Jennifer's 2023 Reading (japaul22) Part 2

2023 Reading, Part 2

Hi everyone! I'm back for my 13th year in Club Read. I live in Northern Virginia and am a musician in the U.S. Marine Band - I play french horn. I'm also a mom to two boys, ages 13 and 10 this winter. So, I'm busy! But I also find plenty of time to read. I love contemporary fiction and gravitate to women writers. I also read and reread the classics. I also always have a nonfiction book going, usually history or biography.

Looking forward to the reading year ahead!

These lists are to help me pick books when I don't have a "next book" in mind. They will also give you an idea of the kinds of books I enjoy. These are all a work in progress. I will remove or add on any whim - they are not "definitive" lists for me!

Contemporary Authors that I follow (i.e. I'll probably read any new novel they put out and am reading any backlog I haven't gotten to yet):
Hilary Mantel
Kate Atkinson
Eleanor Catton
Eowyn Ivey
Tana French
Marilynne Robinson
Hannah Tinti
Barbara Kingsolver
Ann Patchett
Chimamanda Adichie
Margaret Atwood
Madeline Miller
Esther Freud
A.S. Byatt
Siri Hustvedt
Ottessa Moshfegh
Charlotte McConaghy

Series/Mysteries that I follow:
Tana French, (8/8)
C.J. Sansom, Matthew Shardlake series (6/6)
Ruth Ware (6/7)
Thursday Murder Club (2/3)
Maisie Dobbs (7/17)

Classic authors I love (reading novels I haven't read yet or rereads):
I'm still deciding if I want to track how many works I've read by each author . . .
Jane Austen - complete
the Brontes - complete
Virginia Woolf - complete novels
George Eliot
Trollope - (20 out of 47 novels)
Thomas Mann (3 novels)
Doestoevsky - (2 novels)
Tolstoy (2 novels)
Haldor Laxness (2 novels)
Sigrid Undset (3 novels)
Faulkner (4/17-ish novels)
Zola
Scandinavian classics
Willa Cather
Edith Wharton
John Williams (4/4 novels)
Proust - complete
Thomas Hardy
Henry James
Barbara Pym (9/13 novels)

Kindle TBR (because I never remember I have these) 36 books on this list at the beginning of 2023:
*Daughters of the Winter Queen by Nancy Goldstone
Martin Chuzzlewit
Our Mutual Friend
Nicholas Nickleby
Lost Children Archive
The Fire This Time
Sandhamn Murders by Viveca Sten books 1-6
Titan by Ron Chernow
The Imprisoned Guest by Elisabeth Gitter
How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran
Three Lives by Gertrude Stein
Compartment No. 6
The Great Circle
Tyll
The Books of Jacob
3 From Amazon world book day:
Mother Dear
*The Easy Life in Kamusari
And Eye for an Eye
She Has Her Mother's Laugh (science book on heredity)
An Experiment in Love by Hilary Mantel
A Woman's Life by Maupassant
Nightwood by Djuna Barnes
Lapovna by Otessa Moshfegh
Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie
Was Heathcliff a Murderer by Jon Sutherland
Baba Dunja’s Last Love
*Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie
East Angels by Constance Fenimore Woolson
The Town by Faulkner
The Mansion by Faulkner
Ladie’s Paradise Zola
Becoming Beauvoir
Mother Tongue

*recommended to actually read this year by LT friends

Link to my "best book by publication year" list
https://www.librarything.com/topic/346894#8025553

Reading Log

January:
1. Krakatoa by Simon Winchester
2. Fight Night by Miriam Toews
3. The Gilded Page by Mary Wellesley
4. Anne by Constance Fenimore Woolson
5. Satapur Moonstone by Sujata Massey
6. The Grimkes by Kerri K. Greenidge
7. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
8. The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys

February
9. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
10. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
11. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (reread)
12. The Land of Green Plums by Herta Muller
13. Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King
14. The Man who Died Twice by Richard Osman
15. Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

March
16. An Island by Karen Jennings
17. The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen
18. Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
19. The Lady Queen by Nancy Goldstone
20. The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
21. The Summer Book by Tove Jannson
22. Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
23. Irretrievable by Theodor Fontane
24. American Canopy by Eric Rutkow

April
25. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
26. Exiles by Jane Harper
27. Will and Testament by Vigdis Hjorth
28. Queen Victoria by Lucy Worsley
29. Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
30. Love by Hanne Orstavik
31. Angel by Elizabeth Taylor

May
32. I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
33. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt
34. Pot Luck by Emile Zola
35. The Blue Sky
36. The Nature of Oaks by Doug Tallamy
37. The Giant, O'Brien by Hilary Mantel
38. Persuasion by Jane Austen
39. What Matters in Jane Austen? by John Mullan
40. Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H.
41. A Dream in Polar Fog by Yuri Rytkheu

June
42. Fugitive Colors by Nancy Bilyeau
43. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
44. Pandora's Jar by Natalie Haynes
45. The Good Wife of Bath of Karen Brooks
46. Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
47. The Hamlet by William Faulkner
48. Know My Name by Chanel Miller
49. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Reading Log

July:
50. Love and Summer by William Trevor
51. A Map for the Missing by Belinda Huijuan Tang
52. The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym by Paula Byrne
53. 1491 by Charles C. Mann
54. The Claverings by Trollope
55. Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
56. THe Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
57. Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar
58. The Only Problem by Muriel Spark

August
59. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
60. Salka Valka by Halldor Laxness
61. Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny
62. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
63. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
64. Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
65. Midnight News by Jo Baker
66. Homestead by Melinda Moustakis
67. They Do it with Mirrors by Agatha Christie

September
68. Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear
69. Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson
70. Three Summers by Margarita Liberaki
71. Nine Black Robes by Joan Biskupic
72. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
73. The Life and Death of Harriet Frean by May Sinclair
74. A country Road, A Tree by Jo Baker

October:
75. The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
76. Becoming Beauvoir by Kate Kirkpatrick
77. The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osmun
78. Foster by Claire Keegan

#50 Love and Summer by William Trevor

In a small Irish town in the 1960s/70s, Ellie Dillahan and Florian Kilderry meet. Ellie is an orphan who was raised by nuns, sent out to be a housekeeper when she came of age, and ends up marrying the man she was keeping house for. Her husband has a tragic past, having lost his wife and child in a gruesome accident. Ellie is shy and quiet and simple. Florian Kilderry is selling his parents' house, who have both died, and trying to get over a lost love. Over a summer, the two begin spending time together and they grow close, complicated by Ellie's marriage and Florian's imminent departure.

William Trevor is a master at telling a reader what is happening without ever saying it. This book is incredibly subtle - almost nothing is said straight out, but somehow everything is clear. Using only tiny bits of dialogue and tiny moments of interior thought, Ellie, her husband, and Florian all become complete characters. I'm not sure how he did it.

I will say it's a little disorienting to read a book like this. There isn't a lot of description, isn't a lot of dialogue, isn't a lot of characters' thoughts. What is there? It's hard to describe how Trevor gets the plot across to the reader. All I know is I really liked it.

Original publication date: 2009
Author’s nationality: Irish
Original language: English
Length: 212
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: paperback at library sale
Publisher: Penguin
Why I read this: I've enjoyed other books by the author

Nice review. I’m intrigued by the subtle plot devices. Somewhere around here I have an unread collection of stories by Trevor, but I’ve never read him

>5 japaul22: I've read one William Trevor book and enjoyed it. At least I think I did. From memory it was one of those books that I couldn't fully make my mind up about, although the writing was fantastic. I think any negative thoughts were due to it being quite bleak.

>7 AlisonY: yep, that's a very similar reaction to Trevor that I have. He's a fantastic writer, but the subjects are often depressing.

#51 A Map for the Missing by Belinda Huijuan Tang

In A Map for the Missing, a 30 year old Chinese immigrant to America gets a call from his mother, who is back in his small home town in China, that his father has gone missing. Yitian leaves his American life, that he is still adapting to, for his first visit back home in 15 years. When he gets there, he starts to relive some painful moments from his teenage years, including the death of his older brother and his conflicts with his father. Most of this action takes place in the late 1970s, during the end of the Cultural Revolution. Yitian was one of the few young people to pass the gaokao, a test to be placed in the Chinese university system. One of his female friends, Hanwen, who he had a budding romance with does not pass the test. While Yitian is back looking for his father, he also reconnects with Hanwen.

