paperback, library sale
Why I read this: for fun on vacation

>57 japaul22: - That book has been on my wish list for years, although I'm not particularly motivated to hunt down a copy.

When I was learning the alphabet, I thought "ella-minnow-pea" was one letter and I couldn't figure out what it looked like. Maybe "Q"? My mom explained it to me and I was disappointed. I really liked "ella-menno-pea" (that's how I'd spell it).

Interesting thoughts on Go Set a Watchman. I think yours is the first review that made me want to read it for something other than the curiosity factor.

Also enjoyed reading the reviews of Ella Minnow Pea, The Great Influenza and The Ice Palace, all of which are on the pile somewhere.

#62 The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope
This is the third book in Trollope's Palliser series. It follows the drama surrounding Lady Lizzie Eustace. Lizzie Eustace married a rich Lord who gave her (so she says) a diamond necklace worth 10,000 pounds. After he dies, she insists she will not give it up as it was a gift to her, but the Eustace family insists that the diamonds belong to the estate and she can't keep them. After arguing about this for about half the book the diamonds are stolen and there is lots of drama surrounding the truth of the matter for the rest of the book.

It was interesting to me that Trollope shakes things up a bit with this book in a couple of ways. First, it is a fairly dark book. Few of the characters are particularly appealing or redeemable. In other Trollope books, even when characters are behaving badly, I've viewed them more as having human faults than being bad people, but in The Eustace Diamonds I didn't have that sort of sympathy for the characters. Second, he flips the general order of things by focusing on a woman who has plenty of money and is looking for a husband more as a support, protector, and mate. This was kind of nice to see rather than the more familiar story of a penniless woman needing a rich man to secure her livelihood. Unfortunately, Lizzie is so irredeemable that I couldn't give Trollope much credit for this shift.

This book also suffered a bit from not having enough side stories despite its length. I'm used to 2 or 3 stories going on in Trollope's books in addition to the main story. This book certainly had side stories, but I didn't find them all the interesting or enough of a diversion to give me a break from Lizzie Eustace.

Now, all that sounded pretty negative, but I still did enjoy the book. It just wasn't up to the high standards I set for Trollope. Taking the book on its own, I'd give it 4 stars, but in comparison to the other Trollope books I've read, it only gets 3 stars from me.

Original Publication Date: 1871
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 800 pages
Rating: 3 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: oxford editions hardback, purchased on ebay in a set
Why I read this: to continue the Palliser series.

I enjoyed The Eustace Diamonds too, but was also disappointed not to see too much of the other characters I enjoyed from the earlier Palliser novels, and by the unappealing nature of the principal characters.

#63 Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
I really enjoyed this quiet book about a nice Irish girl who immigrates to America in the 1950s. I liked this book because the main character is a good person and though she has to work hard and meets with some grief and hard decisions, things generally go well for her and she has people helping her along the way. It was nice to read a book where things don't have to keep going wrong for the book to be deemed interesting.

I read this on vacation and it was perfect. Engaging but easy to get in and out of quickly as things were happening around me. This was my first book by Toibin and I'm definitely interested in reading more.

Original Publication Date: 2009
Author’s nationality: Irish
Original language: English
Length: 262 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: paperback, library sale
Why I read this: just felt like it

That was my first Toibin as well earlier this year. Definitely a good choice as holiday reading! I loved it.

#64 The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, audio book read by John Lee

This is a really funny book that was even better on audio than I imagine it would be in print. It's the self-narrated story of Balram in a series of letters written to the Chinese Premier about how he rose from the slums of India to be an entrepreneur. His observations about life as a poor man in India are irreverent and hilarious but also pretty revealing.

This book is a little out of my comfort zone, but I really enjoyed it, especially as an audiobook. Its dark humor makes some uncomfortable topics bearable but doesn't gloss over the dark side of life in India's rigid caste system.

Thanks to Nickelini for picking this book off my shelf for me to read this year when I asked!

Original Publication Date: 2008
Author’s nationality: Indian
Original language: English, I think
Length: 8h6m
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: paperback, library sale but listened to an audiobook from the library
Why I read this: part of my category challenge

>64 japaul22: You're welcome! I did that one on audio book too, and I think his Indian accent really made it fun. "I Googled her," "We drank booze," and "She had boobs," are still phrases I like to say. So much more fun in that accent than my normal one.

>65 Nickelini: I remembered that you had really liked that audiobook so I thought I'd give it a shot. I really think I liked it better than I would have if I'd read it. It made it a lot funnier! Some very memorable lines in there. Balram must be one of the most memorable characters I've read in a modern book.

#65 Emma: An Annotated Edition by Jane Austen, annotated by Bharat Tandon
Emma is one of my favorite Austen novels. It is the first one I read and I've read it many times now. I won't do a proper review, but just make a few observations. There will be lots of spoilers, so don't read the following if you don't want to know what happens.

On this read, I really noticed how well Austen prepares the reader for Emma and Mr. Knightley to end up together. There are many hints for both of them that the other is foremost in his/her mind. This made me not mind the 16 year age difference this time around (sometimes it really bothers me!).

I also thought a lot about how isolated Emma was. She lives in a small country town like many Austen heroines, but she has never left. She has never even been to Box Hill, a local attraction just 7 miles from her house! She doesn't go to Bath, doesn't travel to nearby London to see her sister, and hasn't even been to her close neighbor, Knightley's, house in several years before the strawberry picking event.

I also don't dislike Emma, though even Austen herself thought that her readers would not find Emma likable. Though Emma is stuck up and interfering, she is toyed with herself by Frank and to an extent, Jane. It is lucky for her that she isn't hurt by this but she easily could have been.

This sentence during the proposal scene really sums up the theme of the book for me, "Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised, or a little mistaken; but where, as in this case, though the conduct is mistaken, the feelings are not, it may not be very material".

A note on the annotation:
Though I love this large coffee table book and its beautiful cover and pictures, I didn't find the annotation particularly enlightening. I was hoping for a bit more analysis or pointing out of connections throughout the novel. There were lots of recipes included for the food discussed which was neat, but I thought these were the least interesting annotations I've read so far. I read a different annotated version, The Annotated Emma (can't find the touchstone) by David Shapard which I found much more interesting.

Original Publication Date: 1815
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 576 pages
Rating: 5 stars for the text, 3.5 for the annotation
Format/Where I acquired the book: purchased
Why I read this: group read in the category challenge

Interesting thoughts about Emma. I last read that one in high school and I think there was some smirking at Emma's snobbery, but you are right that Frank's false flirting could have easily led to her being hurt. I always thought of her isolation as something of a big fish in a little pond.

I did like how Trollope flips the script with the wealthy woman/poor man - it seemed like there was more of this in the Palliser series compared to the Barsetshire series.

>68 DieFledermaus: Yes, definitely the big fish in a small pond syndrome. Though her isolation also made me feel a bit sorry for her and more understanding of her mistakes.

#66 Cruel as the Grave by Sharon Kay Penman
This is the second in Penman's mystery series set in the late 1100s. These books aren't particularly good, but I like to read them when I need something entertaining and easy. I think that I give them a little lot more credit than they deserve just because I love Penman's historical fiction so much. I've read all of those, though, so I'm left with the remaining two mediocre mysteries.

Original Publication Date: 1998
Author’s nationality: AMerican
Original language: English
Length: 248 pages
Rating: 2.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: library sale
Why I read this: for fun

#67 A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr
This is an excellent short book about the aftermath of WWI for one young man. Tom Birkin shows up in a small English village to uncover a Medieval era mural in the village church. It is 1920 and he is suffering from shell shock after his time in the War. In this quiet village, he seems to find some peace, connecting with another war veteran working on a different project at the church and also with some of the locals. It isn't to be expected that his peace will continue upon finishing his project and leaving the village, but the book is told from the point of view of his old age which reveals just how much this short time in his life meant to him. This is a quiet book but it isn't a simple one. There is some quiet humor and Carr leaves a lot to the reader to fill in which I really liked.

I'll join the other reviews I've read around LT and highly recommend this book. Thanks to Kay/Ridgewaygirl for picking it for me to read this year when I asked her to choose a book off my TBR pile.

Original Publication Date: 1980
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 135 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: purchased
Why I read this: category challenge

I also loved A Month in the Country. It was such a beautiful story.

I remember your review, Colleen. I had I feeling I was going to love this one too, after so many great reviews! Well worth the short amount of time it takes to read.

I really liked A Month in the Country, but didn't quite love it. I put it on my "give away" pile, but months later pulled it out and put it back in my shelf. I think I'll reread it. I suspect I may actually have loved it. I also enjoyed the Colin Firth (young! and showing his talent for facial acting) and Kenneth Branagh film. Last I checked, it was available on YouTube (although these things come and go day-to-day).

ETA: yep, still on there, with Spanish subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UgL0UD6j_o

A Month in the Country is zooming up my wish list. Think I need to get reading this one before the year is out.

I really liked A Month in the Country too. The movie of it is good too. Amazing that it's on YouTube!

Nice review of A Month in the Country, Jennifer. I'll add it to my wish list after reading all of these positive comments about it.

I'm so glad you loved it, too, Jennifer!

Enjoyed catching up. I think I would like to try The White Tiger on audio.

>79 dchaikin: I am among the few who didn't like The White Tiger. I can't remember exactly why, because it is so long since I read it, but I think I found it a little too didactic.

>79 dchaikin:, >80 rebeccanyc: I'm pretty new to audiobooks and haven't enjoyed most of the fiction I've attempted in that format, but The White Tiger on audio is the exception. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have liked the book on paper, but hearing it read highlighted the humor and sarcasm in the book in a way that I don't think would have been as effective on paper for me.

#68 What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
This is a hard book for me to review. I read Hustvedt's brand new book, The Blazing World last year and loved it so I've been looking forward to trying more of Hustvedt's work. What I Loved has a lot in common with The Blazing World; both books revolve around the contemporary art world and show Hustvedt's vast knowledge of art and literary scholarship. But where I thought this knowledge served the story well in The Blazing World, I ended up feeling like the long art descriptions and academic discourses disrupted the plot and made me dislike the pretentious characters.

What I Loved is told from the point of view of Leo Hertzberg, an art history professor who is looking back on his adult life. He starts his story with meeting a artist named Bill Weschler. Bill is unhappily married to Lucille and Leo is just married to Erica. The four become friends and both have sons around the same time. Bill ends up leaving Lucille for Violet, a woman he has used in his paintings. Leo and Erica embrace Violet as Lucille was always hard to deal with. The first part of this book is filled with their adult relationships and academic endeavors. It is the part that I found a bit pretentious.

