33

This month there are two for the book group, because the leader wasn't sure we would like either.
I read the first, another detective vs serial killer story.  It is a page turner, but not something worth remembering.  I think the author must have started with a news story (statistics I find questionable) and gone from there.

Next is a goofy sci fi thing, and I'll read it before the year ends.  Probably neither are worth going to look for the names.

Correction:  I couldn't make myself read the science fiction book. After about a page, I just said no.

32. Lady Macbeth, A Novel. by Susan Fraser King

I am enjoying this book.  It is based on the actual historical woman, not Shakespeare's character. I really appreciate the map, family connections chart, author's note, character and pronunciation helps, and glossary.  I wish the glossary had a few more things added.
It is a look at eleventh century Scotland, and a sympathetic look at what it might have been like have been born in her spot. 
Today it seems shocking to plot the murder of a king, but when the leaders put the lives of their subjects in danger, was it better than scores ordinary war deaths?  I have wondered that in recent times, why don't they go after the one who instigates the problems, instead of brave young soldiers.
Anyway, this could make a beautiful movie. I picture the falconry, the clothes, maybe some technology to build the forts and castles of the past, and panoramic views of Scotland.

31. Death at La Fenice, by Donna Leon

I had this book in the shelf of "read it or get rid of it" that needs to go in 2019. Now I may have to pick up others in this series, so maybe I made no progress on that shelf whatsoever.

There are an awful lot of murder mysteries out there, and I prefer this not be too great a fraction of my reading material, but this makes the cut.  The writing is lovely, the detective is likable and funny, and the description of setting is excellent. 

30. I forget the name

The book group selection may have hit a new low.  Ick.  If  I didn't want to join them for the holiday gathering, I wouldn't have read this.  Now I want a bath.  I'm not even going to name it.
 ...
The ladies are more tolerant than I and weren't as disgusted as I was.  I am pretty tired of stories about serial killers.  This one is particularly grisly. I was also disappointed that the main character, who was female and ostensibly strong and brave, had to be rescued.  It was easy to guess who done it and where a romance would develop from the introduction of those characters. The best thing I can say is that it was a page turner and did not take long to read.

29. Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign, by William L. Shea

I am not much of a historian, and the particulars of military events are not usually my thing, but I have been looking at family history in this area at this time.  I believe the target audience would be looking for something different than I was, focused on my particular kin and their lives. I did find a family member of my stepfather quoted a couple of times.  I remain shocked at the difficulty of life in these times in northwest Arkansas.  Probably it is a pretty good book for those more militarily inclined.

28. Killing Albert Berch, by Alan Berch Hollingsworth

I would recommend this book to any hobby genealogist, and anyone interested in Oklahoma history.  The author looks into the death of his grandfather, and gains insight into family he has known, as well as family he never met. Meantime, he turns up connections to everything from the Underground Railroad to stage performers of an earlier era. I was especially moved by what he found about the Klan in Oklahoma in the twenties.  That same mentality just elected an exceptionally poor choice of governor for our state.

27. The Rules of Magic, by Alice Hoffman

I think this is a prequel to Practical Magic, which I did not read or see the movie.  The older ladies in the movie start as teens in this book, and it covers maybe fifty years.  
This is the book club selection for the month.  I usually stay away from things about magic, so it is another one I would not have chosen for myself.  Maybe that is the point of a book group. 
As Mark Twain said, "For people who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like."  

I finished it.  There were some nice things in it.  The older woman character in particular had some wise things to say.  I thought it was mostly a sad story, or several interwoven sad stories.  

I've been watching television this week with many political ads demonizing a couple of powerful women in politics who are not even involved in these elections.  Men with power still fear losing it to strong women. But I think today even in a small town people would not fear people they thought had magic.  Nuts and druggies, gangs and so forth, yes. 

What sort of superstitions do you pay attention to?   People still want to believe in a little magic, to have control over random things they really cannot control. In this story, the main characters didn't really have influence over the things they cared about, magic or no.

