Book Nook Cafe discussion

Bambi: A Life in the Woods
Felix Salten
4/5 stars
This is the original tale of Bambi written by Felix Salten and the source material for Disney's film. Bambi grows up in the wild with his mother and other animal friends while trying to avoid the danger from other animals and hunters. I thought this was wonderfully written and enjoyed the illustrations and I felt it was a pretty realistic depiction of life in forest for the animals.

I had decided to read this book after reading The Queens of Animation by Nathalia Holt who talked about the book being an allegory of the treatment of Jews in Europe. According to Wikipedia - " ... it was subsequently banned in Nazi Germany in 1936 as "political allegory on the treatment of Jews in Europe."https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambi,_...."
A Classic

I don't know why but i couldn't get your link to work. Let's see if mine does.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambi,_...

I read this earlier this century, thinking i would donate it after reading it. However, i was impressed enough by it to keep it, afterall.

As i researched the above, i looked at his Wiki page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_S... ) & see he wrote a sequel, Bambi's Children. I didn't realize this. It's neat to learn the way you "found" this book. Thanks for sharing.

Julie wrote: "
[book:Dead Presidents: An American Adventure into the Strange D..."

I've started this one as an audiobook. Others have disliked the structure as thematic, not chronological, but that's fine with me. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

John wrote: "Julie wrote: "
[book:Dead Presidents: An American Adventure into..."

You are welcome!

The Penguin Lessons
Tom Michell
4/5 stars
Tom Michell recalls his time in South America as a traveler, a teacher and an owner of a penguin. Tom is traveling in Uruguay when an oil spill occurs. He witnesses thousands of birds entrenched in oil, mostly dead except for one penguin who is still alive but coated with oil. He makes a decision to rescue him and clean him up. He christens him Juan Salvador and Michell takes him to his new assignment in Argentina, teaching at a boy’s school where all the students adore Juan. What a delightful story of survival and friendship! A Book Set In The Southern Hemisphere

What a nice sounding book, Julie. Thanks for the title.

Julie wrote: "
The Penguin Lessons
Tom Michell
4/5 stars
Tom Michell recalls his time in South America as a traveler, a teacher and an own..."

Glad it worked out so well for you!

Julie wrote: "
The Penguin Lessons
Tom Michell
4/5 stars
Tom Michell recalls his time in South America as a traveler, a teacher and an own..."

That sounds like a lovely book, Julie. I'm going to write the title down. Thanks.

Alias Reader wrote: "Julie wrote: "
The Penguin Lessons
Tom Michell
4/5 stars
Tom Michell recalls his time in South America as a traveler, a teac..."
It is not a long book- about 220 pages long- but a good read!

Bizarre Romance
Audrey Niffenegger
3.5/5 stars
This is a compilation of very odd, dark short stories by Audrey Niffenegger (author of The Time Traveler's Wife) and with illustrations by her husband Eddie Campbell. I enjoyed it. A fast read!

Not on my challenge but I had found a Niffenegger book I had not read and felt compelled to read it. Still waiting for the once promised sequel to The Time Traveler's Wife.

Interesting to have illustrations with the stories. I like that idea. I didn't realize a sequel to TTW was planned.

madrano wrote: "Interesting to have illustrations with the stories. I like that idea. I didn't realize a sequel to TTW was planned."

She talked about it a few years ago in a article but it has never appeared. I don't know if she is stalled in her writing of it or just gave up on it.

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/ti...

Interesting that she knew her weaknesses in writing enough to talk about them. It seems a bit brave.

The Two Faces of January
Patricia Highsmith
4/5 stars
A couple of con men, Chester MacFarland and Rydal Keener, along with McFarland’s wife, Colette travel to Greece. When MacFarland kills a Greek who reminds him of his father, they have to get out of Greece fast. However, another tragedy occurs and the group then splits up to leave Greece on their own before being arrested. Good story and a fast read! It was later made into a film. Under-rated or Lesser Known Authors

Sounds good. My husband is a fan of Highsmith's work. Two weeks ago he read Strangers on a Train. At the end of each of his reading sessions, he updated me on the book.