The second part begins with a tragedy. Leo and Erica's son, Matt, dies in a boating accident while he's away at camp. This part of the book almost did me in. The way that Hustvedt writes about and dwells in grief was too intense for me. I had to put the book aside for a few days and seriously contemplated not returning to it. I suppose the realism says something positive about her writing but it was almost too much for me. I made it through the heart of that section though, and it got easier to read from there.

The third part focuses of Bill's son, Mark. Mark is a troubled youth - lying constantly, taking drugs, and in with the wrong crowd, including an adult artist who produces highly violent and graphic art and is something of a sensation in the art world. Mark's character is never fully revealed; it remains a bit murky whether he is evil at heart or has fallen in to the wrong crowd. The relationships between Leo, Bill, Violet, and Erica really have fallen apart by the end of the book, in part due to the tragedy in part 2 and in part due to Mark's behavior. (I'm being a bit oblique here to not give away some plot elements)

As I write about this book, I realize that there is a lot to think about here and that I did appreciate the quality of the writing and the ideas Hustvedt develops. Unfortunately, I didn't really connect with this book and found some of the plot elements too sad to let me enjoy the book. I also think I didn't really ever like Leo, which doesn't help in a first person narrative.

I will read more of Hustvedt's work, but wouldn't really recommend this one as a starting point.

Original Publication Date: 2003
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 370 pages
Rating: 3 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: purchased
Why I read this: meaning to read more Hustvedt, off the shelf, 1001 books

#69 Love and Louis XIV by Antonia Fraser, audiobook read by Rosalyn Landor, 13h19m

This was an informative and entertaining book that takes a look at the life of Louis XIV, the Sun King, by exploring the women in his life. Fraser focuses on Louis's mother, his wife Marie Therese, and then his many mistresses: the pious Louise; the confident, womanly, and fertile Athenais; and the motherly companion Francoise. Later in his life he also was enamored by his grandson's betrothed, Adelaide.

By keeping such a tight focus on the women in his life, Fraser creates a structure that is easy to follow and highly detailed. You can see how Louis changed through his life and paint a picture of who he was through the people he chose to keep closest to him. I thought the whole book was very well done and also thought the reader, Rosalyn Landor, was excellent.

Original Publication Date: 2006
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 13h19m
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: audiobook from the library
Why I read this: for fun

>83 japaul22: sounds fun and fascinating. I know vey little about the Sun King. Maybe it's a good intro.

>82 japaul22: this is a great review. It's interesting to see your opinion seem to change upon reflection...if I got that right.

>84 dchaikin: definitely a good intro to Louis XIV and I was surprised that it worked well on audio even without the visual of genealogy charts. Landor is a really good reader.

And, yes, my opinion is still changing about What I Loved. Weird to read a book and not even know if I loved or hated it!

#70 If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino
Not quite sure what to make of this one. Calvino has crafted an amusing and clever book about reading, writing, and books. There were many passages that had me laughing and many that had me thinking, so I liked it in that respect. But part of me wondered why I needed to read to the end of the book once I figured out the pattern and form. In that sense, I found it a little repetitive and boring. It's odd to feel that a book is at once innovating and boring!

Original Publication Date: 1979
Author’s nationality: Italian
Original language: Italian
Length: 254 pages
Rating: 3 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: off the shelf, used book
Why I read this: picked by LittleTaiko for my category challenge

>71 japaul22: Great review! I have A Month in the Country on my tbr shelf that I intend to move up closer to the top. Also, if I remember correctly, mine was bought on a recommendation from RidgewayGirl.

I feel like I am beating people over the head with A Month in the Country.

I regret nothing.

>88 RidgewayGirl: a friend at work was asking me about A Month in the Country because I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads. I was trying to describe it to her, though, and it was hard. It's such a quiet, understated book though it has big emotions and themes under that tone. I think I partially loved it because of the contrast to the majority of books I'm drawn too. I'm loaning it to her, so we'll see what a non-LT reader thinks!

>88 RidgewayGirl: & >89 japaul22: Now I can't wait to read it. I've put it on the top of my "up next" pile. It is the kind of book I could use right now, after a very busy summer. I might even start it before finishing the books I'm currently reading, two of which are mysteries whose plots keep getting intertwined.

>70 japaul22: I was looking at If on a Winter's Night a Traveller a few months ago, and couldn't decide if it was something I'd enjoy or not. Sounds like reading it didn't necessarily enlighten you on that front either!

I think your 3 star rating has me leaning towards leaving it on the shelf.

>70 japaul22: >91 AlisonY: I too had mixed feelings bout If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. I loved parts of it and was dazzled by the first chapter and Calvino's writing but as I said in my review I felt "strangely uninvolved in what happened as the book progressed."

>91 AlisonY: there have been many people around here who love it so don't let me put you off of reading it! If you try it, though, save it for when you're in the mood for something experimental.

>92 rebeccanyc: I felt "strangely uninvolved in what happened as the book progressed."
YES!!!

>86 japaul22: My problem with If on a winter's night a traveler was that, while I enjoyed the surrounding story about the reader, I found all the actual book beginnings to be really dull and could never understand why the reader was so anxious to carry on with them.

Raises hand

I'm one of the people who is always raving about If on a winter's night a traveler. I do like metafiction for its own sake though, and thought the first chapter was brilliant, was into the story of the readers, and liked the beginnings - I usually wanted to know what happened after they ended. But it's not everyone's cup of tea.

>94 valkyrdeath: On the other hand, I enjoyed the beginnings of the books more than the surrounding story. And I LOVED wherever Calvino listed the categories of books a book lover might create.

Love all the discussion around If on a winter's night a traveler. I love that it is a book that it seems every reader has an opinion on after reading it - not one you can ignore!

#71 George, Nicholas, and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I by Miranda Carter

This is an excellent nonfiction book focusing on the lives of George V of England, Tsar Nicholas in Russia, and Kaiser Wilhelm in Germany and the lead up to WWI. George and Nicholas, and George and Wilhelm are first cousins and Wilhelm and Nicholas are something like third cousins from Tsar Paul I. They definitely thought of each other as cousins/family and saw each other at family events over the course of their lives. I wouldn't say they were necessarily close, but they communicated through letters and telegrams and tried to influence each other.

Queen Victoria was really the glue that held this large royal family together. She had so many children and married them off so widely, that it seems that just about every royal family was related by blood or marriage to her. Her husband, Prince Albert, was a huge proponent of the idea that familial relations between royalty in different countries would bring about peace and understanding between countries that were otherwise prone to disagreements and fighting. Obviously, this did not hold true. I thought a lot about this idea and I haven't yet seen much evidence that it ever worked. All the way back to Medieval Europe, Kings were marrying off daughters to Kings and Princes in other countries to try to broker peace or gain territory. I can't think of many instances where it actually worked, or at least not without a lot of fighting and war to maintain gained lands. In this book, though the royal cousins got along somewhat, they both didn't have enough power (or education or leadership skills) to get the results they wanted and, when it came down to it, they valued their individual power and status over their family relations. Really, that seems obvious to me. In any job or position of power, wouldn't you hope that a leader would put his/her convictions and the welfare of the whole over what would benefit family most? Now, in this situation it didn't work out either way because these men were terrible leaders, but I don't like the idea of royalty making decisions for their country to appease each other.

One thing I found shocking was how poorly educated these future Kings were as children. They seem to all have had sub-par tutors who kind of let them do whatever. It's amazing to me that they wouldn't have had the best education that money could buy. There seemed to be an attitude from their parents that it didn't matter since it was a God-given right to be king. Crazy. I also wasn't shocked by this, but all three of these men were really terrible leaders. I mean, when you're just there because of who you happened to be born to, there's no reason to think you'll be able to run an entire, complex country. Both Wilhelm and Nicholas had real power if they had been able to use it, but both were inept in different ways.

Carter does a great job of focusing this book. The build-up to WWI has a lot of elements and she stays focused on the role of royalty and the drastic change that royalty in all of Europe was about to experience. It really was the end of an era for kings. One minor criticism of this book is that I sometimes found the transitions between the three countries and kings to be a little jarring. I would just be getting in to understanding the conditions in Germany and all of a sudden we'd be back in Russia. But, I think that it did serve the purpose of keeping the focus on these three men, so it is a minor complaint.

This is very readable and I learned a lot. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone with an interest in WWI or the downfall of the monarchies.

Original Publication Date: 2009
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: British
Length: 498 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: off the shelf, purchased
Why I read this: fit some WWI reading I was doing

>98 japaul22: I'd like to write more about this book because it was really great, but I have a bad sinus headache. Maybe I'll update a little more tomorrow.

OK, I updated the review for the George, Wilhelm, and NIcholas book in >98 japaul22:

>98 japaul22: I hope your headache is better, Jennifer.

Nice review of George, Nicholas, and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I. I'll look for this one.

>98 japaul22: Very interesting review, thank you!

This is a book I look at whenever I see it in a bookstore, so I was happy to read your review. I did get a bit of a chuckle out of ...when you're just there because of who you happened to be born to, which to me sums up completely what is wrong with monarchies. Add the lack of education you reference and it's a disaster.

Getting off my high horse, did Carter at all get into George selling out Nicky when the revolution came along?

Very interesting review and interesting perspective to take on WWI and the lead up...and how much was dependent on the then outmoded hereditary monarchy. I've wondered what the world would have been like had Wilhelm been a more able leader. Never thought the same of George or Nicholas. Not sure why not - well maybe just because I had a college class on Germany, but not ones on Britain or Russia...

>98 japaul22: Thank goodness monarchies are a dying breed, but that is a very interesting take on World War 1

Glad to see so much interested in the WWI book. I though it was a very interesting perspective!

#72 Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
This is a novel created from linked short stories. Olive Kitteridge, a large, angry woman, makes an appearance in all of the stories and ends up being the focus of the book. Each story is sad in some way, and the sum total of the book is depressing except that Strout injects a dark humor.

I found the writing well-done, but my confession is that I really didn't like this book that everybody seems to love. I found the format of linked stories maddening. In so many of them you don't even get the whole story of what is going on and then it's on to the next sad life. There is some linking between the stories and a few answers, but I would have rather just read a straight ahead novel about Olive. I think that linking them so that you see the same characters over and over but don't get any development was just torture. Ok, you get some subtle development, but it could have been so much more in a different format!

This just wasn't for me.

Original Publication Date: 2008
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 320 pages
Rating: 2.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: off the shelf, library sale
Why I read this: friend recommendation

Not everyone loves it. I was bored by it. : ) That was a while ago though.

