For once, I’ll start with the bottom line – I REALLY ENJOYED READING THIS BOOK!

I couldn’t put it down…

I have a soft soft for books written as an exchange of letters. I love the way I gradually gather information about the characters and the plot begins to form and make itself clear. Each letter promises a fresh detail or meaning to uncover. This book has a main character, Sybil, who corresponds with many others. The different letters from varied people let you think about the events in question from different perspectives without being confusing.

I can relate to the fact that in the act of writing one has to consider and clarify thoughts and feelings. Sybil is in her mid seventies and we learn about her life both present and past.

“The Correspondent” caught my interest on page one. It is simply so well written that in my mind I have placed it on a virtual shelf beside my favorite books written in the format of letters, namely “84 Charing Cross Road” by Helene Hanff,  “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker and “Address Unknown” by Katherine Taylor.

Note: I just went back and read my post from 2020 about the book “Meet Me at the Museum” by Youngson. Not only should I have placed it besides the above mentioned books on my virtual bookshelf, the post reminded me that  I should be saying an  “epistolary novel” instead of “books witten in the format of letters”. But I never liked the sound of the word “epistolary”…

The book comes with a  surprising “fringe benefit” – it’s full of book reccommendations! Not only do some of the characters reccommend books to each other,  but the protagonist Sybil writes to the authors who wrote books that moved her.  I’ve read a few of the books mentioned and made notes for myself to look for some of the others. The library had one of the books mentioned available immediatly, so I’m already entering a totally different world. More on that to come!

A warm reccommendation for “The Correspondent”!

So, what better way to escape reality and dive into a fantasy book? Makes sense, doesn’t it?
Well…

I began with a book that got good reviews                                                    “Empire of Wild” by Cherie Dimaline.
I found the book to be engrossing from page one and very well written. The combination of reality and fantasy is clever. But I had to stop reading at a fairly early stage. Once I realized that the plot was basically about a woman whose husband was kidnapped by an evil mythical/fantastical shape-shifting creature and felt the depths of the heroine’s misery, I was unable to continue reading. While I believe she rescues him in the end,  I simply can’t deal with such a topic now.

The next book I took up was “Three Parts Dead” by Max Gladstone. This is a fast-paced book, clever and often funny, with surprises along the way. Think of a courtroom drama murder-mystery  (Grisham style) set in a fantasy world with the courageous young female lawyer saving the day against all odds, told in a style that sometimes reminded me of the beloved Terry Pratchett.

I enjoyed the book, despite having a slight crisis when realizing the book was a “ whodunnit”. As a rule, I do not like the genre, but I’m glad I read this book!

As I was returning “Three Parts Dead” my Libby app pinged – a book I had reserved a few months ago was now ready for lending:

“This is How You Lose The Time War“ by Amal  El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.

While I am truly full of compliments for this book, I stopped reading sixty percent through ( yes, I’ve become quite difficult!).

The book is written in a format of letters, a style I enjoy. The two authors actually wrote their characters’ letters separately and surprised each other with details (they had agreed on the plotline and other main things) which must have added to the sense of authentic enthusiasm and emotion. The writing is excellent and the whole setting and the points the two authors convey are powerful.

However…

Two things bothered me the more I read. For one, I felt too old for this tale of the stirrings of first love and even “coming of age” (though the main characters are adults). I know you are never supposed to be too old for such a thing but honestly,  there that feeling was.

In addition, the fact that people’s lives and deaths are being controlled like pawns in a war between forces that we cannot influence is depressing. The book is NOT in favor of waging war, but by the time I got to sixty percent of the book I couldn’t go on the journey with the characters to get to the more optimistic parts.

It’s a good book – give it a try! You might love it!

I finished reading this book three weeks ago and I’m still thinking about it.

For me, that’s an excellent sign.

I found “Happiness” to be a book that was very readable, yet had the  sort of combination I like:

• a plot that moves forward, interesting characters (there’s some romance too), and historical connections
• There’s so much else going on too. Some of which was apparent to me as I read, while other connections I realized after I had completed it.