26. Salt: A World History, by Mark Kurlansky

It took me a long time to finish this book, but I'm glad I did. I think I will keep it, despite purging lots of books lately. This category, the history of everyday things, is a favorite of mine.  I learned several things, and if I read it again, I'm sure I'd learn some more on the second pass through.  I have not always had an interest in history, but if this sort of thing were included in the school history courses, I would have possibly filed more away.

25. The Blinds, by some New York journalist

This is another one for the book club.  The ladies are nice, but the books are often not worthy, like this one, for example.

The author shows disdain for older folks (and by his definition anybody over fifty is in mental and physical decline), overweight individuals, and scientists. 

Surely there are better books out there that don't even get published, but journalists have an inside track.

Well, the other women in the book group were more open-minded than myself, and found this book interesting and worthy of discussion. 

23. The Ex, by Alafair Burke

This is a thriller, which category does not especially thrill me.  It is probably okay for people who go for this sort of thing, although I'm not so sure all the ends were tied up.   I read it for the book discussion group.

22. The Story We Carry in Our Bones: Irish History for Americans, by Juilene Osborne-McKnight

book #22 this year

It was okay.  There are  bibliographies with each chapter.  I might look at those again when researching other great-grandparents.
She is apparently one of those who think freedom of religion means only freedom  of her religion.

21. Orchard House, by Tara Austen Weaver

At first,  I found this book touching and the garden imagery lovely.  The author's family and climate for gardening are very different from mine, but there is something there that moved me personally, until I was about halfway through. Then I needed to put it down for a while. I can't quite imagine writing about close family, and always wonder how the rest of the family feels when authors do that.

She wrote about her mother's age in her seventies the way I thought about my mother's age in her nineties. However, I was prouder of my strong mother. I wanted the mother in this book to get a chance at rebuttal, and the same with the brother and sister-in-law. Reading this book became like spending too much time with a friend whose perspective is totally self-focused. I get to where I don't take the stories at face value, with my friend or this author.

My own garden is sadly neglected in some places, but the descriptions of this garden made me want to get after it, and plant some fruit trees, too ...  but not right now. I could come up with my own gardening is life metaphors, while I am at it.

The mother was apparently a therapist of some note, but I don't know who.  This book reminded me of the Eat, Pray, Love book, where I thought the author was a good writer in a way, but also kind of a nut. It's a little too much navel gazing for me, but some people like that sort of thing more than I do.

20. It's All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree, by A. J. Jacobs

I have read and enjoyed another couple of books by this author, and this one is related to my recent sort of hobby, so it was an easy choice.  Now, I gripe about the high percentage of authors out there who are journalists living in New York, and he is certainly one of those.  I'll make a point of reading something set somewhere else next.

In this book, he has a goofy project of planning and hosting a world family reunion, while exploring his own closer family tree. It is an entertaining book and a quick read, particularly when compared to the last book I read about the ratification of the constitution. He shares a lot about his close family, and they are likable.  In this and the other books, too, he paints his wife as smarter and funnier than himself.  He treats people with respect, in his writing anyway.

He brings up many of the issues one might consider when thinking about genealogy. I wouldn't say it is all that instructive, but it is a nice book.

My library book group is reading that book about the dog being reincarnated.  If the dog dies, I'm out, regardless of whether he comes back or not. 

I like those ladies, and I am eager to know what the librarian has chosen next.

19. Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution 1787-1788, by Pauline Maier

Someone I respect loaned me this book.  I have not been a very serious student of American history, especially this time period, and I probably would not have picked it up on my own.  I found it challenging reading, and I admit to skimming through some of it, but I'm glad I spent the time with it anyway.

The best two sentences are near the end: "American rights and American freedom were not a gift of the country's "founding fathers." They are and have always been a work in progress."

A bunch of rich white guys fought it out, many times for their own self-interest. Many of them had slaves.  Women are still left out. It is amazing how well the constitution has worked out.  I hope it doesn't all fall apart, and I worry about the possibility with that one guy whose name I won't say, and the rise of the so-called right which is so wrong.