>107 japaul22: - I was just mentioning on another thread that I hadn't read this yet, despite owning it for a few years. I guess I'll get to it eventually but I don't feel any urgency...

I just finished The Shore by Sara Taylor which is linked short stories, but very loosely linked so the lack of development didn't bother me. It's really dark and brutal but incredibly well-written.

Pass the tissues . . . my oldest son started kindergarten today!

What a cutie! That's a milestone for sure.

Aw - they grow up so quickly.

>83 japaul22: I've had this on the shelves to read for an age and not got round to it. I really must...

>98 japaul22: They also managed to look almost identical. Interesting fact, if the current rules of succession were in place, Kaiser Bill would have been on the British throne during WW1. Makes you wonder if we'd have had WW1 or what state we'd all be in.

Cute! He looks ready.

>111 NanaCC: >112 AlisonY: >114 dchaikin: We both made it through the first day of kindergarten! Change is both stressful and exciting! I'm glad I'm reading some nice, comforting Trollope right now.

>113 Helenliz: I really enjoyed Antonia Fraser's Louis XIV book. Both readable and educational. In the WWI book, I also could not believe how much alike George and Nicholas looked! It's crazy! I also didn't connect that Wilhelm was a potential King of England. You mean because now daughters can be in line for the throne even if there are younger sons, right? So Vicky would have been Queen after Victoria and then Wilhelm was her son. Do I have that right? Being American, I don't really keep up with succession rules!

>155 Nickelini: perfect reasoning there. >:-)

>109 katiekrug: I missed replying to this! I saw your review of The Shore and I am intrigued, even after not liking the linked story format of Olive Kitteridge. I know I've read linked stories before that I've liked, though I can't remember right now any examples! I'll keep The Shore on the list.

#73 Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope
I loved this follow up to Phineas Finn. All the characters are back: Phineas, of course, and Lady Laura, Lady Glencora (my favorite), Madame Max, Lord Chiltern, Lady Chiltern (formerly Violet Effingham) etc. There are of course some new characters as well, notably Adelaide Palliser, a cousin of Plantagenet's, and her love interest Gerard Maule.

I read along with a group read led by Liz (lyzard) which I found really added to my reading. Notably, Liz's comments led me to really notice the attitude towards work of the different characters. There is the Duke of Omnium who is revered for his ability to just be a Duke and spend his money without working at all. There's Plantagenet Palliser who inherits the Duke's money and title but cannot bring himself to leave his work ethic behind and is unsatisfied with the traditional role of a Duke. There's Gerard Maule who has no money but still only wants to hunt and not work. There is Lord Chiltern who I suppose you could say works hard at hunting, but I don't find that a very worthy endeavor. And there is Phineas, who wants to work in government but can't find a position and doesn't seem willing to make his way in any other field. I didn't feel that Trollope comes down on any one side, but he makes some interesting comparisons and has obviously thought about this.

This book has some great action and twists, especially in the second half, which I'm not going to go in to so as not to spoil anything. Suffice to say that I found the plot really moves along in this one and found it pretty easy to read, even with the politics which mainly have to do with the disestasblishment of the church. Trollope continues to explore the effectiveness and fairness of the political system.

As always, Trollope writes great female characters and this book is packed with them. One great contrast in this book is between Lady Laura and Adelaide Palliser. From Phineas Finn we know that Laura married Robert Kennedy knowing that she loved Phineas, choosing money and security over love with disastrous results. Lady Laura has made her bed and now has to lie in it throughout this novel. I found it interesting to contrast her choice with Adelaide's, who chooses to marry Gerard Maule for love despite their lack of money. Of course, we never see if Adelaide and Gerard live a happy marriage, but at least some things do work out for them since Adelaide persists in favoring love over practicality. I do wish Gerard Maule had been a more worthy suitor, as I found him a sort of boring lump.

Overall, I loved this continuation of the Palliser series.

Original Publication Date: 1873
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 688 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: off the shelf oxford classics edition + kindle for out and about
Why I read this: group read and to continue the series

Nice review of Phineas Redux, Jennifer. I am loving The Small House at Allington right now. I plan on finishing The Chronicles of Barsetshire this year. With one more to go, that is doable for me. I'll start the Pallisers next year.

>119 NanaCC: I'm on the last of the Pallisers, so I'll do the reverse of you, Colleen, and start the Barsetshire novels next.

Enjoyed your review (I'm hanging my head because I haven't read any Trollope...ok, I'm not really hanging my head. I'll get to him, I hope. )

>119 NanaCC: and >120 rebeccanyc: I think that overall I'm preferring the Barsetshire series to the Palliser series, but I really love them both.

>121 dchaikin: Trollope isn't for everyone. I'd be interested to see what you think, though, as he seems rather outside your recent reading.

#74 Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear
audiobook read by Orlagh Cassidy, 11h11m

Again, I continue to enjoy this mystery series set in post-WWI England. I like Maisie's combination of being insightful about her clients and friends and pretty clueless about herself (even though I don't think she would see it that way). This mystery was a little weaker than the others I've read. I actually figured it out way before the end which I almost never do with mysteries. Still enjoyable, though, and I like this audiobook reader.

Original Publication Date: 2006
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 11h11m
Rating: 3 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: library audiobook
Why I read this: just for fun

>118 japaul22: - I enjoyed Phineas Redux also, although I didn't find the Adelaide-Gerard romance as interesting as some of Trollope's other romantic side plots. I thought Glencora and Palliser presented an interesting contrast to Lady Laura and Kennedy, as both marriages had the woman picking the more practical, stable man over the exciting guy she really loved, with things starting out rocky. But Glencora and Palliser's crises ended up strengthening the marriage, while Laura's had an unhappy end. I did notice that Trollope tends to go back and forth on whether the "stable" or "exciting" man (or woman) is the right one.

>124 DieFledermaus: That's a great point and one I hadn't put my finger on before reading your message. I have to admit to not having a lot of sympathy for Laura, which is probably not fair. I felt, though, that she knew what she was getting in to when she married Robert Kennedy for his money and security. It bothers me that I feel this way, since I typically side with the women who had so few choices at that point in time, but something about the way Trollope writes this left me not feeling that sorry for her. Maybe because he's written so many female characters who either waited this sort of marriage out for something better or came to terms with their decision.

I think the importance of Laura's marriage is Trollope's willingness to admit that marriage may indeed be thoroughly unhappy. In his early books he had an exasperating tendency to suggest that "marriage" itself was all women needed regardless of the details and likewise a tendency to shy away from a closer examination of the realities of married life, but in his later and more psychologically complex novels he shows a great interest in the workings of unhappiness (if I can put it like that).

Laura's tragedy isn't that she married without love, which is what most women of her class did, but that she picked the wrong man---the future of political influence that she envisaged for herself, and which was to compensate her for the less tangible things she was giving up (the life which Glencora has, and which compensates her for a lot) is at total odds with Kennedy's ideas about a wife's duty and what he wants out of their life. There is an explicit contrast between Laura and Glencora, one which illustrates their differences in character and temperament, in that Laura cannot, as you put it, "come to terms" with her situation.

>122 japaul22: i'm not always such a hermit in tunnel like this year. Sometimes I actually read books other people like too. : ) I don't know if I would like Trollope, but I do want to try him.

>127 dchaikin: and I'll be looking forward to your thoughts on his writing when you try him!

>126 lyzard: Interesting points, Liz. It strikes me that in some ways, Laura is like Phineas because they both have a narrow idea of what they want from life. Phineas (especially in Phineas Finn) is stuck on being in government at the expense of earning a livelihood. When Laura marries Kennedy, she is stuck on the thought of being in the political world behind the scenes and when that doesn't happen she can't find another niche to make her happy. The difference is that Laura's choices really were extremely limited and Phineas had many options, even if he didn't like them.

The difference is that Laura's choices really were extremely limited and Phineas had many options, even if he didn't like them.

That's very true - though we should keep in mind that Laura is better off than most women in her situation, as her father and brother are willing to support her. Women who left their husbands were usually not received by their families, and so very few did.

>130 lyzard: Good point!

#75 Troubles by J.G. Farrell

Troubles is a darkly humorous look at the clash between Ireland and England in the years immediately following WWI. Major Brendan Archer travels to Kilnalough after returning from WWI (and a stay in a hospital recovering from shell shock) to meet a girl named Angela who he met and became engaged to during the war. They've only met once and he's not quite sure what he's getting in to - in fact he can barely remember her. He visits her at her family's hotel, the Majestic. The Majestic was an enormous, grand, hotel decades ago, but it is falling apart. Angela dies, but the Major is sucked in to life at the hotel. He becomes friends with Edward, Angela's father, and falls in love with a different girl in Kilnalough. Though the Major tries to leave once or twice, he can't seem to tear himself away from this decaying hotel and the old ladies who are the few remaining guests.

There is a lot of symbolism here. The decaying hotel can be seen both as a reflection of "the Troubles" in Ireland as it fights for independence and as the British Empire crumbling after WWI. The subject is grim but there is a dark humor in this book that keeps it from feeling like a serious book, even considering the serious times.

I really loved reading this and think it will be a memorable book for me.

Original Publication Date: 1970
Author’s nationality: British/Irish
Original language: English
Length: 459 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: purchased
Why I read this: 1001 books list and group read

One I've had on my wish list for a while. Enjoyed your review.

>132 japaul22: It was a memorable book and I like your review. Major Archer will appear again briefly in The Singapore Grip if you want to read more. I think of his "Empire Trilogy" though I liked The Siege of Krishnapur the best, although it lacks the leavening humour.

>133 AlisonY: I think you'd like it, Alison.

>134 SassyLassy: I was wondering how much of a trilogy the Empire trilogy really is. Sounds more like the books are loosely connected thematically than actually sharing characters and having plot progression?

>135 japaul22: You are right about the theme connection among the books with only very tenuous connections after that. I suspect the trilogy idea is more of a marketing strategy than anything else, as you would not lose anything by only reading one, or by reading them in random order instead of chronologically by history.

>132 japaul22: >136 SassyLassy: I loved Troubles best of the Empire "trilogy" and The Singapore Grip least (which obviously puts The Siege of Krishnapur in the middle!). Sassy is right about the trilogy being thematic and about reading them in any order.

>136 SassyLassy:, >137 rebeccanyc: Thanks! I'll probably read the other two, but I won't feel like I need to get to them soon while Troubles is fresh in my mind.

