High, Wide and Lonesome by Hal Borland - in 1910, Hal's parents decided to try their hand at homesteading in a part of Colorado that had been passed over in the rush to get west. This is his memoir of the three years spent proving their claim. Hal worked right alongside his father building the house and farm buildings, plowing sod, planting, and caring for the animals even though he was only about 10 at the time. There are many deprivations and near-death moments.
4 stars
*RHC - a book about nature. I didn't read it for this reason but decided it fit the requirement close enough
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The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin - a doctor and journalist are stranded in the mountain wilderness when their small plane crashes. Fortunately, the doctor just happens to be an experienced mountain climber and has much of his equipment with him. Plus he's a doctor. Besides trudging endlessly back and forth through the snow, he also spends lots of time talking to his wife on his recorder. The journalist doesn't do much but have witty repartee' and come on to him. Also, they're very concerned about her hairy legs. The big reveal at the end is no surprise. I liked the dog the best.
2 stars
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Hank & Jim: The Fifty-Year Friendship of Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart by Scott Eyman - a biography of both men and how they came to be fast friends even though they were opposites in many ways. Just about the right amount of detail.
3.5 stars
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Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch - Probationary constable Peter Grant finds himself in the middle of a magical mystery when he's accosted by a ghost at the scene of a murder. Suddenly he's the apprentice of the only member of the magic side of the police force. This all takes place in modern London, which the author knows very well and did a very good job making me feel like I was right there. Some sex talk and of course magic. The first in a series that I'll continue.
4 stars
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Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman - Britt-Marie leads a very ordinary life where everything must be just so until she abruptly leaves her husband at age 63. She somehow ends up with a job as a caretaker at a recreation center in a town that is dying. And here she slowly begins to change. Britt-Marie is very reminiscent of Eleanor Oliphant, one of my favorite characters. Humor and sadness woven together in a wonderful book.
4.5 stars
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Jan 14 - 20, 2018
Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stevens-Davidowitz - there's a big difference in what people say and what they search for on the internet. That's the basic premise of this book, with lots of facts and studies to prove the author's point. Some of the conclusions are disturbing but the author is hopeful that studies of big data will lead to reforms in education and medicine, among others. Written in a style I found easy to follow.
4 stars
*RHC - a book of social science
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Silvermane: A Western Quartet by Zane Grey - four short stories presented as exactly the way the author wrote them. According to the forward, Zane Grey was often heavily edited by his publisher. The stories are about a wild horse, a burro and the man who loved her, a slightly bad man falls in love, and a fresh off the train school teacher gets in trouble with some cowboys. I found the dialect the author used off-putting. I've enjoyed Grey's novels before, these stories weren't his best imo.
2 stars
*RHC - a western
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Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly - the 20th Harry Bosch. Harry is still a volunteer looking into cold cases for the San Fernando PD. He receives a visit from the new Conviction Integrity Unit and they inform him a 30 year old case of his is up for release because of new DNA evidence. And Harry's integrity is being called into question. Almost simultaneously, Harry is called to the scene of two murders at a pharmacy. This leads to going undercover to investigate opioid scams. And one investigation puts him at risk in the other.
3 stars
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A Moveable Feast by Earnest Hemingway - a memoir of short stories about the author's time in Paris when he was young and newly married. He talks about what how he worked at writing, being poor, other writers, and skiing. I liked the writing very much. This version is from his original manuscripts and differs slightly from the one edited by his last wife.
4 stars
*RHC - a book published posthumously
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Bookworms: Great Writers and Readers Celebrate Reading edited by Laura Furman & Elinore Standard - short essays and excerpts from a variety of writers, some classic and some current. I especially enjoyed the section on young readers discovering the joy of reading. The last section bogged down a bit but contained my favorite story of a young black man figuring out a way to use the library when he wasn't allowed to have a card. I wouldn't have read this if not for the Read Harder Challenge. (I even had to buy it.) I made a list of several authors and books and will return to get more. Because of that...
