Coffee & Books discussion
Bookish!
>
What are you reading?
The Story Hour – Thirty Umrigar – 5*****
Umrigar alternates viewpoints between these two women – an Indian immigrant and her African-American psychologist. I was completely engaged from page one through all the ups and downs of the story. I was anxious about how things would work out, sympathized with them when feelings were hurt, felt anger at some situations, and eagerly hoped for a resolution.
My full review HERE
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic – Alison Bechdel – 3.5***
Bestselling memoir of a young woman growing up in a dysfunctional family. The graphic novel is full of Bechdel’s marvelously detailed drawings. Her confusion, anger, disappointment and sadness come through on almost every page.
My full review HERE
Moby-Dick, Or, the Whale – Herman Melville– 4****
Melville writes in great detail – ad nauseum – about the intricacies of whaling, the various species of aquatic mammals, the arduous and dirty (even disgusting) job of butchering the carcass. But he also explores the relationships developed among the crew, the sights of new ports, the weeks of tedious boredom broken by a day or two of exhilarating chase. I understand the enduring quality of the work, so despite its flaws, I still give it a high rating.
My full review HERE
The Lost Girls of Paris – Pam Jenoff – 3***
Another WWII story featuring women working as spies through the underground resistance and facing untold dangers. There’s much to like about this tale, though I am frankly tired of the back-and-forth timelines used by so many writers these days. Still, the story, which is partly based on true events, moved quickly and held my attention.
My full review HERE
The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters – Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger – 4****
The subtitle is all the synopsis anyone needs: The Tragic and Glamorous lives of Jackie and Lee. The authors have crafted a mini biography and exploration of their complicated and tight relationship. I found it fascinating and full of the kind of gossip that enthralls me. It’s an interesting look at the dynamic between these two sisters and their claims to fame.
My full review HERE
Rosemary and Rue by Sranan McGuire.
Purple Hibiscus by Chimammanda Ngozi Adichie!!!!
I just finished yesterday The Dutch House. My review will be coming up in a couple of days. I liked it.Last night I started a book I have already read a few years ago. It is a short book containing very beautiful essays about ballet dancers of the 20th century. Corps Glorieux
And I am keeping up with The Fiery Cross as an audiobook and also Paris, ma bonne ville I am reading the French paperback book and it is really, really nice.
My review for Zak George's Dog Training Revolution: The Complete Guide to Raising the Perfect Pet with Love by Zak George
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Honolulu – Alan Brennert – 3.5***
Regret / Jin is a marvelous character. She starts out a shy, subservient girl and grows throughout the novel into a strong woman. I’ve visited Hawaii several times and could picture many of the settings depicted in the novel, despite the vast differences in today’s Honolulu from that of 1914. I was fascinated by the history lesson and the glimpse into life during that time period.
My full review HERE
I just started reading The Heirs by Susan Rieger.
Erotic Stories For Punjabi Widows – Balli Kaur Jaswal – 4****
I was expecting something light and breezy and I was pleasantly surprised to find some depth here. Nikki is a wonderful character but I really loved the women in her “creative writing” class. Some of their stories were heartbreaking, but all of them were so willing to be open and honest in their writing. That their subject matter would “shock” their peers was not a deterrent to their need to express themselves. Brava, ladies!
My full review HERE
The Cat Who Came For Christmas – Cleveland Amory– 3***
On a snowy Christmas eve, Amory helped to rescue a bedraggled stray cat. This is a memoir of their first year together. Interesting and entertaining for the most part, even for this reader who is not much of an animal lover. Despite the title there’s nothing very “Christmassy” about the book.
My full review HERE
Al Capone Shines My Shoes – Gennifer Choldenko – 3***
Book two in this entertaining middle-school series, set on Alcatraz Island during the Great Depression. Moose Flanagan’s dad is a guard at the maximum security prison, and the family lives in the apartments provided for workers and their families. I was completely charmed by the first book, and certainly interested in this second outing. The relationships between the kids seem real to me. Moose deals with many of the things most 12-year-olds have to face, including bullying, peer pressure, and adults who don’t understand him. But he’s also burdened by a unique relationship with one particular inmate: Al Capone.
My full review HERE
Paris, ma bonne ville 5*****I just finished book 3 in the series (of 13 books) and wow! what a ride this was. If certain passages felt a little long it was probably because I always wanted to know what was going to happen. Of course this being a historical fiction taking place in the summer of 1572. I knew what was coming up in history: the St-Barthelemy massacre. The horror of French people murdering French people for religious reasons. Catholics against Protestants. I knew the main character would get out alive (there are still 10 books to come!) but I wanted to know how! I had plenty for my money. It was so good!