#76 The Sun King by Nancy Mitford

Reading this history of the Sun King, Louis XIV, was sort of like strolling through Versailles with a very knowledgeable friend who gives you some history, some gossip, and some personal bias. Mitford wrote this book in the 1960s and I sort of viewed this as an early form of narrative nonfiction. Overall, I liked it, but I think I would have been annoyed if this was the only biography of Louis XIV I had read since it isn't particularly thorough or focused. Part of me liked having Mitford's voice so present in the book and sometimes I found it annoying, especially when some of her racial and cultural biases came through.

I'm not sure who I'd recommend this for - probably only people who want an addition to other Louis XIV reading they've done or people who like a strong authorial voice with a 60s vibe.

Original Publication Date: 1967
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 169 pages
Rating: 2.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: purchased, nyrb edition
Why I read this: off the shelf and just read another Louis XIV biography

Troubles will be on my favorites list this year.

>139 japaul22: This is one of those books I keep thinking of purging, for some of the reasons you mention, however, I have an old hard cover edition with wonderful photographs and illustrations and they have been the deciding factor in keeping it. Although the NYRB edition wouldn't have those, I would keep it as well, just because it was an NYRB. So much for consistency! Maybe I'll try the Antonia Fraser.

>141 SassyLassy: oh yes, despite my reservations the book will be staying on my nyrb shelf looking pretty!

>140 NanaCC: I'm sure your review pushed me toward this book. Thanks!

Enjoyed your review of Troubles

#77 The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, audiobook read by Alan Bennett, 2h41m

This is a short, amusing book about Queen Elizabeth II discovering her love of reading when she happens upon a mobile library. There are lots of thoughts and anecdotes about the act of reading that readers will enjoy. I also loved when she decided she wanted to meet current authors and so had a party where she invited authors. Let's just say it doesn't turn out to be as exciting to talk to authors as one would expect.

I thoroughly enjoyed this.

Original Publication Date: 2008
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 2h41m
Rating: 4 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: library audiobook
Why I read this: read several positive reviews on LT and ran into it as an audiobook on my library's website

#78 Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett

I love survival stories and this was a great one. This details the experience of survivors of a shipwreck at the Auckland Islands, 235 miles south of New Zealand. The harsh weather and limited food resources make survival on the Islands very difficult. Druett focuses on one wreck of the ship Grafton where all five shipmates survive the wreck and band together to figure out a way to survive. They are led by Captain Musgrave, but another survivor, Francois Raynal, really saved the day. He had an amazing array of knowledge that he used to manufacture tools, create housing, make soap, and even make a boat. I was fascinated by him.

Druett contrasts this experience with another shipwreck that happened in a different part of the island during the same time. This had very different results as 16 of the 19 survivors of the shipwreck died. The men were unwilling to band together and help each other and quickly gave in to the harshness of the island.

I love these stories of humans overcoming the elements and figuring out a way to survive in the harshest areas of the earth. I thought this was a very entertaining book.

Original Publication Date: 2007
Author’s nationality: New Zealand
Original language: English
Length: 269 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: library book
Why I read this: just for fun

>145 japaul22: I'm so glad to see a couple of people reading this book, Jennifer. When I read it, it was one of those 'if you didn't know it was non-fiction, you would swear it was a well imagined fiction' book.

>145 japaul22: Sounds up my alley, I'll add it to the list, thanks!

>145 japaul22: I loved it too.

Yep, Colleen and Rebecca are the ones whose reviews got me to read this book!

#79 The Foundling by Georgette Heyer
This was an ok book about a young Duke who goes undercover as a commoner to help out his cousin and winds up in all sorts of trouble. In the meantime, he gains confidence and grows up after being coddled his whole life.

I was kind of bored by this one. I liked the Duke, but there weren't any good female characters and I was sort of annoyed by all the hi jinks. It sort of fit the bill for something mindless to read as I've been pretty stressed out by work, but that's about all it was good for in my opinion.

Original Publication Date: 1948
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 439 pages
Rating: 2 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: off the shelf
Why I read this: for fun

>144 japaul22: I adored The uncommon reader just the surmise to the quirky turns of phrase. Not laugh out loud funny, but plenty to smile at.

#80 Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George

This is a great example of historical fiction that really brings to life a person from the past. Margaret George has succeeded in writing a 900 page novel that is a page turner and never lost me. As proof of this, I'll share that I've been lugging around this enormous 900 page paperback all over the place for the last week. It must weigh several pounds.

In this book, all of Mary Queen of Scots' life is explored, beginning with her childhood in France and young marriage to the French King, Francois. Then she goes to Scotland to rule after her mother, who has been Regent in her stead, dies. She goes to a newly Protestant country as a devoutly Catholic Queen. I was most interested in this section of the book since I knew mainly about her imprisonment in England and execution there but knew very little about her time in Scotland. Though this span of her life was brief in time, only seven years, so much happened. She was married twice and had to escape her council of Lords three times as they turned on her and tried to dethrone her. But she gave birth to James I of England/James VI of Scotland who was raised Protestant and ended up uniting England and Scotland after Queen Elizabeth's death. After escaping Scotland for the final time, she fled to England hoping for help from Queen Elizabeth, her cousin, to regain her Scottish throne. But her close proximity as an heir to the English throne made her the centerpiece of any plot to overthrow Elizabeth and in the end, Elizabeth signed Mary's death warrant for colluding to assassinate her.

Margaret George's writing is clear and flowing. She uses a lot of contemporary sources to add to the book - including letters, proclamations, poems, and songs from the time period. She came up with a clear picture of Mary's character and motivations that rang true for me throughout the book. Of course, that part of historical fiction in this sort of book is always up for discussion - we can't really know at this point how Mary felt about the events going on around her or how she loved and didn't love her husbands - but Margaret George comes up with a consistent character that made sense to me. The story makes for great reading and I really enjoyed it. I'm considering reading Antonia Fraser's biography of Mary Queen of Scots soon to see how the "real history" measures up to the historical fiction version

Original Publication Date: 1992
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 870 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: enormous library paperback
Why I read this: for fun

>152 japaul22: Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles sounds like one I would like, although I would probably try to get the Kindle version. I can't manage the print versions of those big books for long stretches of time anymore. I'm adding it to my wishlist.

It sounds amazing, but I don't think I'd manage 900 pages. Fair play to you!

>152 japaul22: I enjoyed that one a lot too back when it was published. Have you read her The Autobiography of Henry VIII? I think it's her best. Margaret George is sort of my standard for historical fiction . . . I compare all historical fiction to hers. Some books are better, some are similar, lots are worse.

>155 Nickelini: The only other book of hers that I've read is the Elizabeth I book that alternates voices with Lettice Knollys. I liked it a lot but not as much as this one. I think I'll end up reading all of her books. I read Sharon Kay Penman first and I compare all historical fiction to hers. I think that Margaret George measures up very nicely, though I still prefer Penman. But I've read all of Penman's books now. :-(

Have you ever read Dorothy Dunnett? I've seen good reviews of her around here and I'm looking for who to turn to next since depleting my Penman options.

>156 japaul22: I've only read one Sharon Kay Penman, but I find them very similar in approach and style. I will read more of her's one day, but I'm sort of off historical fiction and very long books at the moment. But in my future . . .

This is my ranking of Margaret George books:

1. Henry VIII
2. Mary Queen of Scots
3. Elizabeth I
4. Helen of Troy

She's written others set in the ancient world, but that's not my area of interest (I read Helen of Troy during a university semester when I found myself reading about the ancient world for two or three classes--just by chance scheduling, but it was actually beneficial. I added the George book thinking it would give me a 21st century POV)

I have not read Dorothy Dunnett, but I've had her recommend from many years ago. I don't see her books--I'm sure I would have bought one by now if I'd run across them. Curious.

>152 japaul22: This is a great example of historical fiction that really brings to life a person from the past. Margaret George has succeeded in writing a 900 page novel that is a page turner... You've just made a great case for Margaret George.

>157 Nickelini: This would be my ranking too, for the first three. I haven't read any of her books set in the ancient world. The Autobiography of Henry VIII was great fun.

For anyone looking for more books on Mary, here is a good link:
http://www.marie-stuart.co.uk/bookreview.htm

The books on John Knox and Marie de Guise look tempting.

>157 Nickelini:, >158 SassyLassy: I will definitely check out The Autobiography of Henry VIII when I'm in the mood for more historical fiction.

It would be interesting to read more about John Knox - seems like a complex person.

Well, maybe I'll be the Dorothy Dunnett guinea pig and give her a try after I exhaust my Margaret George options!

You have made me want to read Margaret George. Great review of Mary Queen of Scotland and ...

#81 Northanger Abbey: An Annotated Edition by Jane Austen, annotated by Susan J. Wolfson

Northanger Abbey may not be Austen's most polished novel, but it has a youthful exuberance and charm that I really enjoy. Catherine Morland is the main character; she is young, only 17, and on her own for the first time in Bath. She meets two families, the Thorpe brother and sister, John and Isabella, and the Tilney brother and sister, Eleanor and Henry. These two sets couldn't be more different - the Thorpes are all show and poor behavior, and the Tilneys have class, wit, and proper etiquette.

Austen strongly inserts herself into this novel, something which she does in all her novels but in this one I feel her sarcasm and wit most strongly. I think it's the main reason I like this novel so much; I feel like she is unable to hide her own voice in writing this and I love that.

I read an annotated edition published by Harvard/Belknap press. It's a beautiful, enormous, hard cover book with beautiful pictures and interesting annotations. Susan Wolfson does a good job with the annotations - lots of info about the references to other authors and pointing out authorial techniques.

Original Publication Date: 1818
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 362 pages
Rating: 5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: hardcover annotated edition, Harvard/Belknap press
Why I read this: group read in the category challenge

>161 japaul22: Oh no, I had my reading planned out for the next few weeks, but you're making me want to reread Northanger Abbey.

>162 Nickelini: reading plans are made to be broken!

> 161 That looks a nice book to have and to hold.

#82 Howards End by E.M. Forster, audiobook read by Nadia May, 11h4m

I went into this not knowing what to expect after loving Forster's A Room with a View and detesting A Passage to India. In the end, I think this split the middle for me.

Howards End is about the Schlegel sisters, Margaret and Helen, and their interaction with the Wilcoxes who are wealthy and the Basts who are poor. There is a lot of social commentary and commentary on the arts threaded through the book. There is also a good story, though, with the choices of Margaret and Helen being interesting and moving the action forward nicely. I do have a complaint, though, that there were several plot occurrences that seemed to happen very abruptly, with little or no lead up. Afterwards they are explored and explained, but I found it jarring while I was listening.

This is a book that is either going to grow on me and keep me thinking or I'll have completely forgotten it in a year. Not sure yet which way it will fall.