While I loved hearing more about China during this time period and the book seemed well-researched, I felt there was too much going on. There were too many of Yitian's relationships being explored and I felt pulled in a lot of directions. This book was a great concept, but the execution was only ok.

Original publication date: 2022
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 400
Rating: 3 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: kindle library book
Publisher: Penguin
Why I read this: I think I must have seen an LT review that caught my eye

#52 The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym by Paula Byrne

I enjoyed this biography of one of my favorite authors. I found that what a vaguely knew of Pym was largely wrong. What I thought I knew was that she was an Emily Dickinson type - who lived a sheltered, unexciting life and wrote a bunch of novels that were barely published during her life or got little recognition. (I'm probably wrong about Emily Dickinson too . . . )

What I found instead was that Pym led a fairly modern and ahead-of-her times life. As a young woman at Oxford, she had many (disappointing) love affairs and seems to have enjoyed the sexual parts of these relationships. She traveled quite a bit, having a love affair with 1930s Germany the country and a young German man. She even thought Hitler was a good leader for Germany, before the war and atrocities came to light. She also was a Wren during WWII and traveled to Italy. She began writing novels in a focused manner in her 30s, and had six novels published between 1950-1961 which were fairly widely read. In the 60s, her style of novel, focused on "real people" and everyday life, fell out of favor during the sexual revolution. They were viewed as spinster-ly and old-fashioned, though her actual readers will know that there's quite a bit of forward-thinking in her novels. So she was unable to get any of her next novels published for a long stretch of time. In the late 70s, she was rediscovered and her novels have been in print ever since.

I liked this biography, though I was annoyed in the first third of the book at how much focus was put on her sexual relationships with men. It read like a string of failed relationships and as though that was all she cared about in her 20s. I wanted more about her female friendships, her academic endeavors, her family, her travels, etc. I think the focus of her male relationships stems from the fact that this book was largely based on Pym's diaries. I think it's normal that young women write about their love life to the exclusion of other things in their diaries! But it doesn't mean that in day-to-day life it's their primary focus or all-consuming. I wish the author had balanced the diary writings with other source material a little better. This evens out later, and I suppose in a way, Byrne was really trying to set up the fact that Pym was a liberated sexual woman. It provides good background to how incorrect it was when she's viewed as sedate, spinster-ish, and a bit prude in the 1960s. But, nevertheless, the beginning did bother me. Too much about the men!

Either way, I did enjoy learning more about Pym and I will read her novels with new eyes and better background when I reread her next.

Original publication date: 2021
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 686 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased hardcover
Publisher: William Collins, imprint of HarperCollins
Why I read this: saw it reviewed somewhere and I love author bios

Great review! I too love Pym’s novels, think I’ve read 4 or 5 of them. I think I’d agree with you about the first part of the biography, though—seems like a little research beyond her diaries for her 20’s might have helped in understanding her more deeply as a writer.

#53 1491 by Charles C. Mann

Probably most people who are interested in this have already read it, but I had not, and when I saw it at a library sale I figured it was time. 1491, of course, is Mann's attempt to describe the Americas as they looked and were inhabited before Columbus arrived. I think he does this fairly well. A lot of his assertions have made it into mainstream thinking by now, 20 years after he wrote it, but then again, there is so much we don't know that I still found the book interesting. The book mainly reminded me of that - that even this particular book itself isn't positive about almost any assertion made.

Ideas that I walked away with, though, were mainly that there were many more people living in the Americas than most people assume. It wasn't just a vast wilderness. And in fact, the indigenous people (so hard to decide which term to use - none of the options are ideal) had actually manufactured the land, the plants, and the animals to suit their needs. So the idea that we should return to native ideals of co-existing with nature are a little off. Also, many of these societies were very advanced. In some areas where we think of European society as having the edge, when you look a little deeper, the way the native American societies were living made the most sense for them and the resources they had at hand. Not lesser, just different.

All in all, still an interesting book and I'm glad I finally read it.

Original publication date: 2011 updated edition
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 563 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: library sale
Publisher: Vintage
Why I read this: have been meaning to since it came out

#54 The Claverings by Anthony Trollope

The Claverings is one of Trollope's lesser known novels, and though I quite liked it, I can see why. It contains a lot of his common themes - contrasting those who work for money vs. those who inherit, an abusive marriage with a domineering husband, and women who have to choose between love and money in marriage.

In this novel, we're thrown into the action right away. Julia Brabazon is deserting Harry Clavering to marry the extremely wealthy Lord Ongar, despite knowing he's an evil person. Well, he dies early in their marriage and she does inherit, but not without being punished for her decision by being shunned by society for accusations made by her husband about her behavior during their marriage. Harry, in the meantime, has met a lovely young woman - Florence Burton - and he is about to embark on earning a living through her family's business. When Julia returns to London, alone and friendless, Harry will have to decide which woman he wants to spend his life with.

In addition, there are the usual side stories. Julia's sister is trapped in a loveless and abusive marriage. One of Harry's sisters finds herself in love with a penniless curate. And there are some unsavory characters hanging on to Julia connected to her deceased husband, hoping for her money.

All in all I really liked this one, but I didn't find it as special as some of Trollope's other novels. It is quite a bit shorter, though, if that appeals to you.

Original publication date: 1867
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 522 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: kindle book
Publisher: public domain
Why I read this: group read with Liz (Lyzard)

#55 Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Don't bother with this mystery. It's the second in the series and I only kind of liked the first - I'm not sure why I felt compelled to read the second.

Horowitz's premise is that an editor who worked on a famous mystery writer's books is asked to find the clue to in one of the author's books that will lead a family to find their missing daughter.

So we read about the current-day mystery (the missing daughter) and start to get a picture of all of that cast of characters. And then we actually read the entire book that this mystery writer wrote. With a completely different cast of characters. Some of them are loosely based on the current-day people that he met when visiting their hotel, but it was way too loose to feel like I knew what the parallels were. And then you go back to the current-day mystery. After 175 pages of a totally different story, I barely remembered what was going on.

Meh - I didn't like it at all.

Original publication date: 2020
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 496 pages
Rating: 2 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: kindle library book
Publisher: Harper Collins
Why I read this: continuing a series

#56 The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

But this book . . . this book I loved and read in two days. It is set in a maternity ward in Ireland during the influenza epidemic in the early 1900s. The main character is Julia Power, who is a nurse running the short-staffed ward for pregnant mothers with influenza. She is highly competent, intelligent, and caring without letting her emotions color her work. She lives with her brother, who is suffering with PTSD after fighting in WWI.

Into her well-ordered life enters Bridie Sweeney, sent by a local convent that houses orphaned young women in return for servitude. Bridie and Nurse Power are immediately drawn to each other. They work well together and over a brief couple of days form a strong bond that is just what Julia has been lacking in her otherwise full life.

The pacing of this novel is fantastic. Donoghue writes in four long sections that mimic the hectic pace of the maternity ward. One of the reasons I read it so fast is that there is nowhere to stop - just as the nurses/doctors experience the relentless pace of illness and birth, the reader does as well.

It's also an intriguing parallel between the influenza pandemic and the covid pandemic. I was so interested to know that Donoghue wrote this before covid - it seems so clearly like an intentional parallel. The fear of contagion resulting in isolation, the masks and disinfecting, the trauma for hospital workers, the ineffectual government response . . .

Original publication date: 2020
Author’s nationality: Irish
Original language: English
Length: 295 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased paperback at Browseabout Books at Rehoboth Beach, DE
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Why I read this: enjoy the author

Wonderful reviews, Jennifer! You make me want to read more Trollope—and I will hope to get to The Pull of the Stars this year. I’ve read only one book by Donoghue, Haven, which I really enjoyed. I can see I would enjoy exploring more of her work too.

I've also read Haven, The Wonder, Slammerkin, Room, and Akin and I've liked them all. They are all really different, but I found them all compulsively readable.

>12 japaul22: I read this in... 2011, just reread my review to refresh memory, and yeah, the managed wilderness was enlightening.
>15 japaul22: I've read two of her books, have a third in the queue, will add this one too.

>15 japaul22: - Coincidentally, I'm currently listening to Little Souls by Sandra Dallas which is about the Spanish Influenza epidemic and takes place in Denver, CO. I have not read any Donoghue yet, but will put this on my list for a future read. Sounds good.