4.5 stars
*RHC - an essay anthology
4 stars
*RHC - a book of social science
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Silvermane: A Western Quartet by Zane Grey - four short stories presented as exactly the way the author wrote them. According to the forward, Zane Grey was often heavily edited by his publisher. The stories are about a wild horse, a burro and the man who loved her, a slightly bad man falls in love, and a fresh off the train school teacher gets in trouble with some cowboys. I found the dialect the author used off-putting. I've enjoyed Grey's novels before, these stories weren't his best imo.
2 stars
*RHC - a western
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Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly - the 20th Harry Bosch. Harry is still a volunteer looking into cold cases for the San Fernando PD. He receives a visit from the new Conviction Integrity Unit and they inform him a 30 year old case of his is up for release because of new DNA evidence. And Harry's integrity is being called into question. Almost simultaneously, Harry is called to the scene of two murders at a pharmacy. This leads to going undercover to investigate opioid scams. And one investigation puts him at risk in the other.
3 stars
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A Moveable Feast by Earnest Hemingway - a memoir of short stories about the author's time in Paris when he was young and newly married. He talks about what how he worked at writing, being poor, other writers, and skiing. I liked the writing very much. This version is from his original manuscripts and differs slightly from the one edited by his last wife.
4 stars
*RHC - a book published posthumously
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Bookworms: Great Writers and Readers Celebrate Reading edited by Laura Furman & Elinore Standard - short essays and excerpts from a variety of writers, some classic and some current. I especially enjoyed the section on young readers discovering the joy of reading. The last section bogged down a bit but contained my favorite story of a young black man figuring out a way to use the library when he wasn't allowed to have a card. I wouldn't have read this if not for the Read Harder Challenge. (I even had to buy it.) I made a list of several authors and books and will return to get more. Because of that...
4.5 stars
*RHC - an essay anthology
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Jan 7 - 13, 2018
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle - the last unicorn in the world hopes it isn't the last one and goes on a journey to find the rest of the unicorns. Along the way she meets an inept magician who accompanies her on her quest. My library didn't have the original, instead I read the graphic novel. While the illustrations were beautiful, I think I missed something of the story itself.
2 stars
*RHC - one-sitting book
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Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman - a collection of essays about the authors love of reading. I'm a common reader, she is not. Too literary for me. I liked the essay on reading aloud the best.
2 stars
*RHC - essay anthology
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The Chalk Pit by Ellie Griffiths - Ruth Galloway has been called to look at bones found in a tunnel beneath Norwich in this 9th book of the series. What looks at first like old bones boiled by an ancient method turn out to be much more recent and a matter for police. Are they connected to the recent disappearances of rough sleepers around town? A murder right on the steps of the police building ratchets things up in a mix of violence, missing people, and kidnapping. All while Ruth and DCI Nelson's personal lives get a bit messy. Not very much archeology in this one and I don't like the direction things are going with Ruth and Nelson. Not the best in the series IMO.
3 stars
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The Western Star by Craig Johnson - the 13th Walt Longmire book and my least favorite by far. The story jumps between the present and the 70's in a very erratic way, several jumps per chapter. Present day Walt is trying to prevent the release of a dying prisoner and the past Walt is trying to find out who on a train full of sheriffs killed one of them. And then there's a twist at the end that makes it seem as if this book was written just to set up the next. Unfair.
2 stars
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Don't Let Go by Harlan Coben - Nap Dumas hasn't been the same since his twin brother Leo and his girlfriend were killed by a train. And on that same night, 15 years ago, his own girlfriend, Maura, left town. Now he's a police detective and when he learns that Maura's fingerprints have been found inside a car associated with a cop killing he starts doing some unauthorized investigating. My only quibble with this is that it's told in first person present tense.
