Book Nook Cafe discussion

The blurbs sometimes do get carried away in their zeal to promote the book.

Alias Reader wrote: "The blurbs sometimes do get carried away in their zeal to promote the book."

Isn't that the truth? More about this in another post, probably over the weekend. I felt pretty disappointed by one recently.

Completed prompt #12- romance, relationships or love. F/NF Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers--Jesse Q. Sutanto.

In a way, i hesitate to put this under romance but since the group of people Vera Wong collects to resolve the mystery had good relationships, i did so. There were, i want to note, two "love" matches involved, as well.

A stranger breaks into Vera Wong's Tea Shop one night & dies just beyond the door. Wong, whose shop is floundering with only one regular customer, decides the dead man was murdered from the beginning, although the police believe it was natural causes. The next day she begins investigating, when a new customer arrives in her business but ends up asking questions about the deceased.

So (& who wouldn't, right?), Vera pursues that person as the killer. And so it goes, one suspect after another. Later, the autopsy reveals that he was poisoned by an allergen he was known to have--feathers!

Meanwhile, Wong meets the widow, his brother, as well as a couple of people the deceased "done wrong" because, as it turns out, the dead man was a scoundrel. Wong doesn't hesitate to call them suspects, even to their face. It's part of her strategy, or so she claims.

This is an amusing mystery novel. Wong cooks up a storm of apparently delicious Chinese dishes, which she delivers to her suspects, in order to pry clues from them. These efforts end up creating a sort of family among the group. And Vera solves the crime.

Best advice Wong offers, "People always say that your wedding day is the happiest day of your life, but honestly, people should try solving murders more often.” LOL!

I've changed books for prompt #9- Medical or character related to topic F/NF. My initial book was more a pandemic mystery, from which i learned much about diseases, but decided i got more about MesoAmericans than medicine. So, my new #9 is A Fatal Inheritance: How a Family Misfortune Revealed a Deadly Medical Mystery--Lawrence Ingrassia.

This was a fascinating topic, a mixture of learning about cancer and family history, as well as the processes to recognize the connection of the two with certain families. specifically, what is now known as Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. Primary facts about LFS is that family members seem to get cancer early in life, often in childhood but up to the age of 30. Cancer haunts those families, such as the author's, who lost his mother before he was 12, as well as his three siblings. Of those three, only one made it to his 40s, dying two decades later. A victory, if you will.

Rather than fumble through my own clumsy way to present the material, i advise those interested to read Barbara's excellent review, here--https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... Thank you, Barbara, for your concise presentation.

What i will do in my comments is share other things, small ones, which helped the book stand out. At one point Ingrassia tells us that this problem isn't restricted to the US (where most of the research occurs). It turns out that Brazil has the highest rate known, at this point. As many as 1 in every 375 people in southern and southeastern Brazil carry the mutation, compared with an estimated 1 in 7,000 in the United States! And, incredibly, that can all be traced to early Portuguese settlers to the region. The theory is that likely it originated with a merchant who traveled along a trade route in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries." What isn't shared is whether this means that there is a large population in Portugal with the similar high numbers. It seems an obvious leap but the author doesn't take it.

Another consequence of naming the exact gene mutation which these families share, is the dilemma of whether or not one wants to be tested in order to find their status. Do you want to know if you could pass it on to your children? Will insurers use the results against you? And on.

Finally, i'll mention that the book covers some of the research quite carefully, to tell the story of the discovery but also about all cancers. It ends with glimpses at other research toward further discoveries and solutions. It is encouraging and varied.

madrano wrote: "Completed prompt #12- romance, relationships or love. F/NF Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers--Jesse Q. Sutanto.

In a way, i hesitate to put this under ..."

Nice review, deb. Well done on the prompt.

madrano wrote: "I've changed books for prompt #9- Medical or character related to topic F/NF. My initial book was more a pandemic mystery, from which i learned much about diseases, but decided i got more about Mes..."

This sounds like an fascinating read. I recall Barbara's recent excellent review of it.

Would you compare this to say The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks book? I thought that book was excellent and I learned a lot.

I hesitate to read A Fatal Inheritance: How a Family Misfortune Revealed a Deadly Medical Mystery. Depending on how it's written it can be quite depressing. However, if the focus is more on the science then I would be interested. Which side do you think it falls on?

Thanks !

Alias Reader wrote: "Would you compare this to say The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks book? I thought that book was excellent and I learned a lot...."

Interesting question. I liked the Rebecca Skloot book better but this could be because i was more intrigued with the science of those cells. I cannot say that i was depressed as i read this but i did tear up twice.

Much of the science was new to me, which helped. Now that you've asked, i realize i liked the science chapters more than the persona. This may be because the death stories were so hard to read, we are talking a number of children's deaths. Still, i felt the science chapters had me wanting to race to the next chapter.

I don't think this helps you much. The author didn't dwell on the deaths or too much on the devastation those deaths left, if that helps. (Of course, this is my opinion, other folks might disagree, depending on their own experiences, too.)

The Lacks book called to me more, because i felt there was more life to Skloot's writing. Ingrassia is a journalist and it felt that way, even when writing about deaths in his own family. I hope this helps, Alias.

I completed prompt #28- book that takes place in WWI, WWII, or other war F/NF--, by reading Lost in Shangri-la: Escape from a Hidden World, A True Story--Mitchell Zuckoff.

