Readers and Reading discussion

Please post your November books/reads here. Ratings of and comments on your books are always enjoyed.

Here is what I read in Nov.



An Empty Spoon- Sunny Decker - Non Fiction GR rating 3/5
I was given this book by my neighbor, who purchased the book back in 1970.
Sunny Decker is a first year teacher who goes to teach in an inner city school.
It's touching and quite sad. Her story comes across and quite genuine.
Sorry to see this book is no longer in print. However, you can buy it used at Amazon.


Wit by Margaret Edson - Play- fiction - GR rating 4/5
I read this one for the GoodReads Book Nook Cafe Board.
This is a very moving account of a women who is faced with late stage ovarian cancer.


The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barberry Fiction GR Rating 4/5
I really enjoyed this poignant novel. It the story of a Renee, and middle aged, unattractive, and very intelligent women who is a concierge in a posh Paris apartment building. The novel is alternately funny and touchingly sad. It's a book to be savored slowly with a nice cup of tea as the author explores philosophy, love, life and friendship. A gem of a book.


The Ladies Auxiliary Tova Mirvis Fiction GR rating 2/5
The story of a newly widowed women and her small child who move to a tight knit Orthodox Jewish community in Memphis, TN. I found the story slow moving and tedious at times. And I came to dislike many of the characters. I was hoping to learn more about the Orthodox Jewish religion but the book had little depth.


by Bel Kaufman Fiction GR rating 3/5
The story of a first year teacher at an inner city school. The story is told in epistolary fashion.
story. At turns funny and sad.

I am still working on In Cheap We Trust and Les Miserables. I'm enjoying them both.

4637 Endgame, 1945 The Missing Final Chapter of World War II, by David Stafford (read 3 Nov 2009) This is a book by a British historian. Its account begins with Apr 20, 1945--Hitler's last birthday--carefully relates the events of that day and each day thereafter till the summer of 1945. The device used is of nine persons who lived through that period and were involved in events in Europe. This makes for a very enlightening account of those days. since such stupendous events are related--including the deaths of Mussolini and Hitler, and the major tragedies which did not end with the war, showing the huge suffering after the war. One of the nine persons followed was a German lady whose father was executed in connection with Hitler's rampage after the assassination attempt on him. It is dismaying much evil went on even though the war was lost--so many Nazis doing evil things right up to the end of the war. There is an Epilogue telling what became of the persons whose times were set out. Very poignant accounts. The book ends with a bleak picture--fortunately things eventually turned out (almost 50 years later) better than it seemed in 1945 they would. This was an absorbing book thoroughly engrossing, to me.

4638 The History of Rome Hanks and Kindred Matters, by Joseph Stanley Pennell (read 6 Nov 2009) The great book editor Maxwell Perkins was the editor for this 1944 novel, which made a considerable splash when it was published, but now is in a list of great forgotten American novels. In 1944 Pennell was hailed as a second Thomas Wolfe, but he was not. He omits quotation marks and runs conversation together so it is hard to tell who is talking. He says he did this to make the narrative flow "without entailing either too much cloudiness or clarity." Don't want to have too much clarity! The novel hops around a lot with some Civil War scenes which foreshadow what comes after, but the story line is not compelling. Most of the book is laid in Iowa and Kansas. There is also some writing in dialect "reely" for "really" and other stupid writing like that though one can follow the story. .And he runs two words together, e.g. "waterbottle" and "wellcared" and many more--a stupid device, I thought, though I suppose he was trying to be Faulknerian. The book just sort of peters out at the end. I can only conclude the book deserves to be forgotten though it was much hyped in 1944.

4639 Louis D. Brandeis A Life, by Melvin I. Urofsky (read 12 Nov 2009) This 2009 biography has 756 pages of text and 162 pages of notes. I have read two biographies of Brandeis previously, on 6 Jul 1957 and 13 Nov 1986. But I thought I should read this major work. Some of the chapters on his work as a lawyer were not too interesting, but everything in the book after he was nominated to the Supreme Court in Jan 1916 was of high interest, and the account of his work on the Court absorbingly fun to read. Brandeis was born in Louisville on Nov 13, 1856--the exact same day as my paternal grandmother was born. He died Oct 5, 1941. This is a magisterial work and was great reading once he got to the Supreme Court.

