Book Nook Cafe discussion

My August reads

The Shadow of the Windby Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Rating 5/5

Friends in High Places by Donna Leon

Rating 4/5

Two O'Clock, Eastern Wartimeby John Dunning

rating 4/5

Meredith

Meredith wrote: "My August reads

The Shadow of the Windby Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Rating 5/5

Friends in High Places by Donna Leon

Rating 4/5

Two O'Clock, Eastern Wartimeby John Dunning

rating 4/5 ..."

I very much enjoyed THE SHADOW OF THE WIND several years ago. Donna Leon's Brunetti series is a favorite, but I don't believe that I've read FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES yet. Have also enjoyed some of John Dunning's books. Ergo, we have some similar tastes. :-)

Meredith wrote: "My August reads

The Shadow of the Windby Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Rating 5/5

Friends in High Places by Donna Leon

Rating 4/5

Two O'Clock, Eastern Wartimeby John Dunning

rating 4/5 ..."

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Nice high ratings. Looks like you didn't have a clunker in the bunch !

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "I did not like any of her books. Surprised?!?! ..."

JoAnn, it surprises me more when you & i agree on a book. ;-) But, we'll always have Anne Tyler.

deborah

Madrano wrote: "JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "I did not like any of her books. Surprised?!?! ..."

JoAnn, it surprises me more when you & i agree on a book. ;-) But, we'll always have Anne Tyler.

deborah"

And she has a new book coming out in April!!! The Beginner's Goodbye.... http://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Goodb...

Unfortunately this one is not being published in the UK prior to its publication here, so I will have to wait.

Inverted Forest - John Dalton. Critics and readers alike seem to love this book, but I couldn't stand it. The story is set at a summer camp in rural Missouri where all the counselors are fired right before the first session begins, so last-minute substitutes are brought in, not knowing that their first group of campers will be mentally challenged adults from St. Louis institutions. The word "retarded" is used profusely to describe the campers and I found that mildly offensive. But most of all I found the story silly and preposterous and not all that well-written either. I'm in the minority feeling this way, so take this review with a few grains of salt. (Preferably on a margarita glass.) D

Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account - Miklos Nyiszli. Dr. Nyiszli and his family were sent to Auschwitz from their home in Hungary and because he was trained in performing autopsies, he worked under Josef Mengele's supervision in the labs and morgues of the concentration camp. Because of that his life there was very different from most of the inmates but he was able to survive and offer first hand accounts of many of the atrocities he witnessed. Horrible, disturbing and unforgettable. A-

In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks...and Other Complaints from an Angry Middle-Aged White Guy - Adam Carolla. I think Adam Carolla is very funny......in small doses. This book was a very BIG dose. And although I did laugh out loud many times while reading it, too much of a good thing sometime can be tiring. A nice antidote to reading about Auschwitz though. B-

Crime & Punishment: A Graphic Novel - Dostoevsky, Karkas and Mairowitz. I always wanted to read Crime and Punishment but the older I got, the less likely it seemed that I ever would. So when I found this graphic novel on the clearance table for $1.80, I couldn't resist. Now that I'm more familiar with the story, I'm not sorry I didn't read the original. And if that's a crime, then I accept the punishment. B

Heartwood - Belva Plain. I accidentally downloaded this book onto my Nook and figured I might as well read it as I hadn't read a Belva Plain book in 30+ years. It turned out to be the final chapter in the saga of the Stern family which began with Evergreen, the first book of hers I ever read. All the loose ends and family secrets are nicely tied up with this generation which is a good thing since Belva Plain died in 2010. She was quite a storyteller though, and even though Heartwood is not great literature, it's a good read. B+

I have not made a posting in this section before so here goes.
The Good Earth great, 4 stars
Jasper Jones set in Western Australia, 3 stars
Mia Culpa great view of contemporary Australian society from Gen X's perspective, laugh out loud moments, 4 stars
The Little Strangerghost story set in UK, not my usual sort of read, 3 stars
We Were the Mulvaneys 3 stars
Still Alice terrific title for this heartwrenching story, 4 stars
All Our Worldly Goods by author of Suite Francaise, 4 stars
The Book Thief I must have missed something with this one, 2 stars
The Lucy Family Alphabet a comedian's not so funny childhood. 4.5 stars
White Teeth 2 stars
Left Bank Waltz : The Australian Bookshop in Paris one determined woman's business adventure in Paris, 4 stars
The Lovely Bonesa fast read, 3 stars

Lesley, I felt the same way with The Book Thief. I even read it twice to make sure I was not missing anything.

Connie wrote:, so take this review with a few grains of salt. (Preferably on a margarita glass.) D
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I love this line. I may have to steal it from you. :)

I read C&P years ago and liked it. I read it with Cliffs type notes so as not too miss the philosophy angle. It took a lot of effort but I think it was well worth it. It's a book I would attempt to read with a serious online group again. There is a lot to dig into in this novel. So many layers.

Lesley wrote: "I have not made a posting in this section before so here goes.

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You did it perfectly ! Thanks for sharing with us, Lesley.

The Book Thief is on my f2f groups To Read list. :-O

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "And she has a new book coming out in April!!! The Beginner's Goodbye.... http://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Goodbye-......"

Wonderful! Something to look forward to in 2012! I appreciate the notice, JoAnn.

Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King. 3 stars. I like King but I can't for the life of me remember a single story. Yet I gave it 3 stars. Weird.