I am afraid this might be a weaker book in English because in French the author adds a lot of vocabulary of the 16th Century South of France which adds a lot to the pleasure of reading, but I think the translation could never give the same sensation.
Being from Quebec I sometimes hear that some of our regional spoken language comes from long lost French and it is a lot of fun to read some words I can recognize without going to the last pages of the book for a "translation".
My review in French is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I will take a break from this series to read a very recent publication:
Le Consentement I can't wait to read this one.
5*****Le Consentement by Vanessa Springora
I just finished reading this book.
Around thirty years ago, Vanessa Springora is thirteen years old when she first meets writer Gabriel Matzneff (in his fifties) at a dinner. Her mother who works in a publishing house in Paris was invited to that dinner and she took her daughter with her.
A few weeks later, after waiting for her outside school every day, taking walks with her in the park, taking her to cafes, he takes her to his studio and says he loves her, she is unique and their love will be beautiful.
Then this man uses everything about her including the letters she writes to him as a fourteen year old to write and publish another book of his journals talking about his underage lovers.
He has forbidden her to read some of his books (his journals of course) but then, after a few months, when he is gone to Malaysia for a month, she finally takes a book and reads. She realizes what she had come to suspect, is true. She is not the only one, she is not the love of life, she has been reduced to "V" another one of the many pre-pubescent girls who are the victims of this pedocriminal.
She will also discover his trips to Malaysia have one goal: eight to ten years old boys...
The Paris litterature world is in awe of this man's "talent" and everybody knew what he did with young girls and little boys.
In this wonderful book, Vanessa Springosa puts into words the unforgivable truth. But most of all, as she says at the beginning of the book, she found the best way to put "G" in prison. The prison of a book. Just as he reduced her to "V" in his books, she reduces him to "G" and she makes sure nobody can ever forget, because her book will be in print forever and available to everyone who finds the courage to read it.
The book was published in France in January 2020 and is having in incredible "success". "G"s old friends who always defended him and said he had so much talent, are now finding excuses and trying to retract themselves.
The police has recently made searches at his home and at one publishing house who published his books, looking for censured unpublished pages.
Meawhile, "G" is saying he doesn't understant why "V" would do this to him. She must be jaleous of his success or of the young lovers he has in his life...
If you ask me, I will only say the police intervention comes more than 40 years too late!
This is a very courageous book, beautifully written and a MUST read. Look out for an English translation if you can't read it in French. It will come I am sure of it.
Here is my review in French:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
3***Corps Glorieux by Dominique Delouche
I have a very strange feeling having finished this book. I read it a long time ago when I purchased it and I had a very nice memory about it. But on a second reading I find it to be snobish, full of unnecessary words which make me feel like they were put there so the author would look smart and a man of culture. He probably is, but I would like to make up my own mind about that without feeling inadequate about the vocabulary in a short book about dance.
My review in French is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
L'héritière by Hanne-Vibeke Holst
I started last night a new book and I just love it! Translated from Danish to French, it looks like it is available in German, Swedish, Dutch but not English...
The main character is a young woman in Copenhagen, very invested in environmental groups, new mother of twins, married to a man she loves, who stayed at home to take care of the babies while she was at work. Then, unexpectedly one night he says it's his turn and announces he was offered a post in Ouganda for 2 years. She realizes he is fed up with the life at home and she agrees to leave everything and go with him and the twins to Africa.
Then, a couple of weeks later, a phone call comes in and the Prime Minister is offering her the post of Minister of Environment...
The President is Missing – Bill Clinton and James Patterson – 3.5***
This is a fast-paced thriller, with a believable (if somewhat over-the-top) scenario. There were several times when I thought I knew where it was headed but was surprised by a twist in the plot. The basic plot line is something we should all be concerned about and I found myself wondering about our reliance on technology. The last 50 pages were particularly nail-biting.
My full review HERE
Ike And Kay – James MacManus – 3***
In his work of historical fiction, MacManus explores the relationship between General Dwight D Eisenhower and his assigned driver during WWII, Kay Sommersby. Rumor, innuendo and gossip have surrounded their affair for decades. It was interesting to see how the relationship unfolded and to get a glimpse of what they may have meant to one another, especially during the stress of wartime. MacManus gets at least one detail VERY wrong, and it makes me wonder what else he flubbed. Oh well, it’s historical FICTION, and it held my attention.