4640 Our Boys A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen, by Joe Drape (read 14 Nov 2009) Smith Center is a town in north central Kansas and the author went there in the summer of 2008 to follow the high school football team, which was undefeated for four straight seasons. He tells of the 2008 season in which the team also was undefeated and was the Class 2A champion.The coach does an amazing job to motivate his players. I found the account often poignant. The whole story is peaches and cream and the author says nothing bad about anybody in the town. Everybody in Smith Center will be enthusiastic about this book and they are entitled to be proud of the coach and players. Enjoyable reading.

4641 Wolf Hall A Novel, by Hilary Mantel (read 20 Nov 2009) (Booker prize in 2009) This is the 30th Booker prize-winning novel I have read. It is based on the life of Thomas Cromwell (born 1485, died 28 July 1540) who is of course no favorite of mine since he was a big supporter of Henry VIII and his de-Catholicizing of England. The book goes up to 6 July 1535 when St Thomas More was beheaded--instead of being drawn and quartered. I think the book is historically accurate but of course makes up a lot of things. I did not find the book consistently interesting. The writing is somewhat hard to follow since the antecedent for "he" and "him" is sometimes obscure.. I found this annoying--apparently it was done to detract from clarity! The King's fascination with Ann Boleyn is a major theme in the book--and Ann is such a despicable person that the fact that she will her head chopped off on May 19, 1536 does not bother--but at the end of this book there is not yet an intimation of Ann's fall. This is a 532-page book and I was glad to get to the last page, despite a mildly interesting story line.

4642 Julian of Norwich Mystic and Theologian, by Grace M. Jantzen (read 21 Nov 2009) This book about a 13th century mystic who was an anchoress was pretty heavy going at times. She had 16 visions of Christ's Passion and wrote am account of them and after 20 years expanded the account. .Her theology is apparently orthodox but does not seem much like what I was taught--but maybe the author does not reflect it accurately. Julian (a woman) was assured by Christ that all will be well, which led Julian to think that somehow even souls in hell might have a chance! I did not give the book the study it probably deserves, but one can say that Julian has a view of God as being Love and loving all people, which is comforting and made me think my chances for eternal salvation are good.

4643 I Could Never Be So Lucky Again, by General James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle with Carroll V. Glines (read 25 Nov 2009) The author was born in 1896 and died in 1993, having published this autobiography in 1991. It is full of interesting things: his stunt flying in the 1920's, leading the 1942 raid on Tokyo, his time in Europe in World War II. I had great enthusiasm for the book but in the final chapter he tells of campaigning for Goldwater in 1964, which put me off. But certainly his career is of high interest and he seems to have been a really outstanding guy and I have a very affirmative feeling for this book insofar as he tells of his time in World War II.

4644 Homer's Odyssey A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat, by Gwen Cooper (read 27 Nov 2009) This is a true 2009 book about a blind kitten called Homer. How he behaves is quite remarkable. Some of the book is overly mushy, but the account of how he chased a burglar off is absorbingly attention-holding. Also the author moves her three cats from Miami to New York and one must admire how determined she was in accomplishing that feat. Then in 2001 one knows, when we learn her apartment if near the World Trade Center, what is coming next. Her account of 9/11 is dramatic and one feels great relief her cats survived. And the book does NOT end up with Homer dying, for which I was grateful

4645 the Gashouse Gang How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series--and America's Heart--During the Great Depression, by John Heidenry (read 28 Nov 2009) I read a book on this same subject on 27 Aug 1984 and liked it . This is a 2007 book and is fun to read. The account of the 7-game World Series in 1934 is well-told. Dizzy Dean won 30 games that year, and many of them were complete games. He was paid $7500 for the year. Today how many million would he get? It was another age.