Billy by Whitley Strieber. 3 stars. Just missed the mark for a fourth star. I recommend reading this once just to get inside the mind of the abductor and the abductee.

Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky. 2 stars. Finished the book but not sure why I bothered.

One Fat Summer by Robert Lipsyte. 4 stars. A tender coming-of-age teen book. Quick and sweet.

Hummingbirds: A Novel. 2 1/2 stars. I skimmed this book. Think it had something to do with a teacher having an affair with a young student. The author's other book, The Reapers Are the Angels, written under another name, is awesome.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. 4 stars. Another teen coming of age book. Funny but sad story about a young boy living on areservation. Insightful.

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey. 4 stars. Highly recommend. A story about ninety-one year old Ptolemy and the seventeen-year-old girl who comes to live with him in a poor section of L.A.

The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement. 3 stars. I don't read much non-fiction and ended up skimming most of the book. The author takes the reader through his scientific concepts via two imaginary people. Good concept but not my cup of tea.

Sharp Objects. 4 stars. Dark and dreary...in a good way. Story about a journalist who was a cutter and still fights those demons everyday. Mostly, it's a story about a severly dysfunctional family. I suggest reading it just to make you feel good about your own dysfunctional family.

Breeding Ground. 4 stars. Mass market horror about things that go bump in the night.

Don't Breathe a Word. 3 stars. I like books about mental illness...probably because I'm an expert (see above re: dysfunctional families). This was almost a four-star book and I'm keeping the author on my radar.

The End of Everything. 3 stars. Hmmm, another book I ended up skimming. Did I actually read any books this month? This was the second abduction story I had read and I was just bored with the topic.

Abandon. 4 stars. Very good mystery-thriller story about an abandoned mining town in Colorado. A deeper message of loss and betrayal makes this a highly recommended story.

The God Box. 4 stars.
Elizabeth braced herself on the table. “You mean you’re a practicing homosexual?”
Manuel studied her a moment, as if debating whether to take her question seriously. “Well, actually, I think I’ve got the hang of it by now.”

Waaaay too much scripture but the zingers, like the above, made this a superb coming of age tale.

The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir. 4 stars. Funny with some serious undertones. I especially liked the little insights into Martha Stewart.

Shella. 4 stars. Mystery-thriller. My first exposure to this author and not my last. A real page turner about the seedier side of life.

Two or Three Things I Know for Sure. 5 stars. This book gets a permanent home on my shelf. Less than a hundred pages long, this book makes an impression. Written by the author of Bastard Out of Carolina, which I'll be reading next month as a group read.

Thanks for sharing Maicie. I enjoyed reading your reviews.

Thanks for reminding me to put The Bucolic Plague on my TBR list. I watch The Fabulous Beekman Boys on TV -Planet Green channel-. I hope it comes back on the schedule soon.

Wow. That's a lot of books Maicie. Great job!

Maicie wrote: "The End of Everything. 3 stars. Hmmm, another book I ended up skimming. Did I actually read any books this month? ..."

I had a good laugh over that comment, Maicie. Kudos for attempting so many. If i had that many disappointing books, i'd become too discouraged to try many more. Regardless, thank you for sharing.

deb

Madrano wrote: "Maicie wrote: "The End of Everything. 3 stars. Hmmm, another book I ended up skimming. Did I actually read any books this month? ..."

I had a good laugh over that comment, Maicie. Kudos for attemp..."

Maybe we should all list a Clunker of the Month book. :)

I keep a GoodReads DNF bookshelf (did not finish ) and I know JoAnn keeps one, too.

I just started mine, so I think I only have 2 books on it. I also usually finish the books I start.

Marialyce wrote: "Maybe we should all list a Clunker of the Month book. :) . ..."

Alias suggested putting clunkers on a bookshelf but i'm pretty sure i wouldn't think to look very often. A thread of them, maybe not monthly but just a running thread of them, as they arise in our lives, might be fun. I must admit i run across few clunkers...or so i think. ;-0

deb

Alias Reader wrote: "I keep a GoodReads DNF bookshelf (did not finish ) and I know JoAnn keeps one, too.

I just started mine, so I think I only have 2 books on it. I also usually finish the books I start."

Ha, I labeled mine "No way in Hell" due to the angry feeling I get when I cannot get into a book... :)

I labeled an 'Unfinished' shelf. Some I do mean to actually get back to one day...one day. ;)

I was simple and direct...called mine The Books I Hated....

Which reminds me I have one more to add to this bunch.

Lol! I still finish a lot of books I end up hating (I'm actually a big hold-out, because the way a book ends tells me if the whole buildup was worth it).

I realized that I had never posted my August reads. Where did the time go?

So --

The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson by Jerome Charyn An enjoyable read but I didn't know enough about her and so I couldn't separate the wheat from the chaff in this fictionalized version. I only read it because it was a pick for my F2F book club.

So in frustration I read a YA book: Emily Dickinson: A Biography. That helped.

Then --

Deadly Honeymoon by Lawrence Block An old hard-boiled tale from Larry Block. Not my favorite work of his. If anything it pointed up its place as a period piece. I can imagine some young person reading this and saying things like -- "What, no cell phones?" LOL

and then -- The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson I enjoyed this book. Wouldn't have read it if it hadn't been our monthly read. I think my comments in the thread will suffice on this one.

Bobbie, i like the way you filled the Dickinson void. I'm a fan but don't think i could handle (or want to, anyway) a fictionalized version. Thanks for the smile.

deborah