What I'm reading this week (11/26/18)

Last week I finished:

Very occasionally, you get the chance to read a book for the first time again. Generally, this is because the second reading is so long after the first that the first barely matters anymore. In third grade, Mrs. DeJarlais read Where the Read Fern Grows to our class, and it devastated me. For decades I was phobic about reading books or watching movies where the dog dies in the end. I put off reading the end of Marley and Me for months because I didn't want the pain of burying Marley. Yet, that was about all I remembered from the book. It's been on my mind lately, ever since a man was walking his dogs on campus and introduced them to a student as Dan and Ann, which brought me instantly back to that third-grade classroom, my innocent little heart breaking. And when I read the entry for the book in PBS's The Book of Books, I decided I had to re-read it. This winter, I wanted to read something nostalgic, and I wanted to see if the ending affected me the same way all these years later. I didn't really expect, though, to fall in love with the book. But I did. I fell head over heels for this book. It hit my sweet spot. It also didn't fee like a children's book, which really impressed me. This is the partially biographical story of Wilson Rawls' childhood in the Ozark mountains. In it, the boy, Billy, wants nothing more in life than to have two coon hunting dogs. He saves up his money ($40) for two years and brings home Old Dan and Little Ann, two small red coonhound dogs. He teaches them to hunt, and then the adventures begin. Most of the story is spent on hunting expeditions. There is a tragic hunting death of a neighbor boy, there is a hunting competition, but best of all is the relationship between Billy and his dogs and between the dogs themselves. The family is a close-knit one where even the men cry. It was a good blend of gentle nostalgia and the hard realities of life. I loved everything about it. And as someone who knows nothing about coon hunting in the Ozarks, I was riveted by the vivid scenes. Highly recommended for readers of all ages, but especially boys from about eight to thirteen. My rating: 5 stars.

When Tucker Carlson took over Bill O'Reilly's timeslot a couple of years ago, I soon realized I didn't like his show. While I like Carlson and enjoy his intelligent arguments, he seems to enjoy the argument and slashing his guests' arguments to bits just a little too much, and frankly, I don't need more ginned up outrage in my life. I stopped watching after a week or so and haven't gone back. But when his book, Ship of Fools, came out, I heard several heartfelt reviews of it that focused on the strength of the writing, and I decided to get on the hold list at the library for the audio version, narrated by Carlson himself. It's a relatively short book--and he talks fast--but it packs a wallop. There is no downtime, no time when an argument is not being built. He moves deftly from topic to topic, and the book is rather stunning. He covers all the ultra-popular isms: racism, feminism, environmentalism, and shows the intense hypocrisy of the ruling classes. This is the kind of book I wish more liberals would read, but they never will. Because of where I work, I am constantly being forced into reading and discussing topics from the liberal point of view, but opposing views are rejected out of hand as racist, sexists, etc. So, those who disagree with Carlson will never read his well-reasoned arguments and have that "conversation" they keep saying we all need to have. The book made me irate, and it made me want to stop listening to the liberals too, which is a pointless place to end up. The hope, he says, lies in the American elites listening to those they rule over. If not, our democracy (any democracy, as history shows) will self-destruct. We'll keep signaling our displeasure by electing divisive personalities, driving the wedge between sides deeper and deeper. Or we'll decide to throw away our democracy in favor of communist rule (nothing scares me more than that). I don't like reading a book and feeling hopeless, even a very well-written book, and that's how I feel after listening to this one. But until they start listening, it would seem the only leverage I have against the out-of-touch insanity of the elite class is my vote. Let's hope American can hold on until the ship is purged of its fools. My rating: 4 stars.

Last week I also listened to Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad. This book won both the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Andrew Carnegie Medal not long ago. In it, Whitehead re-imagines the Underground Railroad as a literal railroad that runs underground, ferrying runaway slaves to safety. But we learn over and over that there is very little safety for a runaway slave. Our main character is Cora, who runs away and is caught several times. To criticize a book of this renown, and one about race, is a big no-no, so I'll keep this short and sweet. The book is important in that we can't let ourselves forget that we belong to each other, but we can never again believe that we own each other. It's probably even important to have stories about the brutality of slavery, lest we ever forget that, but I don't know if Colson made up the situations in his book based on real accounts or just imagined something horrible and wrote it. I think this makes a difference. My main issue is that the book isn't unique, only one more in a long series of books about the horror of the black experience in earlier American times. I was hoping for something different for a book that won so many awards. I didn't particularly care for the main character, and all the bad guys were wholly bad. I was hoping for a more nuanced account of the issues involved; I was hoping for the characters to be full, not foils. Slaves weren't owned because of hatred alone, and it's intellectually dishonest to present it that way. I guess I just expected more, and what I got was kind of average. My rating: 3 stars.

