What I'm reading this week (4/29/19)

Last week I finished:

Where are you on letting a cover affects your choice in books? I give a book cover a lot of sway in my reading life. I look at hundreds of books to find the ones I want to read, so one way to narrow things down easily is the cover. I feel safe in doing this because if you know anything about marketing (and I admittedly know very little), you know how much thought and energy is likely put into every aspect of book cover creation--the pictures chosen, the colors, the font, where the title is, etc. The cover is a package created to appeal to a certain reading demographic. But every now and then I am led astray by a cover. Crazy Rich Asians (and the subsequent books in the series) is one of those. I kind of wanted to see the movie, so I decided to try the book on audio first. I was only 50% invested in finishing it. I had a feeling I might bale, but I was fine with that. I'm not big on "chick lit" or "beach reads" or whatever you call fluffier brands of fiction. I tend to like a more literary novel, and the cover told me Crazy Rich Asians wasn't doing to be that. And it wasn't. But it also wasn't the kind of fluff I expected. The story is this: Rachel Chu travels with her boyfriend to Singapore to attend a friend's wedding. She's unprepared for the enormous wealth she finds herself surrounded by. These are very rich folks, and her boyfriend's family is chief among them. Rachel and Nicholas's story is only one plot of the book, and the chapters alternate between the various families and the dramas unfolding within. There are a lot of characters here, as there are three generations represented, and I was initially concerned that I'd never be able to keep them all straight. It got easier as things went along, but I never was able to keep the aunts straight. This is basically a book of Asians behaving badly. And haughtily, and snobbishly, and condescendingly. Most of the action is outrageous, but there are moments, too, of kindness. I tend to dislike books where any of the characters are either all bad or all good. I just find that lazy (or perhaps immature) writing. There are some of those here (Rachel is all good, for instance), but most have depth and balance, and this fleshing out of characters is what made the book readable to me. It didn't take long for me to become fully engrossed in the story and characters. I loved the descriptions of the homes and fashions and cuisine, and the writing was vivid enough that I could see the scenes unfold. I enjoyed this book immensely--regardless of its cover. I'd like to read the others in the series now. The characters are the same, and I'm glad, because I got attached to their extreme personalities. This was a fun romp through the world lived in by the other half, and I recommend it to anyone needing something a little lighter but engaging. My rating: 4 stars.

Now, all that talk about book covers above comes into play again with Becoming Mrs. Lewis. When the book was released last fall, I took one look at the cover and said, nope, not for me. It looked a little too precious and "womany". And I should have listened to my wise counsel. Though it wasn't precious, it wasn't good literature either. I disliked this book very much. I didn't like the characters, and I thought the writing was awful. This is the fictionalized story of writer Joy Davidman's friendship and romance with C.S. Lewis. Davidman is stuck in an awful marriage (the husband is one of those one-dimensional all bad characters) and falls in love with C.S. Lewis through correspondence. Then she abandons her husband and young children to go to England to spend more time with Lewis, who does not return her romantic affection because she's married. You can guess from the title how it all comes together, but I'm here to tell you, it's not really worth the cost of admission. Perhaps if you have an affinity for C.S. Lewis or know anything about Davidman (I can't claim either), this will mean more to you. I had to approach it as a novel, and as such it's poorly written, unimaginative, maudlin, and bland. I especially disliked the audio version, where I thought the narrator was particularly ill-suited. It made a bad book worse. I know I'm in the minority with this book, so if Lewis interests you, and if you don't need your novels to be literature, give it a try (though I'd suggest book form). As for me, I would have abandoned the book had any of my other audiobook holds not been so slow to come in. This one made me cranky. My rating: 2 stars.

