Recent Reads, Reviews and Recommendations

At the end of June every year our public library system has a ginormous book sale. Think school cafeteria filled to the brim, with new boxes being unloaded hourly.

I go - more than once - and I swoon. This year I came home with 29 books (over 3 visits) and I read 9 of them in July.

Just so you don't think that I spent the month of July doing nothing but reading, I will confess that I chose the fun, easy ones first. That's what July felt like for me. I also didn't want to get too far into a tome and have to put it aside for the book club book (though I wish I had).

I've also developed a book rule. If I am not excited to sit down and read it and I've given it a good 50 pages, it goes away. I used to feel like I had to read a whole book once I started it, but life's too short for icky books.

So, here's some of what I've read recently.

A Good Year and Hotel Pastis by Peter Mayle. Here's how you read Peter Mayle - open a bottle of wine, go sit in a chair under a tree, turn off your phone and immerse yourself in the lighthearted and entertaining antics of the characters in the small towns of Provence. Both these books are easy page turners and are fun without being too fluffy. Mayle has a great way of writing that creates enough of a meaty plot yet also seems like you're on vacation. Unlike my review of To The Lighthouse, these are definitely good for beaches or planes - or simply escaping on a summer afternoon. Two thumbs up!

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. A good 'ol mystery is good for the soul, I think. When I was a teenager I loved Agatha Christie books, and this is what this book sort of reminds me of. A young biographer, who has grown up in the stacks of her father's specialty book shop is hired by a famous, but reclusive writer to pen her autobiography. But, they both have a secret. While you read Peter Mayle outside under a tree, this book calls to be read in a large overstuffed chair in a dimly lit room, with the plush velvet curtains drawn, and the cat curled up on the ottoman. One thumb up, one thumb middle.

I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak. Book Club recently read The Book Thief and I enjoyed it so much that I was tickled to find Zusak's previous book amidst the library's piles. Such a clever writer. Our main character, a taxi driving misfit, unwittingly foils a bank robbery and after the consequent notoriety he begins to receive cryptic messages on the Aces of playing cards. He must determine what these messages mean and what he has to do about them. Zusak had a knack for creating quirky and lovable characters who seem both light and deep at the same time. Two thumbs up for this one also.

Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer. Confession. I have read the Twilight series books . I'm not really a book snob, and I like young adult reading (Zusak is classified as a young adult writer), but I have to say that the Twilight series is kind of like 'reading crack'. I liked the first one, Twilight, but I thought the second one, New Moon, was terrible. So what could make me read the third, Eclipse? I'm not sure. It's that addictive thing - like potato chips, you can't eat just one. The concept is interesting and I get why this appeals to teenage girls, but puleeze, could it be about 2/3 shorter? Of course, it's likely all the mental gyrations of the teenage mind that appeals to the teenage audience, but I'm not interested. Two thumbs down on this one. But, will I read the last one - Breaking Dawn?

The Queens Fool by Phillipa Gregory. I am not a fan of historical novels in general. However, I picked up Gregory's bestseller The Other Boleyn Girl at last year's sale and quite enjoyed it. I learned more about the history of the Tudors and the royal court than I remember from any history class. So, I thought I'd give a different one a try. The Queens Fool is a sequel in terms of history, but has a differing vantage point of a character outside the royal court. The second was not quite as good in my opinion. Like the Meyer's books, a bit too long in the tooth and I found myself getting tired of the characters halfway through. I quite enjoyed the first and last thirds. So, one thumb up, one thumb down.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I was supremely attracted and repelled by the cover of his book, and that is a bit how I feel about the story itself. But here's the best way I can describe it. Imagine sitting down with an amazing story teller who begins to weave his tale. You are drawn into the characters immediately, but you have nagging questions and your story teller simply nods when you ask, and then continues. As the tale moves along you notice a wrapped box in your story teller's lap and while you are deeply engrossed in the plot of the story, he quietly and with no great fanfare, rips a large swath of wrapping off the box. "Oh", you exclaim, "that explains that" as you see what is under the wrapping. And so it continues, until all is revealed. I was riveted by this book, the story - though it is a bit dark, the missing pieces slowly revealed, the characters, and the way it was written. Two thumbs up.

What about you? Read any good books lately?

To The Lighthouse - Did We Get There?

Book Club recently met and reviewed Virginia Woolf's classic To The Lighthouse. I had picked it up at the library book sale thinking that it would be a good idea to read a classic. BC agreed, but I wish they hadn't.