18. Saints & Scoundrels: Colorful Characters of Arizona, by Julie McDonald

I bought this book when I was visiting Flagstaff, and looking into a relative who was probably somewhere in between the saint or scoundrel label, but colorful nonetheless. Then I read it while I had some time to kill in a hotel room.  It was entertaining. There were several characters described who are worthy of being better known, on both sides of the saint or scoundrel line.

This is one of those almost exactly one hundred page books published by a small company, and it could have used some editing. That did not really impair my enjoyment of it, though, with one exception.  She decided to tack on a chapter at the end about her brother-in-law and give a plug for her own religious leanings.  This did not correlate with the rest of the book in any way.  It is her book, and that is one of the reasons people self-publish, so they can do what they want. The last chapter took away from the book overall, in my opinion.

I have enjoyed learning more about pioneer times lately, and am glad I bought and read this book.

17. Fort Whiskey, by David Banks

This novel is set around Fort Smith, Arkansas, in the time around the Civil War.  I bought it because I've been looking into my family there at that time, even though I wondered if  the local author might not be so polished.
In fact, it turned out to be better than the last more publicized and popularized book, The Mountain Between Us, which I'm still convinced was somehow subsidized by right-wingers who think a woman is of value primarily as an incubator.
The one woman in this book is mostly just pretty and helpless, but the story has merit.  It's an old western like we used to see, kind of a Gunsmoke plot.  I'd rather watch a movie of this one than that other one. Okay, I hardly ever go to the movies, but I am saying the book creates very visual images, the characters aren't flat, and the story is not totally predictable.
I should have put it on my Kindle, for half the price, but before reading it, I thought it might have been something to pass along.  It would almost be a good young adult selection except that the two murders are a little grisly, and dang, have the girl throw a rock or something!

16. The Mountain Between Us

For the Book Group

This is the reason some people don't like going to the movies with me.
1) The FAA really is pretty strict about keeping people with "bum tickers" from piloting.
2)  I'm pretty sure a doctor wouldn't keep referring to his pregnant wife's stomach containing their unborn children.  Doctors know where babies come from.
Why didn't the editors catch those things?

It's not the sort of book I'm drawn to anyway, but it will be interesting to see if the other readers are less critical. I thought it was lame.  Maybe the adventure part was better in the movie because actors can do a lot, but the story lines about the father and the wife needed more than a little work, as in edited out. I don't get it-- Penguin is a real publisher, but there's something fishy about the story line with the wife lining up with the Christian-Right-Which-Is-Neither point of view. They operate kind of like the Mafia.

It might be time for me to bail from the book group. The ladies are nice, but half the books are disappointing. 

15. Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America

This book is in my stash and possibly over my head. It is nearly a thousand pages long, but maybe two hundred or so would be from the footnotes.

Albion is an early name of the island of England.  The author says that of the complex regions of England, there were four basic areas that settled four different parts of colonial America, across different times. The values and "folkways" of the English regions have had great impact in the American regions and across what is now the United States.

The groups in America are the Puritans, Southerners, Quakers, and Back Country folks. I thought it was insightful.  For my own family and background, there isn't much of the Puritans, but a lot of each of the other three. (Plus for me there are some people from other lands as well as the natives.) The Quaker values seem to have the most positive impact on our national ethics.
 
Politically, it's a little depressing from my point of view. Those who started out ahead have just continued to widen the gap. There has never been an equal footing.  In Appalachia in particular, most early settlers weren't able to own land, it went largely to absentee landlords, even as far away as England. He traces the back country settlers' ways back to the time of Macbeth.

Anyway, for me this book was worth plowing through, with my phone standing by to look up words.

The Puritans come off to me as fairly wacko.  I made faces about the Southern aristocracy and their total lack of respect for others out of their group. The Quakers would be the group I think I could live with, if I had to choose. Then reading about the back country settlers from the border of England and Scotland plus part of Ireland maybe possibly made more sense of the gun totin'  [name deleted] supporters. In some ways I am more like that group than others, and in some ways the least like them.