I see that this was a '14 film starring Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst but i don't recall seeing ads for it. ANYway, i'm passing the title on to my DH.

madrano wrote: "Sounds good. My husband is a fan of Highsmith's work. Two weeks ago he read Strangers on a Train. At the end of each of his reading sessions, he updated me on the book.

I see that th..."

I am reading Strangers On A Train also. I ordered both books to decide which one I would read but I am enjoying this other book too!

Neat! As it happened DH was able to watch the movie soon after completing the book. It's funny to see how alive he was to the differences, as well as what worked & didn't.

Enjoy, Julie.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Jonathan Safran Foer
4/5 stars
Oskar Shell, a young man whose father was killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11 finds a mysterious key that belonged to his father. He takes on as his mission to find what that key would unlock and finds himself meeting and interacting with people he would never have met and overcoming some of the grief of his father’s death. What a nicely written novel - recommended! E

I tried reading the book when it was first released, Julie, but it was still too soon for me, so i didn't get far. Maybe now it's time. I saw the film based on it and thought it was splendid. Thanks for your comments on it.

Julie wrote: "
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Jonathan Safran Foer
4/5 stars
Oskar Shell, a young man whose father was k..."

I read Extremely Loud awhile ago. I enjoyed it a lot.

I also enjoyed his then wife's book The History of Love -- Nicole Krauss

Alias Reader wrote: "Julie wrote: "
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Jonathan Safran Foer
4/5 stars
Oskar Shell, a young man whos..."
I didn't know that was his wife. I read her book in 2018!

Julie wrote: I didn't know that was his wife. I read her book in 2018!..."

They are divorced with 2 kids. And they live in Brooklyn, NY.
Not far from the YMCA that I go to. Though I've never seem them.

Strangers on a Train
Patricia Highsmith
5/5 stars
Two men meet on a train and get to talking about their lives. Charles Bruno then proposes a scheme in which Bruno kills Guy Haines’ wife and Guy kills Charles’ father. Not thinking that Bruno is serious, he leaves the train and later on finds out his ex-wife has been brutally murdered and now Bruno has re-entered his life pressuring him on the deal he feels he made with Guy. Excellent read and compelling to the very end!

Technically, not on my reading challenge because I used another book by that author but just wanted to add it to my reading list. Our library has a copy of the movie so am going to try and check that out.

Strong star count! Will you try any more from her? She was born in Ft. Worth, Texas but the only book she wrote that has the state as a setting is Strangers.

Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002
David Sedaris
4/5 stars
David Sedaris opens his life to his readers with his diary entries from 1977-2002. The entries relay the often bizarre world of David’s and his thoughts about life, his family, his work and the strange people and events he encounters. This is definitely for Sedaris fans. If you haven’t read any of his other books - you might want to read some of those before you open this book.

This was not on my reading challenge and none of my books on the challenge had come in so I read this and really enjoyed it!

Good warning for us non-Sedaris people. It's such a pleasure to serendipitously find a good book this way.

madrano wrote: "Good warning for us non-Sedaris people. It's such a pleasure to serendipitously find a good book this way."

Sedaris' early work was great, but eventually I tired of him.

I am hit and miss with him.

Enduring Love
Ian McEwan
4/5 stars
Joe Rose and his girlfriend are spending time hiking in the countryside when a hot air balloon comes flying across the sky with the passengers struggling to maintain the flight. They run to the balloon to help, along with a passerby, Jed Parry. They try to help but one of the passengers falls to his death and the child is swept away in the balloon but later found. They are upset but leave to resume their lives but unfortunately Jed, the man that helped has now become obsessed with Joe Rose and will do everything he can to intrude in his life, upsetting his relationship with his girlfriend. This is a fascinating look at a stalker's victim and how it affects his life and his relationships. 53

McEwan comes up with such unique ideas sometimes. This one sounds intriguing.

madrano wrote: "McEwan comes up with such unique ideas sometimes. This one sounds intriguing."

He is one of my favorite writers.

I have liked every book i've read by him.