What I'll be reading this week:

I'm looking forward to this one, but I reserve the right to bail if it becomes an anti-conservative screed.

My evening reads:

 

I'll finish each of these this week.

My audiobook:

Book three in the Maggie Hope series, because I need something a little lighter.

 

Nonfiction November 2018 - week 4

Nonfiction November is back! I love participating, and if you want to too, you can find more information here. Each week there is a new nonfiction post prompt. This week, it's talking about being an expert.

Week 4: Reads Like Fiction: Nonfiction books often get praised for how they stack up to fiction. Does it matter to you whether nonfiction reads like a novel? If it does, what gives it that fiction-like feeling? Does it depend on the topic, the writing, the use of certain literary elements and techniques? What are your favorite nonfiction recommendations that read like fiction? And if your nonfiction picks could never be mistaken for novels, what do you love about the differences?

I have to be completely honest. I have always resented the concept of "reads like fiction." To me, this concept has always devalued nonfiction and made fiction the penultimate form of writing. This has bothered me for a long time. As someone who read exclusively nonfiction for years, I will never see fiction as the standard by which nonfiction is gauged. I read nonfiction and fiction for completely different reasons. As someone who often regards nonfiction above fiction, because I value information above entertainment (I know both genres can inform and entertain, but the question itself separates the two, so I will, too, out of necessity), I have a hard time making fiction the rubric by which nonfiction is measured.

But I know what people mean when they use the term "reads like fiction." Something that reads like fiction is unbelievably believable. Its pace is superb. It brings you into the action (it has action), and keeps you there. It entertains. It informs. And maybe it even delivers a happy ending. In short, it delivers the best of both fiction and nonfiction.

Three of my favorite nonfiction books that meet these criteria are In the Kingdom of Ice, about a tragic sea voyage to the Arctic Circle; Seabiscuit, a biography of the prizewinning horse; Unbroken, the biography of a World War II prisoner of war who endured unimaginable torture at the hands of the Japanese, and The Spirit of St. Louis, the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir of Charles Lindbergh that takes you on his transatlantic flight.

 

All three of these books show people (or horses) in extreme situations beating the odds, they make you understand yourself and others better, and they make your feel your humanity. I can't recommend them highly enough. 

 

 

What I'm reading this week (11/19/18)

What I finished last week:

Add Eowyn Ivey to my list of favorite authors. I listened to her second book, To the Bright Edge of the World a couple of months ago, and I loved it so much that I immediately picked up her first, The Snow Child. And I liked it even more. This one was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and I can see why. It's hard to give a plot summary without giving away the magic of the book. In short, this is the story of a childless couple in the 1920s Alaskan frontier who form a child out of snow and then come to believe the child has come to life. This book is often described as magical realism, but the amazing thing about Ivey's writing is that it could be magical or it could be real, or it could be both at the same time. That's the true magic of this wonderful book. If you're not into fantasy (as I'm not), don't worry, this isn't heavily magical, it just leans ever so slightly in that direction. Plus, the storytelling is flawless. I've seldom read a book that is so well paced. The characters are never described, but you get to know them by their words and actions (they're shown, not told). And I love, love, love books where the place itself is a character. The wild, unsettled Alaskan frontier in the 1920s has its own personality. Ivey said that she grew up in Alaska reading books that didn't represent her reality, and this book is her offering to others like her. This is the perfect winter book, and I happened to pick it up at the exact right time of year. It was so cozy, I did not want it to end. You don't have to be adventurous to pick up this one and fall in love, but an adventure will be yours. My rating: 5 stars.

I'm going to try to plow through these next four reviews, because I have a Thanksgiving dinner to plan, a house to clean, and a Sunday afternoon jigsaw puzzle that's not going to put itself together.