14. The Four Tendencies, by Gretchen Rubin

I thought this was an interesting idea when I read her last book.  It is okay, a quick read.  I don't necessarily buy some of the things she postulates, but maybe it could lead to some understanding of people's differences. 

I'm seeing myself as an obliger in her classification system, but possibly I have less desire to be so obliging at this time in my life. 

(no number) A Man Called Ove

My book group that I like is reading this one, but I can't quite bring myself to read it for a couple of reasons.

First, it was reviewed maybe a year ago in that series that I usually love, and the reviewer told the whole dang story!  I think he didn't quite get the point of a review.  It was like hearing,   "And then, Pip realized that it wasn't Miss Havisham who was funding his education after all, it was the criminal that he had helped years ago."  You know, sometimes it is better to find out for yourself.



And then second, I was afraid it would be a tear-jerker.  Maybe that isn't fair, I haven't read it.  But I remember a friend and me watching Grand Torino (another crusty old man gets attached to the neighbors story) and both of us crying a lot.  I just didn't want to go there.  So I'm skipping this one, despite the fact that I usually look forward to the book group. 

13. Dreamland Burning, by Jennifer Latham

I forgot to record this when I read it.  It is about the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.  I'm not sure of that date. Written for a teen reader, it is still appealing for us who are older.  I really enjoyed the review of it.  Maybe this book isn't perfect in all ways, but I would recommend it anyway.  Sometimes fiction is a good way to get in touch with history.

One thing I disagree strongly with is her protagonist's description of North Tulsa, which is unduly harsh. She's supposed to be a privileged rich kid, who might indeed have those notions, but the author should not have left it at that, in my opinion.

I want a couple of young readers that I know to read it and then talk to me about it.

12. The Invention of Nature: Alexander Von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf

This is the best book I have had in my hands in a long time.

Why would a reasonably well read science teacher not know about this guy? He was an exceptional person who changed the way we see nature.  He was famous in his time and soon after, there are more places named after him than anyone else in the world, but now in the United States, he is not very well known. There is a reason, but the author doesn't tell us this until near the end.

Want to know more about Jefferson, Bolivar, Napoleon, Goethe, world geography, ecology, and countless other topics, in a book that is not boring?  The world just before and after 1800 makes better sense to me as I read this.

The reviewer suggested if you don't have time to read it now, read the prologue and epilogue, and also look through the books referenced.  Then go back and read it at leisure later.

Actually I am not there yet.  It is one of the books for the review series, and the reviewer was also one of the best.  Usually I plow through a book in a day or two, but this is not that kind of book.

I missed the review this week, because I was on my own and it was cold and nasty, and I'm guessing the parking lot was full of people taking their kids because of school being out.  I'll go next week though.

11. A Piece of the World, by Christina Baker Kline

On the long list of reasons I am glad I'm not famous is this: I wouldn't want somebody to write a fictitious memoir of my life, and make up failed romances and mean spirited thoughts for me. I guess probably the whole historical fiction genre isn't my favorite.

That said, this is a well-written novel.  How do you feel about the bad things life hands you? How do you feel about others looking at your life and judging it?  Everybody has to answer these questions in their own ways.  The artist in the story says the paintings are more about him than the subject, and I suspect the same is true for the author of this book and her novel. 

Sometimes Christina of the novel appreciated some help, and sometimes she wanted to be respected and left alone.  Other people can't always tell how one feels.  It's a sad but touching story, about people we ultimately don't really know. It's the next book for review at the library. Then there are three more in this series.

10. Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz

This is from the library's spring review series.  I read the book first and went by myself this time. The reviewer was good. They almost always are.

Magpie Murders is a story within a story.  The narrator of the one tale is a book editor, who gets involved in investigating a possible murder because of a book she is editing, which is the other story.  The author gets in a lot he wants to say about the whole genre of murder mysteries.  He's written some well-known books and for some television productions.

I'll probably read the remaining four books in the series. I'm feeling less committed to the branch library's group, though.