The story takes place after WWII in Europe has been ended but the Pacific, where this occurred, is ongoing. Soldiers and Women's Army Corps (WAC) stationed in New Guinea were preparing to join the fight for the Philippines. On "off days" some members were allowed to fly planes over the interior of the island, where people living the way those in the Stone Age had been seen.

As it was in a valley, no one had visited the area or talked to the inhabitants. All information had been limited to fly overs, and exaggeration. So, the rumor was that they were cannibals, who fought often, while practically naked. There appeared to be huts, and separate planting mounds. That's it, but it intrigued those desiring a change of pace.

And so, a group was invited to join the leisure flight, with WAC members featured prominently. Apparently, the primary pilot, and boss of many, allowed a less experience pilot to fly into the area, while the leader chatted with the passengers. This part of the island was often fogged in and definitely mountainous, with fog often veiling the tall landscape. They crashed.

There were four initial survivors but one died soon after. Of the three remaining, one, lieutenant John McCollom, lost his twin brother in the crash. WAC corporal Margaret Hastings and sergeant Kenneth Decker were the other two. Decker was quite wounded, while Hastings had burns which were her worst problem. It was the fact that the beautiful Hastings was one of the survivors which caught the attention of the world. All eyes were on the recovery, which took over a month.

First they moved away from the wreck, then coped as they could in what turned into a wet night. After several days of such weather, with planes attempting to locate them, they were finally sited. The flight crew dropped a walkie-talkie (a portable FM radio that could be used to transmit and receive messages… rugged, waterproof thirty-five-pound two-way radio the size of a small suitcase) to them. Other supplies were off the mark, but one was retrievable that night.

However, by that point, the natives also appeared. They later learned that the tribes believed the three to be a part of their own mythology, which would lead to a change in their world. As a result, they didn't offer them much of anything for several days, only presented themselves & watched the survivors.

Soon, two paramedics parachuted in, and were gratefully received, as two survivors already had wounds where gangrene was advancing. No planes could land in the valley, so numerous options were explored & rejected. Helicopters hadn't enough room, as the "walls" were too close; there was no place to make a runway; hiking in could lead them into a nest of Japanese soldiers, known to be taking sniper shots. Ultimately, "Waco gliders" were employed, with staffing by a Philippine-American group of soldiers, who had been training to help fight in their home island.

This well-written book was full of introductory material, details about most of the machinery options, individuals history and on, just what you want & expect from a solid non-fiction. Included was much about what is now known about the "Dani" people, who were never hostile but reached out to the survivors in many ways.

And, of course, Zuckoff wrote the after-story, as well,sharing what happened to the survivors, the rescuers, and many others, just as he should have done. In all, i found it a rewarding story. I intend to read another of his WWII rescue stories someday, too--Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II. Yes, a cold weather story, not those awful tropics! ;-)

madrano wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: "Would you compare this to say The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks book? I thought that book was excellent and I learned a lot...."

Interesting question. I liked the [author:R..."

Thank you for the quick reply, deb.

madrano wrote: "I completed prompt #28- book that takes place in WWI, WWII, or other war F/NF--, by reading Lost in Shangri-la: Escape from a Hidden World, A True Story--[author:Mitchell Zuckoff|32..."

What a fascinating story ! I've never heard about this. I'm adding it to my TBR. Thanks for the title and wonderful review.

Good job on the prompt, deb !

Alias, i'm with you about not having heard about this previously. In the intro, the Zuckoff tells readers it was new to him, too. He found it while researching old newspapers, as i recall.

It's neat to read newspapers from the '30s and '40s, as there are so many lost-to-us history. Many is the time i've wondered about short items i've seen in some of them--missing father, found oddity and such. Not to mention the ads! lol

For prompt #35- about a disability or character has a disability F/NF, i selected a novel, Greek Lessons--Han Kang. Previously i'd read her The Vegetarian, which i liked. This one seems less direct, to me, possibly more artistic. I think, although i hesitate to say so.

There are two characters, both Korean, who are never named. The man's story is told in the first person, while the female's is in the third-person. As i came to understand, herchapters/story is told in the 3rd person because she is overwhelmed & somewhat broken.

His parents moved to Germany for his formative years, but upon learning he was slowly going blind (as his father had), he decided to return to Korea, and will teach Ancient Greek to students. She has lost her ability to speak, known as "aphonia"*, a term i didn't previously know. This is actually her second bout with this apparently psychological problem. The first time was when she was a teenager. What resolved the issue was taking French classes, so unlike previous languages/words she knew.

This is why she is in the Ancient Greek class taught by the man. She is moved to these ends because her mother has recently died and she has just lost custody of her young son to her ex-husband, primarily because she is unable to speak.

These are the basics, which are intriguing enough. The stories each share about their lives and the losses they feel but seem to have no control tells the rest. I read this while on vacation, so i can no longer recall if any Proper Names were used. It seems not, which is why i was confused early on, i thought the man was remembering losing a love & that she was the one. She wasn't. And on.

The loss of vision haunts the man, as he's watched his father go through this but never thought to ask him about what he actually saw & how slow the progress was. Therefore, he varies times of day he takes long walks. Sometimes, it's to get a sense of where he is, as he's just moved back; other times, he wants to walk in the woods, where he doesn't feel he'll be able to walk, once fully blind.