I quite enjoyed Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. While magical realism is not really my favorite type of reading, I can enjoy a good adventure (see above), so when I listened to this one, I found it friendly and fun. The Amazon review does a much better job than I can with giving you a plot summary, but here goes: Clay takes a job at Mr. Penumbra's bookstore, but it doesn't take long to realize this is not your ordinary bookstore. Hardly anything is sold; instead, strange folks come by to borrow big, unreadable volumes in the middle of the night. Discoveries are made and Clay and his talented friends go underground (literally and figuratively) to solve some secrets and what not. Even if you don't generally enjoy sci fi adventures, I think you'll find this one fun. The audio was good, though not spectacular, and I often got lost because I couldn't give the book my full attention, but I still liked it. My rating: 3 stars.

As you know by now, I love photography and portraiture. Last fall I purchased a copy of Annie Leibovitz Portraits: 2005-2016 for the library, and I'm likely the only person to have checked it out. And that's really too bad. I don't know enough about photography to speak intelligently about Leibovitz's technical skill, but I can attest to the power of her images. This is a big coffee table book, and the photos are large and full color. There are dozens and dozens of portraits of people you know--lots of celebrities, athletes, artists, the Obamas, and on and on. They really are spectacular. If your library has a copy of this one, and you're interested in portraiture, check it out. It's wonderful. I did not expect to be moved by the images, but many really spoke to me. My rating: 4.5 stars.

Reviewing poetry books is quickly becoming one of my least favorite parts of blogging. I no longer have the vocabulary or patience to critically critique poetry or a poet's style. I just like what I like, and frankly, describing it takes the magic out of the good stuff and gives too much attention to the bad. Poetry is so personal that critiquing it publically is like critiquing your mother publically. Perhaps I'll stop reviewing poetry next year, I don't know. But at any rate, I finished two books of poems last week: Ten Poems to Set Your Free, edited by Roger Housden, and The End of Desire by Jill Bialosky. Housden has a whole series of these touchy-feely pseudo-memoir Ten Poems poetry books. I've reviewed a couple of them here over the years. (In fact, here's a review from earlier this year where I railed against Housden's style.) This one was very much like the others in style and feel. The essays following each poem are never really my thing. Their naval-gazing ways don't fit my personality. What brings me back to these books is Housden's remarkable eye for finding a good poem I've never heard of. Three of the poems toward the back of this book were just wonderful (here's one; here's another), and worth the price of admission. My rating: 3 stars.

The End of Desire is my second Jill Bialosky book of poetry (a review for her The Players can be found here), and her wonderful Poetry Will Save Your Life (reviewed here) is a treasure. Now that I've read two of her books, I can form an opinion of her writing. I enjoy her poems, but her more autobiographical poems don't do much for me. She obviously writes to understand her life and relationships, but maybe the poems are too personal to be universal (which any poetry workshop will tell you is impossible). They're too dark and mysterious, and I don't like poetry that makes me uncomfortable. I come to poetry for clarity, not chaos. The less autobiographical poems, though, were wonderful. My rating: 3.5 stars.

What I'm reading now:

 

Oh, I'm loving this re-read.

(Is it still a re-read if a book was read to you the first time?)

My (abandoned) Kindle read:

I may finish I Don't Care if We Never Get Back sometime, but I don't think I'll finish it this month. I looked forward to this one for months, and I read 40% of it, but I just don't ever feel like picking it up. I've never tried to read a book that switches between third-person singular and third-person plural throughout the book. It was disorienting and so weird. Why didn't an editor rectify that craziness?

My nighttime reads:

 

I'm enjoying Anne Lamott's latest.

I just began Time and Materials by Robert Hass. I love his poetry.

And I'm having fun with the latest Calpurnia Tate Girl Vet chapter book.

My current audio:

I'll finish this next week and post a review then.

 

Nonfiction November 2018 - week 3

Nonfiction November is back! I love participating, and if you want to too, you can find more information here. Each week there is a new nonfiction post prompt. This week, it's talking about being an expert.

Week 3: Be The Expert/Ask the Expert/Become the Expert: Three ways to join in this week! You can either share three or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read (ask the expert), or you can create your own list of books on a topic that you’d like to read (become the expert).