Boy Swallows Universe
Trent Dalton
4/5 stars
Set in Australia in the 1980’s we find brothers Eli and August Bell living with his mother and Slim, a friend that watches over the family. Life is not easy for the family, the father is in jail and they have little resources to live on. The Bell family keeps hanging on when the boys go to live with their dad after he is released while their mother ends up in jail and now Eli is now being targeted by Tytus Broz, a criminal/drug dealer. This is definitely a wild romp and you will have a hard time putting this down!
Australian, Canadian, or New Zealand Authors

I really like that title. The family premise is different, which is always appreciated.

Educated
Tara Westover
5/5 stars
This is the true, fascinating story of Tara Westover. Born to Mormon survivalists, she and her family were isolated except for the other families in their small community. Her mother was a healer and herbalist and her father owned a junk yard. Education consisted of home schooling. Life was not easy, one of her brothers was extremely violent and she tried to stay clear of him. With the help of another brother who had gone away to the University, she decided that she needed to open herself up and become educated. On her own, she changes her life by exploring her options, leaving her family and going away to college to experiences she would never have had by staying home. This was one of the best books I have read this year! E

Julie, if you are interested in viewing comments from the Book Nook Cafe group reading of this book, try this link. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

We were all over the place on it and had many questions. However, the basic story is remarkable.

madrano wrote: "Julie, if you are interested in viewing comments from the Book Nook Cafe group reading of this book, try this link. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

We we..."

I saw it after I read the book. Interesting comments!

I liked that the book inspired much discussion here.

A New History of the American South
Edward L. Ayers
4/5 stars
This is part of the Great Courses series and covers the history of the American South. This comes with a Course Guidebook and DVD lectures covering the 100 years of the struggles of African Americans that they undergo while living and working in the United States. Very informative, eye opening and interesting. Ayers narrates the DVDs.
I thought this was just going to be a DVD set but it came with a book which had the lectures written in it from the DVD set. Both my husband and I enjoyed it.

I've long been a fan of the Great Courses series.

I would do other Great Courses.

We like Great Courses, too. On longer road trips with a specific destination in mind, we listen to a series and are awed by all we didn't know. Our favorite was about the history of the New Testament, including earlier myths upon which those stories were based.

This one about the South sounds particularly interesting. Thanks for the notice, Julie.

madrano wrote: "We like Great Courses, too. On longer road trips with a specific destination in mind, we listen to a series and are awed by all we didn't know. Our favorite was about the history of the New Testame..."

I knew about the Great Courses but never taken one. I would explore more of them!

One thing my husband & i realized is that there is so much info, you can listen to the series again and learn more. We have relistened (?) to about half the lectures. Of course they lead us to find other books to confirm or question what is presented, which is a good sign, imo.

We used to get a catalog from them yearly but it's been awhile. Sometimes i'll see an ad in a magazine i'm thumbing but don't pursue more.

I'm going to continue the Great Courses riff to call out Victorian Britain with Patrick N. Allitt. I appreciated his book I'm the Teacher, You're the Student: A Semester in the University Classroom.

madrano wrote: We used to get a catalog from them yearly but it's been awhile. Sometimes i'll see an ad in a magazine i'm thumbing but don't pursue more.."

You might want to check your library system. I know the NYC library system offers some of their titles.

John wrote: "I'm going to continue the Great Courses riff to call out Victorian Britain with Patrick N. Allitt. I appreciated his book [book:I'm the Teacher, You're the Student: ..."

Sounds interesting. I am not sure if it's out of print. I also see they are showing the Kindle price at $24. Which seems very high for a 250 page book. Weird.

Amazon does have used copies starting at around $5.

Anyway, I've added it to my TBR list. Thanks for the title.

Good tip, Alias. I checked with my library & they have many in the series. Sadly, they do not have the Allitt series on Victorian Britain, though. I believe Half Price books offers some, too, but i haven't priced them.

$25 is waaaaay too much for the book! I read a print copy from my library. Also, Allitt does The Rise and Fall of the British Empire in case your libraries have that one.

I love all the information on the Great Courses series. Thanks for all the info!