I don’t want to say much about the plot – I knew nothing about the book except that it was warmly recommended, and I’m glad for it. I’d be delighted to correspond about it after you’ve read it!

Most of the story takes place in London, some In New England, while Sierra Leon and other locations come up as well.

While the locations are interesting, the book is about people, animals and people, people and people, trauma and resilience, hope, and, of course,

happiness.

 

If someone came up to me today and said “I’d like to buy you a few books, which would you like?” I wouldn’t know how to answer.

In fact, I would get a bit stressed by the question.

In recent months I have had no idea which books would suit my mood. I would hate for money to be wasted on a book that I dislike and abandon quickly!

Yet I absolutely NEED to read.

The “Libby” library system harbors no ill will towards me even if  I return a book the next day and immediately take another.

No murmured complaint even when I quickly return the next book as well.

More importantly, “Libby has a  RANDOM search option!

Now that I’ve been experimenting with reading books I have never heard of (for the most part) using the random search option for quite a while, I’d like to share some “lows” and “highs” of my reading adventure.

Perhaps you might be interested in some of the books!

“Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President” by Candice Millard

I was a bit dubious about the chances of me finding a book about President Garfield interesting when I saw the option that popped up on my results page.. I have to admit that the only thing I knew about Garfield was that he was assassinated. However, it seemed somewhat encouraging that Alexander Graham Bell was a character in the story as well, so I clicked on the “BORROW” button.

The book was fascinating!

Did you know that President Garfield didn’t even run for the presidency when he was nominated by the party?

Or that Bell nearly returned home from the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 without anyone noticing that invention in the dark far corner of an upper floor we know as the telephone?

Perhaps you knew that The White House in 1880 was a sagging, damp, rat-infested building that was making its residents ill, but I certainly didn’t.

And that the United States had THREE presidents assassinated before realizing they had to protect their presidents?

Though President Garfield didn’t actually die because of the assassin’s bullet…

I should stop here – elaborating would mean spoilers.

The book is a readable, engaging, and fascinating description of a period, with revelations related to medicine, politics, and law.

“Robin” by Dave Itzkoff  vs. “I Was Better Last Night” By Harvey Fierstein

 

I went through a “reading crisis” in the last three months. I had no patience for fictional characters and their fictional angst and read less than I usually do.

The only two books I read were  both non-fiction:

“Unraveling – What I Learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World’s Ugliest Sweater” by Peggy Orenstein 

Who knew thread and cloth played such an important part in the history of humankind? I didn’t… I also related to her struggles to deal with her parents aging and ultimately passing away. The author and I are more or less the same age.

“Creativity Inc.” by Amy Wallace and Edwin Catmull

It was interesting to learn how Pixar came to be. I was particularly interested in the part about keeping the spark of creativity, actually high-quality creative work, alive. I abandoned the book when it became focused on the merger with Disney. I don’t run a business. I’m just a person who tries to be creative.

“North Woods” by Daniel Mason has brought the joy of well-written fiction back into my life.

What a talented writer!

What a clever way to build a story!

Historical fiction with a twist.

The “constant” in the book is a place. A small house, land, woods and a river in Massachusetts.

The same place, beginning with the first white settlers in the region and then progressing in time.

Telling the story of the people who came and went, lived and died.

Telling the story of the land as it was shaped by the people AND how the land influenced the people’s lives.

You might think that having such a parade of characters would be repetitive and become tiresome.

You would be mistaken.

Mason’s characters are so vivid and convincing that I’m drawn to every single character at each phase of the historical progression toward the present.

A great book!

I wasn’t sleeping well the last few nights before setting off on our big adventure –  a 17-day trip to South Africa! I was too excited/nervous/stressed – I’m sure you know what I mean.

I barely slept on the flights either way.

I also tend to wake up very early on trips (not at home!) so I read quite a bit before the trip, on the trip, and upon returning.

Since arriving home, I have mainly been listening to audiobooks and reading print a bit less – when I have free time I go over my “gazillion” photos! After which I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow…

So, some quick comments on some books:

“Meet Me in Another Life” by Silvey

I wanted a light read for a sleepless night flight and it started off just right. Engaging without demanding too much concentration. Two young people meet over and over again in different versions of their lives.

