Book Nook Cafe discussion

Alias Reader wrote: "
Deb, all the prompts can be F/NF if it fits. It's totally up to each person.

Well done on the prompt. If I recall correctly, philosophy isn't a favorite genre for you...."

Thank you. I just wasn't certain. And, as you noted, i'm not big on philosophy, so i was pleased to have ethics and morality lumped with it. lol

John wrote: "I've long been curious about this one, so thanks for convincing me to add it as a TBR item."

My pleasure, John.

For a curious history of their lives together, i found it good. One doesn't get the sense that Toklas considered herself lesser, for the most part. There was one instance, where they are visiting an author, i believe it was, and Alice spent all her time in the garden, learning & helping. At that point readers didn't have a sense of how much she relished gardening (that was the final chapter, oddly), so that it seemed as though she felt she needed to use her free time on something.

I see that i didn't remember to add the "Haschich Fudge" recipe. I've always heard they were brownies but this seems more like a candy than cake-ish. She followed the recipe with a paragraph about attaining haschich, which sounds much more as though it came from her pen than the prelude.

BRION GYSIN
HASCHICH FUDGE--

(which anyone could whip up on a rainy day) This is the food of Paradise—of Baudelaire’s Artificial Paradises: it might provide an entertaining refreshment for a Ladies’ Bridge Club or a chapter meeting of the DAR. In Morocco it is thought to be good for warding off the common cold in damp winter weather and is, indeed, more effective if taken with large quantities of hot mint tea. Euphoria and brilliant storms of laughter; ecstatic reveries and extensions of one’s personality on several simultaneous planes are to be complacently expected. Almost anything Saint Theresa did, you can do better if you can bear to be ravished by ‘un évanouissement reveillé.’

Take 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1 whole nutmeg, 4 average sticks of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon coriander. These should all be pulverised in a mortar. About a handful each of stoned dates, dried figs, shelled almonds and peanuts: chop these and mix them together. A bunch of canibus sativa can be pulverised. This along with the spices should be dusted over the mixed fruit and nuts, kneaded together. About a cup of sugar dissolved in a big pat of butter. Rolled into a cake and cut into pieces or made into balls about the size of a walnut, it should be eaten with care. Two pieces are quite sufficient.

Obtaining the canibus may present certain difficulties, but the variety known as canibus sativa grows as a common weed, often unrecognised, everywhere in Europe, Asia and parts of Africa; besides being cultivated as a crop for the manufacture of rope. In the Americas, while often discouraged, its cousin, called canibus indica, has been observed even in city window boxes. It should be picked and dried as soon as it has gone to seed and while the plant is still green."

For prompt #37- color in title, i read The Blacker the Berry...**--Wallace Thurman. Published in 1929, it is a novel about shades of color preference within the African American community in the 1920s. It is a compelling story about a child born in Boise, Idaho, where her family migrated post-Civil War, with a few stops in between. Most of her family is light colored but her father, who leaves while she is still young, is dark black, as is Emma Lou.

The story begins as she is graduating from high school, the sole black student in the class. Onstage, she recalls her brief history, including the regular exclusion by classmates of her, which her mother more or less confirms is due to the black shade of Emma's skin. Yes, her mother!

The story follows the young woman to Los Angeles, where her sole supportive relative, her Uncle, tells her she'll blend in better than in Boise. Encouraged, she goes there, staying for three school years but leaving before graduating.

A lackluster student, she heads toward Harlem, in New York, to find others like her. The rest of the book's events unfold there. Once again she's lonely, finding employment not in an office, as she'd hoped (she's basically told she is too black) but as a lady's maid to an actress. Eventually she meets and hooks up with Alva, a light skinned black man who likes her but likes her money better.

From beginning to end, readers are told how events unfold primarily through Emma's eyes and how she interprets events from a dark skinned POV. While we cannot disagree, as the author informs us that her observations are true, we also come to see that Emma is unable to see what happens without viewing them with an eye to skin color in mind.

This debut novel was a breakthrough in discussions about the prejudice of white and black people toward the darkest hues of skin. The thinking is explored, including the notion that darker people worked in the fields and had little intelligence. To read about this in news articles is one thing, but to experience them through Emma's eyes is another. Readers feel the hopes, the loneliness, and the anxiety from someone we've come to like.