4.5 stars
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The Essence of Malice by Ashley Weaver - Milo and Amory Ames are vacationing in Italy when he receives a troubling letter from his old nanny. It seems she thinks the famous parfumier she works for has been murdered and there is no end of suspects. Is it one of his three children, his much younger wife, an old friend, or a business rival? These books are very much in the style of 30's English mysteries, which is the time they take place. Lots of witty repartee, endless money, and time to travel and indulge in mystery solving. Fun books when you don't want to think too much.
4 stars
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The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn - Anna Fox has been imprisoned by agoraphobia in her house for 10 months. She mixes her medication with alcohol, watches black and white movies in the dark, and watches her neighbors with her camera. Then she sees something shocking at the new neighbors house and almost loses her tenuous hold on reality. Quite a page turner at the end. A few too many movie references and quotes.
4 stars
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The Strangers in the House by Georges Simenon - Hector Lousart is a reclusive alcoholic who has avoided people, including his daughter, for 18 years, ever since his wife left him. He lives in two rooms of his very large house with his books and wine. One night he hears a shot and ventures out of his room. He discovers a strange man murdered in one of his bedrooms. Things have been happening in his house that he didn't know about. Written in 1940 during the German occupation of France and yet there's no mention of that in the book. This is more of a psychological study than a mystery. It's been on my TBR for a very long time and I finally bought it when I realized it fit two categories in my reading challenge.
3 stars
*RHC - Book with a cover I hate
Book of genre fiction in translation
2 stars
*RHC - one-sitting book
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Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman - a collection of essays about the authors love of reading. I'm a common reader, she is not. Too literary for me. I liked the essay on reading aloud the best.
2 stars
*RHC - essay anthology
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The Chalk Pit by Ellie Griffiths - Ruth Galloway has been called to look at bones found in a tunnel beneath Norwich in this 9th book of the series. What looks at first like old bones boiled by an ancient method turn out to be much more recent and a matter for police. Are they connected to the recent disappearances of rough sleepers around town? A murder right on the steps of the police building ratchets things up in a mix of violence, missing people, and kidnapping. All while Ruth and DCI Nelson's personal lives get a bit messy. Not very much archeology in this one and I don't like the direction things are going with Ruth and Nelson. Not the best in the series IMO.
3 stars
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The Western Star by Craig Johnson - the 13th Walt Longmire book and my least favorite by far. The story jumps between the present and the 70's in a very erratic way, several jumps per chapter. Present day Walt is trying to prevent the release of a dying prisoner and the past Walt is trying to find out who on a train full of sheriffs killed one of them. And then there's a twist at the end that makes it seem as if this book was written just to set up the next. Unfair.
2 stars
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Don't Let Go by Harlan Coben - Nap Dumas hasn't been the same since his twin brother Leo and his girlfriend were killed by a train. And on that same night, 15 years ago, his own girlfriend, Maura, left town. Now he's a police detective and when he learns that Maura's fingerprints have been found inside a car associated with a cop killing he starts doing some unauthorized investigating. My only quibble with this is that it's told in first person present tense.
4.5 stars
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The Essence of Malice by Ashley Weaver - Milo and Amory Ames are vacationing in Italy when he receives a troubling letter from his old nanny. It seems she thinks the famous parfumier she works for has been murdered and there is no end of suspects. Is it one of his three children, his much younger wife, an old friend, or a business rival? These books are very much in the style of 30's English mysteries, which is the time they take place. Lots of witty repartee, endless money, and time to travel and indulge in mystery solving. Fun books when you don't want to think too much.
4 stars
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The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn - Anna Fox has been imprisoned by agoraphobia in her house for 10 months. She mixes her medication with alcohol, watches black and white movies in the dark, and watches her neighbors with her camera. Then she sees something shocking at the new neighbors house and almost loses her tenuous hold on reality. Quite a page turner at the end. A few too many movie references and quotes.