However, somewhere around the middle, the book became incredibly repetitive and even boring. I didn’t like the ending at all. I don’t even know why I bothered to finish it…

“Lawrence and the Arabs” by Robert Graves

“Lawrence of Arabia”, the film from 1962 was actually one of the options of the in-flight movies. Not only hadn’t I seen it, but had completed the book about him by Graves just a few days before we flew out. I thought it was a stroke of luck!

Well, reading the book made me find the movie sorely lacking and I gave up on it at some point. Now the book, that’s where it’s at. It is FASCINATING!

Just to be clear, I had no particular prior interest in “Lawrence”. But when I saw that the book was by ROBERT GRAVES I knew I had to read it. Graves’ “I Claudius”, which I read years ago, left a big impression on me. His writing is engaging, clear, and down to earth while being informative and well-researched.

AND…

Unlike the Roman emperors, Graves actually KNEW the person he was writing about this time, and personally interviewed many of those whose lives crossed paths with Lawrence, including Lawrence’s mother!

Did I say it was FASCINATING?

“Euphoria” by Lily King

This was a good choice as a travel book. It’s engaging and interesting. Three young anthropologists are caught in a love triangle amongst themselves in New Guinea, in the 1930s. Their own lives influence how they live and interact with the native tribes they are studying. while studying /entangling themselves in the cultures of the tribes they are studying. The story is loosely based on Margaret Mead’s character and from what is known about an incident that she was involved in.

The ending was quite dramatic.

A good book but not amazing – not the kind I think about for some time after I have read it.

“Record of a Spaceborn Few” by Becky Chambers

Comfort food!

I listened to this as an audiobook (the reader is excellent, it feels like a play).

Chamber’s books are so comforting – yes there are real hardships when living in space and angst, but the overall vibe is optimism. A better society, a more inclusive society can be attained, a better world is possible.

Comfort food.

I enjoyed every minute

“Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?” by Frans de Waal

I can tell you right away – the answer is NO WE ARE NOT!

Absolutely not!

It’s mind-boggling to read of the assumptions people made in an effort to prove, no matter what, that humans are always better and smarter than animals.  I’m not a scientist and certainly am no animal expert, but some tales caused me to say “Really? Someone thought that? Someone lectured about it without even observing the animals in the wild”?

I read this after returning (after seeing so many animals it seemed a good choice).  The writing is very engaging and accessible to the non-academic public. I found it very interesting yet only read about 75% of the book. The point was very clear and I found that there was a limit to the number of examples of intelligent animal behavior I could take in.

I was convinced!

More books to come in a new post!

Happy Reading!

 

 

 

 

My grandmother always said that someone could (and should!) write a book about her.

In a way, I think Angie Cruz did!

It’s such a cleverly written, well-told book and I was so fortunate to have chosen it as an audiobook – if you can, that’s the way to go!  Listening to the manner in which Cara Romero answered questions the way SHE wanted to answer them, getting to the point via 100 other stops along the way, stopping to emphasize that no one could do it /understand it the way she could – it felt so very familiar!

No, my grandmother wasn’t Dominican, though she did speak Spanish. She was from Brest – today’s Belarus, part of Poland and Russia in the past. Along with the Yiddish, Polish, and Russian of her childhood, she spoke Hebrew, and Spanish learned during her 7 years living in Cuba.

Both women immigrated to New York from a Spanish-speaking island.

But that’s just the beginning.

 

Cara Romero always had to fend for herself and look after others, a resilient woman who had to struggle without the support of a husband. A woman who made some bad choices, managed to fall out with a lot of people, yet still retained a zest for life, and the energy to start over. Yet again. Then again.

Both women craved approval for their effort, for being who they were, and for the life they managed to create despite all odds, as both of them never got any such approval at home. Cara Romero of the book had a mother, who did not want to have children and was not interested in them. My grandmother was orphaned at the age of two and had the classic evil stepmother. Both Cara Romero and my grandmother stated repeatedly that they never had a childhood.