Curiously, the author has the man state, "“It’s a common belief that blind or partially sighted people will pick up on sounds first and foremost, but that isn’t the case with me. The first thing I perceive is time. I sense it as a slow, cruel current of enormous mass passing constantly through my body to gradually overcome me.” Frankly, this makes such sense to me!

We learn the woman has long had a fascination for words and letters. The author puts it this way, "Language, by comparison, is an infinitely more physical way to touch. It moves lungs and throat and tongue and lips, it vibrates the air as it wings its way to the listener."

It is this, in fact, which has motivated her life, and is why, when the first aphonia struck, all sorts of methods were tried--physical and mental, to no avail. She felt the loss deeply, imagined speaking but just couldn't utter a sound.

There are other past losses which haunt both characters. Their story of actually interacting is only toward the end. He is aware she hasn't spoken but didn't know her issue and she (as well as his other students) had no idea he was going blind.

Periodically a few lines of poetry are shared with readers, which the male apparently wrote. By the end we are offered an entire poem, which really surprised me. Honestly, i missed the significance of this, as it's not mentioned that he is a writer, it may just be another way for him to communicate.

The story is different but appealing, in its fashion. There was plenty of description about how the two cope with their afflictions but it was their simple, daily lives which called to me most.


*Oddly enough, the next book i read, which i'll review over the weekend, also tells the story of a person with aphonia! Synchronicity at work!

madrano wrote: "I completed prompt #28- book that takes place in WWI, WWII, or other war F/NF--, by reading Lost in Shangri-la: Escape from a Hidden World, A True Story--[author:Mitchell Zuckoff|32..."

Sounds like something I would enjoy! Thanks for the review!

My pleasure, Julie.

madrano wrote: Alias, i'm with you about not having heard about this previously. In the intro, the Zuckoff tells readers it was new to him, too. He found it while researching old newspapers, as i recall.

It's neat to read newspapers from the '30s and '40s, as there are so many lost-to-us history. Many is the time i've wondered about short items i've seen in some of them--missing father, found oddity and such. Not to mention the ads! lol
.."

Yes ! Years ago when I was visiting my niece was at Vassar College, we checked out Vassar's wonderful library. They had a terrific collection of old newspapers and magazines. It was such a treat to peruse some of them.

LOL--a university was my first introduction to old newspapers and magazines, too. While i'd seen that my dad had a few old newspapers, i never looked at them. After that, i did and could linger, which was cool.

There's much to be said for visiting established universities with big libraries and this is a splendid example.

Really glad to see WACs get recognition!

Greek book on my TBR for possible inclusion in next year's challenge (as I have a disability title slotted for later) - thanks!

I appreciate your comments, John. What i liked about the WAC introduction in the book was that it was straight-forward, not glamorizing, reminding readers they faced the same living challenges as other soldiers.

That written, i am sure there are better books on them. It's just that i was pleased with his presentation in the book.

It's good to know i'm not alone in finding titles from this year's completed lists from other participants, to slot into the next year's list. Quite clever, as it also practically assures i'll read that TBR soon.

For prompt#13- science F/NF, i read A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters--Andrew H. Knoll. This book, though slim in numbers, was jammed with information. It was a good information, although, i suspect it could overwhelm those with little to no understanding of science.

Knoll uses scientific terms but also explains the meaning and, usually, the genesis of said words. Neatly divided into chapters that share the order scientists now belief our solar system, and planet, of course, was created, it also tells how one leads to another.

I learned enough to make me feel a bit more confident as we travel along highways which abut such remarkable mountains and scenery i am lost to words. It would not, imo, be a book to carry in the car to explain what you are seeing, however. Study this at home.

The final chapter was more about saving the environment. It seemed out of place, at first. But readers realize he's illustrating how we are undoing much of what it took nature thousands of years to create. Yet, he isn't afraid to say that there are disagreements about this.

Finally, when i went to write up my notes, i realized i had highlighted so much that it would take a couple of days before i could complete them. So, i stopped. :-)

Nice one! If it gave you that much insight, sounds like a valuable read.

I purchased the book when Amazon had it on sale for the Kindle.

I'm glad to hear that overall it is a good one.

Thank you both for the encouragement.

For prompt # 17- Spiritual or inspirational F/NF, i read The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels--Janet Martin Soskice. This is as close to an inspirational book as i'm likely to read, to be honest. It is more a book about religion and the search for old biblical writing, not to mention travel of the 1870s onward, across the deserts.

Agnes & Margaret Smith, twin Scottish sisters raised by their father alone, when their mother died weeks after their birth, were well educated for the time. Their father encouraged them, by promising that for each foreign language they learned, they would be taken on a visit to that country. As a result, they mastered French, Spanish, and Italian while still young. And relished the reward of traveling.

Their father died when they were 23, leaving them wealthy and with fond memories of traveling with him. So, they decided to travel down the Nile. Taking an older (by 12 years), single former teacher with them, the women's visit was informative, particularly about making their reservations and plans without the help of a man.

Upon return, they settled in London, where their circle of friends (they had very few) widened. They learned about biblical searches for early manuscripts, more languages, both married after the age of 40 and were widowed in fairly short order (their marriages did not overlap). Additionally, they learned from James Rendel Harris, a friend and biblical scholar, that St. Catherine's monastery in the Sinai would be an excellent place to look for original manuscripts of the Bible, which seemed to fascinate the two women. And so, after learning how to carry, use, and protect a camera with glass plates, they headed there....

