Category: reading

books, reading

Clinging to Authors

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When you discover a book that is well written, engaging and thought provoking, you tend to take note of the author. As with many, I read Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale and was transported by her language and compelled to finish by her plot development.   I read Winter Garden next, and while not as page turning, just as compelling a story. I remember feeling the cold as she spoke of the garden.  Thus, when I picked up Summer Island, I was expecting the same level of engagement and complexity. This was definitely an early book of Ms. Hannah’s. The story’s central character was self-centered, egotistical and bitter person.  Under the guise of selflessness, she agrees to help her mother, who abandoned her when in high school.  In the process of gathering dirt on her mother for an expose, Ruby re-discovers who she is as she reconnects to her past. Forced to see the world differently from a teen-aged view for the first time, she is faced with the facts that life is way more complicated than she wanted to believe. The ease with how the information is provided, and the acceptance that it is given, is in the span of hours, not even days. And the re-connection of Ruby to her high school sweetheart is again too much to fast. Forgiveness of herself had been withheld for 11 years, but was found in his eyes?  When I read any more of Ms. Hannah’s books, I will stay with more recent ones, where her storytelling has matured and grown.

Another author I found was Geraldine Brooks.  A Year of Wonder, a surprisingly non-morbid story of the plague, was a book I handed back to my mother when she handed it to me, thinking this was a title from her book group that only read terrible, horrible, emotionally scarring stories. She handed it back and said to read it.  She was right.  The story of humans connecting to each other, and themselves, in order to survive, or at least not harm others, was inspiring. The place where this ends (no spoilers here) is the most uplifting and hopeful.  I wanted more of Ms Brook’s work.

I found People of the Book. I was again captivated.  The story of returning to your history while striking on your own to excavate the past in the pages that are left are fascinating to me. The Haggadah, as story of a history that you are commanded not to forget, leading to the finding of so many other histories that tie us together, was the perfect vehicle for this exodus from ourselves.

Then I started to read another by Ms. Brook – March.  While I appreciate her willingness to explore new ideas, I could not have my own vision of Marme (from Little Women) be so radically changed.  That book didn’t get finished, and I am currently taking a break from Ms. Brooks’ books.

Finding a good author that can take on different stories, themes and eras can be difficult, but there are many out there.  Once you find one, keep the name close when you need a new read.  They usually don’t disappoint.

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Finding Oneself in Paris

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When I am between books, typically as I wait for my next title to arrive at my library for me to read, I search the stacks for authors that are familiar to me.  That is how I stumbled upon The Little French Bistro by Nina George. Ms. George had captivated me in The Little Paris Bookshop, with the book seller matching books to help people solve life’s questions.  The Bistro, as the Bookshop, is full of older characters, wise in many ways, but foolish in others.  Marianne, a sixty year old German woman, tries to kill herself when on vacation with her husband of 41 years by jumping into the Seine after she wandered away from a tour with no one noticing. She is saved by street people and taken to a hospital. Here she sees a painting of the coast of Brittany and is compelled to go there. She begins her journey with nothing but what she had upon leaving the hospital. Along the way she is both helped by, and helps, nuns, chefs, fishermen, artists and more. As these people are drawn to her open and caring being, she is being introduced to herself in the same way.

She starts the journey with a wish for death, her life is dragging her so low. She has given up music, driving, work and more, one thing at a time, as she makes her way through her 41 years of marriage. She allows her world to be narrowed and defined by a husband that is absent in emotional and physical ways. She wishes she had children, but does not seem to have an explanation for not, other than saying her husband was unfaithful and didn’t give her pleasure.

As each day in Brittany begins, Marianne takes a walk to the water at the End of the World, what Brittany is known. It is from there that she finds pathways to new friends, like Pascal, where she is able to use her knowledge of having volunteered with seniors before.  As she meets each new person, and savors each new experience, she opens herself up to a bit more of who she wants to be. At her wedding, her father saw that the groom never asked her to dance, and asked if she was happy. This lost opportunity to express her desires and needs passed, and continued to pass, until she learned to start again in Brittany.

A lesson in knowing you have a responsibility to speak up for what you want, it also acknowledges how things can go wrong when you think you know the answers. As long as you are open with yourself, and those around you, happiness will be there for you.

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Data Science Book Selection

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I seem to be slowing down on my reading. My average of 2 books a week is slowing to 1 book every week.  Still nothing to be upset about, but not what I was at. Life can get in the way of my reading, which is why I started to listen to books on CDs. They help fill the times between when I would be frustrated with not doing something productive, like commuting or waiting for soccer practice to end.

Some say that this is cheating, that I should not count them. I have started to track the mode of reading, and I am proud to say that I am about even with reading (ebooks included with paperback and hardback, in case there is any question) versus listening. And when I look back at the years I know when things are a bit off balance there were things going on that influenced this.

There are so many ways to capture information on what you have read. Location (see tab AROUND THE WORLD), Age (think Young Adult), Era (think Roaring 20s), or Themes (think dystopia) and more.  The hot industry of Data Science has either come about from our obsession with creating lists (Thanks David Letterman for the Top Ten), or actually led the charge for it.  A bit of the chicken or the egg dilemma.  Still new to the whole data tagging, I am muddling through it.  I used to be “cutting edge” of technology, but I have fallen so far behind!!!

Previously I had challenged myself to read around the world more – and I am actually searching for books that are from those cultures that are translated for me, and that is a bit harder than I expected. There is a challenge that is being run on http://www.goodreads.com Play Book Tag site in honor of a cherished member that just passed away. A widely admired woman, JoLene was a fan of historical fiction. The administrators suggested that we each read from an era that we have not read before in her honor this month. That sent me back to my lists of books to do another review, looking for a new “tag” when I never tagged before.

I seem to have done pretty well – thank you Ken Follett for covering so much time in the Kingsbridge Trilogy!   So, working backwards, I have identified one title for the following eras:

21st Century –      The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

20th Century –     The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

19th Century –     Snowflower & the Secret Fan by Lisa See

18th Century –     World Without End by Ken Follett

17th Century –     The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

14th Century –     Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

1st Century –        The Dovekeeper by Alice Hoffman (approx. 70 BCE)

Biblical Times – The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

I see a gap between the first and 14th centuries, but I know I didn’t get too far in the Canterbury Tales or The Name of the Rose.  Not too hopeful for those.  I also see that I don’t have anything for pre-historic. So I have requested The Clan of the Cave Bear as my tribute read.

I am again looking at my library through a different lens.  Do I try to fill in from each decade of the 20th Century? Should I try to find more? Should I just defer to a new Best Books of the 21st Century (so far) list that just came out – and I think I only knew of a handful.  All I know is that as long as there is more than one book out there for me to read, someone will find a new way to capture and count it – and then it will make its way to my TBR list (To Be Read).

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The Great American Read

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PBS has been sponsoring “the great American read” for months now. The fact that they are supporting reading in this manner is amazing. The number of celebrities that have joined this giant Public Service Announcement that reading is good makes me smile. Does RIF still exist? Reading IS fundamental!!!  And so, in the great American tradition, I had to see how I did against the list of books they determined as “Great.”

By the numbers:

First cut, I was proud to see I had read over 50% of them already – 53 to be exact.

From the total “I have not read yet” list, I have acknowledged to myself I will NEVER read 14 of them. Just because they are great does not mean I need to read them.  I have done my duty in school to reading those books that you “should” and I don’t need to do that anymore.  That leaves me with a total of 33 titles that I should consider adding on the “To Be Read” list (already at 104 titles before this exercise).

By the titles:

As I examine the list of books, I see many titles that I have loved, some I have hated, and some that make me shake my head. Starting with the last category – Fifty Shades of Grey?  A sub-genre of erotica, in the few passages I read, I found this to be poorly written, poorly edited, and not Great at all. If this is the bar to beat, then I don’t understand where people are. Just because it sold so many copies doesn’t mean it is a great read.  Flowers in the Attic, while completely captivating and enjoyable, wasn’t my idea of Great, also.  To place Pillars of the Earth in the same category of greatness with The Notebook seems incongruous to me.  While Nicholas Spark touched our souls with the gentle tale of love, the Follett book riveted me with the sheer scope and detail of not only the people, but also the architecture.  How many books have a sequel that took over ten years and created such excitement when it finally hit the shelves?

Then there are the books that I was told would be GREAT, but I didn’t agree. A Confederacy of Dunces I found incredibly annoying, and I truly didn’t care what happened to Oscar Wao in his brief life, wondrous or not.  I guess each person has their own taste.

What to vote for:

As I review the list of books left that I have read, I am torn.  How do I choose a favorite? These titles all touched me, helping me to become the person I am today.  So, in alphabetical order, so as not to influence your views on the titles, here are some of my impressions on the books I believe should get votes for the best book in America:

  • 1984 by George Orwell: the original dystopian novel for me.
  • A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving: knowing who you are and accepting your role in the world
  • Anne of Green Gables by L.M.Montgomery: Anne with an E still makes me want to go to Prince Edward Island to find my bosom friend
  • Catch-22 by Joseph Heller: A masterpiece of sarcasm and absurdity
  • Dune by Frank Herbert: My first science fiction EVER. The mark was set very high
  • The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck: Still remember the feeling of dust in my mouth as I read this. Ending haunts me still.
  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: the struggle of them and us continues today
  • The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy: Spy novel extraordinaire.
  • The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan: Language transports you to China to live what moms do for their children and what the lessons they try to impart on their children are
  • The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett: the middle ages came to life before my eyes
  • The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway: my introduction to the Code – be true to yourself always. And while he is known as a chauvinist, Lady Brett was the first heroine I remember that lived this code openly too.

Feel free to share your Great American Title here – if it made the list of 100 or not.

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A Travelling American

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Travel, whether for work or for pleasure, can be a chore. Away from your home, your family, your normal routines, you focus on where you are and how to fill the time. Especially if you are waiting in a crowded airport when your plane is delayed.  In this current trip, uncomfortably still on crutches, going through security I realized my ereader, just updated with four new titles, remained safely in the docking station in my home office. Travelling with only work equipment, I scramble to download something to read that will download to my personal phone. It is in this frame of mind that I started to read An American Marriage by Tayari Jones.

The title is a bit misleading – while this chronicles the story of a marriage, it is actually a study in the strengths and limits of love, in all different shapes and forms.  The story begins with Roy and Celestial. By mapping out the relationship by way of different perspectives, you see that these two have entered marriage with different expectations. They play at being married, sparring over everything, and not truly understanding the “communion” of the institution. Both come from homes based upon second chances, surrounded full of love and commitment. Then the scary reality of being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time, the pair is forced to face the hardship of a forced but unjust separation.

As the years go by, life charges on. Trying to survive on the promise of dreams, finding strength within oneself to pursue them alone, and realizing the foundation of the marriage was not as strong as expected changes both. The stories told from both perspectives bring the realization that the base of the marriage was lacking, provoking guilt, grief and denial at different times.

These same revelations are shown when the stories turn to the parents. Big Roy and Olive were entirely devoted to each other. Olive had been through the passion and came through the fire alone with her son. When she met Roy, after making it clear it was a package deal, they made a commitment to each other. And the devotion continued to be shown each day until the last, when Big Roy made sure that Olive was buried by the one who loved her most, filling in the grave himself. Similarly, Celestial’s parents came together after they met when he was married to someone else. Another father devoted to the new family he built on a firm foundation – symbolized by the old hickory tree in the yard.

And then there is the love between a parent and a child. Big Roy fully embracing Little Roy; Andre embraced by Mr Henderson, Little Roy and the Biological, and even Dre and his father. Even if people leave, that does not mean they don’t care. Spoiler – finding out that Olive gives up the fight once she realizes there is someone taking care of her son was very different from the belief that Big Roy had once he hear Celestial told Olive the Biological was watching over Little Roy.

Stereotypes would be easy to fall back upon here, but the depth of these characters and the basic understanding of the underlying social injustice for the black community runs below the surface of the story. Paralleled in the river where Roy goes each day to contemplate, the river of injustice can be heard if you listen closely. The reality of it being there, always under the bridge to elsewhere, is the current running through each story. This is a most powerful image – the current remains, even if there is a bridge over it, you can’t always take it to the other side, just as The Hick is a metaphor for a marriage.

This book still surprises me as I process it. Very powerful, and beautifully written.

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End of Summer/Starting Anew

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The days of summer are coming to an end. I live in a town that does not start school until after Labor Day, unlike so many other towns around us. That does mean we go later in June, and I am truly ok with this. Some traditions seem good to me, like only wear white anytime between Memorial Day and Labor Day. That one just seems practical – reflect the sun, less sloppy weather to get on the clothes, etc….

But I digress.  As the summer comes to an end, a new school year is upon us. New Year ideas and plans are fresh on my mind. My plans for this school year are all about setting up the study spaces differently, planning lunches ahead of time, updating the calendar of family activities in the hallway, and monitor screen time more aggressively.  No, I will not keep track of my success criteria on these.

As I reflect back on this year, I see my son growing taller than me (not necessarily a HUGE feat, but a milestone in itself). I see my daughter looking ahead, starting to plan for her own future, including driving lessons. I see my old friends continuing down the path of life, and know they were the right choice because after all these years, when we are together it is as if nothing has changed. And I see my dad, struggling with his physical decline, always with a smile and his motto – “I am doing the best I can with the tools I have left.” I see all this wonderful growth and community, and I want to keep going. That is a reason I started this journey with you.

And to continue this journey, I have decided to track the places I read. I set my aim to read from over 100 different cultures, with no timeline, at the outset. I searched the web for “around the world books”, and found a few interesting sites (taleaway and bookriot among them). I mapped my titles to countries and counted. From the list of 100 countries, I have read from 50 of them.  Shocking! Was this a goal I had without knowing it?

So what about the good old US of A? Have I read enough of my own country? Back to the web to collect information on the states I have read.  I have read books that are set in 37 of the 50 states and DC.  Amazement!!

These are all the more striking, since I have travelled physically to 9 countries and 26 states.  Thank goodness for books taking me travelling!

And so begins my “At Home Travel Log” to fill in the blanks for my New Year.  I will be doing this within my regular reading, so it will not be my only focus for book selection. I am stating this for no other reason than my TBR list is already in excess of 100 titles, and I continue my attempt to borrow most books I read from the public libraries.  Take a look at the lists, and let me know if you have any suggestions for the places I need to travel.

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Eleanor Oliphant has been here

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A typical crisis for me is there are too many book to choose from. After picking book group titles last week, I had to read another title I proposed that others had already read.  Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman, was a joy.

At times reminiscent of The Rosie Project or A Man Called Ove, this fish out of water story had a bit of a dark twist.  While stumbling into real life, Eleanor is forced to face her past instead of drowning it in vodka. She begins to plan for a life with a man she has never met. As she executes this plan, she begins “self improvement” with a new haircut, new clothes, and new makeup. Outside of this plan, however, are interactions with people in ways she is unfamiliar with. Raymond, the tech support at her office, and Sammy, the person they helped when in distress on the street, provide her with more support than she knew she needed.

In fact, when she first met Raymond he found a virus on her computer and was able to clean it so it would be more effective. Same could be said of how he helped Eleanor. There were people to help around her always, she just needed to have some programs tweaked to have her work effectively with them. Another metaphor in the story is how she sets to cleaning her apartment. It transforms from a sad, uncared for space into a bright space looking for interesting things to add to the walls. She was a sad, uncared for person (she thought), but when she cared enough to buy herself things more than “useful” she is no longer just her scars, but a beautiful woman.

And while the dark part of the story was not hard to guess at due to the clues, the fact that she had so successfully fallen through the cracks of the system that was to help her was a sad comment on those the legal system that is meant to protect children.

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So many book groups ….

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Another week gone, and the summer is flying by. Why, when I should have the most time to read, do I have the least? I have attempted to join a new book group – but didn’t make it because of my knee. This group is a bunch of smart ladies reading smart books. Right up my alley. So sorry I missed this. I did, however, make it to a “bookish” group, a bunch of friends that read fun books, and are in it for the fun of being around. The major draw was the promise of ice cream, and half of us brought wine!

As I have always said – its good to know your people.

Now, I have this group of casual readers, a group of serious readers, and some in each that could create a third group – not so casual, but not so scholarly. What’s a person to do? So, I am thinking I will have 3 book groups, 2 led by me, one led by someone else. I like making the rules.

So, now I need to determine what books to read.

For the casual reading group: a number of people suggested reading Crazy Rich Asians, and then going to see the movie. I actually hate to see the movies of books I like. That being said, I loved The Hate U Give. That is coming out in a movie, and my daughter loved the book and can’t wait to see the movie. Anyway, I have decided that we will be reading Summer Island by Kristin Hannah. This will be my 3rd book of hers that I will be reading, having loved both The Nightingale and The Winter Garden.

I will also suggest the following for a different date/time to see who comes to this:  The Muralist by B.A. Shapiro. Let’s see who comes where. We’ll work from there.

If you have any other suggestions, please leave them here.

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eReader or Books – what to pack for vacation

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The beautiful thing about an eReader is you can take a large number of books with you, but not have the extra weight.  They do not, however, feel the same.  While I prefer to read them myself, I have been using my library’s audiobooks to help me through my commutes daily (17 miles should really not take an hour or more, but sadly it does). That being said, when you are packing up for a week at the beach, and you are only one of 4 in the car, you don’t want to bring too many books.  So I downloaded my Goodreads Decathalon book on my phone, popped my library book and my kindle in my bag, and we were off to the races.  Since I am unable to ride the bike or kayak due to my knee, I was set for poolside.

First day, I finished the Thirty Nine Steps, and was a bit disappointed – I was hoping for more excitement and chases, but I forgot when it was written – but it was a pleasant read.   Next day, I read my library book.  And then to my horror – we maxed out the devices allowed for free.  I didn’t have enough books downloaded on the kindle yet!!!!  I read Life after Coffee, a book I was cautious about, not being able to be picky as it was the only book downloaded I had not read yet.  The book was actually perfect for me!  While it is about coffee, the main character is a woman that is the bean buyer for a small boutique coffee venture, it is more about the need to have balance in life.  Amy is the breadwinner of her family, with her husband staying home with her two kids.  As the story begins, you see them struggling to accept that she needs to go away again for weeks.  When she is abruptly out of a job, she begins the struggle of becoming a stay at home mom, all the animosity that comes from mom’s that judge her for needing to work away from the house, and her own guilt on not being a good parent.  All moms – those that are working full time at home, full time at an office, or part time at each, have struggled with the guilt and anger of being judged.  Coming to terms with this, and all the choices that she has made to get her to this place, leads her to make decisions that I didn’t see coming, but was very glad it happened.  Instead of the pat hallmark movie ending, this one had a twist that didn’t allow for the woman to give everything up to get what she wanted.

And then I went for coffee.  Starbuck’s wifi helped me out.  I downloaded everything I could from my amazon account, and set to make the decision about what to read next.  In order to not get into a bind, I figured that I should read a book that is known to be longer, so I didn’t end up chewing through everything too fast so I would have nothing else to read.  Thus, I downloaded The Name Of the Rose and Nobel House.  I had started reading the first one, but didn’t get past 6 % when I realized, I just didn’t care.  It was the second time I had tried it, but I was not going to torture myself if it wasn’t catching me.  On to Nobel House.  This book, first published in 1981, is a tome on Business and Hong Kong history.  Well written, I don’t know if it was because I was reading this non-stop as my only distraction, but I found I was getting bored with the huge number of details provided about the people, their ancestors, the political history, and the relationships.  There were a few key players, Ian, Gront, Line, Casey, Brian and Armstrong, but after I skipped about half 3 days in, I don’t feel I missed anything in the story.  It was a good diversion, but I feel like I was ready to move on to a new book after that last day.  And so I did.

Today, I started The Muralist.  Looks interesting – learning about the art world of WPA, like in Mary Coin, and a mystery on how the aunt disappears.  I will let you know what I learn.  Unfortunately, my reading time will be less next week.  My boss is expecting me back at work.  I really will need a lot of coffee to get there!

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What a Klutz!!

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This has been a week unlike any other. Let’s just say when you are in the ER thinking you broke your knee and get a call that your father is in the hospital with a broken knee, things seem a bit weird in the world.

I am comforted to know that my life is not stranger than fiction. Especially since I fell soon after I finished a dark and disturbing book, Behind Closed Doors. I don’t even have it a fraction of what Grace has going in this book. While not necessarily to best writing ever, it keeps coming back to me at different times as I sort through the emotions it evokes. In the same vein as Gone Girl and Girl on a Train, the story examines the evil that exists in world, just behind the curtains. If I say anymore, I am afraid I will give the whole thing away.

As a counterpoint to this, being the person who has spent way too much time in ERs waiting for xrays, I took a book with me. First one I grabbed, thank goodness, was a light read that I was able to put down and pick up often without getting too lost. The Forever Summer fit that bill perfectly. While slightly far flung, this is a Hallmark movie waiting to be made. And sometimes, you just need that.

I followed this up with The Most Beautiful Book in the World: Eight Novellas. Each story is beautifully written, and points to the most beautiful thing in the world – love in all its various forms. The best way to enjoy this is to read each story on its own, and savouir the emotions it invokes before moving to the next.

And now I feel restored in mind, if not body. While my knee is no longer the size of a watermelon, it is the color of eggplant. As I work through this, I will keep reminding myself of the lessons in the last 2 books I mentioned – there is good when you look for it.