Well, I can't think that three books about any topic can make you an expert, but I'm going to go with it and, in honor of Michelle Obama's new memoir, call myself an "expert" on first ladies. I've read more books about presidents than first ladies, but I think I did either presidents or the Kennedys last year. While I still have a long ways to go in my first lady reading, here are some of the first lady biographies and memoirs I've read in the past few years and really enjoyed.

One of my favorite books read this year. Very engaging, never boring.

 

Three compilation books, the first presenting stats on the first ladies, the second examining first ladies from Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama, the third written by White House chief usher J. B. West discussing working for the first ladies from Eleanor Roosevelt through Pat Nixon.

 

Some of my favorite biographies of Jackie Kennedy (all using real black and white photos for their covers, something I didn't realize until I saw them all together here).

 

And finally, a rather straightforward biography of Bess Truman by her daughter Margaret, and memoirs by Barbara and Laura Bush.

What I plan to read soon:

 

Two very different first ladies: Michelle Obama and Nancy Reagan.

Have you read any books about first ladies you think I'd enjoy? Please leave me a comment below!

What I'm reading this week (11/12/18)

It's getting toward the end of a long, heavy reading year, and I'm getting a little exhausted writing a review. for. every. book. Forgive me if I flag a bit. I'd always rather read than review, but I'll try to stop "circling the chair" and get started.

Last week I finished:

Way back in the spring or early summer, when I discovered a presidential thriller coming out written by James Patterson and President Clinton, I was very, very excited. Being the presidential book nerd that I am, I started counting down the days until The President Is Missing came out. And then when it did hit the shelves, there was so much hoopla over it, I kind of lost interest. Because nothing makes me lose interest in something more than other peoples' interest in that thing. Go figure. But when the dust finally settled, I bought my copy and commenced reading. The plot is this (warning, possible unavoidable spoilers): President Duncan has gone missing just days before he's scheduled to have a hearing regarding his recent involvement with a known terrorist. The president is involved in an underground plot to stop cyberterrorists from taking down American computer systems, sending us back to "the dark ages." I pretty much got what I expected with this one. The writing isn't great, the action is rather unbelievable, but the whole thing was fun. It was sort of nice to be carried away by a book that is fast-paced and had cliffhangers at the end of every (very short) chapter. I kind of resented all the red herrings and being kept on a need to know basis, but I just rolled with it. I also questioned why America going back to no computers would put us in the dark ages instead of say, the 1970s, but maybe you have to suspend disbelief more than I was willing to roll with that. Also, knowing that Patterson only outlines his books, then gives them to a staff of writers to actually write, and knowing that Clinton, though billed first and in equal font size as Patterson, likely only "consulted" on the book, I wasn't terribly invested in the collaboration or its product which might have softened my opinion had I known it to be a true collaboration. I don't know if this book is representative of Patterson's work, as it's my only Patterson read, but it's possible I'd pick up another of his books to see. The very long book (over 500 pages) read very quickly, and while I likely won't return to it, I had a fun time. In short, keep your expectations low, and you won't be disappointed. My rating: 3 stars.

I love a good mystery, but thrillers are something I've never spent much time seeking out or reading. Still, I've heard good things about Tana French's books, and my TBR is dangerously short, so I read a bit of her first book in her Dublin Murder Squad series, In the Woods, and decided I really liked the writing. And since I'll read pretty much anything as long as it's well-written, I got on the hold list of the audio of this book. This is the story of a murder investigation of a girl in the same area where the Dublin Murder Squad investigator, Rob Ryan, lost his two best friends in a presumably grisly way when a boy. Together with investigator Cassie Maddox, the team try to solve the current-day crime while wondering if it's related to the twenty-year-old cold case that Ryan has almost no memory of. This is one of the best books I've read this year. French is everything she's been lauded as, and I can't say enough about the mastery of her writing. The pacing was excellent, and the characters were some of the most real I've met this year. I loved how French lets us into the minds of the investigators who are asking the same questions we are. They never know more than we do. My only quibble was that the ending seemed to drag--in fact, it seemed like there were several endings. I'm a bit nervous, having liked Ryan so much that he is not in the second book, but I'll definitely be continuing on with the series regardless. I listened to this book, and the audio is top notch. I did not want it to end, and each CD was perfectly timed with a cliffhanger. For sensitive readers, I will caution that the book, by nature of the crime, is intense. There is also the expected rough language and swearing. I will say, though, that neither the intensity nor language or adult situations are gratuitous. I highly recommend this one for those with the predilection to enjoy a good thriller. My rating: 5 stars.