Original Publication Date: 1910
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 11h4m
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: library audiobook
Why I read this: happened upon it in my library wish list

#83 Last Friends by Jane Gardam
This is the last novel in a three novel set that explores the life of an aging group of friends/colleagues that were British lawyers that worked in Hong Kong. This last novel explores the point of view of Veneering, Fiscal-Smith, and Dulcie. I found it the least focused of the three and the least compelling.

I really like the first novel in this trilogy, Old Filth. It is funny and interesting with great characters. But I have to say that while I appreciated the idea of the next two, to explore the same group of characters and events from alternate points of view, I didn't find them very successful. In this last book particularly, I didn't find quite enough tying it to the other books and it didn't answer some of the questions that I most cared about having answered.

Overall, I loved the idea for this series, but I would have been just fine simply reading the first book, which is really great, and leaving it at that.

Original Publication Date: 2013
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 205 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: purchased paperback
Why I read this: to complete the series

>155 Nickelini: My friend is currently reading and raving about The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George. I think he was initially attracted by the title (autobiography) but then became enthralled with the story and format. I'll probably get it when he has finished, but I find a book that size is daunting just to hold in arthritic hands. An e-version would be more appealing to me.

>167 VivienneR: I don't have arthritic hands, but I still don't like holding large books. So I hear you!

>167 VivienneR: I hear you regarding the arthritic hands. I always try to get large books in a kindle version, but there are some that just don't have an e-version. My daughter bought me a book pillow for that situation. It definitely comes in handy.

>169 NanaCC: Oh, a book pillow is a good idea! That would be great for those big coffee table annotated Jane Austens that I own. I read them at a table right now, but sometimes you just don't want to sit at a table.

>170 Nickelini: some of them are very pretty. I've seen several styles, but I like my BookBuddy.

Edited to add: 'Sorry for hijacking your thread, Jennifer.'

>166 japaul22: Some overlapping reading happening here. It was interesting to read your comments on Last Friends as this is my next book up. Initially I had somewhat the same reaction, but I suspect I liked it more on reflection. Now I have to think about how to write about it!

Hmm, I might need to look in to a book pillow. I usually just grab one of the toss pillows from the couch if I'm reading a very large book.

>172 SassyLassy: I saw your review on Last Friends. I'm glad you enjoyed it. It just didn't measure up for me.

#84 Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
This is a very hard book to review. I should really not have liked it. The premise is one I don't believe in or have much interest in and the characters and actions were dark and dirty and unlikable. But somehow the book works. Mantel is really good writer.

So what is this book about? Well, it's about an overweight medium, Alison, who meets Colette who has just left her husband. Colette becomes Alison's manager - a 24 hour manager, even moving in with Alison. She books her shows, sets them up just right, and keeps Alison company through long nights of interference from the spirit world. As their relationship progresses, Colette gets more an more controlling, monitoring Alison's eating habits and becoming an abusive partner in most ways.

Then there is Alison's personal story, which Colette never really understands. Alison seems to be the real deal as far as mediums go. She has a spirit guide named Morris who is a dirty, cruel, little man. As the book progresses, we see that Morris and Alison have a history in life as well. Morris was part of a group of men that were customers of her abusive prostitute mother. Alison has incomplete flashbacks of a horrifying childhood. She was terribly abused, but did she commit some atrocities as well? As Alison's abused childhood comes out I kept thinking, oh all these spirits are just in her imagination from her damaged past. It's some way for her to work it out. Maybe. But Mantel doesn't really go there. She doesn't seem to concern herself with whether or not all this is true; it's a vehicle for her to explore these characters she's created. And that's why it worked for me. She wasn't trying to convince me what the spirit world is like (or that it exists at all) or that mediums really have a knowledge of the spirit world, but the book is a creative way to explore some interesting characters.

So despite not liking the subject or the characters, I really liked this book. I've only read Mantel's historical fiction before (which I love) so I was hesitant to change my opinion of Mantel by reading something I thought I might not like. In the end, I'm so glad I did since this really increased my respect for Mantel. This was a very, very different book from the others I've read and it was still great.

Original Publication Date: 2005
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 417 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: purchased paperback
Why I read this: to try another book by Mantel

Excellent review of Beyond Black. It was the first Hilary Mantel that I read and like you I was disappointed by the subject matter, but despite this I really enjoyed the reading experience. I was caught up in the world that Mantel created despite being hugely sceptical.

>174 japaul22: - really interesting review. I never once imagined that was the plot of Beyond Black (no idea what I thought it was, but it wasn't that!).

I have always actively avoided Mantel, but your review has sold it to me.

I had problems picking Beyond Black up because of the subject, however, once I started reading it I decided to look at it with an attitude similar to watching a movie like "Ghost." Do I believe any of that hooey? Of course not, but I'll suspend my belief for a good story.

I should read another by Hilary Mantel. I have a few choices, and not sure what has stopped me. I loved Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies.

>175 baswood: Thanks, Barry. Sounds like we had a similar reaction.

>176 AlisonY: I'm curious why you've avoided Mantel, Alison. She's become one of my favorite currently writing authors.

>177 Nickelini: Your review of Beyond Black pushed me in to picking this up despite my reservations. So thank you!

> 178 Colleen, I love Mantel's historical fiction (you should try A Place of Greater Safety - I think I like it even more than the Wolf Hall series). This is my first of her non-historical fiction and it was excellent but very, very different. I suppose that's a mark of a great author in my mind.

>178 NanaCC: >179 japaul22: I agree that A Place of Greater Safety is one of Mantel's best works, but I also enjoyed (among others) The Giant, O'Brien, Fludd, A Change of Climate, and Vacant Possession (it helps for the last one to have read Every Day Is Mother's Day, but I didn't like that as much).

>179 japaul22: I've avoided Mantel for no good reason other than she slightly scares me.

Nice review of Beyond Black. It seems she has some interest in the occult. She touches on that in Wolf Hall.

#85 Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
This is the third installment in J.K. Rowling's excellent mystery series. I'm really enjoying the relationship (both professional and personal) between the two main characters, Cormoran and Robin. The mystery is again really well-done and suspenseful. Even though the reader pretty much knows who the killer is from early on, you don't get the whole picture until the end.

The book ends with a sort-of cliffhanger in the personal/professional lives of Strike and Robin and I seriously cannot wait until the next book comes out. I hope it isn't too long!

Original Publication Date: 2015
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 512 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: library kindle book
Why I read this: latest in the series just came out

And there's the disadvantage of reading a book soon after its release. I'm so ready to read the next Cormoran Strike book!

>183 japaul22: & >184 RidgewayGirl:. Waiting is so hard. I know I have plenty to fill the void, but...fingers tapping.....

#86 The Rival Queens: Catherine de Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal that Ignited a Kingdom by Nancy Goldstone

When I saw this book was about to be published, I was really excited because it covers the same subject as Alexandre Dumas's book La Reine Margot which I've been wanting to read. I'm interested to see how this nonfiction account pairs with a fictional retelling.

Goldstone has chosen a fascinating subject and time period to write about. France in the 1500s was rife with Kings dying young and religious wars between the reigning Catholics and the rising Huguenots. Catherine de Medici went from being a marginalized wife to the Queen Regent for a succession of young and fairly incompetent sons. Marguerite was her youngest daughter and a staunch Catholic. This did not stop Catherine from marrying her daughter off to Henry of Navarre, a Huguenot.

Marguerite has mainly been represented by her numerous affairs by historians. In this biography, Goldstone marginalizes Marguerite's love life in favor of focusing on her political acumen, her intelligence, and her love of the arts. Though Marguerite rarely had any real power, she managed to use her political savvy and people skills to remain alive through turbulent times and end her life in a comfortable way.

I enjoyed this book, the topic is fascinating, but I can't say I was enamored of the writing. For some reason, this exciting story kept losing my interest. I can't put my finger on anything in the writing of the book that caused this, but nevertheless it happened. I think it is a book well worth reading, but I can't give it an unconditional rave review.

Original Publication Date: 2015
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 392 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: library hardback
Why I read this: interested in the topic

Just beware that Dumas was not a stickler for history, lol. I haven't read that one but in general he played fast & loose with his historical details, they really didn't concern him much. But I think so long as you know that going in, it's not any big deal, and the stories can simply be enjoyed for what they are. :)

>187 .Monkey.: That's one of the reasons I wanted to read this nonfiction account first. Now I feel like I'll have the background to know what's based in reality and what is just for fun and just enjoy the ride!

Jennifer, I've added another stack of books to my wishlist thanks to your thread! I think we enjoy similar reads - I love reading about women's lives during/after war time, as well as Scandinavian reads.

I was most happy to add Last Friends to my list; I hadn't realized that Gardam had written a third book in this series. Thank you!!

>186 japaul22: >187 .Monkey.: I enjoyed La Reine Margot and the Oxford World Classics edition I read included endnotes that pointed out the discrepancies between Dumas's tale and the historical record.

>190 rebeccanyc: Ooh nice, I'd like to read his works with such notes! I don't mind such deviations, as long as the story isn't intended/claiming to portray exact history, but I do like to know what's what!

#87 The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
This is a short, quiet book about a widowed 50-something aged woman who decides to open a bookshop in a small town that she's been living in for the past decade. There are a lot of obstacles - Florence doesn't know much about the finances of running a small business, there's an innocuous ghost in the old home she runs the shop from, and a leading woman in the town decides she wants the space that Florence has purchased for the shop. It sounds rather dramatic, but it's actually a very quiet book. Nothing much seems to happen and I liked it anyway. This was my first book by Penelope Fitzgerald and I'd like to try more.

Original Publication Date: 1978
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 132 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: library sale paperback
Why I read this: just cause

#88 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, audiobook read by Gary Sinise, 3h11m

Ugh. What a painful story. Somehow I had never read this and I thought it was time. I had an idea of the basic story, which is about two men, George and Lennie, who travel to different ranches, following work during the Great Depression. George is looking out for Lennie, who is physically strong but intellectually weak. It's such a sad story; Lennie has no option to get the help he needs and can't control his impulses, leading to disaster.

This is a well-written book and an important look at male friendship and the hardships that itinerant workers faced during the 1930s. However, I can't say I enjoyed it. The story was just too harsh and the blaming of the only woman in the book (only referred to as "Curly's wife, never even rating her own name) was really distasteful to me.

I listened to an audiobook read by Gary Sinise and his reading was excellent.

Original Publication Date: 1937
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 3h11m
Rating: 3 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: library audiobook
Why I read this: available at library and 1001 books list

>193 japaul22: glad you enjoyed Of Mice and Men. So sad!