I felt the book was well presented, giving readers a fine look at the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. By the end, i wondered how much of the problem was that Emma seemed unable to look at circumstances without considering her own blackness. It is an interesting turn of events, as we come to see things a bit from the vantage of those who try to persuade her she's wrong in interpreting what she's seeing and feeling.

Then the question becomes, are they being honest? Ha! I liked that, although i cannot swear that this is what Thurman had in mind. As i mentioned, authorities tell us that this is one of the first explorations of this prejudice within the society of African Americans. I wish i'd known about it earlier.

**The ... is part of the title. We are to finish the line, "The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice."

Sounds like you picked a good one for the prompt, deb. I'm glad it was a winner for you.

madrano wrote: "For prompt #37- color in title, i read The Blacker the Berry...**--Wallace Thurman. Published in 1929, it is a novel about shades of color preference within the Africa..."

Nicely done on the prompt, and thanks for the review.

Alias, thank you, i'm pleased, too.

My pleasure to share, James.

First of all, i forgot to add check marks, indicating a prompt is completed, for most of my books. I've updated that.

I read The Education of Little Tree--Forrest Carter to complete prompt #16--Young adult book F/NF. First published in 1976, it purported to be a memoir by Carter, part Cherokee. I'm not even sure it was intended to be YA but that is generally the way it is now categorized. Native Americans embraced the book as illustrating the lives of a tribal member in the US. Indeed, i heard about it decades ago, from a woman who taught a class about the Sioux tribe.

In 1991, after the book won the American Booksellers Book of the Year (ABBY) award, it ranked number one on The New York Times non-fiction paperback best-seller list for several weeks. That same year an article exposed Carter as being a former speech writer for George Wallace, a segregationist and outright liar, whose real name was Asa Earl Carter. And not Cherokee.

My copy, a 1986 reprint from University of New Mexico Press, continued, of course, to praise the book as the story of a Native American orphan, set in the Depression, who was raised by his Cherokee grandparents when his parents died. We now know that this was untrue, as Carter's parents were alive well into his adulthood.

So, what's a reading public to do? The book moved me and i was touched by the story. It told of the life grandparents sharing their home & lives with him, surviving during those dark years. Set in the Smoky Mountains, readers learn about their practices during each season, as well as the populations nearby & their interactions with the family.

It is written from the vantage point of the child, so we learn from his naive observations what has occurred, which we read the reality of a situation behind it. This was primarily a child's view of discrimination. Warm-hearted, i found the child endearing and his kin protective.

ANYway, my qualm is about the history of the book. If one takes it as a novel, as it clearly is, we can learn from it how people survived the 1930s, needing little. The love and warmth of humans nearby was wonderful, as were the views of death.

It's just the history that sticks in one's craw.

46- A book with either an Index, Map, photographs or Glossary--Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks--Crystal Wilkinson. I intended to read this regardless, as i was curious about the Appalachian upbringing/cooking story the author would tell. Then i saw the book includes both an index and photos, so i add it to complete this prompt.

While there were professional photos of the dishes for which she shared recipes, it was the other shots that called to me. They were not taken by professionals but by family members and/or the author herself. If she didn't know who took it, she declared as much. What charmed me was that a couple, in addition to explaining who was in the shot, were also described by where Wilkinson found them. For instance, "Studio photo from Christine Wilkinson’s family photo collection in the cookie tin.” My mom used to store photos in a cookie tin, too.

What initially bothered me about the book, but which i came to understood, was that where Wilkinson has no story, she creates one. Usually it is about ancestors for whom she only has a name and that she was a slave. At this point, the author fills in a story about cooking a one-pot dish or hoecakes, cooked in ashes, imagining some of the setting where her ancestor cooked. It's fine & she is an established novelist, but i wasn't thrilled with it.

Upon reconsideration, however, i noted that title mentions "Kitchen Ghosts", which is what these are, women without definition in her family tree. And have i not kinda done the same, when imagining my grandmothers & great-grandmothers as they cooked thrashing-day or holiday meals? Yes, i have.