We met at Dale and Nikolai's, partially because they have a painting hanging in their living room that was inspired by the final scene in To The Lighthouse. However, more than the painting we paid attention to the scrumptious feast. D & N had recently been on vacation to see friends and had brought home all kinds of new recipes to try on us. Spicy grilled pork chops with a cooling riata, super yummy grilled corn, and a fantastic moist chocolaty bundt cake.

In between the 'mmmm's' and the 'please pass the ...' we talked about this book for about 2 1/2 hours. Good talk, or bad talk?

Interestingly enough, a bit of both. Craig and I agreed that the conversation was way more interesting than the book.

Here's how we rated it: (I think-BC please edit me if I misrepresent you)
Catherine - 3 (for book) 5 (for conversation)
Craig - 3.5
Hans - 3.5
Maria - 4??
Dale - 8.5
Nikolai - 3-4
Tess - 4??

Not very high ratings as a group, but certainly a lot to talk about.

This book was written in the 1930's and is autobiographical of segments of Virginia Woolf's life. That wasn't the part that was hard though. The hard part was that nothing happened in the book. It was a general stream of consciousness of several different characters, which unless you liked the character (which I didn't), was very hard to care about.

Most of the BC found the droning narrative tiresome. Maria and I did not make it through the book. I don't think Tess did either. Hans said, 'It was only 200 pages. I can read 200 pages of anything.' That's what I thought. But I couldn't.

Dale, contrary to the rest of us, resonated strongly with the main character of the book. She had read To The Lighthouse in her 20s with artist friends and had lively discussions and so had history with the book that was meaningful to her.

Should you read this book? I don't know. I certainly think it is worth a try. But don't pick it up for summer beach reading or your next plane ride. This may be the book that you read a bit at a time in between the other books that you read.

Or do what Craig did. He read it on his phone. That meant that only a small portion of the page showed up a time and so the lengthy paragraphless narratives didn't seem so daunting.

Bite size. Do it that way.

2 For 1

Maybe you noticed that my last post was April 4 - a mere 3 1/2 months ago, but ancient history in the Book Club world. Remiss is not the word. I've been a book reviewing slacker.

So, to get me in the Book Club mood, I've made myself a martini, and we'll see how this goes.

Last Book Club we met at Maria and Han's and read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Sue suggested this book and frankly when I heard that it was about a book stealing girl living in Nazi Germany I thought ugh! Even though it is a monumental episode in our world's recent history, I really don't want to spend my time reading about how cruel humans can be to each other.

Yes, it is set in Nazi Germany. Yes, there are some moments of supreme human cruelty. But, overall it is a book full of heart and full of the goodness and beauty of the human soul. It is a book that highlights the love that people have for one another and how connection can be formed in the direst of circumstances.

And Mr. Zusak does this brilliantly, and somewhat sneakily, through the narration of the big bad wolf himself - Death. Death becomes quasi-human and connected, and participates with us through the story.

Us Book Clubbers really enjoyed this book. We all agreed that the first few chapters were a bit difficult to get into, but after that The Book Thief was a delight.

I unfortunately don't remember what each member had to say specifically, but as a whole we commented on how much we liked the characters in this book. While we followed our main protagonist Lisbeth as she stole books from cemeteries, bonfires, and private libraries, we also grew to love the other characters who populated her world. The characters were real, and flawed, and coping with very real problems. And, perhaps that's why we liked them so much. We could imagine sitting down to a bowl of pea soup with any of them. Except the Nazi's. But, you'd expect that.

While this book is classified as a young adult book, it certainly is no Twilight - and I mean that in a good way. It is smart, it has depth, and from the quirky type fonts to the hand drawn illustrations it draws us down into the rich, emotional, world of Lisbeth and her family.

I feel so terrible that I can't remember everyone's specific ratings (must... take... notes...). But, we had mostly 9's, a smattering of 8.5's and a 7.5 I believe. A hit, and a definite go out and read recommendation from book club.

A note about pea soup. It is prominent in the book and Hans made us some amazing split pea soup for dinner. (So amazing, I'm cooking it right now). But, that was not the end of the yummy food. Maria blew it out of the park with moussaka. Ohhhhhh.... the drooly drool is happening right now! This was Maria's first time hosting since she is our newest member (I think her darling husband Hans will be joining us more often too) and she did not disappoint. An evening of delight.