And found one of the oldest manuscripts up to that date, palimpsests of the Syriac Gospels, the most important finding of the era. It demonstrated with near-certainty that, among other things, the last verses in Mark’s Gospel were not original, but added years later. By making friends with the Head of the Monastery, as well as the Archbishop, incidentally impressing both because they knew modern Greek, as well as Ancient, they were welcomed in many other previously closed-to-females religious libraries & monasteries, via letters of introduction.

Readers learn about the confusion & controversy, due to travel companions, who wrote studies and memoirs which appeared to minimize or neglect the contributions of the twins, despite the fact the men wouldn't have been there with the women's help. We learn about the Scottish & British churches and the part they played; the university system which denied women degrees; and more.

For me, the travel stories were remarkable. Generally speaking, once outside of Cairo, on each of their SIX trips to what we now call the Mideast, they slept and lived in their tents, even on the grounds of monasteries. Their search for providers (dahabeeah) of their caravan was informative, as were some of the details about the feeding, camel rides and on. Naturally, i loved this part.

However, it was the scholarship which led me to list this book under the spirituality prompt. Here are two fascinating examples as to why.

#1. After most of their travels were finished, as the sisters completed their biblical work, their friend Mr. Harris urged Agnes into an immense project editing the stories about Ahikar, a character in Aesop’s Fables and Tales from the Thousand and One Nights (Arabic): Kitab Alf Layla wa Laylas. It had recently been demonstrated that Ahikar made an appearance in the apocryphal biblical book of Tobit as Tobit’s nephew. It was a move beyond biblical literature for Agnes, but of biblical interest all the same. Apparently the story ofAhikar had been treasured by Israel’s scribes long before Book Of Tobit: An Apocryphal Work crowned Ahikar’s glory by turning him into a Jew. That a story from the Thousand and One Nights should have connections with our Bible, not as the offspring of a biblical book, but as an ancestor of it, was jaw dropping, to me.

#2. “In her lectionary Agnes discovered a variant reading of Mathew's gospel, verse 12:37 "...for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Agnes’s lectionary had something rather different. In it Jesus says that men will at the day of judgement be called to give account of every good word which, for whatever reason, they did not speak.” That's rather revolutionary and something i liked considering.

The author's summation explains much. “Agnes and Margaret were remarkable in their ability to grow intellectually with the material that was coming before them. Although the Bible was their first best love, they also threw themselves into editing lectionaries, commentaries, lives of martyrs and folk-tales, bringing back to life lost texts from the early days of Christianity.”

madrano wrote: "For prompt # 17- Spiritual or inspirational F/NF, i read The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels--Janet Martin Soskice. This is a..."

Wow! I find their story inspirational in a "follow your passion, no matter the difficulty or obstacles" sense.

madrano wrote:

"#2. “In her lectionary Agnes discovered a variant reading of Mathew's gospel, verse 12:37 "...for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Agnes’s lectionary had something rather different. In it Jesus says that men will at the day of judgement be called to give account of every good word which, for whatever reason, they did not speak.” That's rather revolutionary and something i liked considering.."

I think this absolutely fits the prompt. When I write up the prompts I try to be as inclusive and vague so to cover more ground.

The difference in the Jesus quote is very interesting. Much to ponder there.

I enjoyed your review, deb. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this book.

John wrote: "Wow! I find their story inspirational in a "follow your passion, no matter the difficulty or obstacles" sense...."

I agree, John. The book was fairly easy to read,too, because the women were so interested in their subject, as was the author.

Alias Reader wrote: "I think this absolutely fits the prompt. When I write up the prompts I try to be as inclusive and vague so to cover more ground...."

Thanks, Alias. As soon as i saw the title, i knew i was going to read it. I'm glad others think it fit in. Only later did i realize that, in addition to the travel prompt, this would also have filled #19, book with a relationship in the title.

For prompt #6--Humorous story, or comedian wrote it, or light hearted fun read, i read The Lemon--S.E. Boyd, a group of three writers who collaborated to create this novel. I suspect they had more fun, real laughs, writing than this reader did reading it.

Which isn't to say it didn't do what i expected it to do, only that i smiled but didn't really laugh, which i expected. (That written, there were two descriptions i really liked.) ANYway, this book when it was first out, was published close to the death of Anthony Bourdain, and i believe the dead character was intended to be him. I'm not familiar with Bourdain's work, so can only guess at how accurate the depiction of him (via the view of others) is. It was fairly complementary, as far as he goes.

The story is told from the vantage of six characters, his publicist/agent, two chefs, a sort of blogger, a cafe owner and an Irish would-be singer, in alternating chapters. It's a world i don't often enter, so i'm okay with it. And there are funny bits, plenty of which are snarky, making fun of how "the other half" lives. Maybe i should write how "the pretentious live"? It's a world i do not know & have never considered entering.

But there are universal truths, too. Such as the "too precious" items for sale to certain consumers, which reminded me of visiting Williamsburg & similar sites that offer "Ye Olde Candles" and such. Over the top.

