Book Lovers Club
Comments
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Just finished The Gown by Jennifer Robson. It is a historical fiction loosely based on the women that embroidered Princess Elizabeth’s wedding gown. There are several intertwined stories, but the book reads well. Am starting The Unwinding of the Miracle. The tone and writing style are very good. There is so much yellow pine pollen here it is impossible to be outdoors even though the temperatures are pleasant. We should get rain soon and wash away this gunk.
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Just finished Cane River by Lalita Tamedy. It was about a multi generational slave family . I've read other books spanning generations as this one has, but I did not get the same continuity of years passing as I have with other books. Overall, I didn't care for this book, though some of the storylines did engage me.
I am on to a psychological thriller Her every fear by Peter Swanson.
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Just finished Cane River by Lalita Tamedy. It was about a multi generational slave family . I've read other books spanning generations as this one has, but I did not get the same continuity of years passing as I have with other books. Overall, I didn't care for this book, though some of the storylines did engage me.
I am on to a psychological thriller Her every fear by Peter Swanson.
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I have no words. I finished The Unwinding of the Miracle last night. The author puts into words the conflicts of feeling that some persons have when faced with a life ending disease. I copied many passages that caused me pause to think about my own feelings while coping emotionally with metastatic breast cancer. I plan on reading the book again as there are many levels of learning to sort through. The subject matter, while grim, is uplifting and truthful. I highly recommend this title.
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Librarian, I also read the book and have the same kinds of thoughts about it as you do. I wrote down some of her words (my book was from the library) because she was able to put in words what I am also feeling. Yes, I often paused for thought because her writing is so profound. And I loved the part where she said she didnt want a new woman to mess with her kids’ inheritance or she would come back and haunt her. I have said *exactly* the same thing to my dh. Julie’s story is miraculous in many ways. I’ve read numerous books by authors who are dealing with terminal illness...they are all exceptionally well written. This one is perhaps the masterpiece.
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I'm still re-reading off my shelves. Just finished The Massacre at Fall Creek by Jessamyn West (1975). The book is set in Indiana and based on an 1824 trial of 5 white men for murdering a small peaceful family of Indians. It's a good read with lots of difficult moral questions and great descriptions of the time & place. West (born in 1902) was raised Quaker and many of her books were written from her family's actual stories of their lives in Indiana from the 1800s.
Anybody else remember Gary Cooper in Friendly Persuasion? (movie 1956 based on a 1945 book) I don't remember much about the movie but I do remember the song by Pat Boone.
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I've never read Friendly Persuasion, but now you make me want to read that, GWTW, Thorn Birds, etc.!!
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I finished reading the memoir “Sounds Like Titanic” by Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman. Insighful!
It almost sounds fictional but its not. Here is Amazon’s summary:
“When college student and aspiring violinist Hindman lands a job with a professional ensemble in New York City, she imagines she has achieved her lifelong dream. But the ensemble proves to be a sham. When the group "performs," the microphones are never on. Instead, the music blares from a CD. The mastermind behind this scheme is a peculiar and mysterious figure known as The Composer, who is gaslighting his audiences with music that sounds suspiciously like the Titanic movie soundtrack. On tour with his chaotic ensemble, Hindman spirals into crises of identity and disillusionment as she "plays" for audiences genuinely moved by the performance, unable to differentiate real from fake.”
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JCSLibrarian, I am almost finished reading Inheritance by Dani Shapiro. Oh my goodness, I can hardly put it down! Mesmerizing!
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devine....i have that book on my coffee table. I will read it next
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DivineMrsM, glad you are liking Inheritance. I am about halfway through Island of the Sea Women by Lisa See. It is historical fiction taking place in Korea during WWII. Interesting how the women earned all the money and men stayed home with the children. Things changed with the war and Korea trying not to turn Communist. Not a real page turner, but I am learning about a time and place I knew little to nothing about.
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JCS - thanks for the review of Lisa See's new book. I have it on my list.
I finished re-reading The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest Gaines (1971) It was a long ago first edition Christmas present from my Mother and fun to see her writing on the front piece. I didn't remember it being fiction but well worth reading. Alice Walker said " ...no other American writer has made such an effort to comprehend the strength & rugged tenderness of the black women in all her rare beauty". From Wiki: "The story depicts the struggles of African Americans as seen through the eyes of the narrator, a woman named Jane Pittman. She tells of the major events of her life from the time she was a young slave girl in the American South at the end of the Civil War"
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JCS - I absolutely loved Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, but never found Lisa See's other books to be as good as that one. I will be very interested to hear if you liked Island of the Sea Women. I spent 18 months in Korea and had my oldest daughter at the Army base in Seoul.
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Snickersmom - I gave Island of the Sea Women three stars on Goodreads. It is full of information about life on an island off Korea before, during and after WWII. There is a story about two girls going through hardships as best friends then growing apart. It also jumps back and forth between the historic time frame and current time. The factual information is good, but the story line lacks depth. I feel the author wanted to teach us something and framed it in a story. Sometimes that works if the story is well written.
Also read Cancer made me a Shallower Person. This is a graphic novel style memoir written by a young woman with metastatic breast cancer. While certainly not the depth of Julie Yip-Williams, it was a ironic look at the processes of diagnosis, treatment and life with cancer. Pretty spot on and funny in parts.
Had my chemo infusion this morning so am now going to nap (and waste this beautiful day!). Next title will be Maid: hard work, low pay and a mother’s will to survive by Stephanie Land. Suppose to have another nice day tomorrow. I hope to get some easy yardwork in after a walk.
Enjoy your weekend!
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JCS - Maid is on my list of books to read. Just started Michelle Obama's book so Maid will probably be next.