4 stars
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The Strangers in the House by Georges Simenon - Hector Lousart is a reclusive alcoholic who has avoided people, including his daughter, for 18 years, ever since his wife left him. He lives in two rooms of his very large house with his books and wine. One night he hears a shot and ventures out of his room. He discovers a strange man murdered in one of his bedrooms. Things have been happening in his house that he didn't know about. Written in 1940 during the German occupation of France and yet there's no mention of that in the book. This is more of a psychological study than a mystery. It's been on my TBR for a very long time and I finally bought it when I realized it fit two categories in my reading challenge.
3 stars
*RHC - Book with a cover I hate
Book of genre fiction in translation
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Jan 1 - 6, 2018
Komomo Confiserie by Maki Manami - Komomo is a spoiled rich girl who loves to boss around Natsu, the son of her father's pastry chef. A few years later and their positions are reversed when her father loses all his money and Komomo has to get a job and finds herself working for Natsu at his father's bakery. He delights in teasing her but along the way Komomo learns how to work hard and starts caring for others. This is a manga I read for a reading challenge and it was amazingly hard to read backwards. It wasn't until the last chapter that I felt I got the hang of it. So that colored my enjoyment. I did enjoy the illustrations.
2 stars
*RHC - comic written and illustrated by the same author, comic by a person of color, comic not published by Marvel, Dc, or Image
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Dead Woman Walking by Sharon J. Bolton - 13 people are on a hot air balloon flight when they look down and see a man murdering a woman. And he sees them. There's a chase across the countryside and the balloon crashes, killing everyone aboard but one woman. Shaken, disoriented, and grieving the death of her sister, the woman flees the killer, not trusting anyone. One twist after another really kept my interest. There is quite a bit of going back in time as details are added. I can see why the author told the story that way but I still find it irritating. So a half point off for that.
4.5 stars
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Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney - an 85 year old woman walks to dinner on NYE, 1984. Along the way she meets various people and reflects on her life. In her heyday she was the highest-paid advertising woman in America. But marriage, motherhood, and divorce changed all that. I found Lillian very hard to warm up to. I like the way she speaks, very quick-witted. But there was something cold about her to me. A fiction book inspired by a real woman. Another book for my reading challenge.
2 stars
*RHC- female protagonist over 60
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Twist of Faith by Ellen J. Green - when Ava's adoptive mother passes away she ratchets up the search for her birth family. She's never been satisfied with the answers she was given and never felt wanted. She persuades a detective to investigate a murder that she believes is connected to her somehow. Told in the first person until she's murdered (?) and various other viewpoints. Convoluted with lots of filler and reiterating points. Family members with no feeling for each other, revenge seeking and people with little character. Only one faintly sympathetic character. And then just when you think it's over, a twist at the end that's really irritating. My free book for the month and worth exactly that.
1 star
2 stars
*RHC - comic written and illustrated by the same author, comic by a person of color, comic not published by Marvel, Dc, or Image
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Dead Woman Walking by Sharon J. Bolton - 13 people are on a hot air balloon flight when they look down and see a man murdering a woman. And he sees them. There's a chase across the countryside and the balloon crashes, killing everyone aboard but one woman. Shaken, disoriented, and grieving the death of her sister, the woman flees the killer, not trusting anyone. One twist after another really kept my interest. There is quite a bit of going back in time as details are added. I can see why the author told the story that way but I still find it irritating. So a half point off for that.
4.5 stars
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Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney - an 85 year old woman walks to dinner on NYE, 1984. Along the way she meets various people and reflects on her life. In her heyday she was the highest-paid advertising woman in America. But marriage, motherhood, and divorce changed all that. I found Lillian very hard to warm up to. I like the way she speaks, very quick-witted. But there was something cold about her to me. A fiction book inspired by a real woman. Another book for my reading challenge.