>15 japaul22: I also loved this book. I found the ending heartbreaking.

>15 japaul22: >16 dianelouise100: Love her books! Haven was as slow as this one was fast, but that pace was very appropriate, just like it was in Pull of the Stars; such an amazing writer: I think I first read slammerkin and was hooked

Yay for all the Emma Donoghue love!

>20 rhian_of_oz: Totally agree with your spoiler. I found myself tearing up several times throughout the novel.

>18 qebo: I think the manufacturing of the wilderness will be the main thing I learned and take away from that book.

>15 japaul22: Read your review last night and wouldn't ya know, I spotted it at the Newberry Library book sale today & grabbed it!

>23 kac522: love it!

#57 Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar

I seem to be going "every other" with liking books. This one didn't work for me. I thought I was going to read a mountaineering/exploration type book, which I tend to love. Instead this read more like true crime/unsolved mysteries.

The story is that a group of 9 young men and women in 1950s Soviet Union set out on a winter hiking trip into the Ural Mountains. They are experienced hikers trying for their Class 3 hiking certification - the highest level. They don't return on time and a rescue mission is sent out to look for them. What the rescue team finds is horrific. An empty tent with only the hikers' possessions - food in middle of being eaten, coats, boots, and 3 slashes in the back of the tent. They begin to find the bodies of the hikers in small groups, all over a mile from their tent. All deceased. All without boots/shoes.

What happened was never solved and an American writer decides to investigate. He goes to Russia several times to conduct interviews and retrace part of their route. The book became too much about him.

The book ends with the writer's version about what happened. I wasn't convinced at all.

Very unsatisfying. Also felt sort of voyeuristic and like it wasn't this random American's job to be investigating this.

Original publication date: 2013
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 288 pages
Rating: 2 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased kindle book
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Why I read this: misunderstood the topic

#58 The Only Problem by Muriel Spark

I usually love Muriel Spark, but this one didn't work for me. It's an odd story about clueless adults mixed up in politics and casually switching around how they partner up. And in the background, the main character studies the Book of Job from the Bible.

I got nothing from reading this.

Original publication date: 1984
Author’s nationality: Scottish
Original language: English
Length: 192 pages
Rating: 2 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased hardcover Everyman's edition of 4 novellas
Publisher: Everyman's Library
Why I read this: completing a set of 4 novellas contained in this one book - I loved the others - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Girls of Slender Means, The Driver's Seat

#59 Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

I have so far held off on reading anything by the popular Emily St. John Mandel, but this book called to me on a recent book shopping trip.

This is a time travel book and it reminded me of Cloud Atlas in the circular nature of the plot and trajectory of the book. It is a little less complicated than David Mitchell's book, though. I liked some of the detail that was put in about the different time periods, and I was flying through the book to find out answers. In the end, I realized I figured out the main plot twist right at the beginning, which was sort of disappointing. Also, I didn't really feel a deep connection to any of the characters.

Some of my disappointments were masked as I was reading - I really devoured the book and enjoyed it along the way. But the more I think about it, the more disillusioned I feel.

Original publication date: 2022
Author’s nationality: Canadian
Original language: English
Length: 259 pages
Rating: 3 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased paperback at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach, DE
Publisher: Knopf
Why I read this: curious about the author

>25 japaul22: Ah, Dyatlov Pass! I'd read a book about it, but probably not that one now. ;) Thanks for the review.

>28 ursula: I hope there are better books out there about the incident!

I got a nice surprise when Ann Patchett's new novel, Tom Lake, showed up at my door this morning. I believe I pre-ordered it on a particularly frustrating work day and then forgot about it!

Looking forward to reading it once I finish Salka Valka.

>29 japaul22: Smithsonian did an article about it - not as in-depth as a book can be, of course, but solid info as far as it went. They blamed it on an avalanche of odd type. I don't know, of course, what your author decided was the cause.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-may-have-finally-unraveled-...

>31 jjmcgaffey: Nope, not the same theory!

>27 japaul22: Great comments. Station Eleven is Mandel's best book, in my opinion.

I'll watch for your comments on Tom Lake; I have it on reserve at the library, but I am not first on the list.

Patchett is one of those authors that call on me when a new book is released. "read me now" I usually obey so going to get it today

>31 jjmcgaffey: Interesting article. I was curious as to Eichar hypothesis and read a few reviews. One mentioned that the author did not speak Russian. I wonder who his translators were and what their bias was in the story.

#60 Salka Valka by Halldor Laxness

The eponymous Salka Valka is just a young girl of eleven when she and her mother arrive in a tiny fishing town on Iceland's coast. They were on their way south to Reykjavik and between the mother's seasickness and her inability to fund their whole trip, they need to disembark. They find a small village whose entire economy is based on fishing and controlled by one man, who tracks everyone's work and debits what he gives them from his store - no money is involved. Salka and her mother, Sigurlina, turn to the local Salvation Army chapter for support.

They can't find work, but end up living with an older couple. Salka shows an independent spirit from the beginning of the novel. Her mother seems unwilling to work when she runs into some roadblocks, but Salka begins cleaning fish and earning a place in the town's ledger. She also ends up able to be tutored by a local boy. Salka is not only independent, she is different. She wears trousers and cuts off her hair, and as she grows up she becomes a more important voice in the community, even organizing the local fisherman into a union. The book turns to a conflict between Bolshevism and capitalism, with those actually doing the work caught in the middle of the ideas brought by outsiders. Salka has a hard life in terms of her relationships. I don't want to give away too many plot points, but she has a traumatic experience with one of her mother's lovers, and this definitely colors her later relationships - both with him (he unfortunately remains in and out of her life) and with other men.

Overall I really enjoyed this. Despite the diatribes on religion and politics, I found the writing less dense than some of Laxness's other novels. Because there is a pretty solid focus on Salka alone, it was easy to stay engaged in her life. It was fascinating to see how this fishing village operated in the early 1900s and to see the changes that take place through the early 20th century. I read a recent translation published by Archipelago.

Original publication date: 1930s
Author’s nationality: Icelandic
Original language: Icelandic, translated by Philip Roughton
Length: 630 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased paperback from Archipelago
Publisher: Archipelago
Why I read this: like the author

>36 japaul22: I read Independent People and actively disliked it. The protagonist was so awful and did some awful things that I wasn't able to get past. Others like Laxness so much that I've wanted to give him another go, sounds like Salka Valka might be a good choice. And I do like supporting Archipelago Press.

>37 labfs39: there are some awful things in Salka Valka as well, though I didn't feel like the reader was supposed to look past them or condone them.

But I also loved Independent People.

>27 japaul22: I really enjoyed your review of the Sea of Tranquility. Sometimes reviews of books one didn't enjoy as much as they hoped are far more interesting. Not every book is meant for every reader, don't you agree?

>39 avaland: Agreed! I'm still glad I read Sea of Tranquility. There was something compelling about it that made me understand why so many people really enjoyed it. But overall the book didn't work for me.

>27 japaul22: Sea of Tranquillity is on my list; it may even be in the house. I've read three other novels by St John Mandel, and enjoyed them all, especially The Glass Hotel, so looking forward to this one.

>36 japaul22: Another author, another three books read, but Salka Valka is a new title to me. Enjoyed your review, and I always enjoy reading books set by the sea, so will look for this. As others have said, Archipelago is also worth while too.

#61 Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny

This is the nonfiction account of a group of six people who make a trek down the dangerous Colorado River in the 1930s. Their goal is to provide opportunities for two women botanists, Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter, to catalog the plants in this remote and unstudied region.

In the 1930s, few people had survived the trek down the Colorado River. This was before any significant dams and reservoirs had been built and there were tons of dangerous rapids. Also, the sheer faces of the cliffs rise straight up from the river, leaving few sandbanks to camp on. In fact, no women had survived the journey. Clover and Jotter had already faced tons of discrimination to even try to be recognized in the field of botany. In trying to organize this trip, they faced even more sexism and discrimination.

After a rough start, they and the group do have a successful journey and contribute much to the field of botany. Because they go before the Colorado River is significantly changed by dams and controlled water flow, their research illluminates plant life during a window of time that no longer exists after human interference.

I really enjoyed this book.