Beautiful weather here in central Florida, too, - warm, breezy days and cool nights. All too soon we will have the humidity and high temperatures so we are enjoying the nice weather now! All of our windows are wide open and I love it!
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Just finished Women Rowing North by Mary Pipher. It was an interesting look at women growing older. I really relate to a lot of the things she discusses, but have to say there were no big revelations for me.
Think I will turn my attention back to some fiction. I have been reading so much on this trip, and I attribute that to no television. Might have to seriously think about how much time I spend in front of the tube vs. reading.
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Finally I have some books to recommend!
That Churchill Woman by Stephanie Barron- a historical fiction about the mother of Winston Churchill, based on facts but filling in the blanks. Interesting and makes me want to dig deeper.
The Salt Path: A Memoir by Raynor Winn-a middle-aged British couple loses their home & the husband receives a dire medical diagnosis. How do they deal with it all? The chuck everything and walk the coast of England with interesting results.
In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown by Nathaniel Philbrick-this would be only for the history lovers......since I am one of them, I loved it.The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer-tells about the start of counter-intelligence gathering.. A true story that reads like a detective novel.
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Ruthbru - These sounds great! I have put a couple on hold and will let you know how it goes. I love finding out about new and interesting non-fiction.
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I'm mostly a non-fiction (or really good, accurate historical fiction) kind of gal.
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Pat, I put my name on the library wait list for Women Rowing...sounds interesting.
Ruth, my library doesn’t have the The Salt Path, but patrons are allowed to recommend a couple books within a certain time frame, so I went ahead and recommended it. If they choose to purchase it, I’m automatically put on the loan list for it. They’ve purchased numerous books I’ve recommended. And not because of “me”. I imagine the books that get the most requests are the ones they order.
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Btw, I LOVED Michelle Obama's autobiography. I see it may become the most popular autobiography of all time. What an incredible woman, and yet, she grew up in a neighborhood with close family ties and seems so much like someone who could have grown up in my own home town. My absolute favorite person in her book is her mother, Marion Shields Robertson. When I think salt of the earth, a most admirable quality, she comes to mind. Classy, classy, classy.
Next on my list is A Serial Killer's Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love and Overcoming by Kerri Rawson. Unbeknownst to her, her father was the btk killer. I'm careful what I read or watch about his horrific, sadistic crimes as it is hard to unforget. But I would like to know the daughter's story. My heart goes out to her, I can't even imagine.
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I loved Michelle's autobiography too. It was like sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee, and having a visit with her.
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I finished reading The Maid. Not sure how I feel about it. I hurt for the single mother (the author) as she struggles to make ends meet and take care of her daughter. She does make some questionable choices and deals with many emotional challenges. She talks about cleaning homes and the people she cleaned for. The book is an interesting treatise on the many hardships of the chronically poor. Especially the catch 22’s of earning too much money to qualify for help while not being able to save money for future needs.The actual writing does not flow well, but the message is worth the wade.
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Just read Feeding Your Lies by Vani Hari. Book was recommended by one of my libarians. Pretty much told me what I already knew about food. One gem, which I wholeheartedly agree with is that there is the suggestion that we take our vitamins and supplements from whole foods rather than from synthetic nutrients because our bodies absorb them differently.
Also....This week, I will be seeing Geoff Dyer.....
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just finished the woman in the window by AJ Finn. I loved this book - a real page turner. I'd get to the end of a chapter and say "I didn't see that coming". Isn't that what makes a good mystery/suspense thriller? I heard that it may be a movie too, so glad I read the book first. Briefly, it's a story about a housebound woman who observes her neighbors through her window, and one day sees something she shouldn't have. Very well written. So I immediately wanted to read more by this author, turns out it was his first novel. And I also read there is some controversy on the plot being plagiarized, so maybe this will be his last book - boo hoo.
Now I am reading the first Charlie Parker book, Every Dead Thing by John Connoly. I'm really enjoying it, can't believe I've waited so long to find this series - pretty sure you all recommended it! One thing about our extended RV trip is I'm reading so much more than I usually do, lots of car time and we don't have TV in the evenings.
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JCSLibrarian, just received The Unwinding of the Miracle via reading your and DevineMrsM recommendation. I'll get into it this weekend - thanks for the review ladies.
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Woman in the Window sounds like my kind of book. I will look for it in Kindle book form.
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Carole - yes, you'll like Woman in the Window. I read it straight through.
I just finished T.H. White's The Once and Future King. It's my Mother's copy from 1958. In addition to all the fun about Arthur as Wart when he was a kid, I find the last section perfectly tuned for the time he was writing - 1939. His thoughts about government & war & rich vs poor & fair & honest & hate & vindictiveness - and are people really decent at heart (which is what Merlyn taught) and how we can ever get out of the mess - were representative of the world around WWII, even though it's King Arthur 'talking' in the middle ages... "But the whole structure depended on the first premise: that man was decent." And perhaps some of these thoughts are pertinent again.
Even though I have over 500 books on my shelves, I don't have a copy of Jane Eyre, and that's what I wanted to read next. Darn. So I'll read a small 1928 book of poems by Dorothy Parker and then start The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (1905).
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Dorothy Parker born in 1893 Died in 1967. Definitely a satirist. Just a couple of quotes below:
Razors pain you, Rivers are damp, Acids stain you, And drugs cause cramp. Guns aren't lawful, Nooses give, Gas smells awful. You might as well live.
You have to think about this one:
It costs me never a stab nor squirm, To tread by chance upon a worm. "Aha, my little dear," I say, "Your clan will pay me back one day."
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I just finished “The Huntress” by Kate Quinn. What an excellent book. I loved that, at the end, she gave real-life references for the characters she developed.
MJ
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