4646 Murder at the Vicarage A Miss Marple Mystery, by Agatha Christie (read 29 Nov 2009) I saw part of Miss Marple movie on TV and it was funny so I thought I should read at least one of the books in which she is a character. This is a 1930 book and is the first Miss Marple book. An unliked guy is murdered in the vicarage library and the vicar, who is a good guy, is the "I" in the book. Miss Marple (surprise) solves the murder to the annoyance of the cops. I don't think I need read any more Agatha Christie books--though I have said that before. This is the 9th one I 've read

Lots of good reading this month, I thought.

November was a slow month book-wise.

I only listened to one audio book in November:
Diamant, Anita—Day After Night—read by Dagmara Dominiczyk. Finished 11/4/09. Fiction; audio; rating 6. Four women who survived WWII meet in Palestine at a refugee camp and later escape.

I only read one book:
Duggar, Michelle and Jim Bob—The Duggars: 20 and Counting. Finished 11/4/09. Non-fiction; rating 9. The successes of the large family is an inspirational testimony of their love and faith. By working together, they were financially successful using the belief of not getting into debt. Recipes are included in the book as well as organizational tips. Quite a contrast to Quiverfull.

Duggar, Michelle and Jim Bob—The Duggars: 20 and Counting. Finished

I thought about reading that but havent. Maybe I will try to get my hand on it. That is a family who dont seem to have let the TV change their life.

Deb

I didn't read much in November as it was a very busy month -

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk - forced to read this by a friend, I somewhat enjoyed this tale of a man who pretends to choke on food in restaurants as one source of income. Graphic descriptions of bodily functions, interesting thoughts on heroism, maternal love, friends and sanity. Recommended for those with a strong stomach.

The Guinea Pig Diaries by A. J. Jacobs - a quick and enjoyable read of a man experimenting with his life, a concept I'm fully in favor of. He tests several ideas, i.e., online dating, outsourcing (I didn't know one could outsource the time consuming trivia of one's life, like letters to the editor) and following George Washington's 35 (I think)rules of life. He learns something from every experiement. I'm looking forward to reading The Know It All in which he reads the entire encyclopaedia.

The Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh - this book was pretty fascinating on one level as it tells the history of the opium trade between India and China, probably in the 1700's. Several characters tell the story, each well drawn and interesting. On the minus side, I thought the book was going somewhere. The author hinted at a final destination throughout -but it never got to where I thought it was going, and I was disappointed.

I probably read more than this, but I keep just putting books back on the shelf haphazardly, and then I can't remember which I read :)

November Reads

Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer. First person account of the ill-fated attempt to climb Mt. Everest, during which several of the climbers were killed. Some of the background - the geology of the mountain and the history of Everest - weren't that interesting to me, but the human story is fascinating and heartbreaking. And now I have some small insight into why people climb mountains. I prefer hobbies that aren't likely to result in my death. B

Passing - Nella Larsen. I never would have guessed that a 114-page book written 80 years ago would end up being one of my favorite reads of the year. The story of two light-skinned black women who grew up together as children, and who, after years of not being in contact, reconnect as adults. One of the women "passes" for white and is married to a white man who doesn't know her secret. The other woman is happily married to a successful black physician, living the life of a well-to-do Harlem matron in 1929. When their lives intersect, there are unforeseen consequences for both of them. My book group chose this book and we had one of the best discussions we've ever had. Highly recommended. A

Name All the Animals - Alison Smith. Smith's memoir of the three years following the accidental death of her brother when he was 18 and she was 15. During that time, her close-knit family struggled to stay close and she herself struggled, not just with the absence of the brother she adored, but with her burgeoning feelings about her life, her religious faith, and her sexuality. I enjoyed this book more than I expected I would, although it tended to be a downer. But it was very readable and well written. A-

Bobby and Jackie - C. David Heyman The literary equivalent of the National Enquirer. Lots of juicy stories, rumors, speculations about whether or not RFK and Jackie were having an affair in the years before he died. About halfway through I decided I couldn't care less. In fact, I couldn't even remember why I checked the book out of the library. But then, I'm never sure why I read the Enquirer in the checkout line either. D (for dumb)

Connie, I am a fan of mountain climbing books and stories, and I can't say why because I have zero interest in doing that myself. There is another nonfiction book about mountain climbing that might be a little hard to find, but is fascinating too - Annapurna, by Maurice Herzog.