The desperate plea for approval shows up so clearly in those repeated statements (I’m not quoting verbatim, it was an audiobook!): Write this down. Everyone knows that Cara Romero does it better – if it is quieting the baby, being the one everyone turned to at work for advice, cooking, you name it…

I’m sure Cara Romero and my grandmother would have hated each other vehemently – two strong-willed women like them would have clashed within five minutes of being introduced…

Thank you, Angie Cruz! I loved the book!

 

 

Timing is everything, right?

In light of all that has been going on recently, listening to the audiobook “A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers was just what I needed.

I really enjoyed putting on my headphones and spending four hours (it’s a short book!) in a world where:

• people and nature live in harmony.  I don’t care if it’s a naive or unrealistic vision. It’s nice to “spend” some time in such a world. A world in which “going green” doesn’t mean living as people did in medieval times.
• drinking tea is important. It’s a world in which it is acknowledged that people need to take some time out and drink tea.
•  a young person taking a journey into the wild to find themselves (plural is used in the book)  is 29, not 18, which makes a lot of sense nowadays. In addition, it’s no spoiler to say that the young person in the wilderness does not die.
• there is a super cute robot!

And…

I enjoyed the style of writing. In fact, I have placed a hold on the next book (it’s a duology, a two-part series) on Libby. I don’t mind waiting a while – I prefer not to read two books in a row by the same author.

Oh! One last thing:

Having a friend is always a good thing – that takeaway is absolutely true!

 

Do you know the genre of books in which a troubled/sad/lonely person’s life improves dramatically, as you read, mainly because he/she began reading books?

This isn’t that kind of book.

The narrator of this book has read voraciously for most of her 72 years. These books, their characters, and authors (not to mention some composers) have become the lenses through which she views life, struggles to make sense of life, or perhaps escapes from it.

This comes with a price.

And Aaliya, the narrator knows it well. Immersing herself in literature from around the world does not make her any less “an unnecessary woman” – a point she examines, perhaps “discusses” with her literary world.

Aaliya not only reads books but is a “closet translator” (completed translations are boxed away) – there are fascinating commentaries on translations and the process of translating.

But that’s not all there is in this book.

A life unfolds.

In a city.

Books and the City – that could be a subtitle.

Aaliya has spent all of her life in Beirut. Since she was born in the late 30s, she has lived through a great many very turbulent times. She watches the changes in her city, noticing, commenting, and often criticizing.

In fact, every element of life in the city, along with her colorful neighbors her relatives, and every character in Aaliya’s life, quite literally, comes under scrutiny using an amazing variety of literary characters.

The ending surprised me, in a good way.

I really enjoyed reading this book!

The unique style of writing drew me in immediately!

I’m not going to give you any more details – the author does it so much better than I, so why spoil the experience for yourself?

ENJOY!

 

 

I had already read more than half of THE BONE FIRE when the war in Ukraine began.

It was certainly a timely book to read.

The story doesn’t take place during a war. It’s a book about the generation/two generations after a war. About generations who not only have grown up dealing with the war scars of their parents/grandparents but have spent their lives behind the iron curtain.

The story takes place in an unnamed Eastern European country that has very recently been freed from life behind “the iron curtain”.  Those who know claim that it’s Romania.

The book is a combination of a coming of age story of 13-year-old Emma, recently orphaned, living with her mystical grandmother. While dealing with typical teenage angst (first menstruation, clothes, first crush, etc…) she must also deal with the harshness of an educational system scarred by the unforgiving brutality of a communist regime and the ghosts of war haunting her grandmother.

Yet her grandmother has special gifts and wisdom to pass down to Emma, gifts that become her own.

Beyond everything, the writing is unique and absolutely captivating.  Except for one part in the middle when I felt the author got too bogged down in details of teenage angst for too long, I was very taken by how the story is told and the manner in which the plot progresses. I can’t analyze the storytelling technique the way the New York Times Reviewer does (a review I read after reading the book!) but I don’t feel I need to. What matters is how it made me feel.

Fortunately, my son purchased the book following the New York Times review and suggested I read it as well.

I’m so glad I did.

I only wish that war in an area that had experienced life behind the iron curtain wasn’t taking place as I was reading the book…