An aside - I followed up by reading Markus Zusak's previous book, I Am The Messenger. He's quite a gifted writer, and such a creative thinker. If you want to know more about him and check out his interview video then go to his website.

So.... get in the time machine and go back a couple of months to the Book Club before the last one. (Man, I really AM behind!)

We met at Tess's and read John Irving's Last Night in Twisted River. I was smart enough to take notes since I had spent the day hosting a professional conference and was kind of wiped out.

Quick overview - food stellar, book lukewarm. Tess cooks Mexican and other Latino food like you would not believe and this night was no exception. She and her husband Michael had just gotten a fancy new grill, so it was especially fun having our tostadas and other yummy's fresh from the grill. Muy bueno!

You've likely read a John Irving novel. He's a great writer, a master storyteller and that's why we were excited to read his latest. But, we agreed, it wasn't worth it.

Last Night in Twisted River follows the story of a son and his father, and the craggy pseudo-father/friend as they all live through, and run from the fated last night. (dum dum dum - organ crashing!)

The first 1/3 of the book was typical John Irving - fun, quirky characters in quirky relationships with each other, twisty turns of fate, and dire circumstances that make you go 'oh no' and turn the page wanting to know more. But somehow the editor was sleeping on her job.

We all thought this book was way too long and lacked a cohesive plot. Like the title, it was like riding in a slow boat down a twisty river.

But, John Irving - he's a writing rock star. He doesn't write bad books, does he? So most of us stayed in the boat, but not all of us.

And what was with all the twisty names? We counted 15 different names used for the father/cook. Even though father and son were needing to change their identities throughout the book, Irving still didn't need to confuse us further with his own names for them.

Here's what BCers had to say and how we rated the book.

Dale - 6.5. She said that she wouldn't have finished reading it if it had been another author. She went to the end based on past experience with this normally delicious author, but was disappointed in this writing.

Nikolai - 6. Compared it to a snake eating its tail - where does it end....? Nik noted that there were a lot of dead ends and commented that once he got into the middle the book seemed to lack a plot.

Maria - 6. She read the second 1/2 in 1 day and so she thought she might have a different experience if she had digested it more slowly. She thought it was too long and wondered how many parts of one person's life do we really have to live through?

Hans - 6. Noted that Irving is a wonderful storyteller (he is - that's for sure!). Hans thought that the start was strong, the middle weak and questioned the point of the last third.

Sue - 5.5. Only read 1/2 of the book. Enjoyed learning about logging and Boston, but couldn't get past the dragging middle.

Tess - 7.5. Also, only read 1/2 way and enjoyed the start, but couldn't get any farther.

Catherine - 5.5. Just too long and all over the place. So many other Irving books are better. This one's a disappointment.

We talked about how this book really would be much better as a screenplay and we even started casting the characters. Nick Nolte has a part in our movie version.

Ironically, if a movie version was made, I'd see it. And, unless you simply read everything that John Irving writes, I'd suggest you wait for the movie too (and hope its better than the book).

Book Club Divergence and The Gone Away World

Last summer I was driving along listening to NPR, when librarian Nancy Pearl came on to talk about her book list for the summer. Tangential sidebar alert: I later found out that Nancy Pearl has a cool community site called Book Lust and has her own action figure that actually has a 'shushing' motion when you press a button in her back. Must... have... Nancy.... Pearl... action ..... figure!

Back to original topic - our librarian extraordinaire recommended a book called The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway (who is, as another sidebar, the son of prolific spy novel writer, John LeCarre).

She said, "I can't really tell you about this book without giving away a big twist. It's about a post apocalyptic world, oh no, that's too much information!"

I was hooked. A book with such a twist that even a couple of words are too much?! I'm in? I'm driving to the bookstore right now. And, I did (the library actually).

I read the book, suggested it to book club (with much the same gleeful intro as Nancy Pearl) and then read it again with the BC, just so I could see if I could predict the twist while reading now that I knew what it was. I was super psyched to talk about this book. I loved it! I thought it was brilliant!

And Book Club hated it! I don't think I've ever wanted to cry at BC, but that night I think I did have a tear or two well up. How could they dislike it so much? Where have my beloved BC and I diverged? Frankly, I took their dislike personally for about 20 minutes. Then I got over it.