If you like visiting that world and like to read the snarky comments about the way we live today, this is a fine book. Sadly, i am following it up by reading Me and Earl and the Dying Girl--Jesse Andrews, for my banned book prompt. It has real belly laughs, making The Lemon less appealing to me. Of course, this may be because i'm still the awkward high schooler at heart.

Nicely done on the prompt, Deb.

Deb wrote: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl--Jesse Andrews, for my banned book prompt. It has real belly laughs,

I never would have guessed that title had belly laughs. :)

From the reviews overall, I can see why it provided mixed feelings. I kept thinking it was written by S.E. Hinton, which would have been quite something!

LOL, John, it would have been.

Actually, your comment reminds me that i was surprised to learn her The Outsiders was made into a Broadway musical, parts of which won Tony Awards recently. Ah, our imaginative planet!

Review soon to follow, as i finished it last night. I was inter-reading it with The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia--Paul Theroux, which i'm liking, btw. And i thank you, John, for the idea to read this for my travel prompt. ANYway, as expected the lightweight balanced the railway journeys.

For prompt 14-travel F/NF, i read The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia--Paul Theroux. John mentioned the book this year as one he really liked. As i am a fan of traveling by rail, i decided to take a leap.

Theroux was a professor of literature & published novelist when he set about his 4-month long speaking engagement through Asia. Ok, to be fair, he planned the book and used these opportunities to travel that part of the world. The book was published in '75, meaning the travel occurred prior to that, but recent enough that US soldiers had recently left Vietnam but the North had not yet officially won the war.

Obviously this means changes have been wrought since then & any plans to follow the same route would be vastly different. But, of course, this is not the point of this sort of travel book. It's the adventure and experiences the author had while traveling, mostly by train through much of Asia.

In describing rail cars, depots, landscape and such, one got a sense of the comforts, contrasts and opportunities available to travelers then...and now, in many ways. The cars will be updated, as will the train stations but the landscape, while different, depending on the time you visit, will basically remain the same.

What will be different are the people you meet. As always, i had quibbles about such conversations. After learning that even his sons doubted John Steinbeck talked much with people as he reported in Travels with Charley: In Search of America, i am leery in believing such exchanges. Still, i found little objectionable in Theroux's story telling and could believe what he shared. I'd like to think he is relating a sense of the personalities he met, their national characteristics, as he thought them. Not that this makes me feel better.

His outlook seemed to change dramatically during his time in Japan. He described a live sex program he witnessed, apparently not knowing that it would be such. I could have lived without the repugnant recap of the various acts. To be fair, he did only recounted what he saw, and not in crass terms. However, later, he wrote in detail, describing an old (150 years) scroll shown to a third or fourth party. Readers received more details of these than of any shrine, museum or even train station visited. That disappointed me.

This seemed to be the turning spot in his disposition. Previously, if not suffering fools gladly, he tried to avoid them. In Japan and Russia, he seemed to embrace facing off against them. It showed his own limits, as well as an admission of increased alcoholic consumption. It had been heavy prior to that but in Russia, he seems to have avoided sobriety until the end of those rail rides.

Don't get me wrong, i have no problem reading any of the above. I suppose i just wanted to warn anyone who is interested in reading it. And i really don't get the point of the scroll, since he never saw it.

And i appreciated the portrayal of the land as a travel companion, if you will. His vocabulary impressed me and sometimes he described travel moments i full remember from my own journeys. The book has good descriptions of a fine bit of travel. Glad i read it.

For prompt #21- Banned book or Challenged book, i read the YA novel Me and Earl and the Dying Girl--Jesse Andrews. And liked it. I laughed myself silly, then sobbed for pages.

Sometimes i realize i haven't had a really good laugh in a long time. Often, it's tv programs that show me but sometimes, as with this book, it's writing. Because the MC is a teenage male, some of the humor is gross but, hey!, i am gross at times, too. Other times it's just the clever way the character shares his thoughts of how he feels he just behaved. For instance, of himself he declares, "I am the Thomas Edison of conversational stupidity.” Love that.

So, whether the novel is as funny as i believed it was or whether i just needed the laughter, the book worked for me. His buddy Earl Jackson is an African American kid, living in an unfortunate home. He loves his family but from what MC Greg tells us, it's a pretty bad place to live. And his brothers are rough with Greg, which surprised me.

Still, i felt Andrews truly portrayed good kids, who liked making movies with their cameras, even when they knew they stunk. Typical stuff, in many ways--video games, homework, movie watching.

They learn a school mate Rachel has leukemia, Her mother is close friends with Greg's, who asks her son to be nice to the girl. First alone, then with Earl, they visit her and remember to keep her in mind when they go places. It was sweet. Nothing is overdone--they don't visit daily, they don't err in overstating things, they are just being friends with her.

I liked that. The way the book ended was perfect, imo. It all felt rather honest to me. Well, the part with the friends, that is. There were some lapses in depicted the adults but absolutely nothing awful.

Could i see why some parents want to ban the book? Yes, but nothing i don't think a high schooler in today's world doesn't know. The language wasn't offensive but sex is mentioned--good grief, they are teenagers! I think parents who would ban this book really miss out on giving students a good opportunity to explore how they feel when very bad things happen. And how they can survive. Pity.