2 stars
*RHC- female protagonist over 60
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Twist of Faith by Ellen J. Green - when Ava's adoptive mother passes away she ratchets up the search for her birth family. She's never been satisfied with the answers she was given and never felt wanted. She persuades a detective to investigate a murder that she believes is connected to her somehow. Told in the first person until she's murdered (?) and various other viewpoints. Convoluted with lots of filler and reiterating points. Family members with no feeling for each other, revenge seeking and people with little character. Only one faintly sympathetic character. And then just when you think it's over, a twist at the end that's really irritating. My free book for the month and worth exactly that.
1 star
Sunday, December 31, 2017
5 star books of 2017
Reading seemed somewhat of a struggle this year. Although I finished 161 books, I also quit more books than I ever have. It was hard to find a book that really pulled me in and had me thinking about it after I had read it. And I think some of these books got 5 stars just because I was thrilled to read something interesting. My first 5 star wasn't until April.
5. A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline - an imagining of the life of Christina Olson, the muse for Andrew Wyeth's painting, Christina's World. At a young age, Christina was struck with a painful, debilitating disease. She lived her entire life on the farm pictured in the painting always doing what was expected and not what she desired. I really liked the way this book flowed.
From my blog post of May 28
4. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys - four young people, different nationalities, are thrown together in a desperate rush to get to a seaport ahead of the advancing Russian army. But even refuge on a ship doesn't bring safety. Told from all four viewpoints, you gradually get to know and care about them.
From my blog post of April 9
3. Glass Houses by Louise Penny - the 13th Inspector Armand Gamache begins in a courtroom with the inspector on the witness stand. He is recounting the events that occurred in Three Pines a year ago, beginning with the appearance of a mysterious person clad in black who stands on the village green. We then go back and forth in time as things gradually unfold. The author handles the buildup in tension wonderfully, I couldn't wait to get to the end. Everything is on the line for Gamache including his career and family. Just a little bit of niggling irritation as the jumps in time were sometimes confusing. And I do get tired of the police corruption angle but that's not the focus.
From my blog post of Nov 26
2. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles - in 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is condemned to house arrest at the Metropol, a luxury hotel, for being an unrepentant aristocrat. But he can't stay in his suite, he must live in a small room at top of the hotel. Here he lives as the decades pass and those in political power rise and fall. He begins to make friends with employees who previously had been acquaintances. And he makes friends with a young girl with a quick mind who will have a great impact on his life. Little bits of subtle humor and beautiful writing.
From my blog post of July 16
1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - Eleanor Oliphant has very poor social skills and lives a solitary life, usually speaking to no one at all on the weekends. She has good reason for her lack of skills which is very gradually revealed. She suddenly develops a crush on a band singer and begins to take an interest in her appearance to be worthy of him. In the meantime, she develops a friendship with the sloppy IT person at her work when they witness the medical emergency of an elderly man. Funny, sad, hopeful, and angry were some of my feelings as I read this.
From my blog post of July 30
Eleanor won out over Count Alexander because her story touched me more. I thought of her often.
5. A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline - an imagining of the life of Christina Olson, the muse for Andrew Wyeth's painting, Christina's World. At a young age, Christina was struck with a painful, debilitating disease. She lived her entire life on the farm pictured in the painting always doing what was expected and not what she desired. I really liked the way this book flowed.
From my blog post of May 28
4. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys - four young people, different nationalities, are thrown together in a desperate rush to get to a seaport ahead of the advancing Russian army. But even refuge on a ship doesn't bring safety. Told from all four viewpoints, you gradually get to know and care about them.
From my blog post of April 9
3. Glass Houses by Louise Penny - the 13th Inspector Armand Gamache begins in a courtroom with the inspector on the witness stand. He is recounting the events that occurred in Three Pines a year ago, beginning with the appearance of a mysterious person clad in black who stands on the village green. We then go back and forth in time as things gradually unfold. The author handles the buildup in tension wonderfully, I couldn't wait to get to the end. Everything is on the line for Gamache including his career and family. Just a little bit of niggling irritation as the jumps in time were sometimes confusing. And I do get tired of the police corruption angle but that's not the focus.