Meanwhile, i found it interesting that the author includes her own vegetarian history and how she accommodated that while still aiming to recreate some dishes from her grandmother's kitchen. And i liked her description of her pandemic/confinement days, including how she made complete Thanksgiving meals, packaged them up for her children & their families, and spaced their visits so no one would catch germs.

madrano wrote: "In 1991, after the book won the American Booksellers Book of the Year (ABBY) award, it ranked number one on The New York Times non-fiction paperback best-seller list for several weeks. That same year an article exposed Carter as being a former speech writer for George Wallace, a segregationist and outright liar, whose real name was Asa Earl Carter. And not Cherokee."

I guess one could evaluate it as one would any other fiction book. However, the deception would ruin the book for me. :(

Still, nice job on the prompt ! Thank you for adding the check marks. That helps make it clear where one is on the challenge. Personally, I find it quite satisfying to check things off the list.

madrano wrote:

Meanwhile, i found it interesting that the author includes her own vegetarian history and how she accommodated that while still aiming to recreate some dishes from her grandmother's kitchen. And i liked her description of her pandemic/confinement days, including how she made complete Thanksgiving meals, packaged them up for her children & their families, and spaced their visits so no one would catch germs..."

It's interesting how the pandemic now is a touch stone moment. When it first started, I doubt many could have imagined the significance, pain and duration that would befall us.

Nice job on another prompt ! You are doing well with the challenge.

I also like how everyone has different books to meet the prompts.

Nicely done with those two.

There's a difference, I think, between writers (or any sort of artist) who are revealed to be horrible people, and those who deliberately falsify a narrative and present it as "real".

Remember Go Ask Alice? (maybe the cover brings back some memories . . .)

Remember A Million Little Pieces ? How about The Hitler Diaries ? Or The Autobiography Of Howard Hughes ? All deceptions which were for a time believed to be true.

Artists can be horrible people (and no, I don't think all of them are!) and still make moving and profound works of art. Deliberately falsifying what purports to be and is presented as a truthful narrative is a whole different story . . . literally.

I have no problem when history is recounted in a clearly fictional way, such as in Midnight’s Children or Little Big Man -- and perhaps that sometimes makes the horror, the joy, the actual essential truth of that history even clearer.

As Saleem says about his telling of the story in Midnight's Children:

“I told you the truth,” I say yet again, “Memory’s truth, because memory has its own special kind. It selects, eliminates, alters, exaggerates, minimizes, glorifies, and vilifies also; but in the end it creates its own reality . . . no sane human being ever trusts someone else’s version more than his own.”

James wrote:

There's a difference, I think, between writers (or any sort of artist) who are revealed to be horrible people, and those who deliberately falsify a narrative and present it as "real""

Totally agree. Deliberate deception is just wrong.

Alias Reader wrote: "I guess one could evaluate it as one would any other fiction book. However, the deception would ruin the book for me..."

First, Alias, i agree, the checkmarks make the lists easier to read.

The deception marred the book for me but thinking of it in light of a mountain kid during the Depression helped. It is a good book, more so if you nothing of the author. To be honest, when i first began reading heavily (in my 20s), i seldom knew anything about the authors of the book i read. I didn't care to, either.

Even my initial years on book boards didn't change that attitude. However, when cases such as James Frey's book arose, i paid more attention. As i now read many older (mid-20th century, in particular) books, there has been time to evaluate entire lives of authors. Naturally, this means i learn more about those i've read.

James wrote: "Nicely done with those two.

There's a difference, I think, between writers (or any sort of artist) who are revealed to be horrible people, and those who deliberately falsify a narrative and presen..."

Thank you, James. I agree with you about the deceptive issues. Carter lost a bid to be governor of Alabama (against Wallace), which is when he moved to Texas and began writing. Had he won, would he have altered his beliefs? Actually, i suppose the question might be, did he ever alter those beliefs?

ANYway, the book is good. Now that you mention it, the novel reminds me of Thomas Berger's writing in Little Big Man, explaining facts in different ways. There are other YAs which also do this, so it isn't unique to Carter, either.