Amy Tan is a master storyteller. If you've never read her novels, you should probably stop reading this and just go ahead and go to your nearest library or bookstore. That said, I do like some of her novels more than others. My favorite is The Kitchen God's Wife, published in 1991. I think I prefer this to her better-known The Joy Luck Club because more of the action is in China than present-day America, but it's been so long since I've read TJLC that I can't be sure. Maybe I just prefer the story. Both are set in America with characters looking back to their dramatic and traumatic years in China. In The Kitchen God's Wife, Winnie is telling the story of her life in China in the years surrounding World War II, including her abusive husband, loss of children, foolish friends and hardhearted relatives, and all the usual war-related drama. Tan's characters are always very colorful. The women are often hyper-critical, which makes for some light moments. Her novels often explore the push-pull Chinese-American daughters feel when balancing their mothers' traditional Chinese beliefs and ways of seeing the world and their modern American outlooks. What sets Tan's work apart in this novel (and some of her others) is her storytelling. The storytelling is so engrossing that it transports you to another country and another time and keeps you there. It holds your attention, and though this book is long, there's never anything extraneous. Re-reading Stephen King's On Writing a few weeks ago, he said his impetus for the book was a conversation he had with Tan about what readers never ask you about in the Q&As after book readings, and she said: the language. The language really is what sets Tan apart from many other writers. The first time I read this book, 20 or more years ago, I assumed her ability to tell a good story was a characteristic of her Asian heritage. Perhaps that's some of it, but maybe some people are just born with that brain. Just like some people are born to run marathons or fuse culinary flavors or design bridges. This one stood up to re-reading, and I'm so glad I returned to it. Though the story is dark, you're really in it for the transportive power of the story. My rating: 4.5 stars.

I remember watching Oprah Winfrey's TV show in the 1980s. Though I was never a devoted fan, I have tuned in over the years, read a few of her book club selections way at the beginning (and some since, of course). I've enjoyed Super Soul Sunday episodes of her show on her OWN channel. I've read some of her O magazines (and I'll always hold on to the copy that features her library). But perhaps my favorite Oprah experience is reading What I Know for Sure. This is my second time with the book (my first reading was on audio). The audio is wonderful, because you get her advice to women in her voice, and it feels like she's talking just to you. This time, I read it on Kindle, and I could still hear her voice. She discusses joy and resilience and what soulfulness means to her. She talks about friendship and self-care and food and all the rest. The essays are short, so this could be read as a sort of Oprah devotional. There is a lot of sagacity here, a lot of confidence, a lot of hoping that you're living your best life. If you like this sort of thing, the market is flooded with options, but this is one of the better because it's one of the wiser. My rating: 4 stars.

Years ago I encountered Marie Howe's wonderful poem "What the Living Do", easily in my top five favorite poems. After discovering the poem, I immediately devoured the book it came from, also called What the Living Do. I haven't read this book for many years, and I'd forgotten if I liked it or not, because the book has become simply where I can find that wonderful title poem. On re-reading, I discovered what a wonderful collection it is. Most of the poems chronicle the loss of her brother, John (the "Johnny" in the title poem), grief, and family. Early poems in the collection talk about her childhood and sexual abuse at the hand of her father. (My goodness but a lot of female poets were abused by their fathers.) This all makes it sound like an awfully grim collection, but it really didn't feel grim to me. The love with which the poems are written keeps them from being traumatic, but they never veer too far into sentimentality. She strikes the perfect balance, serious, frank, and unassuming. I loved this collection. It felt very cohesive, and it struck the right note. The poems are approachable and relatable. Highly recommend. My rating: 4 stars.

 

Next up:

 

I'm really looking forward to this biography of Tiger Woods.

This week I'll finish:

This has been quite a ride.

My current audiobook:

 

Man, Jon Meacham is quite the nonfiction storyteller.

What I'm reading this week (4/22/19)

Last week I finished:

Ever since I discovered Clint Hill's wonderful books about being a Secret Service agent (check out Mrs. Kennedy and Me and Five Presidents), I've had a deep respect and fondness for the US Secret Service. 20 Years in the Secret Service by Rufus Youngblood is another in the tradition of the wonderful Clint Hill books. Originally published in 1973, it was rereleased in 2018 by his family. Youngblood was a contemporary of Hill's, both of them serving in the Secret Service on the day President Kennedy was assassinated. Youngblood was serving Vice President Johnson's detail, while Hill was serving Mrs. Kennedy's. The events of that day are discussed as well as his reflections on his career serving presents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. He spends the most time discussing his assignment serving the irascible President Johnson. It's a wonderful book, and I'm so glad the family rereleased it or it would be lost forever to someone like me who'd never heard of it. At only a little over 200 pages (not including many pages of photographs), it's concise, honest, and respectable toward those it discusses. I learned a couple things that I didn't know (and I've read a lot of books about Nov. 22, 1963). It was a wonderful book, and I recommend it (along with Agent Hill's books) to all. My rating: 4.5 stars.