Original publication date: 2023
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 304 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased kindle book
Publisher: W.W. Norton and Company
Why I read this: topic sounded interesting

>42 japaul22: Hmm, looks interesting.

>27 japaul22:

Joining in on the Mandel conversation. I read Station Eleven and really enjoyed it as a different approach to a dystopian novel but I thought The Glass Hotel was just a whole lot of nothingness. Well written nothingness but really a book about nothing. I also had turned the pages right till the end but then it solidified that I hated all the characters and really couldn't have cared about the plot. I decided then to not continue on with her books.

I think she is definitely an author where everyone agrees she writes well but then it becomes a matter of personal taste whether you actually care for the book afterward.

>43 qebo: I hope you’ll give Brave the Wild River a try - it was interesting.

>44 lilisin: that’s interesting that you had a similar experience with The Glass Hotel - I think she overlaps some characters between it and Sea of Tranquility. I’d be willing to give the author one more try if a plot synopsis appeals to me, but I’m not in a rush to do so.

I'll join the Mandel conversation to say that I'm currently reading Last Night in Montreal and can't decide whether to keep going or not. I've only ever read Station Eleven and liked that one so I'll probably keep going, but I'm finding one of the main characters annoying.

>46 dudes22: Hm. She seems like a good writer, but maybe her books are so different from each other that liking one doesn't mean you'll like another.

#62 Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

In Tom Lake, three young adult sisters, Emily, Maisie, and Nell, are home at their northern Michigan cherry farm, waiting out the covid pandemic. As they harvest cherries, their mother, Lara, tells them about a pivotal summer in her life when she did summer stock at local Tom Lake, dated a future movie star, and met their father, Joe.

It's great story telling and appealing characters. Easy, summer reading. Not Patchett's most ambitious work, but it still features her solid writing style and memorable characters and situations. Very enjoyable.

Original publication date: 2023
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 320 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: pre-ordered hardcover
Publisher: Harper
Why I read this: really enjoy Patchett's writing

>48 japaul22: I'm looking forward to this one, Jennifer.

>48 japaul22: I just finished Tom Lake today, Jennifer. I loved it. I agree it wasn't ambitious, but it was solid and often moving, too.

>50 lauralkeet: Agreed! Lots of lovely little details too. She really captured the joy that some families were able to carve out of the sadness and fear of the pandemic.

#63 Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead is a novel that is hard to describe. On the surface, it's a murder mystery set in a small town in Poland on the border with the Czech Republic. It is winter and our aging narrator, Janina, is caring for her neighbors' properties because only a few stay in this remote village over winter. People start dying in suspicious ways. Janina, who is an expert in astrology, suspects the animals in their region, who are sick of being hunted and eaten by the local men.

Though you would expect that this dramatic-sounding story would be the obvious focal point of the book, it is not. Instead, it's a character study of the unreliable narrator, her neighbors and friends, and life in the village.

It's a unique novel and I see both why it's so respected and popular, and why it might not get glowing reviews across the board. It's a bit tough to know what you're supposed to be experiencing as a reader. But, I ended up really liking it.

Original publication date: 2009, 2019 translation by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
Author’s nationality: Polish
Original language: Polish
Length: 285 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased for kindle
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Why I read this: curious about this book and it's been waiting on my kindle for years

>52 japaul22: Enjoyed this review very much. I read this a few years ago and I really liked it too. But I also found it confusing about what she wanted the reader to experience. I tried afterward to read Flight, but that was too confusing and I dnf’d at about 50 pages.

>53 dianelouise100: I expect a Nobel prize winner to be a bit experimental in some way, so I wasn't surprised by my reaction. I did purchase The Books of Jacob but I'm not sure I'll ever read it, being 1000 pages and after feeling only part-way convinced that the much shorter Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead was for me.

>54 japaul22: I really wanted to read TBoJ after reading the NYT review. thrilled to get it after it came out. What a door stop! I started it then just got overwhelmed and set it aside. Might read dypobd instead, like you

>55 cindydavid4: I often really like long books, but this one doesn't seem appealing any more. Maybe some day. Or maybe it will stay on my kindle forever .. .

#64 Lab Girl by Hope Jahrens

Lab Girl was a mixed bag for me. It's a memoir of a scientist who studies paleobotany. The science info about trees and plants and the trials and tribulations of being a scientist were fascinating - 5 star writing.

On the other hand, the details of her personal life and the general vibe of her personality were really annoying. The first half of the book I just kept thinking "why in the world is she living like this?" Crazy all-nighters working, eating awful food, not showering, weird relationship with a coworker, etc. Then she reveals that she's bipolar and finally gets on medication, so some of that evens out. But still, I think I would not like her personality in person. She has a strange sense of humor. Normally I'm careful to not judge a female writer in this way, because I think women are usually held to a higher standard of what is acceptable in their personality than men are. In this instance, though, Jahren makes her personality such a big part of the book that it was impossible for me not to comment on.

I also was really thrown by the title of this book. With "girl" in the title, I was expecting a memoir by someone young and new to the career. Maybe some humor and levity. But Hope Jahren is anything but a "girl". She's an adult woman with lots of awards and recognition in her field. I think using the word "girl" detracts from her accomplishments and sets the reader up for a different book than they are going to get. Maybe that's just me since using the world girl to describe grown women is a real pet peeve of mine.

As I said, a mixed bag for me. I think enough of it was fascinating that I would still recommend it. I just am afraid that I will remember the annoying parts most.

Original publication date: 2016
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 290 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased paperback at library sale
Publisher: Knopf
Why I read this: saw good reviews and I like reading about trees/plants

I also loved Drive Your Plow, Jennifer. I loved Janina's voice.

I have Lab Girl on my shelf, so one day... Your comments help to temper my expectations.

>57 japaul22:

I'm interested. Scientists are all too often deemed to lack personality, especially women, so the bigger/weirder the better, as far as I'm concerned... at least when it comes to reading about them! As for the title, maybe it wasn't entirely her choice? It seems those attention-grabbing particulars are often left to the mercy of editors. "Lab woman"... hmm... maybe it's me, but wouldn't that sound odd? Otoh, it's true, I can't picture a male scientist's memoir being titled "Lab boy".

By the way, if you like reading about women in science, you might like Rita Colwell's A Lab of One's Own: One Woman's Personal Journey Through Sexism in Science. She had a co-writer but I think that's honest, and it's so far the best description of a woman's career in science, of a certain generation to be sure, that I know of.

>57 japaul22: I tried this one on audio some years back and noped out of it pretty quickly. She read her own book and I couldn't cope with the way she did it.

>59 LolaWalser: Agreed that "Lab Woman" doesn't work. :-) Maybe something completely different would have been better. Thanks for the recommendation of Rita Colwell's book. I read a little more about it and it looks like something I would enjoy.

>60 ursula: Interesting - I feel like Dan replied somewhere (maybe the "what are you reading" thread) that he really liked the audiobook.

>57 japaul22: I completely agree about the two sides of this book. Really interesting science, but why there was so much of her personal life where it didn't intersect with her work was beyond me.

I read this back in 2019 with my book club, and just went back to see what I said about it, but seem to have not reviewed it, or several other reads from that year. Yikes - I must get back to reviewing. Anyway, there were conflicting opinions on her decisions to mingle her personal life into the book. Interestingly, the science people were not as keen on it as the people who were less attuned to her work and more interested in her life. Differences like these are one of the things I really enjoy about my book club. There were similar reactions to The Mother Tree this past spring.

I actually had a summer job once in an archo-ethnobotany lab. It was fascinating.

I get that a _lot_ in popular science books, especially history of science (which is a subject I really enjoy). When they're (many many authors) writing about fascinating discoveries and analyses, but then veer off to spend entire chapters on who was feuding with who over what...YAWN. First person (author is scientist), third (author is not scientist, or may even be writing about several scientists working on X subject)...for whatever reason, they think people who pick up a book on X subject need to know all the scandals and feuds and arguments that the scientist (or architects, or whatever) got involved in. Brunelleschi's Dome was a bad example I read recently. The architecture parts were _fascinating_...

>62 SassyLassy: I'm glad to hear others were put off by the amount of personal life included in the book. I guess I'm not surprised that there are competing viewpoints on this, though!

>63 jjmcgaffey: Lab Girl is less about feuding scientists (though I've noticed this is other books - history books too, occasionally) and more about her lifestyle and relationships. I would have minded that less if it felt more directly connected to her science in some way.