I'm rambling there. I just feel a disappointment that the Sioux woman i knew who recommended Carter's book didn't know he didn't tell the truth of his ancestry. It was important to her. She was in her upper 80s when i knew her, so likely died before this came to life. This should make me feel better, right? :-)

I just finished a fairly good mystery/thriller to complete prompt 10- Mystery, Thriller, or suspense. Hello, Transcriber--Hannah Morrissey, a debut author. This is an unusual occupation, at least the first time i've seen it in mysteries. Hazel Greenlee has just entered this job in the small city of Black Harbor, Wisconsin. A dark river, the site of many recent suicides runs along the town, and calls to Hazel in many ways. A recent transplant, she dislikes the area and seems to contemplate the river regularly.

Her husband, Tommy, is an aquatic wildlife specialist, which is why they moved there. He is happy in the environment, making numerous hunting and fishing trips with buddies. Hazel's new job, as the transcriber of police officer's verbal reports, has kept her busy, and the night shift is perfect for her, as she has come to feel less happy with her marriage.

The town's decline has been marked by a dramatic increase in drug use, as well as suicides. Now, however, the drug scene has been tragically marred by the murder of a 9-year-old boy has been found drugged and dead, ostensibly by "The Candy Man", as they call him. The rest of the book is about the pursuit of clues and suspects.

During this period, within two months of being hired, Hazel has met & fallen for a detective on the child's death case. Will they or won't they? I didn't care.

Overall, it was a fine book but nothing great. While i liked the unusual employment of the main character, the fact she was in an unhappy marriage and lived in a bizarre apartment with sketchy neighbors dragged the book down.

There were twists and turns, a couple seemed totally unnecessary for the plot and almost unrelated to the MC. Others were well developed, so i have a mixed feeling about the overall effect. That written, though, i was rushing toward the end to figure out whodunit. Which, i reckon, makes it a decent enough story, eh?

Congrats on the prompt! Many years ago, I read The Transcriptionist.

I see the author had that job !

"Her first novel, Hello, Transcriber, was inspired by her experience as a police transcriber. "

Well done on the prompt, deb.

madrano wrote: " . . . Will they or won't they? I didn't care. ..."

Hah! Nicely done.

Thanks for the title, John. I'm intrigued by these occupations.

Thank you each for your compliments.

I forgot to mention that in her acknowledgments, she had lovely things to say about the Goodreads community. I see that this is the first in a series of books about the noir town of Black Harbor. I didn't know that when i read. I'm not sure i'd want to read further, as it is an ugly place, as she describes it. Not just the setting (apparently the sun doesn't shine there--lol), but the crime rate, the buildings and on.

And her writing was fine but not enough to pursue further. At least for me.

I completed reading Wandering Stars--Tommy Orange for prompt 5- Historical fiction. While this wasn't the book i thought it was, it fulfilled the prompt enough for me. I guess i confused Orange's first novel, There There for this one. Reading the first would have better fulfilled the prompt and also given me a basis to better understand parts of the book i read. So, for my money, this is a sequel and it would be Quite Beneficial to have read them in order.

That written, i came to the novel with an eye toward learning more about the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, which occurred in what is now Colorado (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Cr...). Primarily Cheyenne (Orange's tribe) & Arapaho were slaughtered by soldiers led by Civil War-frustrated colonel John Chivington. We are talking women, children and old men too old to fight, living under a US flag, under which was a white flag, being murdered in the early morning.

ANYway, there wasn't enough about that for me, but throughout the novel, as well as in his introduction, Orange focuses on the abuses by the US Government in their treatment of Natives. It is telling that he uses a quote from Teddy Roosevelt to open the chapter--"The so-called Chivington or Sand Creek Massacre, in spite of certain most objectionable details, was on the whole as righteous and beneficial a deed as ever took place on the frontier. —Theodore Roosevelt”

From there, readers are taken to a Florida imprisonment of one descendant. Where we learn a bit about Ledger Art, which began in Fla, as a way for tribal members to earn some money. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ledger_art). Some of these still exist and i've seen several in museums. Fascinating pieces, with colored drawings on the pages made for accounting, ledgers.

Next, we learn a bit about one character's time in Pennsylvania's Carlisle Industry School, created to get the "Indian" out of children. They were punished for speaking in their own language, as an example. My husband's grandparents met while students there. Our character at the school runs away several times.