From my blog post of Nov 26
2. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles - in 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is condemned to house arrest at the Metropol, a luxury hotel, for being an unrepentant aristocrat. But he can't stay in his suite, he must live in a small room at top of the hotel. Here he lives as the decades pass and those in political power rise and fall. He begins to make friends with employees who previously had been acquaintances. And he makes friends with a young girl with a quick mind who will have a great impact on his life. Little bits of subtle humor and beautiful writing.
From my blog post of July 16
1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - Eleanor Oliphant has very poor social skills and lives a solitary life, usually speaking to no one at all on the weekends. She has good reason for her lack of skills which is very gradually revealed. She suddenly develops a crush on a band singer and begins to take an interest in her appearance to be worthy of him. In the meantime, she develops a friendship with the sloppy IT person at her work when they witness the medical emergency of an elderly man. Funny, sad, hopeful, and angry were some of my feelings as I read this.
From my blog post of July 30
Eleanor won out over Count Alexander because her story touched me more. I thought of her often.
Dec 24 - 31, 2017
American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse - the true story of a series of 80 plus fires set in Accomack County, Va during 2012/13. An already impoverished area, the arsons and subsequent trials stretched resources thin. The author, a journalist, made the story read like fiction with a few facts thrown in, making for a compelling read.
4 stars
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Travels with Rachel: In Search of South America by George Mahood - George and Rachel's honeymoon trip to Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. With little preparation and minimal supplies they spent six weeks visiting ancient towns, the Amazon jungle, the pampas and salt flats using mostly local transportation. Told with his usual flair for comedy and willingness to poke fun at himself. A quick, fun read.
3 stars
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Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones - Liesl is a plain girl and lives her life in the shadow of her beautiful sister and talented brother. All her life she's heard stories of the Goblin King and his search for a bride. Then her sister is taken by the GK and in order to save her she agrees to marry him. I'm quite ambivalent about this book. The writing is lovely but it takes forever to get to the point. There's lots of writing music, talking about music, and playing music. And then Leisl wants the GK but he doesn't want her, then he does but she doesn't, then she does but he doesn't. It's a YA book, can you tell? And yet...the ending left me unsatisfied and I've put the second book on my TBR.
3 stars
4 stars
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Travels with Rachel: In Search of South America by George Mahood - George and Rachel's honeymoon trip to Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. With little preparation and minimal supplies they spent six weeks visiting ancient towns, the Amazon jungle, the pampas and salt flats using mostly local transportation. Told with his usual flair for comedy and willingness to poke fun at himself. A quick, fun read.
3 stars
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Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones - Liesl is a plain girl and lives her life in the shadow of her beautiful sister and talented brother. All her life she's heard stories of the Goblin King and his search for a bride. Then her sister is taken by the GK and in order to save her she agrees to marry him. I'm quite ambivalent about this book. The writing is lovely but it takes forever to get to the point. There's lots of writing music, talking about music, and playing music. And then Leisl wants the GK but he doesn't want her, then he does but she doesn't, then she does but he doesn't. It's a YA book, can you tell? And yet...the ending left me unsatisfied and I've put the second book on my TBR.
3 stars
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Dec 17 - 23, 2017
Artemis by Andy Weir - Jazz Bashara lives on the moon. Sounds cool, but she's too poor to enjoy the lifestyle and makes her living as a porter and smuggler. Then she's hired to sabotage some equipment and finds herself in the middle of a fight to control Artemis, the city on the moon. I was really expecting to like this, I loved The Martian by the author. But this book is filled with a smart-mouth, snarky woman (she acts more like a teenager) who makes lots of sexual comments and thinks she's pretty cool. And there's lots of science and welding. Which I skimmed as fast as possible. I only finished because I wanted to know how Jazz got out of her mess.
2 stars
2 stars
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