While we've disagreed before, it's never been one person loving and the others intensely disliking. A book club first. In fact, Sue, Tess, and Craig did not finish the book. Dale only finished because she loves me and Nikolai was trapped on an island somewhere and would have read a VCR manual.

However, I am redeemed because my husband is reading The Gone Away World right now. In our 12 years together I've really never seen him read a book - he's a computer dude. He's glued! He looks up from the pages and tells me the crazy thing that just happened with glee on his face. He now knows the twist!

Finally! Someone I can talk about this book with who loves it as much as me. I have to admit I am experiencing some relief that my book radar is not completely dysfunctional.

While I'm not going to tell you what the story of this book is about, I will tell you that everything is important and comes together in the end. And on my second read I looked up every word I didn't know. Since some of this book is quite along the science fiction genre, I wasn't sure if the author was making up words, but lo and behold, all words are real and used well and appropriately. Carlos has the benefit of my annotated version - lucky dog.

Have you read this book? I'm wondering what other folks think. Are you in the Catherine and Carlos love it camp, or the most of BC yuck camp?

Do me a favor and read it and then let me know. And, Nancy Pearl action figures are appreciated.

House of Many Gods Missed the Mark

I've been remiss. Book Club met 3 weeks ago and I'm just getting around to reviewing our book, House of Many Gods by Kiana Davenport.

Let the lackluster desire to comment on this book give you fair warning as to what we thought of it.

And also, to be fair - I went gallivanting off on a trip to the east coast which involved meetings with congresspeople and lots of New York pizza. Personally, I'd much rather tell you about my trip...... but, this is the Book Club blog.

We did talk for a long time about this book (sitting on Dale and Nikolai's lanai, being misted by valley rains), though as I've said before, that means we really like it, or really don't. Unfortunately for Ms. Davenport, it's the latter this time.

The numbers just don't lie

Dale - 4
Tess - 5
Nikolai - 3
Catherine 4
Sue - 4.9
Maria - 4 (I think)

Since this story is set on the island of Oahu, we were looking forward to a glimpse into a culture and place with which we are familiar. And, we all liked Ms. Davenport's previous book Shark Dialogues, so we were excited to read this one.

Ms. Davenport is a skilled writer - we all agreed she can weave the words like a gorgeous tapestry. But, the story, it was yuck!

I keep trying to write a concise prosaic summary of the story, but after more than a dozen tries, and failing miserably I gave up!! So, here goes the non-prosaic version.

Ana, protagonist has shitty little kid years. Lives on Waianae coast with large extended Hawaiian family, whose men go to war and come back destroyed. Ana hates mother because she left and created her own life in San Francisco. Ana becomes a doctor, gets cancer, meets a Russian, lets the Russian go, then chases the Russian through Russia to bring him back. End of story.

Woven through everything is the theme of radiation poisoning and the government screwing the people. Granted it was during the time of 3 Mile Island, and lots of nuclear testing; however, we agreed that it seemed like there were about 3 different books smashed into one and several members questioned the veracity of the version of the events regarding the Waianae coast and the US military.

On the good side, there were a couple of simply stunning scenes of birth. The cultural components and how the entire family became an integral part of the process were touching and rich, especially in comparison to western hospital births which are viewed more as a medical procedure.

You know, normally I go on a bit more about the book and what we thought, but I just don't want to with this one. Didn't like it, don't recommend it - that's it!

What we did like though was Dale and Nikolai's dinner. Bacon wrapped grilled teriyaki ahi bites. Delectable, delicious, divine. I'm salivating now just thinking about them. And, Ted's chocolate haupia pie for dessert. I'm sorry you non-Hawaiian folks don't have Ted's pies. They're worth a trip over here for.

'Shantaram' an E-ticket ride

I don't know if Disneyland still has the same system, but when I was a kid you definitely wanted to purchase the 'E-ticket' when you went to the Magic Kingdom. This special ticket allowed you to ride all the most thrilling rides (as thrilling as it could get at Disneyland).

Last weekend Book Club gathered 'round the dinner table at my house to discuss the rollercoaster ride of Gregory David Robert's 'Shantaram'.

I don't know how this book has become so widely read, since I've heard nothing about it, except from word of mouth. But the peoples are creating a Shantaram buzz.

Shantaram is set primarily in India; however, knowing that the meal for Book Club is almost as important as the book, I proclaimed early on that I would not be cooking an Indian meal. Indian cuisine seemed too big a leap into unknown spices and cooking techniques for my skill. Don't want to bomb Book Club dinner!