Next comes the story of his descendants, who settled in Oakland, California, where the family pretty much remains throughout the remainder of the story. Suffering through the Gold Rush, the Depression, the taking of Alcatraz by Native Americans and addictions to alcohol &/or drugs, the story offers insights into how the family could trace some of their woes to their history in the hands of those who coveted the land.

For me, there was too much about the addictions, the subsequent hallucinations, imaginings and thoughts on what they experienced. I have a low tolerance for that sort of thing, generally. In this case, it was difficult for me to understand whether the author wanted us to see these as some sort of prophetic visions into their past or not. I suppose it doesn't matter in the end, the downward spiral is what is presented.

As a result of my hopes, i am reluctant to say whether i disliked the novel or not. It relates a story of where the result of tribal entanglement with the US Government ends. And it ends rather encouraging, in recovery from such depths.

I find that yet again, if i know some history of such topics, a novelization disappoints me. Those knowing little, but wanted to learn more, would probably find it more rewarding. "Mileage May Vary".

Congrats on finishing this one! My issue would be that I'm not great with multi-generational sagas.

Interesting point, John, which i will keep in mind as i read further. When i was much younger, my 20s & 30s, i liked reading them because it helped me feel more connected to the past on a personal level. If one character met Abe Lincoln, i somehow (&this isn't exactly what i mean to say) felt I met Lincoln. Weird, right? LOL

I forgot to include in my comments one of the sweetest things i've ever heard, which i want to share. About one young teenaged character, “Lony started making phone calls to strangers to tell them nice things, like You are loved and Today is your day and Don’t give up. A campaign, he called it, to do the opposite of what online trolls did being mean to everyone because no one would ever know they were doing it.”

I was absolutely charmed by this idea. In the past, i have randomly sent postcards to homes where the people have obviously taken care to enhance their lawns/gardens. While i have no idea how they are received, i feel better letting them know.

They probably felt stalked. lol

Well done on the prompt, deb.

Sorry the novel wasn't completely what you were looking for. However, it still sounds like it was an interesting read.

One of the theaters I am a subscriber to is The Roundabout Theater. They have a three theaters.

The one I was at last week is in Times Sq. What they do before each performance is acknowledge the land and the tribe that was there first.

OUR LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Roundabout Theatre Company acknowledges that our theatres and offices sit on the traditional land of the Lenape Nation People of Mannahatta, translated to, Island of Many Hills.

For many generations, these Native Americans lived, worked, and created art on this land for which they were the traditional caretakers.

Other Nations that have passed through and/or relocated to the area are Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora, Abenaki, Munsee, Mohegan, Montauk, Shinnecock, Mohican, and Wappinger Tribes.

We pay respect as we share our productions on their ancestral land, celebrate the many Native Peoples who are vibrantly thriving on and around Manhattan today, and commit to working toward establishing authentic relationships with these Indigenous communities.
https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/about/

What a thoughtful and informative way to start the evening. Thank you for sharing that, Alias.

I actually read this book for fun but realized it will fit prompt #25- A book published before you were born. A couple of weeks ago i learned about a new biography, The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells--Rebecca Rego Barry. I know Wells from my mother's American Literature textbook used in her high school days, because the author wrote parodies of many poems. Apparently "Purple Cow" poems were popular in that era and Wells wrote one based on Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Raven. As follows:

Edgar Allan Poe

Open then I flung a shutter,
And, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a Purple Cow which gayly tripped around my floor.
Not the least obeisance made she,
Not a moment stopped or stayed she,
But with mien of chorus lady perched herself above my door.
On a dusty bust of Dante perched and sat above my door.

And that Purple Cow unflitting
Still is sitting — still is sitting
On that dusty bust of Dante just above my chamber door,

And her horns have all the seeming
Of a demon's that is steaming,
And the arc-light o'er her streaming
Casts her shadow on the floor.
And my soul from out that pool of Purple shadow on the floor,
Shall be lifted Nevermore!

You probably had to be there...ANYWAY, this biography led me to learn Wells was better known as a mystery writer in the early 20th century, their golden days, if you will. The one i read for the prompt is The Luminous Face--Carolyn Wells, which features one of her detectives, Pennington Wise and his female sidekick 15 year old Zizi. This is not the first in the series, but i later learned the series is formulaic, in that most of the novel sets up the entrance of Wise & Zizi. So, for all but the last two chapters, readers learn how fumbling those involved in the death, as well as the police, are after weeks of investigation. Finally, a private detective is called in & the mystery is solved.

I will say i figured it out whodunit very early on but not exactly how. Still, the characters and era were a nice dip into the past. However, the key element had to be known, which few today would, and possibly few back then. (view spoiler)[People never wore a wrist watch when dining formally. (hide spoiler)] I don't know if this is still true today but it seemed a tiny point upon which to pin a murder. I guess that's what solves mysteries, though.

Regardless, i like these old mysteries, though some are tiresome. This one, while not really fresh, had some elements which kept me entertained. I'll read further in the series, i think, just to see if they truly are steady in not bringing in the detectives until so late in the book.

madrano wrote: I know Wells from my mother's American Literature textbook used in her high school days, because the author wrote parodies of many poems. Apparently "Purple Cow" poems were popular in that era and Wells wrote one based on Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Raven. As follows:"

:) Thank you for starting my day with a smile!

Do you still have your mom's textbook ? That is so cool.

I do, Alias. It's the book my Aunt Sis read to me one rainy afternoon when i was 10 or so. She recited poem after poem to me, thus igniting my love of poetry. *sigh*

There are also a couple of plays in it, as well as essays. Keepsake to pass on.

That's a wonderful memory for you, deb.

It is, Alias. Near & dear to my heart.

madrano wrote: "I actually read this book for fun but realized it will fit prompt #25- A book published before you were born. A couple of weeks ago i learned about a new biography, [book:The Vanishing of Carolyn W..."

Great that you managed a fun one here!

Thanks, John.

This month i listened to, then read Aednan: An Epic--Linnea Axelsson, read by Angela Dawe, translated by Saskia Vogel. This fulfilled prompts #42- audio book and 47- Translated into English.

It is a multigenerational novel-in-verse about two Sami families. The story begins in the 1910s, as families migrate their herd of reindeer to summer grounds, as tradition dictates. Due to a newly formed border between Sweden & Norway, this year the families must separate as they herd, a first for many people. The rest of the story unfolds all the way into the 2010s. This is a story of all indigenous people who find themselves under the rule of governments and nations which they had no voice in joining, nor in changing.

Readers learn of the difficult work the Sami people experienced accompanying reindeer over the land, migrating and birthing, raising, and tending care to the creatures. But it is traditional and their language, as well as appreciation of nature itself, is coupled with that existence. Replacing it with less strenuous work, new language, city life and adjusting to that change was not as detailed as i expected.

Changes are mentioned without much detail--damming rivers, introducing electricity, schools banning their native language and educating children away from the Sami ways to those of the new nation. Some of those natives find themselves a part of the new world, others apart from this way of living. The story includes protests from later generations, joining groups who realize what is being done to the land & reindeer. By doing so they also come to understand further what changes have been brought into their lives, ones they hadn't previously fully appreciated.

Kudos to Axelsson for blending these stories and characters together. First i listened to the work, feeling the reader did a nice job of separating the voices. However, because i was listening and the time frames jumped decades (back & forth, repeat), there were challenges. This is why i next requested the eBook version, which i also completed. As it turns out, i didn't miss as much as i thought.

This, however, has me realizing that i wasn't as moved by the story as some people have been. Possibly, this is because i do not understand the changes well enough. It's also possible the subtleties were too delicate for me. And, equally as likely, i am not drawn to following generations in novels. I have my favorites characters or lifestyles presented and the rest i find trying, or, at least, too uninteresting to remember.

Nice job on the prompts, deb.

Thanks, Alias. I see i could have included it in #48, as well, as i don't live there. But i shan't. :-) Unless i need to do so in December. ;-)

I'm only doing one book, one prompt.

For my current First Lie Wins read I am debating between
22- Debut novel - As it's the author first Adult novel. Prior she wrote YA.
Or
26- Published in 2024

One book, one prompt was my first notion, too. We'll see if i alter that. We will be heading "out", on the road by mid-month, which may mean i read less. It's hard to tell, so i decided to double dip now, just in case.