Annapurna

I agree with you, Sherry - I've read mountain climbing books all of my life with no interest whatsoever in trying it out. They made a pretty good movie out of Into Thin Air - decent. I like mountain climbing movies,too :)

In November I read:

Buffalo Valley by Debbie Macomber
Visions Of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich
A Time To Embrace by Karen Kingsbury
Land Girls by Angela Huth
Remembering The Bones by Frances Itani

I enjoyed them all.

>>I probably read more than this, but I keep just putting books back on the shelf haphazardly, and then I can't remember which I read<<

I have found that keeping a list of books read, and writing a few lines or paragraphs about the book and what I thought of it, right after I finish reading it, is immensely helpful adding the book to my 'things accomplished' list

Connie wrote: "November Reads
...
Passing - Nella Larsen"

Connie, thank you for this title & synopsis. It sounds good. I'd not heard of the author but found this on Wiki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nella_La...

deborah

madrano wrote: "Connie wrote: "November Reads
...
Passing - Nella Larsen"

Connie, thank you for this title & synopsis. It sounds good. I'd not heard of the author but found this on Wiki. http://en.wikipedia...."

Be careful not to read too much of the synopsis of "Passing" on Wikipedia if you're interested in reading the book. There are HUGE spoilers there that would definitely detract from your enjoyment of the book.

Connie

Schmerguls wrote: ">>I probably read more than this, but I keep just putting books back on the shelf haphazardly, and then I can't remember which I read<<

I have found that keeping a list of books read, and writi..."


A very good suggestion, I'm sure :)

November was a mixed month for me.....

The Gift - Cecilia Ahern 2 stars
What I learned from this book was....don't read sappy Christmas books. I still cannot believe I finished it (that is why I gave it two stars) but I did a lot of skimming.

Forgettable.

The Christmas List - Richard Paul Evans 2 stars
I did finish this book, or would have given it one star, but this was a stretch for me.

What is the appeal of this author? The writing is amateurish, the theme is overused, and the whole "story" is manipulative. After hearing for years how awful he was, all of a sudden this guy has a "revelation" after reading some things written about him on a website.

Worst of all, he had to ask his secretary to come up with the list of people he had damaged!!! He could not even do this himself?

Priceless Marne Davis Kellogg 5 stars
A fast clever read, even better than the first Kick Keswick book. I loved the setting on the Italian Riviera, in Portofino, and enjoyed learning about that area. The descriptions of the jewelry, the food, the clothes, the locale were amazing. I was stumped right up to the delightful ending.

Perfect Marne Davis Kellogg 5 stars
Another great Kick Keswick adventure. I could read about her forever! These books are so clever and intelligent and elegant. Love them.

How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Foodby Nigella Lawson 5 stars

Someone wrote that if one liked the writing of Laurie Colwin, this book of Nigella Lawson's would also be appealing. Well, that person was right!

While it is impossible to compare these two women, both write lovingly about food and eating. Lawson calls herself an eater, not a chef, and I am sure that Colwin would have described herself the same way.

This book is just so darn universally appealing. I bought three to give for Christmas gifts.

There is nothing not to like about this book....great stories, writing, and recipes.

Although I say that I read this book, and have, it is one that I will read over and over, just like I do with Colwin's books

The Map Book by Peter Barber 2 stars
As a map-addicted person, I really looked forward to getting this book but wish I had read the reviews first. While I can enjoy the overall design of the maps, I certainly found my enjoyment lessened by the fact that I cannot read the print on most of them, even with a magnifying glass. This, in turn, lessened the appeal of the text. Just a mess, to be honest.

Didn't any editor notice the size of the print on the maps? Or are they sight-impaired?

I am just glad that I only paid $8 for this, used, including shipping

The Outside World by Tova Mirvis 1 star
I was so disappointed in this book. After reading and liking "The Ladies Auxiliary" several years ago, I stumbled upon this one, not even knowing Mirvis had written a second novel. So I really looked forward to reading it.....but it was a pretty poor imitation of her first novel.