I was interested in your review of Mice and Men, particularly your comments about Curly's wife. It reminded me a piece that I read by Leighton Meester, who played Curly's wife on Broadway: I'm Not a Tart: The Feminist Subtext of Steinbech of Mice and Men.

I haven't read this book in years, so I can't offer any comments really, but I do remember enjoying Meester's piece and being surprised that she even wrote it!

>195 neverlistless: Wow. Thanks for sharing that article. Definitely brings up some of my thoughts, though I cannot imagine the audience laughing as she dies. That's shocking.

>195 neverlistless: Thanks for sharing that article, indeed! I found it extremely interesting. And I definitely agree with it (although the audience laughter is just confusing and disturbing to me, I must say). I read Of Mice and Men for the first time just a few months ago, and was blown away by it, largely because of how well it captures some very painful stuff. And my own take on that character was very much that while she starts out looking like a sexist stereotype of a tramp who is to blame for men's problems, I quickly came to feel a lot of sympathy for her. It's subtler than with the other characters, but it seemed clear to me that she was just as trapped, and unhappy, and full of desperate, unfulfilled dreams as anyone else in the book, and was reaching out for something beyond her limited little life in the only way she knew how.

>197 bragan: This is interesting. I don't remember Of Mice and Men although I probably read it, but I felt exactly the same about the evil female character in East of Eden. Or rather, the idea that she might be a sexist stereotype never entered my mind, but maybe I was too young for that. But I did feel sorry for her in a way despite the horrible things she did. That book also had an interesting play on the Chinese character stereotype. The Chinese guy in the book can speak perfect English, but is forced to fake Chinese talk because otherwise nobody understands him.

>198 FlorenceArt: Yes, I remember that about East of Eden too. I haven't read much Steinbeck and now I'm wondering if he ever writes fully fleshed out female characters. I remember the Chinese character as well and how he spoke "fake Chinese" to appease the stereotypes of others.

#89 Fair Play by Tove Jansson
This is a short book of vignettes exploring the relationship of Jonna and Mari. They have been friends/lovers for years and are both artists in their 50s. The books moves from their city apartment to an isolated island where they spend their summers to their wandering vacations, but regardless of the setting the focus is on their interactions with each other and with their artistic endeavors. Mari is a writer and Jonna is an artist.

The book quietly and subtly shows how these two women support each other despite the typical frustrations that all relationships have. I've read that this is semi-autobiographical, depicting the relationship that Tove Jansson had with her partner, Tuulikki Pietilä, a Finnish artist.

I found this book quiet but satisfying. I don't think it's as memorable as the other books by Jansson that I've read (The Summer Book and The True Deceiver) but I enjoyed it.

Original Publication Date: 1982
Author’s nationality: Finnish
Original language: Finnish
Length: 101 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: purchased NYRB edition
Why I read this: love Tove Jansson's works

I also wanted to mention that I just finished reading Comet in Moominland also by Tove Jansson with my 5 year old son. We've read about 10-15 chapter books now and I think this was one of his favorites. This was also really fun for me to read. Moomintroll and his friends are cute and funny and have interesting adventures. I skipped over a few dated references to smoking cigarettes, but other than that these books hold up well and we're planning to read more in the series.

>200 japaul22: As you know, I'm a huge fan of Tove Jansson. Your review made me wonder if perhaps the topic was too close to her to write as successfully as she did in her other novels you reference, which as more strictly novels, are more memorable.

Interesting about the Moomin reading. I still have to read some of them. Does your son notice when you skip over bits?

>202 SassyLassy: yes, I think it's possible the topic was just too close to her. It certainly isn't a bad novel, but I don't think it was quite up to the other books I've read.

I don't think William notices when I skip over things - it's really just a sentence here or there. We talk fairly frequently about smoking being bad for your body (my dad died of cancer recently after smoking for 40 years) and I just don't want him associating these cute, funny characters with cigarettes! He's also only 5 and not reading yet except for a handful of sight words, so I know he doesn't notice by looking at the page.

>203 japaul22: My cousin's little twins learned to read when they were just 2 (just on their own due to her reading to them all the time, and I believe pointing at the words as she went along? She certainly wasn't actively teaching them, in any case), and my other little cousin (a teen at the time) had gone off to the bedroom with them to read them some books, perhaps it was naptime? and he came back out looking all bashful, saying "they corrected me!" because he'd skipped a sentence or some such. We all got a good laugh out of that one! So be ready! XD

>204 .Monkey.: Good story! yes kids do have a way of surprising you!

#90 Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser
Fraser's biography of Mary Queen of Scots is both exhaustive and entertaining to read. She details the life of Mary chronologically, starting with her birth (including some background on her father and mother) through her childhood in France, her brief reign as Queen of France, and her departure for Scotland where she had technically been Queen since the age of 9 months.

In Scotland Fraser studies the dynamics of a staunchly Catholic Queen trying to rule a newly Protestant country. Mary asked to be able to worship in private but never tried to make alliances to overthrow the Protestants and accepted their counsel. Her reign in Scotland is full of turmoil, especially after she marries Henry, Lord Darnley. His murder and the subsequent events (her marriage to Bothwell and imprisonment in Scotland) are gone through in detail to dispel the rumors that have abounded since this happened in the 1500s.

The third half of Mary's life is her imprisonment in England. Fraser examines the various plots, real or imagined, to free Mary and her adoption by Catholics as a martyr. Of course, Mary ends up being beheaded at Queen Elizabeth's order after a sham of a trial which is also explored at length.

I thought this was an excellent biography. I found it highly readable but scholarly at the same time. Recommended to anyone who like historical biographies and/or British history.

Original Publication Date: 1969
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 640 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: library kindle book
Why I read this: to pair with the historical fiction Mary QUeen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George that I just read

#91 A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym
I really enjoyed this Pym novel; I think it would rank up near the top of the five I've read. It's the story of Wilmet, a 30-something childless married woman, who is a bit more worldy and irreverent than the typical main characters in Pym's novels. She has plenty of money and dresses well. She loves her husband but is rather bored. She re-meets the brother of one of her best friends and begins a flirtation with him, meeting him for lunch a few times over a summer. This story is balanced with her involvement with the members of her local church, who all have stories of their own.

I very much enjoyed reading this. Pym's books are quiet and relatively uneventful, but they always have fun characters and a little insight into the lives of ordinary people.

Original Publication Date: 1958
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 234 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: purchased paperback
Why I read this: just in the mood

I had the same reaction to A Glass of Blessings. My favorite Pym so far.

I've added Mary Queen of Scots to my wishlist. I love the historical biographies.

Colleen, I've read two of Antonia Fraser's biographies now and they've both been excellent. I want to read her Marie Antoinette sometime soon.

I wanted to say a few words about the comparison between Margaret George's historical fiction account of Mary Queen of Scots's life and the nonfiction account I just read. George sticks very closely to the facts for Mary's early life and largely for her end of life imprisonment in England. The intervening period during her reign in Scotland and especially surrounding the death of her husband, Lord Darnley, and her marriage to Bothwell were a bit of a stretch. George doesn't choose to retell events in any way that is definitely wrong, but she picks the most romantic and dramatic reading of events through this entire period. It made for fantastic reading and I'm glad she did it. After reading Fraser's biography, I highly doubt it's how things actually went, but I was pretty sure while reading George that that section was romanticized so at least I don't feel duped. I came away, overall, really impressed with how Margaret George grounded her book in truth and was able to write a compelling, dramatic, romantic story. I also think she did a good job creating a personality for Mary that works for what we know of her actions, writings, and from contemporary accounts. Creating personality is what I look for in historical fiction about real people and I like George's take on Mary.

>209 japaul22: I think I always expect historical fiction to be 'embellished truth', so I'm not surprised by your comments. I am impressed when an author writing non-fiction makes it feel like fiction. David McCullough's Johnstown Flood was like that and so was Joan Druett's Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the a Edge of the World. The stories were so unbelievable, that they read like fiction.

>207 japaul22: - sounds good. In the middle of a Pym novel at the moment and enjoying it.

My favorite day of the year - library book sale day! I purchased the following books.

Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee
A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka
The Master by Colm Toibin
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
The Nonesuch by Georgette Heyer
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Many of you will recognize books that you've reviewed favorably in this list. Thanks for helping me pick them out!

Also, I'm doing very well with my challenge to myself to read 10% more books off the shelf than I acquire this year. I've read 59 books off the shelf and have acquired 44 books. That means I have lots of room for Christmas gifts in the last weeks of December.

Revolutionary Road is terrific!

>213 rebeccanyc: Yes, it is, as is The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. That's an excellent book haul.

Ah, Richard Yates. My heart skips a little beat. Fantastic book haul - some real goodies there.

#92 Persuasion: An Annotated Edition by Jane Austen, annotated by Robert Morrison

This was a reread of one of my favorite Austen novels. Persuasion was Austen's last completed novel and I think it is her most romantic. I also think that Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth have the most realistic attraction to one another and balanced personalities. Anne and Wentworth fell in love at a young age, but Capt Wentworth is deemed unworthy of Anne's family's social standing and their engagement is called off. They meet again eight years later and find that each still loves the other. This is revealed through their thoughts but also their physical actions. Their body language toward each other reveals their feelings more than their words. Capt Wentworth writes a fantastic love letter to Anne as she sits a few feet away from him in conversation with another about the constancy of a woman's love. It's a brilliant scene.

I also love the secondary characters in this book. Admiral and Mrs. Croft are a great example of a loving, older couple - something that doesn't appear in every Austen book. Anne's father, Sir Walter, is amusing in a roll-your-eyes sort of way, with his preoccupations with aristocracy and looks. I love when Admiral Croft (who has rented the Eliots' home) complains that he had to take several mirrors out of Sir Walter's room.

I read the beautiful, large annotated edition published by Harvard/Belknap Press. I love these books. They are beautiful even if they are awkward to hold. I also really enjoyed Morrison's annotation. I though they were insightful and not overly disruptive to the story. Also included is Austen's original ending to the book. In it, Anne and Wentworth reveal their love for each other after Admiral Croft hears a rumor that Anne is to marry Mr. Elliot and worries that his lease of Kellynch Hall will be terminated. He tasks Wentworth with discovering the truth from Anne and then she reveals that she has no interest in Mr. Elliot and things progress from there. Her published ending is much more satisfying!