I listened to Railway Bazaar as an audiobook, which may have added to my enthusiasm. My memory is that it was before Theroux became a true curmudgeon, so his Japan and Russia encounters may have been a foreshadow of some of his later work. That having been said, I stand by my recommendation of this book's "sequel" Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, where I recall Theroux meeting interesting people in less well-traveled locations.

Unless the sexual content is quite graphic, I can't see restricting a book with such an important message?

madrano wrote: "For prompt 14-travel F/NF, i read The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia--Paul Theroux. John mentioned the book this year as one he really liked. As i am a fan o..."

Wonderful review, deb. This book is one of my friends favorite. I think she has read most of his books.

Well done on the prompt !

John wrote: "Unless the sexual content is quite graphic, I can't see restricting a book with such an important message?..."

Thanks, John. I have that recommendation on my TBR, too.

Re. your question. I didn't mean to suggest that. Instead, i was surprised at how much he shared, given he didn't share as much about other places & things visited. Japan was the only place where he went into so much detail about a place he visited. I was amused that this was his (accidental) choice, forsaking noh and kabuki theaters. I was intrigued by his observations of the audience, which is something he seemed to do elsewhere, too.

And then there was recounting of events, & even an item, which he didn't see, both also sexually graphic. One was about a 150 year old scroll and the other was about another heavy-sexual theater experience, which another American told him about. Not first hand, which i would expect.

And only about Japan, which was curious, as well. Please don't get me wrong, i was fascinated by the idea that such places existed in Japan at that time. Also, that apparently middle class couples attended. From this century, i would have taken it in all in stride. It's not something i would associate with what little i know about the Japanese culture. The scroll, sure, i've seen sexual depiction older than that in Italy, so that was no surprise.

I feel i've overemphasized the matter now. The book was full of information i savored, as well as landscape descriptions clear enough that i could feel the heat soothe my skin and the humidity that dampened my fingers.

One major problem i had with my e-book is that there were no maps. I found several, specific to his travel in the book, i just wished it was part of the book. Nor were there any photos, although he tells us he was taking many as he went along. Bummer.

Alias Reader wrote: "Wonderful review, deb. This book is one of my friends favorite. I think she has read most of his books...."

Neat, Alias. As i mentioned, this was my first. I can see myself reading the one John mentioned and The Old Patagonian Express someday. I so like train travel!

John wrote: "I listened to Railway Bazaar as an audiobook, which may have added to my enthusiasm. My memory is that it was before Theroux became a true curmudgeon, so his Japan and Russia encounters may have be..."

**** FYI

There is a short article in the NY Times on Paul Theroux today.

Paul Theroux on Necessary Solitude, Risks and the Joy of Writing
After 60 years and almost as many books, the novelist and travel writer, 83, will stop when he falls out of his chair.

The Unstoppables is a series about people whose ambition is undimmed by time. Below, Paul Theroux explains, in his own words, what continues to motivate him.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/03/st...

Burma Sahib by Paul Theroux

Thanks, Alias. The Times won't share with me any longer unless i pay. Fair enough, i usually find the articles elsewhere, in this case a condensed edition via artdaily.

I suspect advice to writers is as varied as the writers themselves. He's fortunate to have found his stride early on. The idea of finding what you love/want isn't new, particularly with the arts.

That written, i am a loner. lol

I'm quite behind in posting my completed prompts. Part of the reason is because it takes too long to put my notes into my own storage. I'm probably doing something wrong, beginning with over-note-taking. ANYway, i'll begin with the following.

3- Health, fitness or diet. Keep It Moving: Lessons for the Rest of Your Life--Twyla Tharp. The bulk of the fitness and health are about mental outlooks, really. However, Tharp, a well-known choreographer, offered a number of exercises to help one achieve movement desired, to get moving toward further fitness goals.

Having been in a physical funk since my sciatica attack in February, i allowed myself to stop my routine. Reading this book has served as a motivation toward resumption. Her intent was to boost the confidence of those who are older and may have left physical fitness programs behind. Notes for movement include something so fundamental as deep breathing, which stirs our lungs.

But she really begins with encouraging readers to not let the past dictate where they go next. Don't let some major embarrassment continue to alter your final years--live the best you can, instead. It sounds small, in many ways, but i've known two people who seem to continue to hamper their own well being because something went dramatically wrong for them earlier in their lives. This is just one point she makes.

Between these ideas, are basic but different moves, illustrating stretches and "jumps". Then the chapters are peppered with illustrations of mostly well-known people whose "late stage" of life was as vital, if not more so, than their earlier years. Included are Henri Matisse, Donald O'Connor and Maurice Sendak.

Now when i awaken each morning, i have a squirming exercise to get the body parts started, rather than rushing to the bathroom. Again, before i leave the bed, i have visualized part of my day, which also helps encourage me to get out of the house at least once per day.

Alias Reader read the book & didn't find it as useful as i did. I suspect many people would find it disappointing. For me, the time was ripe.

I recall liking Tharp's memoir several years. Perhaps, just my $.02 that Madrano appreciates the (well expressed) message, while Alias didn't feel the actual suggestions themselves did much for her personal situation?

Next on my read but not reported list is prompt #49- Short story collection Or Essay collection. I chose a collection of essays about the criminal justice system, written by a member of the judiciary, Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free: And Other Paradoxes of Our Broken Legal System--Jed S. Rakoff.