Magpie Murders is a nice little escape, and an interesting discussion of the whole murder mystery type. A week later, I'd almost forgotten who done it on the inner book, but could say the same for most of the more famous mysteries. 

9. David Crockett: The Lion of the West, by Michael Wallis

  There is a series of book reviews at the library in fall and spring, about six books each, and I really enjoy going to them. I usually read some of the books. The spring series is going to begin with another book by Michael Wallis, about the Donner Party. I heard him talking about it on NPR, and understand that the focus is about the whole west in a wagon train experience, rather than the grisly ending. Still, I think I'll pass on that one.
  Instead, I thought I'd read another book of his, and the David Crockett story ties in somewhat with my family history project. Wallis paints a clear picture of the time and place, and the sort of character David Crockett was. It is well documented, even academic, without being dry. I think he is fair to the man, who was a colorful character and not nearly so saintly as Disney studios made him out to be when I was a kid.
  If it is available  as an audio book read by the author, that would be a good choice, because Michael Wallis has a great voice.

7 & 8, from the self-help shelf

I don't always turn up my nose at self-help books.  They usually are quick reads and sometimes have good ideas. 

7.  Better Than Before:  What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits -- To Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life by Gretchen Rubin
I enjoyed this book.  She does a lot of research and uses wise quotations often, but also has original ideas. She tells enough about herself that the reader can form a good idea of her character. She is another one of those New York authors, sigh. I might take some ideas from it.

8.  That's So You: Create a Look You Love with Beauty, Style and Grace  by Ginger Burr
This book says approximately nothing.  I'm still trying to discover what Retired Becky wears, and thought from the title it might have some ideas for me.  She basically says to buy becoming clothes  you love, and get rid of the other ones.  How to determine which are becoming?  Hire a consultant. I regret spending the money on this one.

#6 The Forest Lover, by Susan Vreeland

This book is historical fiction based on the life of Emily Carr.  The author sets it up that the artist is struggling between showing her subjects as they are versus how she feels about them, and comes down on the side of feelings. She apparently writes the story with the same dilemma and answer, fabricating emotional issues that she would like the artist to have had. I come away not really knowing much more about Carr.  If I think of it as fiction entirely, I like it better.

I found it a good novel.

There's one of Emily Carr's paintings at Crystal Bridges.  If I ever go to Northwest Canada, I would like to see more. She has been compared to O'Keeffe and Kahlo, and there was once a traveling exhibit of the works of the three. I missed it. I don't know how to find exhibits of interest to me in the U.S. without spending a lot of time searching the internet.

The author Louise Penney goes out of her way to bring Emily Carr into one of her stories.

I bought this book last summer after I had been talking to a friend who teaches art history. She is an insightful reader, but she has lots of other interests and doesn't spend a lot of time reading these days. I thought fiction based on artists would be an easy way to learn some art history. Now it's time for me to read a little less and tackle some of my projects around the house.  Reading one book off the bookshelf overflow doesn't really count as progress.

5. Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time, by Dava Sobel

I really enjoyed this charming little book.  The title says it all, I have little to add.  It's set mostly in the 1700s. It does confirm my rather cynical outlook on many persons with political power. Very readable, it tells the story of people and is not too technical. There is a nice introduction by Neil Armstrong.

I think I must have chosen it off my out of control above the bookshelf stacks as an antidote to the last book I read, about the vapid New Yorkers. The sticker indicates I bought this book at the used bookstore. My book group read this same author's book about Galileo's daughter a while back. I believe there was a PBS documentary on the history of finding longitude, and I might see if that is still out there somewhere. It appears the book was originally published in 1996. I remember that it was well thought of at the time, and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it.

4. The View from Penthouse B, By Elinor Lipman

This is one of the eighty percent of novels published in America that are by and about people who live in New York.  Okay, I made that number up. The rest of us, here in the middle, aren't quite so obsessed with the status of address, fancy restaurants, and so on.  I've been to New York a few times, but that stuff about living on 12th Street or in the village doesn't really mean anything to me.