Meanwhile, i thought i read a book for 2024 but don't see it listed. I've read at least two, so i'm wondering what is up with that?! Duh moment.

Post #31.

Back in February when i read The Murder of My Aunt, while trying to link to the author, i learned it was the wrong author. At that point Alias pointed me to the Goodreads Librarian Group--https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/... --, where i could inform them of the problem.

Well, it took me three tries and almost 10 weeks but the author attribution is correct. So, in the long run, it's worth the effort. Now when you want to learn other titles by the author, Richard Hull, you will find the actual novels he wrote, not those by a Richard Hull, author of Jews and Judaism in African History, or Richard Hill. And on.

Thank you, Alias. It works!

madrano wrote: "Post #31.

Back in February when i read The Murder of My Aunt, while trying to link to the author, i learned it was the wrong author. At that point Alias pointed me to the Goodreads ..."

:) Glad to hear it worked.

I believe they are all volunteers, so they are doing the best they can.

That was my understanding, too. And i agree.

This is the perfect book to complete prompt #26- Published in 2024. It is about living today...with death.

Dead in Long Beach, California--Venita Blackburn.

This debut novel sounded breezy but was not at all. While it is on the slim side (under 300 pages), there was plenty of commentary on life today to keep the reader's mind spinning, making the process longer. Additionally, from the GoodReads reviews, i see i was not alone in sometimes feeling confused as to what was happening.

Coral is the author of a semi-popular dystopian graphic novel "Wildfire". The narrators of this graphic book--a first-person plural omniscient entity--apparently is the narrator of the entire book i just read. I think. lol. I use "are" & "is" as my verbs because i'm not sure if it was one voice or two. Even reviewer's opinions differ.

The book begins with Coral finding her brother's dead body, ostensibly by his own hand, although he left no suicide note. He is her sole sibling and both parents are dead. While she has a niece, his daughter, Coral suddenly feels isolated.

What follows are 8 chapters, one for each day, in which Coral is tries to cope with this loss, but not telling a soul about his death. Officials know, of course, and have the body. However, she has told no one--not his daughter, extended family, nor his few friends. Instead, using his cell phone, she kinda pretends to be him. This is her way of reconciling what's happened, her grief.

As he had a small social media presence, she begins creating one. Additionally, she replies to his daughter & new girlfriend, as him, using his phone. Really strange, right? But wait, this isn't the strange part of the novel.

The above mentioned narrator(s) explains to readers what is happening and why, possibly, Coral behaves/reacts this way. The manner in which the narrator does this is by grouping some behaviors under oddly-named groups, such as "The Clinic for Telling Lies to Avoid Pending Death”, "In the Clinic for Dying While Willfully Participating in a Poorly Thought-Out Cultural Trend and Becoming a Martyr for Revolution”, and others.

At the end of each day, there is an excerpt from "Wildfire", the above-mentioned graphic novel Coral created. This does NOT help readers at all, imo. Likely i missed something. My e-reader opted to reduce the font size for these passages, so my eyes were a bit teary as i read. Therefore, it's possible i missed something. I didn't care.

I'm going to go along with favorable comments, claiming this is an innovative storytelling for this quarter of this century. There are relevant explorations of guilt (plenty), loss and vitality, often in the form of satire, which fit many of the circumstances in which Coral found herself. Life in this century is examined, made fun of, then accepted as part of what was needed at the time. Curious.

Was the confusion intentional on the author's part, meant to depict what someone experiences when facing such a devastating, unexpected loss? Probably, as one does feel disconnected with life & activities when faced with an unexpected death. We question much more than just the life of the deceased but also the lives we now live in this day & age.

This is not a book to be viewed as light reading, which is how i entered it. It made me work as a reader. Ultimately, i felt i understood it & felt rewarded.

madrano wrote: "This is the perfect book to complete prompt #26- Published in 2024. It is about living today...with death.

Dead in Long Beach, California--Venita Blackburn.

Thi..."

Good job on the prompt, deb.

That book certainly does sound different. Though I don't think I'm up for a book that's "A form-shifting and soul-crunching chronicle of grief and crisis".