My full review HERE
The Amish Christmas Kitchen – Kelly Long, Jennifer Beckstrand, and Lisa Jones Baker – 2**
This is a collection of three novellas all focusing on the Amish community and the Christmas season. The stories are tender and clean romances, rather straightforward and predictable. The writing is very simple and repetitious. Not my cup of tea.
My full review HERE
Riders Of the Purple Sage – Zane Grey – 3***
I hardly know what to write about this classic of the Western genre. It’s full of adventure, violence, strong men and women, tenderness, brutality and an abiding sense of justice. And, of course, there is the landscape, which Grey paints so vividly it is practically a character. I found myself laughing at the ridiculousness of some of the "love" scenes with Grey’s melodramatic, “bodice-heaving” dialogue.
My full review HERE
Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra – 4****
I’d read snippets from this work over the years but never experienced the whole thing. I’m sorry I waited so long to do so. It is a marvelous piece of fiction and is widely acknowledged as the first modern-day novel.
My full review HERE
Jade Dragon Mountain – Elsa Hart – 4****
This historical mystery is set in the town of Dayan, on the Chinese / Tibetan border, in 1708. I loved the history in this book. I had been previously unaware of the role of the Jesuits. I felt that I was a real sense of the time and place from Hart’s descriptions and plot. Li Du is a marvelous detective, and also a skilled politician. I was completely engaged and interested from beginning to end and did NOT guess the perpetrator(s) before they were revealed.
My full review HERE
A head full of ghosts by Paul Tremblay.
Would Like To Meet – Rachel Winters – 3***
As a reader, I’ve been there, done that, and seen the movie multiple times. It’s a cute rom-com of a novel, but totally predictable. Now … who will be cast in the movie?
My full review HERE
Lab Girl – Hope Jahren – 5*****
Jahren structures the book with alternating chapters; in one she will give a botany lesson, detailing, for example, the functioning of a leaf; in the next chapter she’ll relate a personal story of her journey from childhood to her position as a research scientist. I was fascinated by the science lessons but was completely taken in by her personal story. Jahren writes with humor and strength as she reveals her personal struggles with bi-polar disorder, and with being a woman in a decidedly male-dominated field.
My full review HERE
The Wife of the Gods – Kewi Quartey – 4****
First in a series featuring Detective Inspector Darko Dawson of Accra, Ghana. Oh, I am going to like this series! Darko is a principled man, but he has his demons, and he seeks solace in smoking marijuana. He’s also sometimes prone to resorting to his own brand of vigilante justice. But there’s no denying that he’s a talented – and tenacious – detective. There are plenty of suspects and motives and a compelling subplot to keep the reader off balance and guessing.
My full review HERE
Patsy – Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn – 4****
This novel follows Patsy, a young Jamaican mother of a 5-year-old girl, Tru, as she makes her way to America and tries to find a better life for herself. This story is in turns heartbreaking and inspiring. I applaud Patsy’s determination, courage, inventiveness and work ethic, but have difficulty forgiving her for decisions I just cannot fathom. I loved these characters, even though I didn’t always like them. Despite all the hardship, all the bad decisions and failures to communicate, ultimately there is some triumph and some sense of hope.
My full review HERE
Slowly getting through The Culling by Anthony Hulse. Not sure why I'm not going faster, it's a good tale about an evil travelling circus with great characters but I just don't seem to be making any progress.
A Good Neighborhood by Therese Ann Fowler
Dear Mrs Bird – A J Pearce – 3***
This had more substance than I originally thought based on the book jacket. Emmy’s heart is in the right place, even if the advice she doles out (under Mrs Bird’s name) isn’t always the best. I wasn’t too interested in the personal drama of young adulthood (“been there, done that, don’t need to read about it again). Still, it’s a fast, entertaining read and I can see why it would be marketed for book clubs.
My full review HERE
I am trying to read Harlan Coben’s newest book, The Boy from the Wolves. Unfortunately I don’t have too much patience to read although I am able to be online for long amounts of time. Go figure. I hope very shortly I will be able to go back to reading.
Coffee & Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Day I Died (other topics)Summit Lake (other topics)
Under an Alaskan Sky (other topics)
Oxygen (other topics)
The House in the Pines (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Lori Rader-Day (other topics)Charlie Donlea (other topics)
Jennifer Snow (other topics)
Carol Cassella (other topics)
Ana Reyes (other topics)
More...
From Scratch – Tembi Locke – 4****
This is a wonderful memoir full of love and tenderness, grief and frustration, joy and a sense of belonging.
My full review HERE