However, I did get close. I made a lamb stew with frangrant spices of cinnamon, cumin and coriander on couscous. Book clubbers slurped it up and murmured appreciations throughout the evening. It was good!

Between the requests for seconds and the openings of new bottles of wine, we talked about this book for over 2 1/2 hours. We only spend that much time in discussion if we love it or hate it - and love it (with some reservations) we did!

At over 900 pages it is a daunting read, and Sue said it was the longest book she's ever read (I guess she wasn't in the BC when we read 'Musashi').

But the pace is galloping and with some small exception, the reader is transported pell mell through a variety of jaw dropping situations and experiences.

Can you imagine being caught in a sea of rats as they flow past you, 3 furry levels deep - you standing stock still so these garbage collectors of the local ecosystem don't bite your shins? Eeewwww!

Or living in an Indian slum in the middle of Bombay where you take your 'motions' (think bathroom) right into the ocean - and your neighbors are so clear on your state of intestinal health that it is proclaimed to the community?

Perhaps you can imagine being held captive in an Indian jail so heavily infested with lice and other blood sucking insects, that each morning you must spend hours meticulously picking these vermin from your body and the seams of your clothing - only to submit over and over to the nightly invasion when you lay down to sleep.

Part of what makes these experiences so vibrant, in both their heart and their awfulness, is the fact that by the author's admission, they are all true. Mr. Robert's says that he has fictionalized the people in Shantaram, but the experiences are a part of his true life history.

So - we Book Clubbers, read open mouthed, perched on the edge of our proverbial seats as our main character Lin (read Roberts) escapes from an Australian prison, dangling over the 10 foot wall in broad daylight, from an extension cord. Tense!

Here's the ratings, and then I'll tell you what folks had to say:
Sue - 8.5
Maria - 8-9
Dale - 10 for the 1st 2/3 & 6.5 for the last 1/3
Craig - 9
Nikolai - 9
Catherine - 8.5

Note - Tess was missing from our group this time and Maria has now joined us to make our 6 an auspicious 7.

We all agreed that this guy can write! Boy howdy! Mr Roberts creates compelling characters, the relationships are tender and complex, and as mentioned, the plot makes this a page turner.

We cared about the people. We got drawn into their lives and relationships and lived with them. We loved the humanity that was created in this book.

We marveled at how a life of such struggle, especially in the slum, could be so beautiful at the same time.

Mr. Roberts says that this book's theme is exile. I noted how deftly he wove this theme into each character and each relationship and that it all stuck together. No small feat in 900+ pages.

There was quite a conversation around our table about the cosmology/philosophy that was developed by the Indian mafia boss (who was Afghani). Sue, Nikolai, and Craig especially liked the development of this guiding principle, which put briefly is: God=complexity and so all actions that create more complexity are good, while those that steer away from complexity are evil.

Nothing like a heavy duty philosophy to steer a criminal mind. So it is not evil to counterfeit, but completely evil to traffic humans.

Personally, this was the part of the book I didn't really like. It made my brain hurt. And, I'll be honest, when I read, I really don't want to have to work too hard. It did make the mafia boss quite complex as a character; however, and more likable as a result.

Dale was vociferous in her commentary regarding the last third of the book which takes place in the hills of Afghanistan during the war with the Russians. She really did not like this part and she said that it seemed so out of place with the earlier two thirds of the book. It was such a notable disparity for her that it really colored her whole experience of the book.

We talked about the parts we liked, the parts we didn't, and the parts when we picked our jaws up off the floor.

We all agreed that we would have loved to have been a part of the chanting, drumming group that ushered a fugitive bear in a Ganesha costume out of the city.

I said I'd read it again.

And we recommend that you read it too.

Craig found some fascinating video of Mr. Roberts being interviewed on CNN Asia. Take a peek:
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

When you read a book such as this, you begin to live inside it, and inside the writer's mind - especially since the author and the main character were one in the same. Seeing Mr. Roberts on video makes the story come that much more alive.

Craig, the dear that he is, also made the city and the landmarks come alive for us with his map of the story's important places.

Shantaram is apparently being turned into a movie, with Johnny Depp playing Lin. Wow! I hope the movie's as good as the book.

If you haven't read Shantaram then line up to get your E-ticket. It's worth the ride.