#65 Midnight News by Jo Baker

Midnight News is a highly enjoyable, though rather straight ahead and familiar, homefront WWII novel. The main character, Charlotte Richmond, is living in a small apartment in London and working for the war effort transcribing documents. When the Blitz begins, she starts losing her female friends. Four in a row die in bombings - though suspiciously. Charlotte also begins to feel she's being followed. Slowly her background is revealed, including that her family had her committed to an insane asylum in the recent past for promiscuity. As her friends die, she begins hearing their voices in her head and believes less and less that their deaths were simply a result of the Blitz. While this is happening, Charlotte also begins developing a relationship with a young man with a physical disability. It's clear that if they develop a relationship, he will be a grounding, steady force in her life.

This is a plot-driven novel that clips along enjoyably. Charlotte is an interesting and engaging main character. I had fun reading this, but I didn't get some of the compelling themes and insights that I look for in Jo Baker's novels. I also thought the conclusion was wrapped up a little too neatly and quickly.

In the afterward, she credited her reading of Elizabeth Bowen to the ideas behind this novel. That got me a little more interested again and I felt I could see what she was trying to do. But despite having read several Bowen novels, I didn't make that connection on my own.

I think most people will enjoy this novel, but I don't think it's the best example of what Jo Baker is capable of.

Original publication date: 2023
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 322 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: kindle library book
Publisher: Knopf
Why I read this: Jo Baker typically writes creative, interesting novels

>57 japaul22: Thanks for this review - makes me want to go back and reread Lab Girl with your critique in mind - her personality didn't grate on me, and I wonder what I'd see differently a second time through.

>59 LolaWalser: Thanks for this recommendation; I've added A lab of one's own to my wishlist. It sounds fascinating!

>57 japaul22: Hmm, I read this in 2016 and didn't write any comments, so about all I remember is a generally positive impression because of the science. I tend to like the intertwining of personal life if it's not overwhelming.

I've been lurking through the Lab Girl discussion. I liked the book, but also agree with the issues you mentioned. It took a while for her to reveal the mental health concerns behind her behavior, so I was a bit put off and wondered how she could ever have been successful. At other points in the book she alluded to painful life events, but didn't offer much explanation. That's her right, of course, but it made me wonder throughout whether this was a "personal hardship" memoir or a "successful career" memoir. A mixed bag, as you say.

Lab Girl - I appreciate all the comments. I’d like to mention that i liked the personal aspect because it tells a lot about what it takes to be a tenured, leading professor in a non-industry science. I found it scary and enlightening to see the stuff you have to do to get funding, so that you can publish stuff that will actually get you a reputation. The nature of all that is that it’s extremely demanding, and takes a heavy personal toll. Her ability to take advantage of a supporter who wants none of that benefit or job security was very interesting to me. I found it a revealing window. I think, in a way, that’s the underlying purpose of the book.

Love your review of Barbara Pym, and that she had a crazy life (if disturbingly pro-Nazi.) Terrific review of Drive You Plow. I know Mark really took to TBoJ. It was nice read about Tom Lake. And I’m intrigued by Brave the Wild River. John Wesley Powell always fascinated me. He’s the first to document a trip down the Grand Canyon (1869?). Obviously I’m catching up a bit…

Lots of people have read Lab Girl! Definitely a mix of reactions, as well. I agree that the funding issue was a central reason she wrote the book. She also says at the end that the book is a tribute to Bill, her lab partner, which does explain why so much of their personal life was in there. I guess I just preferred the science and didn't get quite enough of it.

>69 dchaikin: Thanks for taking the time to catch up with my reviews! I read a bio of John Wesley Powell a couple of years ago, The Promise of the Grand Canyon. Actually, I just went back and read my review and it sounds like I had a similar reaction as I had to Lab Girl - interesting . . .
Here's the review:
Light on science, heavy on politics, I wasn't enamored of this book. John Wesley Powell himself is an interesting character. He explored the Grand Canyon through its famous Colorado River, a dangerous journey to be sure. The first journey turned into a fight for survival, with half of the party striking out on their own across the desert rather than facing more rapids, never to be seen again. The second journey finally focused more on the science and exploration, but I was never satisfied that it was really explained. How did he come to these large-scale conclusions about the earth's geologic history and formation? It wasn't discussed to my satisfaction. It's hard thing to explain, certainly, but I felt the author took the easy way out and instead focused on the trip itself and the people involved.

After Powell's exploration days are over, he begins making the argument with Congress that he should be funded to create a topographical map of the entire western region. He argues that this map will help explain where water is available and, more commonly, where it is not. The western United States is largely arid, and the story being handed out to settlers that it was a land of opportunity for farming was not the case.

While there were interesting aspects of this book, I kept wishing it had been done a little differently. I wanted more of the science and less of the personal relationships in this instance.

>70 japaul22: Not a very inspiring take. I don't think JWP was actually all that scientific ever, at least I haven't picked up on that. But he was very political. My entry was a version of his second trip down the canyon, written the by the artist hired to come along. (A Canyon Voyage: The Story of John Wesley Powell and the Charting of the Grand Canyon by Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh). He had to wait until after JWP passed away, before he could publish it, in 1908. It was entertaining (and no one died).

>66 markon:

You're welcome!

re: further comments on Lab Girl; haven't read it so not about the book, but in general, doing science as it is today unfortunately DOES mean doing and worrying about tons of things that aren't research. While I can see that those parts may be offputting to people who only want to read about science, they are legitimately part and parcel of it and I couldn't imagine a scientist's memoir without them. Just wouldn't be real, you know? Also, isn't a memoir a biographical genre? I hope no one is expecting scientists to have even less personal life than we do. :)

>69 dchaikin: it tells a lot about what it takes
>72 LolaWalser: couldn't imagine a scientist's memoir without
I figure that if I want pure(ish) science, it's available, and if I pick up a memoir it's because I'm actively seeking the personal component.

>71 dchaikin: yes, I think you are right - more of a politician than a scientist in a lot of ways. That book looks interesting.

>72 LolaWalser: Agreed - and I did enjoy/appreciate the info she gave about how hard it is to sustain a lab financially. That part of the book I found interesting and applicable.

I think Laura hit on a lot of the same reactions I had here >68 lauralkeet:

I'm more glad that I read it, now that we've had so much interesting conversation around it!

Finally catching up with your thread—interesting conversation about Lab Girl. I've had that one for ages but haven't read it (also have her The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here—has anyone here read that one?). I'm still interested in reading it, mostly because of the really varied opinions I've read, though I feel like the personal part would be a little aggravating. And I always feel like any book with "girl" in the title had better really justify that usage. (Kind of off-topic, but since I only have the ebook I only ever see the cover, in passing, in thumbnail mode, and always think the central image is a fired-up joint, even though I know better.)

Now I'm definitely interested in A Lab of One's Own, and I've had Brave the Wild River wishlisted for a while. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead is my book club's next selection, so I'll be able to weigh in on that one before too long.

>75 lisapeet: My cover of Lab Girl has Lab letters in soil with a tree (I assume) sprouting out of it. And a pair of tweezers holding an acorn.

Looking forward to seeing your reviews on any of the books you mention! I think Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead will make a good book club selection.

#66 Homestead by Melinda Moustakis

Homestead is a confident first novel by a young author. It covers three years in the 1950s in Alaska - the time period when the territory becomes a state. Lawrence and Marie meet in a bar and quickly decide to get married. Lawrence has ambitions to claim a homestead and needs a wife and subsequent children to complete his dream. Marie is looking for escape and her sister already lives in Alaska.

The novel becomes a portrait of this new, inexperienced marriage. Lawrence is damaged from his time in the war, and even without that has a secretive, loner personality. Marie is more open and youthful and can't understand how or if she is supposed to really connect with Lawrence. They are lucky to have Marie's sister, Sheila, and her husband Sly nearby for support and company. While close, the four also deal with jealousy and keep secrets. Marie quickly gets pregnant and Sheila seems unable to get pregnant, despite years of trying. As time goes by, Lawrence and Marie begin to build a marriage, but Lawrence is keeping a secret that could easily destroy everything they've built.

All this is set against the backdrop of the Alaskan wilderness. The descriptions of the land and the people living there add a lot to the book.

My one complaint, though, was the writing style/tone. Moustakis uses short, clipped sentences and the description is sparse. I was actually so annoyed for the first 80 pages that I almost set the book aside. But I stuck with it, and about half way in I was fully invested and enjoying all of it.

I would definitely be interested in reading whatever Moustakis writes next.

Original publication date: 2023
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 259 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased hardback
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Why I read this: Kay's (RidgewayGirl) review caught my eye

Lots of interesting books here; I might still try that book by Muriel Spark, see if it works for me...

>78 edwinbcn: I've enjoyed everything else I've read by Muriel Spark so I'd never suggest not reading her work!

>75 lisapeet: Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead certainly worked for my book club. It was definitely an interesting discussion. Will be interested in hearing how it works with your group.

>77 japaul22: Glad you liked it. I think the spare writing style suited the setting and the characters.

#67 They Do it with Mirrors by Agatha Christie

I felt in the mood for something light and quick, so I turned to an Agatha Christie mystery. It was enjoyable, with a fun cast of characters. I find these predictable, but great comfort reading. This was a Miss Marple, and I think I like hers best.

Original publication date: 1952
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 224 pages
Rating: 3 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: library kindle book
Publisher: William Morrow
Why I read this: something light

#68 Mapping of Love and Death by Jacquline Winspear

I was looking for another fun, easy book and remembered that I used to really enjoy the Maisie Dobbs mystery series, set in the aftermath of WWI. For some reason, I fell out of the habit of reading these, and I decided to give it another try.

This seventh mystery in the series is about an American cartographer who volunteers with the British in the beginning of WWI. He is killed and decades later his family comes upon some evidence of a relationship he had during the war that they want to investigate. They turn to Maisie to carry this out.

I really enjoyed this and I think I'll slowly continue on with the series.

Original publication date: 2010
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 338 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: library kindle book
Publisher: Harper
Why I read this: something light, looking for a mystery series

We had a horrible stomach bug go through the house this weekend that my 10 year old brought home from school Wednesday night. So our Labor Day weekend was pretty gross! Everyone seems on the mend now. I watched two Jane Austen miniseries - the classic 1995 Pride and Prejudice that I've seen a million times, and the 2008 Sense and Sensibility. I also started a comfort read - Miss Buncle's Book.

>83 japaul22: I too enjoy the Maisie Dobbs series. They hit the spot sometimes.

>84 japaul22: Yikes, sounds horrid. I hope you are all on the mend. Both of those miniseries are favorite go-tos with my daughter and me when we need some quality comfort. I enjoyed Miss Buncle's Book too. Unfortunately I thought the trilogy slipped with each successive book.

>85 labfs39: It was bad, but these things are over fast at least. I doubt I'll read past Miss Buncle's Book but it seems enjoyable enough so far.

>76 japaul22: I’ve just borrowed the audio version of Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. It looks interesting and I love books set in Central Europe. They have a peculiar kind of darkness whatever the genre.

>87 kjuliff: I hope you enjoy it! I've continued thinking about it since finishing it. It's really very good, in my opinion.

>84 japaul22: I'm glad you are all on the mend.

It's working! As I'm sure most of us have experienced, LibraryThing has not been working for me the past few days because of the cyberattack they are experiencing. I have to get ready for work right now, but I admit to panicking a bit - because of the thought of losing access to my catalog and many of my reviews (I do have most in word docs), but mainly because of not being able to get in touch with all of you!

Hope the issue is resolved now, though I won't be surprised to see it not working again - sounds like a serious issue.

I feel the same way, Jennifer. Without LT I would lose my sole contact method for many of my LT friends. I hope Tim et al can defend the keep!

Yeah, also i really miss this place when it’s down.

I was another worried about losing contact with LT friends, as well as losing my lists of books read/reviews and my library (so many unread I can't remember which ones I own. I don't keep copies of my reviews or TBR lists anywhere else.

For everyone, as far as your cataloguing and book reviews, did this week's issues make you consider a different system or backup system for the book info you store on LT?

I usually copy and paste every review from my thread into a word doc at the end of the year and I have them all on my computer (and backed up of course) since I joined LT and began writing reviews in 2009. When we had the issue this week, the one time I could get on, I quickly copy/pasted all of my 2023 reviews to a word doc so I wouldn't lose them if something dire happened! I think I'll start writing them in the word doc and copy/paste the opposite way from now on.

I think my catalog of books on LT is messy enough that it wouldn't be the end of the world for me to lose it, but I would be sad to lose my reviews.

#69 Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson

A charming, quick read about a woman who writes a novel based on her hometown. When the townspeople read it, they are largely offended by the characterizations. And also, some of Miss Buncle's story line ends up happening in real life. An amusing fictional account of fiction both imitating and becoming reality.

Original publication date: 1934
Author’s nationality: Scottish
Original language: English
Length: 299 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: library book sale
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Why I read this: something light

>94 japaul22: yes. I need to back up. My catalogue has lots of info i like to know - including where and when i got a book. My tags my the original publication date (first, so i can sort). And i have lots of edited info about copies.

>94 japaul22: - Yes - it did have me doing a little consideration. I keep a speadsheet with tabs for each year that lists the books I've read (and a few other things), but not with any near the level of detail from LT. It did make me consider if I should download/export some of my other collections maybe yearly, so I at least have a list of books and authors. Certainly something to think about.

>94 japaul22: About once a year I export my data following these steps:

https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Export

It creates a humongus spreadsheet, but if you fool around with it, it's somewhat manageable. After this week I'm thinking I should do it more often.

ETA: Note that one of the functions that may not be back working 100% yet is the Export function, if I understand the comments on Tim's current stress update thread.

>88 japaul22: >80 SassyLassy: I’ve listened to about 30% of Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead and think I will end up enjoying it.But the reader’s accent, though fitting for the book, is a bit annoying, and I can’t see where the book iis going. Maybe I need to read some reviews. To date I’m a bit ambivalent.

The readers voice is so slow and I tend to read in bed, so I keep overshooting my timer and have to keep going back to the latest bookmark. So that may account for my confusion.

It’s the sort of book I normally like. I also was disappointed with Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck who is on of my favorite novelist.

So it’s probably just me …

>99 kjuliff: I will say it took me a bit to get into DYPOtBotD. But I've also had the experience of disliking how an audiobook is read - that can really color a reading experience.

>100 japaul22: Thanks. So you did get into DYPOTBOTD. I’m starting to as well. What did you think of the reader’s voice on this one?
Yes I totally agree re the importance of the voice. I always try a sample.

It’s also interesting when the reader speaks in the voice of other than the main character when they are of the opposite sex, and when there are several characters with different but similar accents.

There’s a very good book whose name I’ve forgotten. It has a lot of dialog all from people from different parts of Africa, set I think in Liverpool. I just couldn’t handle the audio version. I was completely lost and never knew which character was speaking.

>101 kjuliff: I didn't listen to DYPLOTBOD on audio, so I can't comment on this specific book, I just meant I've had the experience of disliking a reader before.

But even in print, the first person narrator is simply an odd person. I believe that if you stick with it, you'll see that her oddities are part of the story and the whole thing might start to grow on you.

>102 japaul22: I’m still sticking with DYPLOTBOD but there’s something about the reader’s voice - I keep falling asleep. It relaxes me. I bookmark as soon as I start listening so I keep going back to the latest bookmark and move forward till I find my place. That’s a problem with audio. If you fall asleep with a print book you can see the last page you turned. But with audio, even though I set a timer it doesn’t always work, and even when it does I do t know when I stopped reading.

Pity there’s no turn the page function with audio.

#70 Three Summers by Margarita Liberaki

Three Summers is a Greek classic written in the 1940s about three sisters on the cusp of adulthood. The narrator is the youngest sister, Katerina, and she tells of three summers in which the sisters begin to morph into women and discover themselves and more about the world they live in. Maria, the oldest sister, gets married and begins a family. Infanta, the middle sister, is the more removed and reserved personality - a bit enigmatic. And Katerina, as narrator, wears her heart on her sleeve and shares her roiling emotions as she falls in love for the first time.

It's a summery, warm book that sometimes has a lazy, indolent feel and sometimes has an urgency and drama to it. I liked it quite a bit, though I also found myself having a hard time concentrating on it occasionally. I would recommend.