Original Publication Date: 1818
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 326 pages
Rating: 5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: purchased hardback Harvard Press edition
Why I read this: reread with a group read in the category challenge

Spurred on by purchasing all of the Harvard Press annotated editions that exist and a year long group read in the Category Challenge group, I've read all of Austen's novels in the past 14 months. They were all rereads, but I'd never read them all in such close succession. I'm happy to report that I never suffered from Austen-fatigue and all improved upon rereading, even for the 3rd, 4th, or umpteenth (ahem, P&P) rereading. I love them all, but I do love the ones that have the best romances best. If I was forced to put them in order, I would choose this ranking.

1 Pride and Prejudice

2 Persuasion
3 Emma

4 Northanger Abbey

5 Sense and Sensibility
6 Mansfield Park

The gaps reflect a sort of grouping I have in my mind. 2 and 3 are virtually reversible depending on which I've read most recently. And to be honest, my favorite Austen novel is the one I'm reading at the moment. I can't imagine ever growing tired of any of these books and will continue to reread them, a couple every year.

Sounds great. Haven't read an Austen in over 20 years. Must be time to go back to her soon.

What a lovely idea to read all the Austen novels in relatively quick succession. Persuasion is her best novel I think, and although I like it very much I would have to do as you have done to see if it was my favourite.

>218 AlisonY: I find that her books improve upon rereading (even though I also loved them all the first time!).

>219 baswood: it was a really fun project!

>217 japaul22: - I read the six novels in 2011, I think. I had only read half of them up to the point. When I finished that project, my ranking was:

1. Persuasion
2. Pride and Prejudice

3. Mansfield Park
4. Sense and Sensibility
5. Northanger Abbey

6. Emma

1 and 2 are almost interchangeable for me :)

I need to start re-reading, especially as I have 3 of those gorgeous Belknap/Harvard Press annotated editions on hand to get started!

You did it! I had planned to read all of Austen this year, but like most of my book-reading plans, it was tossed aside cavalierly. I tremendously enjoyed the tutored read of Mansfield Park, as well as discovering Robert Rodi, though, so the year was not an entire waste.

I've been resisting re-reading Austen since I did this not so long ago. Last year? But you really make me want to read Persuasion again, it's my favorite. I wonder if the Harvard edition is available as an e-book.

I love my Harvard/Belknap Press editions of Jane Austen that are beautiful even on the shelf, but I like to curl up with a book and get lost in it, which is pretty difficult with these large editions. My solution is to keep more than one copy of each.

Hard to say which Austen is my favourite. I'm always inclined to choose Emma. I"m in the process of re-reading them all so that might become more definite in the coming year.

I am never sure which Austen is my favorite. That distinction seems to change based upon which I've read last. Is there a bad one?

>217 japaul22: You're making me consider reading the entire Austen canon next year! Wouldn't that be a lovely year? I am in the I Love Jane Austen group... I wonder if anyone in that group would have an interest in a year of studying Austen?? Hmmm...

I'm going to be reading Austen but only one probably, possibly I might decide to do a second but I very much doubt I'd go for more than three tops. Too many other things! :P

Just chipping in to say that there will be a group or tutored read of Emma in the New Year, probably in March - everyone welcome! :)

Love all the Austen talk! And Liz, I'll look in on the Emma group read since I always love talking about Austen's books!

#93 Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Well, this was as good as everyone said it was. Haruf has created a community in a small town called Holt, Colorado. The characters he creates feel real and make you care about them slowly. It's one of those books that actually has a lot of big life stuff going on - a mother dealing with depression and leaving her family, a teenage pregnancy, work problems, aging parents - but it's all handled so quietly and matter-of-fact-ly that it still feels like a quiet book to read.

I think there are two more books that center on the inhabitants of Holt and I'm very much looking forward to reading more.

Original Publication Date: 2000
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 301 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: library sale paperback
Why I read this: off the shelf

>231 japaul22: My favorite part of Plainsong was the 2 old brothers:)

Me too, I love them!

>231 japaul22: glad you loved it as much as the rest of us have. I'm second in line at the library for the second book in the trilogy - will have to take it slowly and savour it when my time comes.

#94 Cecilia by Fanny Burney

I had sort of a love/hate relationship with this book. Published in 1782, this is a novel of sensibility, following the young adulthood of Cecilia, an heiress to a large fortune who is also benevolent, honest, and good. A condition of her inheritance is that her future spouse take her last name upon marrying her which will prove to cause all sorts of trouble for the one man she desires to marry out of the many suitors vying for her attention.

Cecilia also is left by her Uncle (who had been caring for her after her parents died) with three guardians, none of whom was chosen very wisely. One is a gambler living well beyond his means who will effectively rob Cecilia of part of her fortune, one is a miserly man with no social skills, and one is affected by his excessive pride in his family name.

As a novel of sensibility, there are long scenes in this book of excessive emotion and drama with long-winded speeches where honestly I wished things would just move along already. But there are also several characters who exhibit realistic personalities, showing shades of both good and bad traits. Cecilia herself surprised me, because though she is good through and through, she does "have a spine" and I ended up really liking her and rooting for her as she matured throughout the book.

Overall, I'm very glad I read this and I enjoyed it though it will not rank among my favorites because the over-dramatic nature and wordiness just don't suit my personal taste. I much preferred Burney's Evelina which I found had a charming nature that I personally enjoyed more.

Original Publication Date: 1782
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 900 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: kindle
Why I read this: group read and 1001 books

Wow! 900 pages - you virago readers have staying power.

Enjoyed your review.

Barry, I sort of estimated on the page count because I read my book on the kindle. Amazon says the Oxford World Classics paperback is over a thousand pages, but I figure there are lots of endnotes and an introduction that might be included in that. It is long, though, whatever the actual page count! I suspect that most readers who are at all familiar with the era, though, won't find it a terribly difficult read.

>237 japaul22: Jennfer, while at times Cecilia was a bit over dramatic (maybe a lot over dramatic) I enjoyed the way that her writing of the dialog was well done in changing the voice of the speaker. The characters all had their own personalities.

>238 NanaCC: I loved that too, Colleen.

#95 Transit by Anna Seghers

I loved this book set in 1940 Marseille, France as refugees attempt to flee Europe to the safety of other countries. The book is narrated by a young German man (we never learn his real name) who has escaped prison camps in Germany, by swimming across the Rhine, and France. While in Paris, he is asked by a friend to deliver a letter to a man named Weidel. He discovers that Weidel has committed suicide and discovers an unfinished manuscript and some letters to Weidel's wife. He makes his way to Marseille to find this wife and when there appropriates the name and papers of Weidel. Once in Marseille, he joins the absurd lifestyle of those waiting for their multiple papers and permissions to allow them to travel abroad, dealing with unhelpful, incompetent people and systems that rarely allow things to move along smoothly. The young man enjoys his life in Marseille and the people he meets and doesn't actually want to leave, though he's only allowed to stay if he's trying to leave. He ends up unintentionally finding Weidel's wife and his experiences entwine with hers.

There is obviously a lot of action going on here, but actually the book is just as much about the boredom, inanity, and just waiting of life in Marseille. There is much time spent in cafes, eating pizza and drinking wine, and talking about the transit visa process. People share little about their actual selves but make connections through their shared, even if not talked about, experiences. I loved the tone of this book, the absurdity of the situations, and the subtle insights into this aspect of the war experience.

Anna Seghers herself lived an interesting life. She was a German Jewish Communist who left Germany in the 1930s for France. During the war she left France through Marseille for Mexico, later returning to live in East Germany. She obviously drew on her experiences in Marseille to craft this book as she wrote it upon arriving in Mexico. I would highly recommend this book and will be keeping it to reread sometime in the future.

Original Publication Date: 1951, but completed in 1942
Author’s nationality: German
Original language: German
Length: 252 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: nyrb paperback
Why I read this: 1001 books, off the shelf

And I just realized that I'm really close to reading 100 books this year! Transit was #95 and I have an audiobook I'm almost done with and another book I'm close on too. So, I think I'm going to be a little silly and intentionally chose some shorter, quicker reads to close out the year. I've never been so close to reading 100 books, and I think the difference this year is that I "read" 17 audiobooks and audiobooks are a new format to me.

>240 japaul22: This sounds like a book I could like. Wishlisted!

>240 japaul22: sounds like a book that's really nicely handled. One for me too!

>240 japaul22: I loved Transit too; in fact I ran out to buy another book by Seghers, The Seventh Cross, which has been languishing on my TBR for several years.

Enjoyed your review of Transit, anna Seghers

#96 The Nose by Gogol
I read this short story while waiting for an appointment today. I knew the premise, so it wasn't all that shocking. The story is that a man wakes up one morning to find that his nose is gone. He sees it later, walking around, dressed up as a government official. Later a police officer brings it back to him but he can't get it back on. Then one morning he wakes up and all is right again.

The whole thing is pretty silly, but it's entertaining. I'm planning to read Dead Souls in 2016 and hadn't yet read this off the 1001 books to read before you die list, so I thought I'd give it a try. One thing that surprised me was that this was written in the early 1800s and that Gogol was a contemporary of Tolstoy. I was thinking that he wrote later than Tolstoy.

Original Publication Date: 1835
Author’s nationality: Russian
Original language: Russian
Length: 30? pages (read on kindle)
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: kindle book
Why I read this: curiosity, 1001 books

Making a note of Transit. I wonder if the German bookstore downtown stocks it.

Wishing well on your way to 100. This was a fun thread to catch up. Love reading about your Austen reading, and then Burney and then Gogol. Enjoyed your take on Transit.

>246 japaul22: I really enjoyed Dead Souls.

I also enjoyed Dead Souls. I would have liked to know how he actually intended to end it, but it was sure an interesting ride!

>250 .Monkey.: was it unfinished? I haven't done any background reading on it but that would be good to know going in!

Yep, he destroyed the ending shortly before he died. Wiki says: "Exaggerated ascetic practices undermined his health and he fell into a state of deep depression. On the night of 24 February 1852 he burned some of his manuscripts, which contained most of the second part of Dead Souls. He explained this as a mistake, a practical joke played on him by the Devil. Soon thereafter, he took to bed, refused all food, and died in great pain nine days later."
However, Susanne Fusso compellingly argues in her book Designing Dead Souls that Dead Souls is complete in Part One, that there was never meant to be a Part Two or Part Three, and that it is entirely consistent with Gogol's method to create the expectation of sequels, and even to break off his narrative in mid-story, or mid-sentence, and that he was only persuaded to embark on composition of the second part by the expectation of the Russian reading public.
So, in one sense it is viewed as complete. But, it was still left unfinished. Complicated folk, authors! ;)

Very interesting. Strange that it could go either way whether it's finished or not. I'm glad to know it before hand, though.

The edition I read included the unfinished parts, but as I recall the translators discussed whether Gogol meant to include them.

