I have been on a non-fiction kick. Not exclusively, but mostly. My side trips with fiction this year have been disappointing. Here are the non-fiction I’ve read:
Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002 by David Sedaris. What is it about reading someone’s diary? I find it fascinating. And, the best part of this book is you hear his voice – the one we know and love from his popular books – emerge. I liked this a lot.
Heartmates: A Guide for the Partner and Family of the Heart Patient by Rachael Freed. Thanks to Kathy K. for recommending this soon after Michael’s event. It was just in time, described perfectly some of the things I was going through, explained things I didn’t know. It was the perfect book at an important time.
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance. This was the book for the One Book One Community reading event. I didn’t like this book. Something about it didn’t seem authentic or sincere.
Words on the Move: Why English Won't - and Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally) by John McWhorter. How does a living language stay alive? Answer: only through change. This book picks out some of those changes and examines them. LOVED this book, but I’m a little funny about language that way.
Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris. Mary Norris was an editor at The New Yorker. That might be all you need to know. This is another book about English and editing. It was not nearly as engaging as Words on the Move precisely because she was touting some of those old, peculiar style rules that The New Yorker is always the last to let go of. I found it a little stuffy.
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays by Alexander Chee. The author examines the age old questions of how to be a writer and what makes good writing. In the process, he tells his story. I enjoyed this book, and it followed beautifully on the heels of the other two books on English.
Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life by Tom Robbins. OMG! You know I love Tom Robbins, right? This is his sort of memoir, sort of autobiography. It starts slow. I actually didn’t like it to start; it seemed artificial. But, towards the end, that old, round-about style of his comes through, and we get a sense of his life as an artist. I was smiling when I closed the cover (OK, shut down my Kindle) on this one. I might ask him to marry me or at least let me lick his face.
Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Albright. Tough book to read especially if you do so within an hour or two of watching the news. She reviews autocratic/fascist leaders starting with Mussolini through the present day, shines a favorable spotlight on her efforts as Secretary of State, and wonders about the future of democracy.
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Friday, June 8, 2018
Historical fiction
I now turn your attention to the category of historical fiction and will summarize some books of that genre that I have enjoyed recently.
A Tangled Mercy by Joy Jordan-Lake. "After the sudden death of her troubled mother, struggling Harvard grad student Kate Drayton walks out on her lecture—and her entire New England life. Haunted by unanswered questions and her own uncertain future, she flees to Charleston, South Carolina, the place where her parents met, convinced it holds the key to understanding her fractured family and saving her career in academia. Kate’s attempts to discover what drove her mother’s dangerous obsession with Charleston’s tumultuous history are derailed by a horrific massacre in the very same landmark church where tragic events took place in an 1822 slave revolt. In the unimaginable aftermath, Kate discovers a family she never knew existed as the city unites with a powerful message of hope and forgiveness for the world."
I loved this book. Alternating chapters tell the story in 1822 and its parallel in 2015. The fiction is tied to real events and people in both centuries. The stories in the past and the present are equally compelling and the way they are tied together at the end was beautiful. I listened to the book on Audible and the narration, especially the chapters set in 1822, was quite good. I got a strong sense of place and of the characters. The book provided some thought-provoking situations and difficult decisions that had to be made by the characters.
The Ocean Liner by Marius Gabriel. "Cousins Masha and Rachel Morgenstern board the luxury liner the SS Manhattan bound for New York, desperate to escape the concentration camps that claimed the rest of their family. Among their fellow passengers fleeing the war, each with their own conflicts, secrets and surprises, are the composer Igor Stravinsky, making a new start after a decade of tragedy, and Rose Kennedy, determined to keep her four children, particularly Rosemary, from harm. And then there's young Thomas, a Nazi with a secret. But, under the waves, the Manhattan is being stalked by a German U-boat."
A very gripping novel with a mostly satisfying ending, but also some tragic situations, especially the heartbreaking true story of Rosemary Kennedy, whose intellectual disabilities and strong sex drive were an embarrassment to her family, leading to a lobotomy at age 23, which reduced her mental capacity from that of an 8- to 12-year-old to that of a 2- to 3-year old. It was absolutely horrifying how she was treated by her family.
The other stories, (some of which were based on real people but were much more fictionalized than the Kennedy saga), had happier endings and I thought the book was engrossing and an easy read.
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith. This novel takes us from 1631-37 to 1957-58 to 2000 and back, and forth, and back and forth! We learn about the life of Sara de Vos, the first woman to be admitted as a master painter to Amsterdam's Guild of St. Luke, who defies the expectations of her time and paint a landscape that haunts her memory. In 1957, the painting has been in the owner's family for generations. It is stolen and a young art historian forges a nearly identical fake. In 2000 the forger, now a celebrated art historian and curator, learns that the original and the fake are both on their way to her museum."
Then the real intrigue ensues (along with a little bit of confusion on my part - like when a magician puts a ball under a cap and switches it rapidly with 2 empty caps - where did it end up?!). There's plenty of other drama involving the personal lives of the main characters.
As you may have noticed, I only "review"/post about books I liked, so - needless to say - I liked this book!
I loved this book. Alternating chapters tell the story in 1822 and its parallel in 2015. The fiction is tied to real events and people in both centuries. The stories in the past and the present are equally compelling and the way they are tied together at the end was beautiful. I listened to the book on Audible and the narration, especially the chapters set in 1822, was quite good. I got a strong sense of place and of the characters. The book provided some thought-provoking situations and difficult decisions that had to be made by the characters.
The Ocean Liner by Marius Gabriel. "Cousins Masha and Rachel Morgenstern board the luxury liner the SS Manhattan bound for New York, desperate to escape the concentration camps that claimed the rest of their family. Among their fellow passengers fleeing the war, each with their own conflicts, secrets and surprises, are the composer Igor Stravinsky, making a new start after a decade of tragedy, and Rose Kennedy, determined to keep her four children, particularly Rosemary, from harm. And then there's young Thomas, a Nazi with a secret. But, under the waves, the Manhattan is being stalked by a German U-boat."
A very gripping novel with a mostly satisfying ending, but also some tragic situations, especially the heartbreaking true story of Rosemary Kennedy, whose intellectual disabilities and strong sex drive were an embarrassment to her family, leading to a lobotomy at age 23, which reduced her mental capacity from that of an 8- to 12-year-old to that of a 2- to 3-year old. It was absolutely horrifying how she was treated by her family.
The other stories, (some of which were based on real people but were much more fictionalized than the Kennedy saga), had happier endings and I thought the book was engrossing and an easy read.
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith. This novel takes us from 1631-37 to 1957-58 to 2000 and back, and forth, and back and forth! We learn about the life of Sara de Vos, the first woman to be admitted as a master painter to Amsterdam's Guild of St. Luke, who defies the expectations of her time and paint a landscape that haunts her memory. In 1957, the painting has been in the owner's family for generations. It is stolen and a young art historian forges a nearly identical fake. In 2000 the forger, now a celebrated art historian and curator, learns that the original and the fake are both on their way to her museum."
Then the real intrigue ensues (along with a little bit of confusion on my part - like when a magician puts a ball under a cap and switches it rapidly with 2 empty caps - where did it end up?!). There's plenty of other drama involving the personal lives of the main characters.
As you may have noticed, I only "review"/post about books I liked, so - needless to say - I liked this book!
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