Well, it's official, the Penderwicks series is finished, and so am I. I think I was saving this fifth and final book in the series, The Penderwicks at Last, to prolong letting them go. This is a series in which I definitely have favorites and least favorites. I especially liked the second and fourth books, and the third, and, unfortunately, this one, are my least favorites. I have way too many strong feelings about this book considering it's children's literature and I'm generally not that invested. Perhaps I was in the wrong mood or read this at the wrong time, but I was disappointed. First, I had an oddly difficult time wrapping my head around the fact that the kids are about eight years older than they were in the last book. Lydia, the baby, is in fifth grade, and the older girls are getting married. I guess I have the books stalled in my head where Batty is four-years-old, so seeing her as a young woman in college is just too weird. Second, the book introduces new characters, which felt so strange to me. These characters got a lot of space in the story. The series is ending, why the new characters? I didn't want more characters to miss. Third, the wedding/s, why the Penderwicks were all back at Arundel, were never described. There was all this build up and preparation, then it was all over, everyone was going home, and the book ended. I guess overall, I wanted a grander sendoff to the Penderwicks. This just didn't satisfy me. My rating: 3 stars.

I love the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books, and book seven, Blue Shoes and Happiness, was as good as the first six. In this installment, Mma Ramotswe solves cases involving blackmail, Mma Makutsi is concerned her engagement is over when she reveals to her fiancé that she's a feminist, and the other characters are doing their thing. There is something so satisfying about this series. They're simple stories, morals are discussed and tradition is upheld, and Mma Ramotswe revels in the small joys that bring satisfaction in life. There are wonderful moments when Alexander McCall Smith pokes gentle fun at Mma Ramotswe, that I love. I listen to these on audio because the narrator is so wonderful. My rating: 4 stars.

Years and years ago I ran onto the poem "Under One Small Star" from Wislawa Szymborska's View with a Grain of Sand, and I fell in love so hard I bought the book and read it immediately. I'm finally returning to it all these years later. I don't remember my impression of the collection the last time I read it. I think it was enough that one of my favorite poems was in the book. This time through, I still found "Under One Small Star" the star of the book. While I marked a couple of other poems I liked, overall, it was  underwhelming to me. I've read lots of poems by Wislawa Szymborska in the years since that I've liked more than what's in this collection. Her poems have a depth I enjoy, and she can often be wonderfully lighthearted and droll, but often I don't quite know what she's writing about. I doubt that it's a translation problem, instead I think what she writes about often isn't something I know about or have heard of. That makes for difficult reading. Still, it did as well as most any other collection I've read recently. My rating: 3 stars.

Every spring, I find myself nesting, thinking about my home more than my reading (shocking!) and looking for new inspiration for my decorating everywhere. This is the time of year I want to read all the decorating books and look at all the magazines. I think it has something to do with spending so many cold months looking at nothing but a white canvas of snow. I have no idea how folks in other parts of the country encounter spring. (Is spring fever even a thing in Florida?) So, knowing my need for spring nesting material, I recently made a list of new decorating books available through my public library, and I plan to work my way down the list. First up was Modern Farmhouse Style by Country Home magazine. This was a book of 250+ pictures from their magazine with little descriptions of each. This isn't my favorite way of presenting rooms. The pictures are too small to see the detail, and you lose context seeing just a bit of a room or a single vignette. There were a few inspiring pictures, perhaps nothing I'd incorporate into my own home, but things that stoked my imagination nonetheless. The descriptions, though, were insipid and sometimes incorrect, listing pieces of furniture incorrectly, and the like. This one was good enough, but I'd suggest a book with full-page photos for anyone working on country style décor. For inspiration sparks, though, it served. My rating: 3 stars.

 

What I'm re-reading this week:

I've been wanting to re-read this one for years. I read it when it come out about 20 years ago and have been thinking about it since.

My evening reads:

 

I'll finish these this week, I think. All are good, and the first and last are re-reads.

My audiobook:

I have only one disc left of this one. Thank heavens. More on that next week....