Being the history buff and presidential nerd I am, I am really not all that interested in the policies of most presidential administrations, especially old administrations. Still, being a big fan of Chris Stirewalt's political analysis and almost encyclopedic knowledge of political history, I was eager to read his first book, Every Man a King. In it, he discusses American populists like Andrew Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, Huey Long, George Wallace, Ross Perot, and Pat Buchanan. The book wasn't exactly what I expected. Stirewalt is a rather longwinded bloviater, and I was hoping, since the book was short, this would be cut short a bit, too, but not so. I think I just wasn't all that interested in the topic, but whether that was my problem or the author's for not making it interesting enough, I can't say. I didn't get a good feeling for American populism's effect on American politics, I think, so I left the book with pretty much the knowledge I started it with. It wasn't a bad book, and I'm sure I missed something by not being a policy wonk, but I just didn't love it. (Though I still love Chris.) My rating: 3 stars.

Several weeks ago, when I was floundering around looking for a Kindle book, I started the Mutual Admiration Society, and I found it entertaining, but I knew I wouldn't finish it on Kindle. It just wasn't keeping my attention, and Kindle books are the easiest kinds for me to put down and never pick up again. So, I decided to switch to audio to finish it. This is the story of two sisters, Tessy and Birdie Finley, ages 11 and 10, who blackmail people for money and solve crimes in their 1950s blue-collar Milwaukee neighborhood. They've just lost their father, their mother isn't interested in them, and their lives are ruled by nosy neighbors and the Catholic church (at least, this is Tessy's perspective, as she's our narrator). Birdie is a bit intellectually slow, so much of the book, which takes place in a 24-hour period, is spent working within the confines of Birdie's intellect, fleeting attention, and always-hungry belly. Sister Margaret Mary has gone missing, and Tessy saw a man who looked very much like the kindly cemetery caretaker carrying a limp body in the dead of night. They follow the clues and make some assumptions and try not to get caught before they catch the murderer. This book had a very odd undertone to it. There's a current of drunkenness and adultery that sometimes eludes Tessy, but it doesn't elude the reader, and the book often felt a little uncomfortable to me. I get very uneasy when the serious and the lighthearted mix in books featuring children. The book often felt like a middle-grade reader, but then it would trot out some four-letter words and adult situations, and I wouldn't know what to think. I think the author tried too hard to make the book funny, but it just came off as a poor rip-off of the Flavia de Luce books that do this whole child sleuth thing so much better. It was fun, but I didn't love it. My rating: 3 stars.

What I'm reading this week:

 

Oh my, is this one wonderful!

My Kindle read:

 

I'm making very slow (but steady) progress on this one.

My nightly reads:

 

I finished my first current book this weekend, but I'm going to wait to review it.

I started the Annie Leibovitz book of portraits. Wow it is good!

And this weekend I hope to begin Anne Lamott's new book.

 

 

My next audiobook:

This is sort of a wild card, but we'll see what happens.

Nonfiction November 2018 - week 2

Nonfiction November is back! I love participating, and if you want to too, you can find more information here. Each week there is a new nonfiction post prompt. This week, it's nonfiction and fiction book pairing.

Week 2: Fiction / Nonfiction Book Pairing: This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. It can be a “If you loved this book, read this!” or just two titles that you think would go well together. Maybe it’s a historical novel and you’d like to get the real history by reading a nonfiction version of the story.

Continuing with last week's presidents theme, this week I'm pairing up nonfiction and fiction titles having to do with the presidential assassination attempts. While the assassination attempt is not the main plot point of James Patterson and President Clinton's The President Is Missing, there is an attempt on President Duncan's life that takes the lives of two secret service men.

I'm pairing this current fiction title with the older nonfiction title, Killing Reagan by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Duggard. This book details the March 1981 attempt on President Ronald Reagan's life by John Hinckley Jr. who was hoping this stunt would impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he was in love. Three others were wounded in the attempt. White House Press Secretary James Brady suffered brain damage and was permanently disabled. There is speculation that the assassination attempt and resulting surgery may have caused the president's Alzheimer's disease, and this is discussed in the book.