It reminded me of Little Women, where they were constantly feeling sorry for themselves for their poverty. In that story, they only had one servant. 

This book is a love story and the main characters are nice enough. I don't remember what led me to select this one. Possibly I knew that the main character was the middle sister of three, like I am. I could see living with one or both of mine if bad things happened. If you just wanted to think about somebody else's life for a while, this would be fine for that.

In my mind, it's a step up from romance novels and most television.

3. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, by Bill Bryson

I've read several of Bryson's books.  His curmudgeonly sense of humor appeals to me.  In this one, he's pretty hard on people who are fat or old, and for that reason I'd hesitate to recommend it. At least he's honest. Isn't that what the Wrong-Righters say about what's-his-name? Is being an honest bigot better than keeping the ole mouth shut on some things?  He wouldn't think kindly of a race bigot, but the fat and old are somehow fair game.
I think this was written in 1987, not a banner year for me, and I hope both he and I have learned some things since that time.  At this time, he lived in England, but came back to visit his mother in Iowa, borrowed her car, and spent some months driving around the country.  If I did that, I'd sure pick some other spots, but it's his book. And because I'm fat and old, and female, it would be more dangerous for me, not to mention concerns about my driving.
I did laugh out loud several times.  I just didn't love it as much as some of his other books. He refers to one person sarcastically as Cicero (the subject of the book I just read) and there's a part about a group of people I've been reading about in my genealogy research. ( I can't figure out if the name given to them is generally offensive, so maybe I won't include it here.)  I can count on Bryson to cover a lot of ground in more ways than one, and I know I'll be reading more of his works.

2.  Dictator, by Robert Harris
     One argument for belonging to a book group is that it encourages one to get out of a rut.  I wouldn't have chosen this one or plowed on through it without anticipating the future gathering of reader friends. I've never been up on history, especially of a time and place so far away.
     This book is about Cicero, the third in a series of bestsellers that together are his fictional biography, as told by his secretary and slave, Tiro.  The author says Tiro really did write a biography that has been lost. What I know about this period in Roman history is mostly from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra.  I appreciated the two maps and the glossary. A map of the city of Rome, had it been there, would have helped me out.  There was a lot of research to put this together, and I admire the author for that.
      To think about a time of voting, not exactly as we do but citizen participation anyway, being replaced by a system of dictators then emperors, is worrisome to me. Also, I find the whole idea of slavery being accepted by society so confusing.  How the great orator could, like Thomas Jefferson, talk about freedom while keeping slaves is just mysterious to me.
    In my own time, I worry how long our government can last given outrageous borrowing, war-making, and the widening gap between the wealthy and the poor.  I worry about overpopulation, which contributes to almost every other problem here and in the world.
   I  don't plan to read the other two books in the series, but I believe a person with wider history interests than mine would appreciate the series more.  It will help me fill out the character of Cicero in my head if I run across him again in Shakespeare or other literature.
   

Happy New Year 2018

Books.  Since retiring, I've picked up more books than I've read, and thus, am farther behind on reading than ever.  My bookworm buddy has resolved to read a book a week, That's more than I'll read, but maybe I can shoot for half that. So I'm opening up the blog again to keep track.

#1:  I actually finished this one on New Year's Eve, but I'm counting it anyway. I reread parts of it after the year changed.

Their Finest, by Lissa Evans

For my book group, and sometimes I don't care for the choices,  I really enjoyed reading this. Set in the early years of World War II in England, it follows separate lives that come together in the making of a film.  We know the thoughts of three, sometimes four people, and others by their actions. The author has such a light touch that she can be funny and also poignant without it becoming painful or sappy. I went back and re-read scenes that stayed in my head.  One I especially liked involved someone who is the same kind of pet person as me, which is to say, not exactly. Another passage I reread was the thinking of Caitlan, more or less the main character, about what is important, and dealing with everyday issues in an age of calamities. In a way, I think this is the central theme of the book. There is a movie and I'll probably want to watch it, but I wonder how the funny things people think could come through.