As much as I like to read about other cultures and religions in novels, this one was just overboard with all of the Jewish lore, legend, language, and customs. The outline of the story was interesting, but all of the TEDIOUS details just killed the flow of the underlying story and plot.

One star is because I finished it. Wish I had not wasted my time.

PS - Should "Ladies" in the title of her last book be possessive (Ladies')?

Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen by Joe Drape 3 stars
I wanted to know the many characters in this book better...maybe that is why it was just an okay read for me. The author tried to cover too many people and thus not many of them were fully described enough for me.

Also, despite my own inner admonition not to do so, I kept comparing this book to "Friday Night Lights" and to another lesser-known book entitled "In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle". Both of those books were exciting, written with style and a lot of passion, and read like novels. Lots of natural dramatic tension with many imperfect characters and situations. I just never felt wrapped up or totally involved in "Our Boys".

Yes, I appreciated the work ethic in Smith Center, Drape's descriptions of small-town life, and the philosophy of Coach Barta, how fair and equitably he treated his team. Especially how he encouraged his boys to get better every day. But...I found all of the play-by-play stuff to be a bit too much for me.

There were two things in the book that shocked me, and not in a good way.....when the coach allowed his team to score 72 points...why didn't he pull first-string players out and let some of the others play? And the number of assistants Barta had! Just too much, too many!!!

Van Gogh (Thunder Bay Artists) by Ingo F. Walther 5 stars
Cleaning out some bookshelves the other day (a never-ending task), I found this book which I bought some months ago. So I read it yesterday (it is just 96 pages) and even though I know quite a bit about Van Gogh, this was still a delight. Walther combines biography, paintings and analysis of them, and discussion of Van Gogh's techniques. I especially liked the illustrated time line at the end.

Very well done. This author clearly knows his art and artists. Great find!

An Incomplete Revenge (Maisie Dobbs, #5) by Jacqueline Winspear 4 stars

I "read" this book on audio - narration was good and story was interesting, but I think I have read one too many Maisie Dobbs books in just a few months. Don't get me wrong, this was not bad, just more of the same. Although more of the same is not so bad when it is a gentle novel like this one, where much is implied rather than spelled out and history is woven in so adeptly.

One thing I especially like about this author's writing is how she inserts references to everyday items into her stories...like Eccles cakes. Such period details make her books stand out......Winspear infuses all of her books with a wonderful and authentic sense of time and place. I also liked learning about the gypsy culture in early 1900s England

Connie wrote: "Be careful not to read too much of the synopsis of "Passing" on Wikipedia if you're interested in reading the book. There are HUGE spoilers there that would definitely detract from your enjoyment of the book...."

Thanks, Connie. I generally avoid synopsis (and book covers, too, for that matter) because they tell me too much. OTOH, i like turning to Wiki's synopsis of books after i've read them, just to see if i "got" all the points.

deborah

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "November was a mixed month for me.....

JoAnn, i think THE MAP BOOK would be the most frustrating book ever. Isn't the POINT the visual? Hello?!? I am removing it from my list of Books To Read. I do not need that problem.

As always, it's great to read your comments.

deborah

>>Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen by Joe Drape 3 stars<<

I've had this on my to read list since hearing the author on The Tony Kornheiser Show. I read and enjoyed Drape's earlier book on horse racing The Race for the Triple Crown Horses, High Stakes and Eternal Hope a few years ago. Sports book are among my favorite type of reads and, like you JoAnn, loved Friday Night Lights A Town, a Team, and a Dream but, must admit, I was less enthusiastic about In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle.

The Gashouse Gang looks really interesting too. I just picked up The First Fall Classic The Red Sox, the Giants and the Cast of Players, Pugs and Politicos Who Re-Invented the World Series in 1912 at the library and hope to get to it soon.

Sandi wrote: "must admit, I was less enthusiastic about In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle..."

My reading/liking of this was probably influenced by several factors: I read this book in 1997 when my daughter was playing HS basketball and we had a personal "connection" to Jamila Wideman, who played for the Amherst team (in the book) and, at that time, she was playing for Stanford, which went to the Final Four.

I also saw Joe Drape on a couple of talk shows and that is when I put his book on my TBR.