Original publication date: 1946
Author’s nationality: Greek
Original language: Greek
Length: 245 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased nyrb edition
Publisher: nyrb
Why I read this: something different and these nyrb books generally have a certain vibe that I like once in a while

>104 japaul22: this is a nice lt discovery. I’ve never heard of this. Enjoyed your review

>105 dchaikin: I’ve found so many interesting books through the NYRB publications.

>104 japaul22: Three summers does sound interesting.

I have not been backing up Library Thing data, but would be horrified to lose my lists of books read and my contacts here.

Glad you and the family are feeling better.

Has anyone had sciatica? I'm really struggling with it and wondering if anyone has had it and found a way to relieve it. I've tried a five day course of oral steroids which didn't help at all, and I've been doing the stretches my doctor gave me. They feel good while I'm doing them, but the pain returns as soon as I'm done.

Ive had it many times, found some exercises that really helped*. my med of choice it extra strength tylenol tho you have to watch the dosage

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTEfL12pli8

>108 japaul22: I’m so sorry you have this, Jennifer. I had sciatica off and on over a period of about 20 years—it was finally resolved by surgery, and I wished I had had the surgery sooner. I’m hoping yours can be relieved more quickly and less invasively, there are other medications that can help. My advice would be to keep in close contact with your doctor so that he/she understands just how debilitating this pain is for you.

>109 cindydavid4: Thanks - those exercises are similar to ones I've been trying.

>110 dianelouise100: Thanks for that - I hope it's something I can get through without surgery. It's early days - my third week of pain - and I haven't even been able to get into PT yet, so I have a long way to go.

I hope you’ll see a gradual improvement over the next few weeks. Do keep us posted.

>55 cindydavid4: I’ve become wary of the NY Times reviews. I usually pop over to The Guardian to check a book out when The NY Times recommends.

NYT seem to go for what’s popular over what’s good, though the two often collide.

>65 japaul22: think most people will enjoy this novel, but I don't think it's the best example of what Jo Baker is capable of.

What is a good example of a Jo Barker novel. She sounds interesting but I haven’t read any of her. Books.

>114 kjuliff: My favorites, with the caveat that I haven't read all her novels, are A Country Road, A Tree, about Samuel Beckett's time living in France during WWII, and Longbourn, which is Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of the servants.

>114 kjuliff: I also really liked Longbourn best of her books so far. I still have A Country Road, A Tree on my shelf.

She seems to always put an interesting spin on a novel that could otherwise come off as very ordinary.

>116 japaul22: >115 RidgewayGirl: Thanks, I’ve put these on. My list. Emily St. John Mandel’s The Singer’s Gun just became available at my local library (in audio) so I’ll take advantage of that first.

Country Road , a Tree sounds intriguing. I think I’ll put that next.

>113 kjuliff: i thought the NYT reviews got a lot worse over the 2010’s. I assumed they were budget cutting.

>118 dchaikin: I used to disregard any book recommended by the LA Times; now I might have to do this with The NY Times - use it as a litmus test on what not to read …

I don't regularly read any newspaper's book reviews. I sometimes glance through lists of books "soon to be published" and often check out end of the year "best books" lists. I'm not sure why I never got in the habit of reading the Books section of a newspaper. Sounds like I'm not missing much!

we have no local book section in our locals which is really a shame as is a theatre section, in a city as big as ours is. I rarely actually read our local; mostly crime and car accidents it seems like.

I enjoy the NYT book review tho I am cautious about some of the reviewers; read one for a fantasy novel, that is dissed by a review who hats sf/fan.....pays to watch for that kinda thing

There is a topic here on LT where one person posts reviews from many sources - such as TLS § NYRB.
Exploring Books Through Articles, Reviews, Announcements, & Lists 2023-3 July-September https://www.librarything.com/topic/351977#n8229769

#71 Nine Black Robes: Inside the Supreme Court's Drive to the Right and its Historic Consequences by Joan Biskupic

As the title suggests, this book explores both the Supreme Court justices and the cases they've decided over the past decade or so. Biskupic is a journalist and long-time Supreme Court reporter for the Washington Post, and her writing is succinct and easy to follow. She weaves in brief bios, working styles, and approaches to judging for most of the current Justices. At the same time, she explores the most impactful cases decided in the past few years. It's a very current book, with analysis focused on 2016 to the present.

I follow the Court pretty religiously, so none of this was new to me, but it was really interesting to read about it all at once and see the complete picture of what is happening. It's disturbing, maddening, and sad for me to read about. I'm not sure if the author would agree, but I think this book really is written for the liberal audience. I can't imagine any conservatives even picking it up. If you want a summary of the impact the Court has had on society and law over the past decade, this is an excellent place to begin.

Original publication date: 2023
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 416 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: library kindle book
Publisher: William Morrow
Why I read this: Interested in the topic, recommended by Deborah/arubabookwoman

And I'm going to DNF Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow. I liked her Once and Future Witches well enough to put her other novel on my library wish list, but I gave it a try and it's not for me. I'm finding it overwrought and trying to hard to be "magical".

>124 japaul22: very very disappointed with ttdj, also did not finished. It was compared with Night Circus and a few othr faves but it really fell flat for me

>125 cindydavid4: Oh good, glad it wasn't just me! I read about 50 pages and thought, nope, I will not regret it at all if I stop reading this!

speaking of night circus one of my all time fav books, her next book was The Starless Sea I picked this up at the bookstore as soon as it opened when the book came out; I tried three different times and for the same reasons I DNF ten thoughsand whatevers, I could not finish this one either. the books were in many ways similar. pity

I hope you are feeling better, Jennifer.

#72 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

This was a mixed bag. It's definitely carried by the plot, in which Adeline LaRue makes a deal with a devil. It's the 1700 in France and she has no power as a woman. She wants to live unbound to everyone else's expectations of her and experience life. She gets her wish in that she is immortal until she chooses to give up her soul, but she is cursed that no one remembers her once she is out of their sight. She can't build relationships or leave her mark in any way. She can't say her name.

Over the centuries she and this devil, Luc, banter and deal and develop a relationship in a way. And everything comes to a head in 2014, when Addie meets a young man named Henry who can remember her because Luc has cursed him as well. The rest of the plot would be too spoiler-y to write about.

But that's sort of the problem with the book. It's all plot. I thought the main plot was sort of interesting with this Faustian deal and its ramifications. But the rest of the book was really pretty boring and went on WAY too long. I almost gave it up at 75% on my kindle. I did finish it, but I didn't really need to because there were no surprises for me.

I wouldn't particularly recommend this. I suppose it was a fun enough diversion, but it took too much of my time to be worth it.

Original publication date: 2020
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 448 pages
Rating: 3 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: library kindle book
Publisher: Tor Books
Why I read this: a friend recommended it

I loved the first part too, but every event was just more of the same and boring Read the last part,and put it in the trade pile

#73 The Life and Death of Harriet Frean by May Sinclair

This 86 page novella follows the life of Harriet Frean from her childhood to her death. Born to an upper middle class Victorian-era family, Harriet shows some mild misbehavior and the beginnings of a mind of her own during childhood, but she idolizes her parents and chooses to always "behave beautifully". She denies herself a lover and stays with her parents into her adulthood. Her father is financially ruined and dies and she and her mother carry on. Harriet keeps her three best friends into her old age.

This is an interesting book and I'm not sure exactly what to make of it. Harriet lives a small life, but though she seems to choose this life to please her parents, there isn't necessarily an indication that she regrets it or could have done more if she'd lived in a different era. It seems to be, upon a first reading, simply about the kind of person who can't see beyond themself and is happy living a narrow life. In that respect, I think it's a commentary on Victorian values. Harriet lives the ultimate Victorian female life and Sinclair shows how small that could be.

There are also many miscommunications. Many of Harriet's seminal life events - giving up her first love, idolizing her father and not understanding that his business failure ruined others as well, never communicating openly with her mother and giving up certain things to make her mother happy that she later finds her mother gave up to make her happy . . . the list goes on. I think these show that Harriet's narrow views even held her back in the small life she chose to lead.

The one thing I didn't see in this book was stream of consciousness writing. Sinclair is often compared to Dorothy Richardson and Virginia Woolf. I didn't get that out of this novella. That's not to say I didn't love it though. I think it's brilliantly done. It's one I'll save to reread for sure. There's a lot to think about in these 86 pages.