What I'm reading this week (4/15/19)

Last week I finished:

You know me, I can't resist reading what everyone else is, even if it's not my usual thing. I'm not one to enjoy a sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll story, but I nonetheless had to give Daisy Jones & The Six a read. And I'm so glad I did. I really ended up falling for this book. At first, the documentary transcript style seemed a little dubious and contrived, but there was something about this style that also really pulled me in a kept me interested. This is the (fictional) story of the rise and fall of the late-1970s rock band The Six, and, as it was known for a year or so, Daisy Jones & The Six. The story moved very quickly, almost too quickly at times. It seemed Billy had a drinking/drugging problem for only a couple of pages before he was in rehab. And the band's eight years together seemed more like eight months. But it was forgivable, because drawing out the story to 400 pages or more would have compromised the story. I felt that I really got to know the characters, their motivations, their weaknesses, their brilliances. These are characters you can root for in situations you can imagine. I was disappointed in what I felt was a rather contrived plot twist near the end. It seemed unnecessary and sentimental, but I mostly forgave it. There was swearing, of course, and there was drinking, drug use, and sex, but it was never graphic. If you like books about musicians and flawed artist-types or are just looking for a good fiction read, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I was very happily surprised. Reese's book club picks are rather hit or miss for me, but this one was a winner. My rating: 4.5 stars. 

Well, I guess we can go ahead and make it official: I am just not a fan of the Little House series. I loved the heck out of the television show as a child, and I may or may not have read some of the books (I know I owned this one, book 3, Little House on the Prairie), but if I did, they left no impression on me whatsoever. Perhaps it's too late for me to read them for the first time, but I think it's something else. I just do not like the way they're written. I think children's literature has become leaps and bounds better since the tepid succession of declarative sentences in these books. (And what's with the "this-is-how-Pa-built-that" descriptions? They drive me bonkers.) Sorry, I just need more depth, more emotion, more nuance. I think it was a mistake for Wilder to think children were too young to appreciate that. Also, I have to say, I listened to this on audio because I'd heard folks gush over Cherry Jones's narration, so I though I might like the book more if I listened to it. But I do not see what the fuss is. Jones's voice irritated me. It was a little too manly and had a lilting accent that I found all wrong for the book. Also, her singing is atrocious. All of my complaining out of the way, I did like the story. The Ingalls family leaves their home in Wisconsin to move to Indian country, where they set up a homestead in Indian Territory. The family dealt with constant threats from Indians (who would steal from them), wolves, and fever. It's a great story. I just wish it was written in a different way. I know I'm in the minority here, and I'm glad. I'm glad so many people love these books, even if I just can't. My rating: 3 stars.

The Mitford series is a sentimental favorite for me. (I haven't even made it through them all, but they're sentimental.) In book 5, Father Tim and Cynthia were away from Mitford, and book 6 was a retrospective of their wedding since so many fans were disappointed that Karon didn't write about it, so it feels like forever since I've been in Mitford, which is where we find Father Tim and Cynthia in book 7, In This Mountain. There is a lot going on, with so many characters to catch up on. Dooly is in college, many of the townsfolk are experiencing health issues--including Father Tim, one of the missing Barlow kids is found, Cynthia wins an award for her latest Violet book and goes on tour, the church attic jewel thief (reformed) returns to Mitford, and much, much more. I keep waiting for the books to get tedious or for me to outgrow them, but it's not happening. I always listen to these on audio (though I buy them, too), because I adore the narrator's voice--especially when he sings hymns. There is a lot of prayer and talk of Christian life, and I eat it whole. I enjoyed this one as much as the others. My rating: 4 stars.

 

Last week I abandoned:

It's interesting, but there are also a lot of words per page, if you know what I mean. It's not that I didn't like the book or that it was poorly written (it was not), but I just felt bogged down by it.

So, I'm currently reading:

This is my reading sweet spot. It was first published in 1978, but was re-released by Youngblood's family in 2018.

My Kindle read:

 

I'm savoring this one like good chocolate, taking tiny nibbles.

My evening reads:

 

I plan to finish one or more (or maybe all three) of these this week.