The book was crammed with new-to-me information about our judicial system, beginning with those in the title. The biggest thing i learned was that far fewer criminal cases go to trial today than previously. Much of this is because prosecutors call the shots. I was surprised to learn that Rakoff did not find this necessarily a good thing. Indeed, he indicated that many arrestees plead guilty because the prosecutors have a long list of crimes they are allowed to charge criminals with, helping to pressure plea bargaining.

Of course, i've watched enough tv programs to have the gist of this, but i didn't realize how prevalent it is. It is not surprising then, that prison populations continue to grow, primarily among those whose monetary situations mean they must rely on public defenders. One of the author's points throughout the book are the numbers of African American prisoners & how those numbers have increased. "​If current rates hold, one-third of all Black men will be imprisoned at some point in their lifetimes. Another approximately 440,000, or 20 percent, of the 2.2 million U.S. prisoners are young Hispanic males.”

Ultimately, while the book was almost too informative (lol), i just took note of the chapters. The above info is from the first two. The following are the rest of the slim book:

3. Why Eyewitness Testimony is so Often Wrong.
Now that DNA is being examined more often (although, sadly, mostly by special projects), the public is learning how unreliable eyewitnesses are.

4. Will the Death Penalty Ever Die?
This practice might well slow down, given the number of cases overturned, due to the above mentioned DNA samples, but will probably never end.

5. The Failures, and Future, of Forensic Science
Even fingerprints are not as reliable as we might think. This is primarily because humans are the ones who must interpret them and humans are fallible.

6. Brain Science and the Law—Uncomfortable Bedfellows
I was unaware that courts were considering brain scans as an effective tool for defending the accused. We are far from it now, but the judge won't be surprised if the technology will be used to help illustrate how bred into the brain some reactions are.

7. Why High-Level Executives are Exempt From Prosecution
Here he covers why so many executives from the 80s until today are not personally charged with crimes. Sometimes it's to protect the company & how much it is needed in communities. Also, many execs might not be aware how deep the corruption is within their industry.

8. Justice Deferred is Justice Denied
Here he mostly talks about deferring company prosecutions because a business agrees to terms to "straighten out" the corporate problems. He gave an example of a company continuing to commit crimes after five such deferments and still not charged!

9. The Shrinkage of Legal Oversight
The next three chapters cover the lack of judicial oversight allowed now that the War on Terror has begun (since 2001). Most of these are due to the military claiming the accused terrorists should be prosecuted in military courts.

10. The War on Terror’s War on Law
A further look into the issue, including Congressional collusion (my words, not his).

11. The Supreme Court’s Undue Subservience to the Executive Branch
This should be pretty obvious since 2017 but he illustrates how it's really been going on a long time, citing FDR's war records & the court. And legislature.

12. Don’t Count on the Courts
They can only go so far, as long as citizens vote in legislators who are unwilling to vote against how they or their party believes the nation should go. Not the reality of the numbers but their perception, fed by special interests, for instance.

13. You Won’t Get Your Day in Court
The idea is sound and the judges are willing but, odds are, you either cannot afford to go to court or the laws are fashioned so that there is small effect offered in going there.

For promt #43 - Topic or a character has one of the 7 deadly sins or more! (pride, greed, envy, gluttony, sloth, wrath and lust) F/NF, i was prepared to read Laziness Does Not Exist--Devon Price. However, she began with detailing the overly busy lives of herself & friends. The entire idea seemed to be wrong-headed for me, so i mentioned it to my visiting daughter. She told me about the novel she'd just read about sloth. I was all in!

43 - Topic or a character has one of the 7 deadly sins or more! (pride, greed, envy, gluttony, sloth, wrath and lust) F/NF--My Year of Rest and Relaxation--Ottessa Moshfegh. In this story a fairly recently college graduate, who has just been fired, decides to spend the next year sleeping. One of the reasons she was fired was because she slept for an hour each day in a nook under a staircase at work. This, after sleeping about 14 hours a night. Clearly, she had a head start.

Seriously, this was pretty much the beginning. She found a piss-poor psychiatrist who plied her with drugs because the Unnamed Narrator (UN, i'm dubbing her) lied about the fact she could not sleep. What reader doesn't want to know why UN wants to sleep her year away? Slowly, we learn about her college years and her earlier years with her parents but not really why this effected her as it did.

This beautiful, wealthy young woman, recently orphaned, isn't overwhelmed by work. This is part of why i couldn't put the book down, i needed answers. In case others want to read it, i put the next part in "spoiler" category. (view spoiler)[She spends 4 months locked in her apartment, with an artist being the only one with the key. She sleeps 3 days in a row (Infermiterol-aided), awakens to a pizza he delivered days ago, etc. (hide spoiler)].

The author's clever in her story but baffling, too. Interesting world she creates. I want to read more from her.

I worked in the court system many years ago. Yes, most cases plead, but in my experience those defendants were guilty.

John wrote: "I recall liking Tharp's memoir several years. Perhaps, just my $.02 that Madrano appreciates the (well expressed) message, while Alias didn't feel the actual suggestions themselves did much for her..."

I think John is correct.

I'm glad that the book was motivating for you, deb. That really is all that counts. At different times of our lives a book will speak to us and at other times not. That's cool.

I read the book back in 2019 when I was still taking a lot of beginner dance classes at the Y and exercising a lot. So perhaps the book just didn't fit where I was in my dance/exercise journey.

Funny you mention the wiggle exercise. It's one I just didn't get.

Anyway, this was what I wrote back in 2019 in the monthly recap.

Keep It Moving: Lessons for the Rest of Your Life----Twyla Tharp
Non-Fiction
Rate: 2/5
Last month I read her book The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life which I only gave a 2 rating. Perhaps if I were an artist I would have found it more informative. Still, I was looking forward to her new book. Unfortunately, I found it to be a bit of a jumbled mess. The few exercises she tries to explain have no photos and I found incomprehensible. It seemed she said wiggle around and jump up and down a few times.... Who knows. There is very little practical advice on diet or much of anything else. Sorry to say, it seems the book was published to make money off the authors fame. A friend at my gym also read it and ended up DNF it. Verdict: Do not recommend.

John wrote: "I recall liking Tharp's memoir several years. Perhaps, just my $.02 that Madrano appreciates the (well expressed) message, while Alias didn't feel the actual suggestions themselves did much for her..."

Exactly, John. Thanks for wording it nicely.

John wrote: "I worked in the court system many years ago. Yes, most cases plead, but in my experience those defendants were guilty."

As i recall, the author admitted as much but he wanted to balance with other legally proven examples. His real point seemed to be that a prosecutor really decides case outcomes. Honestly, this surprised me, coming from a judge. And, as he noted, non-public defending lawyers are paid to not necessarily compromise, given the proven facts, that is.

Alias Reader wrote: "The few exercises she tries to explain have no photos and I found incomprehensible. It seemed she said wiggle around and jump up and down a few times.... Who knows. There is very little practical advice on diet or much of anything else. Sorry to say, it seems the book was published to make money off the authors fame...."

Alias, it's neat seeing your review again. I agree most about the diet, there was really zero info on that. Personally, that info would have been useful, particularly for those with low energy.

It's funny how valuable the wiggle exercise has been for me, but mostly not for you. As you & John noted, i think it called to me because each day since the sciatica attack, it's been a real hassle to get up the energy to get out of bed. Wiggling first has made a difference, as each body part is awakened, as i call it.

Thanks for digging out your comments on the book.

For prompt 23- Award winning book or nominated for award, i selected Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon--Melissa L. Sevigny. The book was faster to read than many but my note-taking was rampant, so i've been slow in reporting on this one.

Why prize, you may ask, did this win? The National Outdoor Book Award for History/Biography. To read more about the award & previous winners, click here-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa... As it turns out, i've read a couple of other winners in this category, as well as others. For instance, Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail--Ben Montgomery, which i also liked.

ANYway, this book is primarily a biography of Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter, botanists, who are the first women to "botanize" the Grand Canyon, via rafting (in a group) via the Colorado (& other) River. In 1938, Clover, forty-one, was a botanist of the old school, devoted to collecting and cataloging plants. Jotter, twenty-three, belonged to the new school: her PhD work focused on the cytogenetics of the evening primrose. The third member of the scientific group was a student studying paleobiology, Eugene Atkinson. He planned to hunt and preserve for science some animals along the route.

The expedition was headed by entrepreneur Norm Nevills, who wanted to start a river running trade for tourists. This was his first full run and his water crafts were handmade.  The other "hands" were adventurers and travelers, who took a break from their regular jobs. What was envisioned as being a short trip of two or so weeks . Instead, they were on the river 43 days.

While the book covers plenty of information about the National Park Service & their caretaking of the Canyon, as well as small bios of the other participants, the story also reads a bit like a tale of adventure, which is cool. Also, Sevigny addresses Native interests and slights, as well as their (somewhat accidental) contribution to the botany of the river.

Both women were impressive, despite media accounts of them, diminishing their work, stressing their femininity. They were famed for their "ten minutes" but continued in their scientific fields. One of Clover's university students stated the professor always noted that she was the first non-native woman to travel the length of the river successfully. I liked the woman.

As with many biographies of this sort, i was pleased with the historic bits shared, as well as the lives of others on their journey. Naturally, there is plenty about botany but not nearly enough to make it a boring story. In all, this was a highly satisfactory book.

For more info on the women, https://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...

Prompt #7- Legal or lawyer character F / NF. Having recently read a good book on the judicial system, Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free: And Other Paradoxes of Our Broken Legal System--Jed S. Rakoff, i decided to opt for fiction for this category.

Thanks to favorable reviews from Barbara and Michele, i read Central Park West--James Comey. The primary courts covered in the book were federal ones, as the main character, single mom Nora Carleton, federal prosecutor, living in NYC, coworkers detective Benny Dugan and freshly trained FBI Special Agent Jessica Watson, on cases. Their interactions were strong and friendly, which helped me in understanding many dynamics.

More important were the times when the trio had to explain to witnesses and possible criminals why & how the court system moved as it did in their cases. I suppose one of the most important factors was about the legalities of recording conversations with suspects. Also informative was the play between the federal and state courts. Action between those & prosecutors in other states (Florida, particularly) fleshed out other aspects of criminal law.

But mostly it was a good representative of a couple of federal cases actually during their trials. Additionally, i learned quite a number of acronyms for a garden of agencies which help fight crime. Our tax dollars at work!

This is my first Comey book and it was fine. I doubt, however, that i would further pursue his fiction.