Original publication date: 1922
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 86 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased paperback
Publisher: Modern Library
Why I read this: 1001 books list, off the shelf

>131 japaul22: So glad to hear this. I've had Mary Olivier: A Life on my shelf for years, but its length (380 pages) has put me off, since I haven't read anything by her and wasn't sure what to expect. This gives me incentive to push it up closer to the top of my very tall pile of TBR Virago Modern Classics.

>132 kac522: I would definitely be interested in reading some of Sinclair’s longer works. This one didn’t show me how she’d handle a big cast of characters or more complicated plot but it did get me very intrigued in her writing and message.

What wonderfully varied reading you've been doing since my last visit (as ever). I've had DYPOTBOTD on my TBR shelf for years - thanks for reminding me. I'm intrigued by the Margarita Liberaki. Greek literature is a bit of an unknown quantity for me; I've read a couple of novels by contemporary writers (most notably Ersi Sotiropoulos) but nothing older. And as for May Sinclair, I hadn't heard of her, but I'm sold.

Noting the May Sinclair novella. I’m not familiar with her.

Going back almost 2 weeks: so, before LT, back in like 2005, The NY Times book review section was my best guide on what new books to read. I always found titles thar caught my imagination. At some point I started to fine more and more reviews unhelpful.

>134 rachbxl: Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to see you try the Margarita Liberaki novel - I think you'd enjoy it.

>135 dchaikin: That seems to be a similar experience for many. I find myself skimming newspaper book review sections occasionally, but I don't find much new that I haven't already seen discussed on LT. Except maybe for nonfiction ideas.

>136 japaul22: The big book review publications, especially the NYT Book Review, really prioritize non-fiction over fiction.

Ive noticed that trend and am not against it at all. Ive come across many books that ive not known about. I do like the fiction reviews tho too. They used to be my mainline connection to new books, till i discovered the net. Still read it tho

#74 A Country Road, A Tree by Jo Baker

A Country Road, A Tree is Jo Baker's imagining of Irish writer Samuel Beckett's time in France during WWII. Beckett is working on his writing, but has not yet had a breakthrough. During the war, he becomes a resistance fighter. The novel creates a sense of danger and uncertainty and shows how this time influenced Beckett's later writing.

I liked this novel, but I didn't love it as much as I was expecting. I became quickly immersed, but as the novel went on, I tired of the plot. Maybe I've read too many WWII novels . . .

I felt this was well written but the subject simply didn't grab me.

Original publication date: 2016
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 304 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: library book sale
Publisher: Knopf
Why I read this: off the shelf, generally enjoy this author

I'm in a stressful time period. We are supposed to be leaving on our 32 day concert tour through the Midwest on October 1. But if the government shuts down we can't travel. We won't know until midnight on Sept 30 if we're getting on a plane on October 1.

Stressful on my whole family and will be really disappointing if we don't get to go out after all the work and planning that has gone into this tour.

Hoping Congress can get its act together in the next 36 hours.

>140 japaul22: That's not fun at all. If it does go ahead, you are appearing sort of kind of near me and I'm contemplating driving up to wave at you.

>141 RidgewayGirl: Oh, lovely! I'll keep you posted. If the government shuts down but opens up sometime in October we will try to go out.

I'm sorry to hear how this turmoil is impacting you personally. I hope (on many levels) that a shutdown is averted, and you get to go on tour. If you ever come to Boston, let me know, and I'll bring the girls to hear you play!

>143 labfs39: I hope it's averted or short as well. Not the least because I won't be paid! And we are dual military so no paychecks at all.

I will let you know if we're ever in Boston. We rotate regions and were in the northeast last year, but I didn't go on tour. We won't be back in the northeast til 2027.

>140 japaul22: I'm crossing my fingers that McCarthy gets his act together for you and your family. I just ordered a ticket for Orchestra Hall on October 21. Haven't been in the building for many years, so am looking forward to it--am thinking positive.

>145 kac522: Oh, that's great! I very much hope we will be out there by then. Maybe even if we don't get out there on Sunday they can get a budget passed quickly and we'll get out on the road.

>140 japaul22: What orchestra are you in?

Never mind! I just read your bio in the first thread, here.

>140 japaul22: Urgh. Not a situation I would've thought of, and I'm sure there are many others. I will cross my fingers but not hold my breath on Congress getting its act together in the nick of time.

>148 qebo: There are so many consequences that the general public (and the congressmen and women!!) just don't think or know about.

Frustrating.

My husband and I were in the same situation as you and your hubby and have been through this turmoil a few times before we retired. But I was "essential" and had to work and he was not and stayed home - and then got paid after when they finally passed the budget. Hope things work out ok for you both. Sorry to hear you won't be in the northeast for a few years.

Sorry to hear this situation is affecting you and your family, Jennifer. Fingers crossed for you.

>149 japaul22: yea, like Fat Bear Week - https://www.nps.gov/katm/learn/fat-bear-week.htm - could be cancelled.

>140 japaul22: Fingers crossed, Jennifer. Members of Congress should not get paid if the government shuts down; maybe that would give them some incentive.

Hey, I think they are going to pass a 45 day continuing resolution! The House passed it, so it just needs to clear the Senate. I think it will.

Now to wrap my head around actually leaving tomorrow!

>154 japaul22: And pass it they did! I'm sorry you had to be on tenterhooks all this time but very happy that you get to go on tour. Bon voyage!

Have a great trip!

Safe travels!

Gosh, McCarthy came through! Have an excellent tour!

we'll see how long he will last. Glad he finally put the needs of his country above his own

have a great tiime!!!

Hello from the road! Today I'm in Sioux Falls, SD.

#75 The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

Lauren Groff's new book is both very different from her previous books in content and yet similar in some intangible way. In this novel, a young woman escapes from an early settlement in America when the community faces starvation and illness. She was brought there as a servant for a family who wanted to leave England for the new land. At first she is trying to outrun someone from the colony who might be chasing her, but then, as she gets farther away, it becomes more of a survivalist story as she tries to navigate the vast, empty spaces of 17th century America. She starves, gets injured, becomes ill, fights wildlife, tries to avoid the native people, and has to navigate the wild terrain. As she does this she flashes back to her life in England, her passage to America, and her time in the colony. She also stumbles upon philosophical insights as she observes wildlife and the bare necessities of what it takes to survive.

I liked this, but like all of Lauren Groff's novels that I've read, I found it challenging. I wasn't always sure where Groff was trying to go or what the overarching point of the novel was trying to be. But there's something about her writing that I find compelling and unexpected - and I enjoy that.

Original publication date: 2023
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 272 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: library kindle book
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Why I read this: new release that I was interested in

>160 japaul22: this one caught my eye recently too, Jennifer, and I'm on the library hold list. I agree with your take on Groff's writing. I find her work intriguing.

thanks for that, i do like her writing

Glad you were able to go—that had to have been super stressful. And it's going to be stressful again in another month, maybe even more so with the truly alarming breakdown of order in Congress. I worry about work travel, and what a mess flying will be with unpaid air traffic controllers and TSA agents walking off the job. I have to fly to Houston at the beginning of November, and you'd better believe I counted those 45 days to figure out if I could get stranded (I won't this time, but so many other people could). And that's just my small concerns—not getting a paycheck would be far worse.

I have the Groff on my virtual shelf, and I like both her and the subject matter, so I'm looking forward to it.

I joined CR only recently so I skimmed over your thread to catch up rather than reading thouroughly, but I enjoyed your reviews. I look forward to following your readings through the rest of the year.
And enjoy your trip!

Wow, I just caught up on your reading. Some great reading there (as always!) I note the Tokarczuk...I've read three and you remind me that I have at least one more to read (I was dusting those shelves just the other day (so many books, eh?)

Hello from the road! I'm on our national concert tour through the midwest. I'm reading, but finding it hard to find time to review. So far I've finished:

#76 Becoming Beauvoir by Kate Kirkpatrick
This was an interesting biography, but it seemed like a response to previous scholarship on Beauvoir, and I don't know enough about her to understand that sort of commentary. But, that being said, it was still a decent intro to Beauvoir's life and work.
3.5 stars

#77 The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman
The third mystery in the Thursday Murder Club series. I like these more for the characters and humor and less for the mysteries.
3.5 stars

#78 Foster by Claire Keegan
A lovely novella. Every word counts.
4 stars