>254 rebeccanyc: that's the edition I have as well, so I'll be sure to read the extra material.

#97 To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey

I like these mysteries by British "golden age" mystery writer Josephine Tey, but I don't love them. I think this is the fourth or fifth of hers that I've read. I feel like they are all fun and have some good characters, but the mysteries are a bit far-fetched and she uses more slang and words that really only pertain to the era than, say, Agatha Christie. That's fine, but it makes me feel a bit removed from the book.

Anyway, this mystery centers around the disappearance of a famous American photographer who shows up at a party and ends up staying with a family and working on a project with the fiance of one of his hosts. Inspector Alan Grant, a recurring character for Tey, is on the case, trying to determine if the American, Searle, is dead or missing first of all. There's a good cast of characters, but I found the solution to the mystery a bit far-fetched. This was the last Tey on my shelf and I think I've read enough to take a break.

Original Publication Date: 1951
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 223 pages
Rating: 3 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: paperback, purchased
Why I read this: for fun and off the shelf

#98 The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries that Defined America by Jeffrey Rosen, audiobook read by Alan Sklar, 8h44m

I love reading about the Supreme Court, so I enjoyed this book. The author sets up two contrasting personalities (sometimes with similar philosophies but different approaches and something both philosophy and approach are different) in four different eras to show how judicial temperament can have as much impact as judicial philosophy. I found this to be a little bit of a semantics issue rather than a true contrast, so I didn't really buy the set up of the book as a whole. However, the information and writing style were both good so I enjoyed the book despite the premise, which I found a bit faulty.

The contrasting temperaments presented are John Marshall vs. Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall Harlan vs. Oliver Wendall Holmes, Hugo Black vs. William O. Douglas, and Rehnquist vs. Scalia.

A good book for Supreme Court buffs, but not a great one.

Original Publication Date: 2008
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 8h44m
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: audiobook from library
Why I read this: interest in the Supreme Court and available at the library

99. Not Safe for Church: Ten Commandments for Reaching New Generations by F. Douglas Powe Jr. and Jasmine Rose Smothers

This is a book that our whole congregation was asked to read by our Pastor. He is going to be doing a sermon series on it and we're having a guest speaker as well.

Background: this is by Methodists and addresses a major concern of the Methodist church which is aging congregants. The average age of an attending member is 57.

The book addresses ten ways that congregations may be alienating the post-civil rights generations (anyone born after 1961) and ideas of ways to make some changes or at least do some soul-searching. The best suggestions were to be authentic (i.e. make sure to be living and acting in a way that reflects their beliefs), to be truly welcoming to all people not just the ones that look and act they way you do, and to be willing to take the mission work in to uncomfortable places and go as equals not as though we are perfect helping people the imperfect.

So even though I appreciate the intent of this book, I have to say I was incredibly annoyed by the book itself. For some reason, the authors decided to use current slang to describe each of the ten ideas. It actually made them sound ancient instead of "with-it" as they probably intended. I also think that lumping together everyone born after 1961 is pretty ridiculous. And for all their ideas, they didn't seem to really give many concrete ideas of what to do.

I'd skip it . . . unless your Pastor asks you to read it. :-)

Original Publication Date: 2015
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 138 pages
Rating: 2 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: given to me by my church
Why I read this: "assignment"

I don't think anyone will ask me to read Smothers book. Also interesting that you are reading more on the Supreme Court. I would like to try The Nine on audio.

#100 Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
This was excellent - a quiet story about a momentous life decision, beautifully written. Edith has arrived at the aging Hotel du Lac in Switzerland after committing some sort of societal faux pas and being shipped off there by her friends. There she meets a mother/daughter duo, a single woman with an eating disorder, and a few other guests of the hotel. Edith's transgression is slowly revealed as she experiences different emotions - stubborness, sadness, defiance, longing.

In the end, this book is about one woman's decision of whether to do what her society expects of her or to be herself. Being herself, though, isn't so exciting as she is the kind of person who could very well lead a boring, slightly lonely life - and she knows it. So it is a real dilemma and struck me as very realistic. I grew to really like and respect Edith while reading this book.

Original Publication Date: 1984
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 184 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: library sale paperback
Why I read this: off the shelf, booker prize winner

>260 japaul22: Just added to my wishlist. It sounds like something I would love. Thank you!!

>260 japaul22: Hotel du Lac was already on my wishlist, but thank you for reminding me of it! It sounds like something I could like.

>261 neverlistless:, >262 FlorenceArt: I've seen two other reviews recently around here (I think Vivienne and Alison?) that pushed me to read it and I'm so glad I did. Glad to pass on the favor!

I enjoyed reading about hotel Du Lac. It was a booker prize winner and I think I might enjoy it.

>260 japaul22: so glad you enjoyed it! I felt like I'd come back from a restful mini break after reading it.

>263 japaul22: I really enjoyed Hotel du Lac. It's the sort of book I'll probably read again at some point.

Warm wishes for a magical holiday season!

>267 katiekrug: What a great picture! Thanks!

I'm starting to think about my end of the year wrap up, and one of the things I'm considering is how I felt about the audio books I listened to. This is the first year in my reading life that I always had an audio book going in addition to the print books I read. I listened to 17 audio books, mainly on my commute or while exercising. I was feeling sort of negative about the experience until I actually sat down and looked at what I listened to. I found that I enjoyed way more of them than I remembered liking. The following list is of all the audio books I read and what worked in the format vs. what didn't. The starred ones were my favorites. Two stars means I suspect I actually preferred the audio over a print version. My takeaways are that I like nonfiction in audio format and humorous books (Bossypants and The Uncommon Reader). Also, the books that didn't work I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have liked in print either. The only book on my "worked" list that I think was improved by the audio format was White Tiger. I was thinking that classics don't work for me on audio, but I liked Howard's End on audio so it may be more just finding books that I'd also like in print. Although I think I would have preferred reading Howard's End on paper. Anyway - figuring out audio books will be a work in progress that I continue exploring in 2016.

Worked:
**Bossypants by Tina Fey, audiobook read by Tina Fey, 5h32m
*Longbourn by Jo Baker, audio book read by Emma Fielding, 13h31m
A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro, 5h59m
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson, audiobook read by Alan Sklar, 8h38m
**The Case for God by Karen Armstrong
*Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear, audio book read by Orlagh Cassidy, 10h22m
**The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert, audio book read by Anne Twomey, 9h59m
White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, audiobook read by John Lee, 8h6m
*Love and Louis XIV by Antonia Fraser, audiobook read by Rosalyn Landor, 13h19m
*Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear, audiobook read by Orlagh Cassidy, 11h11m
**The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, audiobook read by Alan Bennett, 2h41m
Howard's End by E.M. Forster, audiobook read by Nadia May, 11h4m
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, audiobook read by Gary Sinise, 3h11m
The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries that Defined America by Jeffrey Rosen, audiobook read by Alan Sklar, 8h44m

Didn’t work:
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, audiobook read by David Case, 5h32m
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, audiobook read by Alfred Molina, 7h8m
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, 5h15m read by Alex Jennings
Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, audiobook read by Stefan Rudnicki, 14h34m

Interesting about your audiobook experience. I may do a similar appraisal when I get home tomorrow.

>270 katiekrug: I'd be very interested to see it! Safe travels!

Audiobooks are fairly new to me as well and I had a similar surprise as looking back at them last year and the year before - I found several of my most memorable books were audio. This year that didn't happen so much. Maybe i just ran out of library options or maybe Malcolm Gladwell just doesn't last (he's fun though). Anyway interesting to see how it worked for you.

I am ready to post my end of year wrap up. I have one book I'm reading that I might finish before the end of the year, but I'll just update these stats if need be.

Drum roll, please . . .

2015 stats

Books read/listened to: 101
Pages read: 30,446 pages read, average of 86 pages a day
Audiobooks: 19

Books acquired: 44 (I read 18 of these)
Books read off the shelf: 64
(I exceeded my goal of reading 10% more books off the shelf than I acquired!)

New to me authors: 49
Books by women: 62

Decades the books were published in (I've separated out books published in 2015)
2015 - 9
2010s - 13
2000s - 23
1990s - 5
1980s - 5
1970s – 6
1960s - 6
1950s - 6
1940s - 3
1930s - 4
1920s - 2
1910s - 2
1900s - 2
1890s - 1
1880s – 2
1870s - 2
1860s – 2
1830s - 1
1820s - 1
1810s – 5
1780s – 1

Favorites of 2015:

Favorite fiction
The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt
Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
Independent People by Halldor Laxness
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas
A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr
Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George
Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Transit by Anna Seghers
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner

Favorite nonfiction
The Nine: Inside the Secret Life of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England by Thomas Penn
The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
Love and Louis XIV by Antonia Fraser
George, Nicholas, and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to WWI by Miranda Carter

#101 Lamentation by C.J. Sansom
So I did end up finishing the sixth book in Sansom's mystery series set in Tudor England. This was another great installment in the Matthew Shardlake series. In this one, Shardlake is asked by Queen Catherine Parr to find a book that has been stolen from her. The book is entitled Lamentations of a Sinner and reflects her reformist views. As religious tides are still in flux at the end of Henry VIII's reign between those who want to return to the old ways and those who want to move even farther in the reform direction, this is dangerous for Catherine. If whoever has it shows it to the King or prints it, he could very well be furious with her - possibly for her views but definitely because she hid it from him.

As always there are several side plots and Shardlake gets himself in deep trouble with the authorities and also in his personal life. I really love these books for their historical detail and good characters.

Original Publication Date: 2015
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 656 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: purchased kindle book
Why I read this: for fun at the end of the year

I'm hoping that there will be more of Shardlake. This series has been quite good.

>275 NanaCC: Me too, Colleen. He left it so it could go either way, I felt.

So I got some money for Christmas and of course used it to buy books. I had room to buy 12 books and still not go over my resolution to read 10% more off the shelf than I acquire.

I just ordered

Between the Acts by Virginia Woolf
Iceland's Bell by Halldor Laxness
The Royal Physician's Visit by Per Olov Enquist
The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns
The Parson's Widow by Marja-Liisa Vartio
Fludd by Hilary Mantel

Oh, I loved The Vet's Daughter and Fludd.

>277 rebeccanyc: good! I'm excited about both of those. I've never read any Comyns.

Many of you have already found this, but I've started my 2016 thread here. http://www.librarything.com/topic/208373

Happy New Year, everyone!

Taking note of your best of the year's reads as I know we like similar books :)

>278 japaul22: My favorite Comyns was the first one I read, Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead.