101 Books to Read Before You Die discussion

Thankfully they're both short, so should be easy to get through. That's what's helping me, anyway :)

Finished 3 stars.

About a family: A father obsessed with Shakespeare, a mother that develops cancer, and 3 quirky sisters, each with their own baggage.

Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished 3 Stars

A good mystery set in Martha's Vineyard about a famous author's death. Was it an accident? Suicide? Or.... MURDER??

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I am not sure I liked this as much as admired the creative plot line and character development. The novel begins with a missing wife and a disheveled house. The husband quickly becomes the primary suspect with an abundance of incriminating evidence. Although I anticipated many of the twists just before they were revealed, the trajectory was one twisted path. And, the disturbed characters were just credible enough to get inside the reader’s head.

Your opening sentence pretty much sums up how I felt about it, too, Irene. Very creative, but boy, not something I want to say I "liked" exactly.

Just finished Light in August. An easier Faulkner (to the extent that is possible). Next up is Reflections in a Golden Eye. Should be a nice short read and I am a big fan of Carson McCullers.

The Turning by Tim Winton

Mean: cruel, ignoble, humble, mediocre, niggardly… This collection of synonyms came to mind as I read through this collection of interrelated short stories. Mean characters in a mean seaside town loop around each other in a vortex of mean time. Independently, these are each very good, together; they present more layers of depth. The only hope in the midst of such “meanness” is the darkness of forgetting: intoxication, fantasies, flight. But, the darkness never lasts, death offering the only real mercy. As I read this, I found myself fluctuating between the desire for a strong drink and the impulse to run. I concluded this book feeling emotionally weary, bordering on hopeless, drawn into more than the world of these people, finally brought into their despair.

Time for a little Charles Bukowski. Notes of a Dirty Old Man

Finished . 4 Stars!

I normalled stay away from short stories, but this collection completely changed my mind!! Bravo!

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

I can’t recall the last time I had so much fun reading a book, well, at least the first 4 parts of this book was shere fun. The witty observations of yuppie west coast suburban life, the ludicrous, quirky characters, the whip-smart dialogue, the re-imagining of the epistolary novel for the 21st century, all of it was hilarious and totally creative. But, the final two sections abandoned the creative use of emails, blogs, medical reports, etc for a single voice narrator and the witty mockery for a sweet, predictable tone.

Mike wrote: "Time for a little Charles Bukowski. Notes of a Dirty Old Man"

I also enjoy Bukowski.

Right now I'm reading The Luminaries and also Ice.

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

This outstanding collection of short stories explores various aspects of alienation and disorientation, especially that of the Indian American immigrant.

Sandra wrote: "I also enjoy Bukowski..."

Ham on Rye (which is on our list) and Post Office I felt were particularily brilliant. There is a real "everyman" quality about his writing.

Finished

4.5 Stars

War veteran Tom, Broken Isobel, yearning for the chance to start a family. Enter a stormy night, a lighthouse, a deserted island, and a dinghy that rolls ashore with a baby girl, and a dead man...

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Just catching up with the group &

Finished 2 Stars

The classic story of Cinderella is turned upside down, and we discover the dark, twisted world of Maguire's version, told from the "ugly stepsisters"

My Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished 5 Stars!!

Beautiful, heartwrenching novel that explores the relationship of a headstrong slave Hetty/Handful, and her "master" Sarah Grimke. This is a story about sisters-- Sarah and her sister Nina, and of the sisterhood of women, the strength and power that we have in each other.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

This is a story about aspiration and desperation, of illusions, dreams and memories, of visions and revisions. We spend the year of 1938 in the company of an upwardly mobile young Manhattanite as she skillfully careens from one social circle to the next up the proverbial ladder. And we spend time in the company of a young man who seems to take the path of Icarus. The writing is beautiful, the pacing is perfect, the characters are vivid, the story haunting. This book is so well executed that the over reliance on coincidence and the sprinkling of sentimentality is transformed into an asset rather than an annoyance.

Finished 4.5 Stars

Loved this book!! Beautiful storytelling... Grace Munroe receives an unexpected inheiritance from a stranger. She sets out on a journey to discover who this mysterious Eva d'Orsey really was...

my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Waves by Virginia Woolf

I am familiar with the expression “death by a thousand paper cuts”. But, this is my first experience of the excruciating phenomenon of coma by a thousand alliterations, by a million similes, by a myriad of images. There are magnificent phrases in this work. Unfortunately, like fine wine, delectable pastries or delicate lobster tails, a well drawn word picture, a beautifully written sentence is something to be savored in moderation, immoderately indulged in; the exquisite can cause extreme pain. In my introduction to this volume, it was revealed that Woolf claimed it had far more in common with poetry than with the novel. Yet, as prose, it does not fully function as a poem either. Character sketches of six childhood friends trace the varying trajectories of their lives. While their lives take very different roads, their voices are so similar that they appear to be different aspects of the author rather than distinct characters. This felt more like a far too clever creative writing exercise than a work of fiction or poetry. As I read, I kept feeling the author waving in the background, calling to me, “Look at me! Don’t pay any attention to those characters on the page. I am so clever, don’t you see?” Maybe that is the wave of the title.

Have started The Crane Wife

Bitter Winds by Harry Wu

The author of this memoir was interred in Chinese re-education labor camps from the late 1950s to the mid 1970s. Although the prose is unremarkable, the story is arresting. It is amazing that a society could heal, even prosper after such a divisive, violent fear-filled period that lasted for several decades.

Finished 2 stars

I was disappointed with this one, didn't appreciate the message being conveyed and wanted so much more from this book.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Tipperary by Frank Delany

The narrator of this novel comes into the possession of a chest containing the autobiography of a man living in Ireland during the late 19th and early 20th century. He senses a connection with the author of this autobiography which prompts him to do additional research on the figures mentioned in the pages. The book is comprised of sections of this fictional “personal history” and related documents with occasional commentary by the more contemporary narrator. Long before the question of any connection is resolved, the reader is forced to conclude that the subject of the autobiography is an ancestor of Forest Gump. He has the same uncanny ability to wander unsuspectingly into major historical situations: nursing Oscar Wild on his death bed, inspiring James Joyce during a bar room encounter, causing the downfall of Parnell by a chance remark to a journalist, stumbling onto the Easter uprising, etc. Both the older man and the modern narrator adopt a detached style that of a pseudo-historian, which keeps the reader at an arm’s length from the events described. Frankly, I have more interest in the various fictional families that buy Toyotas in TV commercials than I developed toward any character in this book. Those advertising families are portrayed with greater credibility and depth of personality.

Britany wrote: "Finished

Really enjoyed this one. So far, I haven't found a Kate Morton book that I haven't loved!! Here is my 4 star review: https://www.goo..."

She is a good writer, isn't she? So far my favourite is The Secret Keeper, but I really enjoyed this one too. Wish I could find some for reading. Work has taken over my life and it's very frustrating that I can't find a day to lose myself in another world.

The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I despised these morally impoverished young adults living lives of dissolution, believing themselves entitled to endless pleasure devoid of responsibilities simply because they were good looking and the descendents of America’s nouveaux riche. I recoiled from the world that seemed to glamorize their lifestyle and enable their debauchery while leering at their decline. But, I loved this novel with its perfect writing. There is not a single unnecessary detail, not a description out of place, not a false note sounded in the dialogue, not a single detectable literary flaw.

Yes, Jennifer!! I think all of her books are at least 4 stars from me, and I agree that the Secret Keeper is my favorite of hers so far!!

Reading and

Sophie's Choice is next up on the Kindle. Also picking up The Inner Game of Music.

Bloodline by Ernest Gaines

This is a collection of 5 short stories all set among share croppers in the segregated deep south. Each is so emotionally charged with tenderness, pain, genuine love and longing that I was a bit breathless after each.

Have started a memoir that I am really enjoying Out of the Woods: A Memoir of Wayfinding

Finished my first Grisham read!! I know, I can't believe it either... what took me so long??

3 Stars overall, I really enjoyed this one. It was a little slower in parts, but I can't wait to read more by this author!

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished 3 Stars

Interesting concept, but lost interest towards the end.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished 3 Stars

This is the second book in the giver series, disappointed that this was a completely separate book, but hoping as I finish the series, it will tie together.

My Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Pelican Brief by John Grisham

This is a fast paced, entertaining plot of a political murder mystery, very high on an abundance of flamboyant implausibility’s and fueled by a steady diet of clichés.

Finished - 4 Stars

A realtor is abducted, tortured, and manages to escape to tell her story, while still being chased... Tough to read at times, and had me racing to find out how it would all end.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

A Prayer Journal by Flannery O'Connor

How To Be A Good Wife by Emma Chapman

Marta is a middle-aged housewife with a history of mental instability. Dealing with her son’s engagement after obsessively clinging to him for two decades and secretly ceasing her medication, she is confronted with psychiatric symptoms: loss of time and frighteningly vivid visions. Are these the paranoid hallucinations of a very disturbed mind or are they the long repressed memories of a sinister secret in her past?

Irene wrote: "How To Be A Good Wife by Emma Chapman

Marta is a middle-aged housewife with a history of mental instability. Dealing with her son’s engagement after obsessively clinging to him for two decades an..."

Sounds interesting. Can't wait to hear your rating.

Finished 3 Stars.

A recovered letter that should only be opened in the event of death... Would you open it? What would you do if the contents changed your entire life?

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walters

What does a 27 year old American soldier in WW2, a young Italian man dreaming of turning his family home into a resort in 1962, a sell-out of a film producer clinging to an illusion of youth in 2012, a drug addicted small-time song-writer, an almost-was starlet and Richard Burton have in common? This book braids together narrative strands from different eras, continents and social settings and ties them together with a pretty bow. I have heard much praise for this author, so I suspect that any failure of this braided narrative to work for me is as much my limitation as any inherent limitation in the novel. That said, the characters felt as if they were extruded from a mold. The disjointed story arch was jarring. The plot was too predictable; the ending too storybook neat. And the excessive use of profanity and crude sexual references was off-putting.

Finished 3 Stars

Continuing the Giver series... finally a book that doesn't introduce a new person and leave us to wonder what happened to the other two books?! Starting to tie everything together, can't wait to see how it ends...

my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin

The book opens and closes with 74-year-old Alessandro imparting life’s great wisdom to a young stranger as they walk the hills outside of Rome. In between, we are told of Alessandro’s experiences as a soldier in World War 1. The writing is elegant, the descriptions are exquisite, the philosophical musings intriguing. There are passages of dialogue that demand a second read, paragraphs so vivid that the reader is transported. But, I also found many pages so bogged down in detail that the experience of reading began to resemble a slog through quicksand. The plot and character development was so subtle and slow that it seemed imperiled by the sheer weight of all the words.

Until I Say Good-Bye: My Year of Living With Joy by Susan Spencer-Wendel

This is the account of the author’s year of rapid decline due to ALS. Her hand, no longer capable of feeding herself, combing her own hair or scratching an itch, was crumpled into a claw the perfect shape for cradling a smart phone. Her speech too slurred to use voice recognition software, but with a thumb her only mobile digit, she used the smart phone to write this memoir. The book is personal while avoiding sentimentality, positive without denying the difficult elements of her deteriorating physical condition or the grieving inevitable in the prospect of an early death. Although she has access to more material resources than many of her readers, Susan gives us a story of living fully in the middle of loss that nearly any reader can relate to.

Finished 3 Stars!

What an interesting concept! Talks about a time in history that young girls were brokered in losing their virginity for a price, this "Cure" was rumored to cure men that were consumed with syphilis.

Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'm currently reading InkSpell .. I reached half the book so far and can't wait to finish it and start on InkDeath ! The first book is InkHeart .. And i do recommend it if you like a good adventure with unexpected events !

Arranged Marriage by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

This is a collection of eleven short stories which explore the ambivalent nature of marriage for contemporary Indian women. The tension between traditional Indian and Western expectations of marriage, arranged marriage verses romantic attraction, the pull between the selfless nurturing of motherhood and the desire for self-expression and self discovery were examined in these stories.

I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith

This is a light-hearted Victorian-style romance apparently inspired by Pride & Prejudice. Seventeen year old Cassandra is living in a crumbling castle with her extremely impoverished unconventional family members. The story is told through her journals which she conveniently and predictably begins days before unforeseeable events dawn, events that will change the family fortunes and bring the journals to a tidy end. This is not my sort of book. The preoccupation with pining after, declaring and dreaming of love I find tiresome. The characters were too sweet and eccentric to be believable.

Finished

9 strangers stuck in an office building, each trying to travel to India. An earthquake has left them trapped and praying for survival. While they await, they each tell a story of "One Amazing Thing" from their lives...

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

This is a perfectly paced and well written mystery. Pessl does not sacrifice prose to the service of the engaging plot. Characters are introduced and clues revealed at a perfect pace, not so fast that they become overwhelming or confusing, not so slow that the reader loses interest. Twists unfold at an ideal rate, keeping the reader slightly dizzy, constantly questioning conclusions, but never approaching the level of the ridiculous. If I had any complaint with this book, it was the dialogue. The characters are as diverse as an award winning investigative reporter and transient youth, an immigrant from Mexico and a washed-up alcoholic film star. But, all use the same voice, lacking distinctive vocabulary and cadence.