LOL. After posting the above, i copied my notes onto my digital file. I must say i was surprised that i teared up as i read a couple of the quotes. So maybe more than i realized made connections for me. This outcome makes me more pleased with the book, to be honest. Perhaps i was just too keyed up to enjoy the outcome last night when i finished reading it.

madrano wrote: "LOL. After posting the above, i copied my notes onto my digital file. I must say i was surprised that i teared up as i read a couple of the quotes. So maybe more than i realized made connections fo..."

Yes. Some book you have to read slowly and reflectively. I'm glad you found it touched a cord with you. 💞

Thank you.

madrano wrote: "This is the perfect book to complete prompt #26- Published in 2024. It is about living today...with death.

Dead in Long Beach, California--Venita Blackburn.

Thi..."

Congrats on the prompt, which isn't necessarily as easy as it seems.

This one seems as though it might be a good idea, with execution flaws for a final product.

Thank you, John.

As it turns out, this is the second 2024 book i read this year but i put this for the prompt. The other, Wandering Stars, was much more straight-forward than this one, yet this one pleased me more. Challenging though it was.

After reading The American Indian Craft Book--Marz Minor and Nono Minor since January, i finally completed it today, for Prompt #32- Self help or creative or How to. Purchased to find crafts and games for my daughter's Girl Scout troop, i knew i wanted to read the entire book but only now have made the time.

The book begins with a sort of history of tribes in the Americas but without much detail. In fact, the book doesn't cover as many alternative options as i've seen elsewhere. Nonetheless, it was a solid start, making clear people have been here a very long time, long before the Spaniards or British arrived. Frankly, i was surprised to see this section, as i presumed, they would just start in on the items and how-to, leaving a wider history behind. I'm glad they did this.

Other areas covered were clothing & adornments, food (including bowls & serving), ceremonies, home & home arts, other arts and symbolism, tool, music (dance, song & instruments), games & sports, stories, language, including sign & Winter Counts. For most of them, the authors shared the differences between tribes of various parts of the US. For instance, the clothing and headdress for the Northwestern nations were quite different from desert dwellers, so both were described, with instructions given for sewing both. Indeed, almost every item mentioned had at least 5 different nation's ways of modeling & decoration.

Interestingly, to me, at least, was the fact they also shared about items from the Woodland Ancient Indians, as they called them. I'm guessing they used archeological finds to explain what was given. It added a good component, imo.

I made it a point to read the how-to instructions for items, as i wanted to make sure they were clear. Most of the instructions were written with pencil-like drawings, which seemed incomplete. In fact, they were not, working extremely well with the prose. I was particularly drawn to the art work illustrations, usually designs to decorate various items, such as skins, shields, spears, and clothing. Examples were given for a few different tribes but far from all, of course, as there are hundreds of nations.

As a craft book, i felt this was a fine book. None of the photos were in color, which tamed the presentation, because black & white didn't do the decorations justice. However, i appreciated the time & effort taken. The concluding chapters included descriptions of some sign languages (i'd guess 150+), picture writing and phrases from several languages, balanced, from tribes across the US.

I'm tickled to have completed reading this book, as much for a completed prompt, as for the variety of items and crafts addressed.

Well done on the prompt, Deb.

Have you mentioned to you daughter that you read it? It's great that you still have the book.

madrano wrote: "After reading The American Indian Craft Book--Marz Minor and Nono Minor since January, i finally completed it today, for Prompt #32- Self help or cre..."

Wow! What an interesting choice for this prompt!

Alias Reader wrote: "Well done on the prompt, Deb.

Have you mentioned to you daughter that you read it? It's great that you still have the book."

Yes, Alias, i did. She remembered the games we played from the book. The best was about tossing small Scout-painted rocks into the air from a basket, then seeing how many you could catch before they reached the floor. I suspect it was the painting they all remembered better.

Some of the games described were said to be for women only. And most were betting games, up to & including pony betting. What a prize!

John, i admit that i read it because i owned it. This isn't something i generally would have selected for the challenge. On the other hand, i also wanted to include some longer-termed reading selections. This fit that bill.

Thank you for the comments on this book.