My audiobook:

 

Book 7 in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series

What I'm reading this week (4/8/19)

 

Last week I finished:

I love memoirs, especially ones written by women. I didn't feel like I read enough of them last year, and I missed them, so I've been making up for lost time in 2019. One that I decided to try this year was Padma Lakshmi's Love, Loss, and What We Ate. I'd bought it for my Kindle and wasn't getting to it, so I decided to try it on audio instead. I'll start out by saying I don't know Padma Lakshmi or her television food shows. I really only know her from seeing this book all over when it came out. But that doesn't bother me, and it didn't hinder my experience with the book. I was a little concerned, however, that the book wouldn't appeal to me as I wasn't sure Padma and I would be women running in the same kind of circles, if you know what I mean. Her being a model and television star, I had a certain expectation going into the book (reading some unflattering reviews didn't help either) that I might not like who I found. But I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed this book. A great deal of the appeal for me may have been because I listened to the book--which is narrated by the author. I get a little judge-y when reading memoirs sometimes, but listening to one read by its author humanizes it, and I find that I have more compassion. In the book, Lakshmi talks about growing up as an Indian transplant in America who spent her childhood summers in India. She talks about her mother, her mother's various poor choices in husbands, her Indian grandparents who half-raised her, and especially, her beloved grandfather. She talks about her career in modeling and television, in Italy and America. And of course, she talks about food. She's not a trained chef, but she somehow made her way onto Top Chef as a judge. She also talks about being married to Salman Rushdie, the exiled writer, and becoming pregnant and not knowing which of her boyfriends was the father. But what I liked most about the book, besides the honesty with which it was written, was her handling of female topics. She talked about the endometriosis which she feared had left her barren; she talked about having a large scar on her arm and how it affected her modeling career and her self esteem (until she happened upon a famous photographer who loved the scar); she talked about identity and feeling (and not feeling) at home; she talked about always being afraid she was the wrong color. I was reminded of some important things about women reading this, not least of which is that pretty much all women battle low self-esteem, yes, even models. So, I loved this one, and I'll be buying a paper copy to return to. My rating: 4 stars.

I read Stephen King's On Writing when it came out in 2000, and it's the only King book I've ever read. He just doesn't write the kind of book I'm interested in (though I would like to tackle the doorstop that is 11/22/63 some day), but back then I'd read anything by anybody about writing. And I'd loved the book, though the only things I could remember about it was when young Stephen wrote and photocopied stories to sell at school, and when he talked about being an alcoholic, even drinking mouthwash for a buzz. It was a nice book to revisit. The first section of the book was his memoir: his childhood, his very supportive wife and kids, his early years of writing, and his big break. The middle portion of the book is where he explains how he writes and revises and gives some guidelines for writers, which can pretty much be boiled down to "write a lot and read a lot." The last part of the book is where he talks about the near-fatal accident that happened while he was working on this book. My favorite parts this time through were by far the autobiographical parts. The writing part just didn't mean much to me at this point in my life, though it's a very good articulation of how to write. I loved that he was willing to say there are bad books and there are bad writers. Full stop. That's so refreshing. I never hear people willing to call a spade a spade anymore. I am also struck at just how decent King seems. He seems so normal and kind. He talks lovingly of his wife and kids, and back when he was trying to break through, he seemed so humble. He did what he had to do, enjoyed it immensely, and waited for it to pay off. Which, of course, it sure did. I do admire the guy. He's enormously prolific. I just kept wondering how someone so normal could produce such dark books. He doesn't address that. Needless to say, I loved this one, and I recommend it to all. Please note: he has a great sense of humor, but he does use some salty language. It's just King being King. My rating: 4 stars.

This week I'm reading:

 

I wasn't sure this would be a good fit for me, but I'm finding that it really sucks you in and holds you.

My Kindle re-read:

How I adore this book.

My evening reads:

 

I'm making good progress on each of these.

My audiobook:

 

I love listening to the Mitford series. The narrator is awesome. This is book seven.

April 2019 reading list

I have a feeling my April reading list will have a shakeup or two before the month is over. Lately, I'm not always in the mood to read the book I'd chosen in advance, so I've been swapping out titles a lot. But for now, I've settled on these 16.

The next in the series (times three):

Memoirs:

 

Memoir/writing re-read:

Fiction:

 

 

Poetry (both re-reads):

Decorating: