tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61980773354033917902024-02-21T09:21:06.298-09:00Lit in The Last FrontierSaorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.comBlogger207125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-50869867560894863772024-01-23T20:21:00.000-09:002024-01-23T20:21:26.521-09:00What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris ✰✰✰✰✰ <p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwXETtJIAu90saqf87hd_yOiuIKwVf45wf278T_6ttj5gRVTWnSDrtGgVVl2yUuY32aih9p8xXfrA2p0tHK_fQjtbZQirzDVa2Et5XD6vaaDdgRHNSGRIaCr045qg3f4CWtpkvOmWVf-DfdUEq8JFH_lpDOqg4jK2PLHobeyqYFb7__jBtik9uOd5Nrj3z/s300/what%20angels%20fear.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="186" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwXETtJIAu90saqf87hd_yOiuIKwVf45wf278T_6ttj5gRVTWnSDrtGgVVl2yUuY32aih9p8xXfrA2p0tHK_fQjtbZQirzDVa2Et5XD6vaaDdgRHNSGRIaCr045qg3f4CWtpkvOmWVf-DfdUEq8JFH_lpDOqg4jK2PLHobeyqYFb7__jBtik9uOd5Nrj3z/w248-h400/what%20angels%20fear.jpeg" width="248" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">I belong to an online reading group on Goodreads called Play Book Tag. Each month we select a “tag” to read books from as a way to encourage broadening our reading horizons. This month the tag was “historical mystery.” I’ve read a few over the years but have never found a series that was engaging enough to compel me to read past the first installment. This title, the first in the St. Cyr series, is most definitely going to be the exception.</span><p></p><p class="p3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Our dashing, if somewhat tarnished, hero, one Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is struggling in the wake of his experiences on the fields of the Napoleonic Wars. When a young woman is found, brutally raped and murdered, on the alter steps of a London church, Devlin is implicated in the murder and takes the only course of action available to him: he sets out to clear his name by finding the real culprit.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Two elements make this novel shine. The first is the cast of characters and the second is the plot. Without sinking to stereotypes, the author pulls together a sizable and disparate crew from the dying King George III and his reprobate of a Regent son to the requisite street urchin. There is a romantic interest that is just present enough — and necessary enough to the plot — not to take over the mystery, while still hinting at more to come in further books in the series.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">As is required of a great mystery, the plot is where the book really comes into its own. There are many threads to the plot that gradually, deftly, begin to entwine. I had absolutely no idea who the guilty party was until it was spelled out for me, at which point, I thoroughly appreciated the crafting that went into the plot strands and the many red herrings that were left along the way.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">I must admit, what initially drew me to this novel — out of all the choices I weighed for the tag this month — had little to do with plot, author, or even reviews. I listened to the audiobook, and what made me select this book was its narrator Davina Porter, who is most famous for her narration of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. She absolutely did not disappoint, creating that perfect storm of novel and narrator that makes for time very well spent.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">This book is a highly recommended five stars. I think that lovers of mysteries will be kept guessing, but I think historical fiction readers that do not lean towards mysteries will be captivated by this book, too. Harris uses the 1811 London setting, not only in terms of physical locale but also in terms of historical setting, to serve the reader’s experience in all the very best ways. I definitely look forward to listening to the next book in the series and seeing if the magic continues.</span></p>Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-75502046008169319742022-02-06T14:41:00.002-09:002022-02-06T14:58:28.443-09:00In Memoriam: Regina Lindsey<p><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">A very intelligent, witty, compassionate reading friend passed away last month. Regina Lindsey was my reading soul sister in so many ways; I cannot even begin to express the loss I feel. We shared many similar interests in terms of subject matter, with both of us loving to read broadly. If I read a truly esoteric work of history, Regina always came to mind as someone to recommend the book to who might actually read -- and enjoy -- it. She just got me like that. It was not that we always agreed. In fact, we often hotly debated books in terms of scholarly and literary merit. Our politics, both domestic and global, did not always align, but she was one of the few people with whom I felt that I could truly say what I felt and still come out the other side with no hard feelings.</span></p><p><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">This wonderful woman, who was almost exactly my age (our birthdays were a few weeks apart), will be sorely missed in my reading life, by our reading community, and by her family. When a member of our online reading community, Play Book Tag, passes away, we read books that they loved or books that were on their "want to read" shelf in memoriam. Over the next few months, I plan to read the following individual titles in memory of Regina:</span></p><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfPR7MAOTds6uSh1kf24VxCdT1ulchDIvc03dR2rSnglzoiLj-TQiu9SRVqYg16uGpWLuFmhsF5wgvPvfoa_G7UAn35Q5WMtoCfi43-SrcQsRoeCEMCPyHgpvUoq6vxmc4N6fO_V8V4KVVLHaFNQ_WkKBSswSLjuvfTDtupJXe9mzfYdopovz46QiF-w=s293" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="192" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfPR7MAOTds6uSh1kf24VxCdT1ulchDIvc03dR2rSnglzoiLj-TQiu9SRVqYg16uGpWLuFmhsF5wgvPvfoa_G7UAn35Q5WMtoCfi43-SrcQsRoeCEMCPyHgpvUoq6vxmc4N6fO_V8V4KVVLHaFNQ_WkKBSswSLjuvfTDtupJXe9mzfYdopovz46QiF-w=w163-h249" width="163" /></a></div>The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response </span><span style="color: #38761d;">by Peter Balakian </span></span></div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large; font-weight: 400;"><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span>There was no single book that Regina coaxed me to read more. She was adamant in her belief that a genocide occurred in Armenia just as surely as it did in World War II Europe against the Jews. When I admitted that I knew next to nothing about the topic, she told me I MUST read this book and never stopped asking if I had read it yet.<br /></span></span></div><div><i style="color: #990000; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-large;"><br /></i></div><div><i style="color: #990000; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-large;"><br /></i></div><div><i style="color: #990000; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-large;"><br /></i></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: trebuchet;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: xx-large; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiIJrltwdrsZVxfDqTfuXYjJojauY56OC3tsiAPpFDtii8a2ASEh9LeziJp4TPXgFQQLXjLrvV97nk-V4qE5FAlE2OJfrHCTIvSx9q9zOSaEW3OIO659zTnzrY5U1g0_9eGeBvGVdQ8TWlhm1xPumuiOlygWTiLP039WajVmFLQvBK_lqgaAY2qASQh2A=s436" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="286" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiIJrltwdrsZVxfDqTfuXYjJojauY56OC3tsiAPpFDtii8a2ASEh9LeziJp4TPXgFQQLXjLrvV97nk-V4qE5FAlE2OJfrHCTIvSx9q9zOSaEW3OIO659zTnzrY5U1g0_9eGeBvGVdQ8TWlhm1xPumuiOlygWTiLP039WajVmFLQvBK_lqgaAY2qASQh2A=w146-h223" width="146" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century </span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">by Edward Dolnick</span></div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large; font-weight: 400;"><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span>I love art history and also books about great heists, especially those that involve art or jewels. Regina loved anything to do with World War II and Nazi history. She has been recommending this book to me since she read it many years ago.<br /></span></span></div><div><i style="color: #990000; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-large;"><br /></i></div><div><i style="color: #990000; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-large;"><br /></i></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: trebuchet;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEit6r2S-canT0tjpG80NxjfAR_DAU3Oohz0aT6--BJ2_AeIJnwki55qRWLNSG1Wz1KG9SqXXXidoIYYWaKvS6_0ayTbIgge7h7zzibgv_h0xJxWJatMJ7VgfkGHLRgQfqugdpE5nl1-c53FBnnoeogjEslrSuyCMltVkqCsMIJsRvzzRVF5GKBD4r-31g=s436" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="286" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEit6r2S-canT0tjpG80NxjfAR_DAU3Oohz0aT6--BJ2_AeIJnwki55qRWLNSG1Wz1KG9SqXXXidoIYYWaKvS6_0ayTbIgge7h7zzibgv_h0xJxWJatMJ7VgfkGHLRgQfqugdpE5nl1-c53FBnnoeogjEslrSuyCMltVkqCsMIJsRvzzRVF5GKBD4r-31g=w142-h217" width="142" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History </span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">by Robert M. Edsel</span></div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large; font-weight: 400;"><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span>This was another book that Regina absolutely adored. And I found an absolute snooze fest! I have tried twice to get through it! She kept encouraging me to keep going, that I would be completely captivated once I really got into it. I even watched the movie -- something I never do until I finish a book -- hoping it would help; despite loving the movie, my second attempt at the book was still a DNF. I am determined that third time will be a charm in Regina's memory.<br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large; font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large; font-weight: 400;"><i style="color: #990000;"><br /></i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large; font-weight: 400;"><span style="color: #990000;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLK3p7am6v1Nh_O8QmUpF3Kc_LYdLi2TTaWeuLolx0XDH9w_g2tcoQh68fVL57_U_ukFYqle7USuzOUhfZDwC0jSuB0qM0hr0YwaNHTkH5iCXSp4MGtU3ChodS9q2XC8rusdTQHJoj2zEDgveqxG1-sZ0r-By3dY4pbZ_oTCJFxYm8hbONyvqamAM4Ng=s436" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="289" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLK3p7am6v1Nh_O8QmUpF3Kc_LYdLi2TTaWeuLolx0XDH9w_g2tcoQh68fVL57_U_ukFYqle7USuzOUhfZDwC0jSuB0qM0hr0YwaNHTkH5iCXSp4MGtU3ChodS9q2XC8rusdTQHJoj2zEDgveqxG1-sZ0r-By3dY4pbZ_oTCJFxYm8hbONyvqamAM4Ng=w133-h200" width="133" /></a></div>The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party </span><span style="color: #38761d;">by Daniel James Brown</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large; font-weight: 400;"><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span>This is one I do not actually know if Regina read. Like me, Regina was not very fond of Goodreads and did not appear to maintain her shelf there for the last couple years. Both of us were tremendous champions of Brown's more famous work, <span style="color: #990000;">The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics</span>. I could not find this one on her shelf and do not remember her ever talking about it, but I am going to read it as it is an author we both loved.<br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large; font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><i style="color: #990000;"><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgbsUbYB0cxzNhW3l22vmCZ7H3rp1Sm9vXzPhachgi9gIegYqqfknLjghMh64IQMbbuFt7SG8ZAwNna5hyldLiYgMv3FQ1yb2uAdJ1USkOE8Fe09JqdSetwUbMfBG_gRzoCWHctzRbK7BEAniVSj2SMxWQzHj904FSMyf7nT9oYj5QbtjWsPRInwvUeeg=s436" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="283" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgbsUbYB0cxzNhW3l22vmCZ7H3rp1Sm9vXzPhachgi9gIegYqqfknLjghMh64IQMbbuFt7SG8ZAwNna5hyldLiYgMv3FQ1yb2uAdJ1USkOE8Fe09JqdSetwUbMfBG_gRzoCWHctzRbK7BEAniVSj2SMxWQzHj904FSMyf7nT9oYj5QbtjWsPRInwvUeeg=w130-h200" width="130" /></a></div>A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East </span><span style="color: #38761d;">by David Fromkin</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span>The night I heard that Regina had passed away, I browsed my physical nonfiction bookshelves and cried a lot of tears. There were so many titles there that she was tied to. Books we read together, books one of us read first and then convinced the other to read, books that she recommended to me that I have yet to get to (better get on that -- as her death shows, that joke we all make about owning more books than we will ever have time to read before we die is not such a joke). Also among the titles were many that she and I talked about reading together but never did. This is one of those. The Middle East is my bailey wick; Turkey was Regina's. So, this was clearly the perfect buddy read for us. Except we never got to it.<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><i style="color: #990000;"><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjU0p8VPNMpait4VJZ9M3cCN8RlbMVkIzO-U_P2KOuEoGWBWvKWTC9zbfcMEU3uMmw6hwsPfXJB88DtvtqNeQeMX553vVKLIyV3SX8wdskni6NhEh94Bsbkm4GOQgp9DUDHYqZieZPITedVD545Bz6qDnnWBY3_vzDQ_OVbt3KZLzZWtaebg0n3Dtzh4Q=s499" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="324" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjU0p8VPNMpait4VJZ9M3cCN8RlbMVkIzO-U_P2KOuEoGWBWvKWTC9zbfcMEU3uMmw6hwsPfXJB88DtvtqNeQeMX553vVKLIyV3SX8wdskni6NhEh94Bsbkm4GOQgp9DUDHYqZieZPITedVD545Bz6qDnnWBY3_vzDQ_OVbt3KZLzZWtaebg0n3Dtzh4Q=w157-h244" width="157" /></a></div>Birds Without Wings </span><span style="color: #38761d;">by Louis de Bernieres</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span>The single novel that Regina recommended to me above all others was this one. As two nonfiction history readers, we did not talk fiction nearly as often. If we were going to read books together or based on each others' recommendations, they were just always nonfiction because we read a lot of books we knew nobody else was likely to read. This year, I am finally going to get to this novel that Regina so loved.<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgeup1Qq53fXIcXhIW2PnesQ7ocOwoLcF5SmhULlSyb76luoukShp19SB9lSbbqvggL5Zu2BZRG-5AnbKoeZaJIxticTSg3_7izQXfzINV-82SmWeeRL9o41i7dmPYmLcI9DvZ1yToBptLLM5MJs92QudiXSyiMHF5LVrm_JI9kfLzORvOBTFdZQ1HX3Q=s436" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="286" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgeup1Qq53fXIcXhIW2PnesQ7ocOwoLcF5SmhULlSyb76luoukShp19SB9lSbbqvggL5Zu2BZRG-5AnbKoeZaJIxticTSg3_7izQXfzINV-82SmWeeRL9o41i7dmPYmLcI9DvZ1yToBptLLM5MJs92QudiXSyiMHF5LVrm_JI9kfLzORvOBTFdZQ1HX3Q=w184-h279" width="184" /></a></div></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Another thing for which Regina was very well known was her love of United States Presidential history. In that vein, Regina led a group that chronologically read a biography for every single president on Shelfari, the readers' platform -- similar to Goodreads (only better) -- that hosted Play Book Tag for many years until Amazon bought it and then merged it with Goodreads (which it already owned). A couple of years ago, a few of us talked about starting a similar read on Facebook but did not end up doing it. We have now decided to do it as part of Play Book Tag on Goodreads. We will be starting with </span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: trebuchet;">Washington: The Indispensable Man</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet;"> by James Thomas Flexner</span></span></div><div><span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></div>Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-53032700462923592952022-01-11T13:22:00.000-09:002022-01-11T13:22:29.033-09:00The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell (✰✰✰)<p><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjU98wvN2G43azEe7hTfB1UuHy0hYPU-HQzWrW5rpoabc77upAac7rANNl2j4Y-ABoOxhXKqKRnwclkUT87OJR5xERBaAJEbCn5y34cLY5kZQBJl823crxfWXm_ROA3zQbrY44UcbLvAqXRYiPqsly-wxt_eKQJeNVdToYzjJ2Pc2uSLHOgM7KXWYtGMQ=s700" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="397" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjU98wvN2G43azEe7hTfB1UuHy0hYPU-HQzWrW5rpoabc77upAac7rANNl2j4Y-ABoOxhXKqKRnwclkUT87OJR5xERBaAJEbCn5y34cLY5kZQBJl823crxfWXm_ROA3zQbrY44UcbLvAqXRYiPqsly-wxt_eKQJeNVdToYzjJ2Pc2uSLHOgM7KXWYtGMQ=w226-h400" width="226" /></a><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"></span></div><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Currently, I am reading the nonfiction <i>Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab The Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales</i> by Bill Bass. Patricia Cornwell wrote the foreword to that book and supposedly used its subject as inspiration for this novel. I was very disappointed in both the plot line and the misnaming of this novel.</span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Dr. Bill Bass is a real life forensic anthropologist who realized in the course of his early career that a research facility that specialized in human (and sometimes animal and other) decomposition under various circumstances was needed in order for law enforcement to build airtight timelines to effectively prosecute murders. His answer was to begin The Body Farm.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Novelist Patricia Cornwell has heard Dr. Bass present at conferences and has been to The Body Farm, so I looked forward to reading this police procedural novel and seeing how she utilized her research and presented the material in the context of her plot. This was my first novel by her, and I cannot say that I am impressed.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">First, The Body Farm plays such a minor role in the novel, I cannot even remember the fictional name she gave Dr. Bass — let alone fathom why she chose to title the novel after the research facility. Second, I felt the plot line was just weak and very rushed in its conclusion.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">I am not a huge reader of crime fiction, but I was able to peg the guilty party from their very first appearance in the story. Since I am not a big police procedural reader, usually the whodunnit takes me by surprise. The rushed conclusion of the novel almost felt like the author knew everyone already knew the big reveal long before its unveiling and so decided to just wrap the thing up, ship it off to the publisher, and move along to her next book.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Narrator C.J. Critt was a new narrator for me and the only thing that kept this novel from being a two star read for me. I would definitely listen to another book she narrates. Whether or not I pick up another book by Patricia Cornwell is in doubt.</span></p>Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-23150173885565745982022-01-11T12:39:00.006-09:002022-01-11T12:46:47.898-09:00The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald (✰✰✰✰)<p><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcDvUSmkQv3lH6WekH63pkiDOxOS1X3rH17kbhbng-JqrY-GRi42aAMwDOu2EV9r3R9uZuQRG76U3ZnKflcAM-xQGihB05R-KQ4BmIMoOa8sD_n4t7Aclumg47X8m1SZcXIDwRThPvUhMOUAYmYxRDHDiv9Ow6B8S6z4GjbRjGTmMuC8hAQnt5_I34Wg=s500" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcDvUSmkQv3lH6WekH63pkiDOxOS1X3rH17kbhbng-JqrY-GRi42aAMwDOu2EV9r3R9uZuQRG76U3ZnKflcAM-xQGihB05R-KQ4BmIMoOa8sD_n4t7Aclumg47X8m1SZcXIDwRThPvUhMOUAYmYxRDHDiv9Ow6B8S6z4GjbRjGTmMuC8hAQnt5_I34Wg=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><i>The Beautiful and Damned</i> was Fitzgerald’s second book, published in 1922, following his debut, <i>This Side of Paradise</i>, published in 1920. Unlike most writers, Fitzgerald was an instant success, but he really hit his stride in 1925 with the publication of his most famous — and some say his best — novel,<i> The Great Gatsby </i>is definitely the first book any reader should explore of Fitzgerald’s four novels, but I feel like <i>The Beautiful and Damned</i> is well worth the read.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Like<i> Gatsby,</i> <i>The Beautiful and Damned</i> is set during the era that Fitzgerald popularized as The Jazz Age. Its story is, in many ways, reflective of the early marriage and lifestyle of Fitzgerald and his wife and perhaps illustrates a subconscious fear of what might become of them. The novel’s main characters, Anthony and Gloria Patch, watch their friends find success and happiness while they themselves wallow in indolence and overspending as they wait for his grandfather to die and leave them an inheritance. The novel follows the effect this lifestyle has on their lives and relationship.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Fitzgerald’s final novel, <i>Tender is the Night</i>, published in 1934, was semi-autobiographical, but I feel that reading <i>The Beautiful and Damned</i> is invaluable for setting the scene and shedding light on the events preceding those in <i>Tender is the Night</i>. Together, the two novels present a portrait of how life-destroying Fitzgerald viewed the excesses of the Jazz Age and give a fictionalized account of his own marriage.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Had I read this novel in print, it would most likely have been a five star read for me. The narrator of the audio I listened to, William Dufris, was really not to my taste. While there is no doubt that Gloria was irresponsible and the architect of her own problems, Dufris’s voicing of her character was nothing short of grating, as were his portrayals of most of the female leads. All of the women came across as whiney little girls. I did not feel he did much better with the men, presenting all of them as brainless, despite their Ivy League educations and the success of most of them. There are numerous recordings of this novel; I highly urge going with a different narrator than Dufris.</span></p>Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-34128617873104796432022-01-11T11:17:00.002-09:002022-01-11T11:17:39.433-09:00Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman (✰✰✰✰✰)<p><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhv8LoPJoItxXplHlJ0A9zY_nvAwYxLcjOb2NerD6IVLSTZFGFSNzsXQzspTyOvqQ2dCU3reI0TDt3tFAuFpb_xfjpUFBhjrmiz02p2aXIdOnX5SOcHFUbo-4VIKV-LaMQeLqgDojIos6i8pi8NE4VvrTZz4vv26JWAC1NDnHz1NKwe2TXUBhDOsgealQ=s700" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="459" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhv8LoPJoItxXplHlJ0A9zY_nvAwYxLcjOb2NerD6IVLSTZFGFSNzsXQzspTyOvqQ2dCU3reI0TDt3tFAuFpb_xfjpUFBhjrmiz02p2aXIdOnX5SOcHFUbo-4VIKV-LaMQeLqgDojIos6i8pi8NE4VvrTZz4vv26JWAC1NDnHz1NKwe2TXUBhDOsgealQ=s320" width="210" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><i>Magic Lessons</i>, the prequel to Alice Hoffman’s 1995 <i>Practical Magic</i>, does not disappoint. If you have not yet read <i>Practical Magic</i>, read <i>Magic Lessons</i> first. However, I read them in order of publication and felt that they work that way equally as well.</span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Whereas <i>Practical Magic</i> takes place in the present day and revolves around siblings, <i>Magic Lessons</i> is absolutely a work of historical fiction, taking readers back to Puritan Salem, Massachusetts, during the 1600s. The witch trials of 1692 are peripheral to the plot but not the main focus. Although I loved the interplay amongst the siblings in<i> Practical Magic</i>, I preferred the multi-generational aspect of <i>Magic Lessons</i>.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><i>Magic Lessons</i> goes back in time to narrate the early history of where the inherited magic in the Owens siblings in <i>Practical Magic</i> originates. The reader learns that magic is something that Owens witches are born with and also something that requires tutoring to develop.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">If you enjoy historical fiction, you will especially enjoy <i>Magic Lessons</i>, even if you were not a fan of the magical realism that was a hallmark of <i>Practical Magic</i>. I highly recommend the audiobook, narrated by Sutton Foster. She was a completely new narrator for me; I would choose to listen to titles that she narrates even if the book itself was not on my radar.</span></p>Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-16797980275077113332022-01-11T09:49:00.001-09:002022-01-11T09:51:12.973-09:00Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (✰✰✰✰)<p><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyfSDI_Aca-S72nHnedx4THNkRurN6Ji7cQy8RKWqf5hZL7fpizwLd4ba-mgSiEcxTEA_pqtX8jpRn6tvVU2nBLjh7-HTOO89tT4bKFB83hRgJcLQxxzTytuUdABZAmC5rhiXkRg5pS6mHX-1toN70urbpVmRttlQe7tJo5hQzSYgIaUTbHXDJH7CTkA=s700" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="454" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyfSDI_Aca-S72nHnedx4THNkRurN6Ji7cQy8RKWqf5hZL7fpizwLd4ba-mgSiEcxTEA_pqtX8jpRn6tvVU2nBLjh7-HTOO89tT4bKFB83hRgJcLQxxzTytuUdABZAmC5rhiXkRg5pS6mHX-1toN70urbpVmRttlQe7tJo5hQzSYgIaUTbHXDJH7CTkA=w260-h400" width="260" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Yaa Gyasi’s <i>Homegoing</i>, which traced the descendants of two sisters, one a slave and one the<br /> wife of an African slave trader, was an instant hit when it was published in 2016. Her newest offering, <i>Transcendent Kingdom</i>, is a very, very different novel but still strong in its own way. I loved the complexity of plot and characterization that were hallmarks of <i>Homegoing</i>; it was a five-star read for me and its audio took my top slot the year I read it.</span></span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">I was not nearly as taken with <i>Transcendent Kingdom</i>. Instead of the three hundred years and multiple generations that <i>Homegoing </i>covered, <i>Transcendent Kingdom</i> focuses on three people: a mother and her two children. The novel still bridges the same two continents, Africa and the United States, but the central issues are completely different. Set in the present day, the primary issue in <i>Transcendent Kingdom</i> is that of addiction and the effect that it has on a small immigrant family. Community and perception are also touched upon, but the story is far less involved than <i>Homegoing</i>.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">The only thing that saved the novel for me was the narration by Bahni Turpin. She made the utmost of those perfect moments of prose that were far less abundant than in <i>Homegoing</i>, bringing the subjects to life with sympathy and realism. If you are new to Yaa Gyasi, though, I would still recommend the audio or print version of <i>Homegoing</i> over <i>Transcendent Kingdom</i>, simply based on the strength of the former novel.</span></p>Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-42546724240671262862022-01-06T16:26:00.002-09:002022-01-06T16:28:48.447-09:00Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church by Lauren Drain (✰✰✰)<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEix2Ur0NThFS5JA2Dco7X92o3FiD7aP9gyJxKaN21xMHxdmhAcgB9Bu7BX1jYedvwEd2xlyl5oQScn-N5hR7a4EeFGPjNV8uMxGizHrWr9DXX_lQZgMamBniutWF9lUD1pMGi7H5_IQFlsWYKigrPZGxoyVjbAXKaovgRYP1smFNhSrsACzvBHylm081w=s600" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="398" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEix2Ur0NThFS5JA2Dco7X92o3FiD7aP9gyJxKaN21xMHxdmhAcgB9Bu7BX1jYedvwEd2xlyl5oQScn-N5hR7a4EeFGPjNV8uMxGizHrWr9DXX_lQZgMamBniutWF9lUD1pMGi7H5_IQFlsWYKigrPZGxoyVjbAXKaovgRYP1smFNhSrsACzvBHylm081w=w265-h400" width="265" /></a></i></span></div><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><i>Banished</i> fell far short of my expectations. I picked up this book because I wanted to understand why anyone would join an organization known for picketing funerals of fallen servicemen and women and first responders to 9/11. It was inconceivable to me that anyone claiming to be Christian could do something so disrespectful. I was also curious how a cult whose members live among regular society manages to keep their people in line.</span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">This book never went below the surface emotionally and analytically. I got the feeling that Lauren herself does not know the answers to my questions. From middle school into adulthood, she, for the most part, did what she was told. Even while describing what it was like to live under the constant scrutiny of her parents and other church members, it was as if she was writing from a perspective that was still too close to the person who thought that was normal. The part of her that got out knows that free people do not live like that, but the part of her that still yearns for the love of her family and the fellowship of the church cannot see how warped it is. The result was writing that was flat and lacking in self-awareness.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">When she wrote about the thing the church is best known for — picketing — her prose was so matter-of-fact that it was as if she could not bring herself, even now, to condemn the behavior and see it for how appalling it is. Even in the book’s epilogue, where she offers an apology to the families of the deceased and the other groups, in particular homosexuals, whom she reviled thousands of times, she hedges. Instead of just offering her apology, she tempers it by saying that she will never advocate for the causes she used to advocate against. Why add that? It is her right to still feel that way (after all those years of brainwashing, it is understandable), but it made her apology seem so disingenuous, and that really bothered me.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">My thought with this one is that either not enough time has past for Lauren to process her feelings enough to be able to answer all the “why” questions with honesty and depth or she is simply unable to think that profoundly, maybe due to having her every thought dictated to her for eight formative years of her life. Either way, she admits that she never found a scriptural reference to support why the church takes the position they do on homosexuals. Asking others did not get her an answer either. She did say that in one way or another, all of the church’s stances stem from hatred of homosexuality and hatred of the Jews (who they blame for killing Jesus). All in all, the book did give a glimpse into what life is like for members but no substance in terms of their theology or philosophy.</span></p>Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-55544982272042894172022-01-05T10:17:00.006-09:002022-01-05T10:18:58.083-09:00Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High by Melba Pattillo Beals (✰✰✰✰✰)<p><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTWplUFqkDiTR1xfrNwZXVP8H2N8xFXNmcaN5TY0_8fN13QbQArWEcg7zQRRU-MRZfHRHu6s6Cuj8LWeNCDPy8Ff0IVC99Zgpeo3mB6OHROzseqcZLLwBPKREr9YQWYt1dvnGzPRxoEun4TVvGbtBlSdH2yXxtEHwL5Ufv-3D9EWO52gIVZCP_vzgszg=s600" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="359" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTWplUFqkDiTR1xfrNwZXVP8H2N8xFXNmcaN5TY0_8fN13QbQArWEcg7zQRRU-MRZfHRHu6s6Cuj8LWeNCDPy8Ff0IVC99Zgpeo3mB6OHROzseqcZLLwBPKREr9YQWYt1dvnGzPRxoEun4TVvGbtBlSdH2yXxtEHwL5Ufv-3D9EWO52gIVZCP_vzgszg=w239-h400" width="239" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">The poorly chosen, tabloid worthy subtitle of this memoir almost made me give it a pass, but I am so happy I didn’t. Over the past year, I have been reading a lot of books by and about people whose lives are radically different from my own, due either to the color of their skin, their religion, of their politics. I have been deeply disturbed to see the rifts that are developing in the United States in terms of race, religion, and political affiliation. Looking back in history and analyzing how issues were resolved —or failed to be resolved — helps me to understand where things stand in our country today.</span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">The author of this book, Melba Pattillo Beals, was one of the Little Rock Nine, nine Black teens chosen to forcibly integrate Little Rock, Arkansas’s Central High School in 1957. At just fifteen and sixteen, an age when high school is tough enough, she was being ushered to class — on days when she was lucky — by members of the famed Screaming Eagles, the army’s 101st Airborne Division. On not so lucky days, her “protection” came from members of the Arkansas National Guard — who more often than not stood by and made a spectator sport out of the treatment of the Nine.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">These young people and their families endured death threats, beatings, broken bones, scaldings and humiliation in locker rooms, flaming paper bombs, and an endless stream of smaller physical abuses, as well as verbal and emotional abuse. Intervention went as high up as the President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower, who allowed sporadic use of the 101st but was mostly managed by Arkansas officials who were adamantly opposed to integration. They hoped that the abuse the teens suffered would lead to either the students backing down and returning to their Black high school or for adults to refuse to allow them to continue for safety reasons. Every day, these nine young people went to war, not on foreign soil, but in a school. Right here in the United States.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Melba, who was inspired by the journalists who spoke her truth and that of her eight classmates, decided that one day she would become a journalist, too, so she could pay it forward. Despite being encouraged to tell her story, it took her more than thirty years to be able to face her own past. I don’t know who chose this book's ridiculous subtitle (“searing” is such a histrionic word), but the text itself sets the perfect tone. Melba neither champions herself nor lapses into self pity. She lays out the facts in a forceful, organized, and documented fashion, drawing on the diaries she diligently kept and contemporary newspaper reporting.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">If you have never read a book about the Little Rock Nine (I never had, despite several languishing on my TBR), I highly recommend this one. Melba left me in absolute awe of these nine young people who showed such strength of conviction and character. The audio, narrated by Lisa Reneé Pitts, perfectly matched the tenor of the text; it, too, gets five stars from me.</span></p>Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-88747175755974984092022-01-04T12:23:00.001-09:002022-01-04T13:03:48.325-09:00The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd (✰✰✰✰✰)<p><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgbTcirgo56SMKTHFSJrXXm1o78oomnXVbnz70XFtcVI6vXxcM58_G4nJlUBasdeeRDOsVYe-81Dlu_OFytBPKz12O-KMxjcSdcKQw19kvCPiWvRlkQI8_JfTd1QNgl404xCp64rQYg4ST2qetGJlKSNFcFcZ0vBqCRHZY0e3It4JTwrNcjQHf-pG6GvA=s476" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="296" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgbTcirgo56SMKTHFSJrXXm1o78oomnXVbnz70XFtcVI6vXxcM58_G4nJlUBasdeeRDOsVYe-81Dlu_OFytBPKz12O-KMxjcSdcKQw19kvCPiWvRlkQI8_JfTd1QNgl404xCp64rQYg4ST2qetGJlKSNFcFcZ0vBqCRHZY0e3It4JTwrNcjQHf-pG6GvA=w249-h400" width="249" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">At only sixteen, Eliza Lucas is put in charge of her family’s faltering American plantations in South Carolina while her father travels to the Caribbean to attempt to salvage the family’s fortunes on their holdings there. Set in 1739, Eliza battles not only paternalism and misogyny but also the British and the Spanish. Uninterested in marriage, Eliza, despite the tremendous pressure it puts on her young shoulders, gamely picks up the baton and rallies her family, friends, and slaves in an attempt to preserve not only their livelihood but the fabric that holds all of their lives together.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">The novel explores themes of feminism, friendship, racism, master/slave relations, education, and plantation culture. Eliza was an early precursor of the Southern women who would hold together the plantation, slave-based economy of the South while the men went off to fight in the Civil War, only to be expected to step aside once the men returned.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Based on a real woman, Eliza Lucas is the center that holds the novel together. She is mentally agile and unafraid to step up when her family needs her. Thinking outside the box, she chooses the as yet untried indigo plant and the dye it produces as the vehicle with which to save her family. Drawing strength from some characters and thwarted by others, Eliza’s hands-on zest for her endeavor lends tension to what otherwise might be a slow-paced read.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">I absolutely loved this novel. It was rooted in characters without being slowed down by their development. It also avoided a lot of the stereotypical characters that are so common in Southern plantation literature. The science of indigo was lightly woven into the tale, giving a perfect balance of information and plot development. The one weakness was that historical happenings off the plantation with the British and Spanish were a bit too underrepresented.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">I listened to the audio version, marvelously narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. Her interpretation took an already lovely novel and brought it to a whole new level.</span></p>Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-20939560845834176382020-01-01T20:07:00.000-09:002020-01-01T20:16:43.963-09:00The Decade's Top Twenty: 2011-2019: A Recap<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDt3MvLHAKGfCKG9VU4Q1NGJp04qWS4zMTzlYqe148pqWPHIdRpTnzvIpzAicjQqI71XULyKdxErYho5i8RJoNTGiYYVeYz61yRT67uF6wA0X_jYl6YN9QA7_F8lI9una_JWDh5xXSh3wn/s1600/header.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="292" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDt3MvLHAKGfCKG9VU4Q1NGJp04qWS4zMTzlYqe148pqWPHIdRpTnzvIpzAicjQqI71XULyKdxErYho5i8RJoNTGiYYVeYz61yRT67uF6wA0X_jYl6YN9QA7_F8lI9una_JWDh5xXSh3wn/s400/header.jpeg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">During the past nine years I have maintained this blog, and my reading lists on it, with varying degrees of accuracy. Some years every nonfiction and quality fiction book I read was faithfully recorded, others, not so much. Even with the lazy years and being one year shy of a decade, it is humbling to look back and realize that I recorded </span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">620 books as read </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">over the last nine years; </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I remembered to record</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> an average of 68.9 books a year. In America, the mean average (the number inflated by the most avid readers) is 12 per year, but the median (meaning the number read by the typical reader) is only 4 per year. My goal as we enter the third decade of the 21st Century is to faithfully record every nonfiction and quality fiction book I read (I love romance novels but do not track those) and see what my number is at the end of 2029.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I thought it would be fun to do a Top Twenty list </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of the the number one fiction and nonfiction picks for each of the nine years the blog has been active plus a couple of wild cards. That means these twenty books have beat out </span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">six hundred(!) </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">others </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to make the list. </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At the end, just as I do on my annual lists, I'll list each year's top audiobooks, which usually amounts to one or two from each year. Some titles include some kind of a synopsis, others don't. Some titles are linked to their review; hover your cursor to check, as they ended up looking different colors and states of underline here.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>The Recap:</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<b style="color: #990000; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Top Ten Fiction:</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>2011:</b></span></span><span style="border-width: 0px; color: #38761d; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><i style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; color: #38761d; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2011/11/book-thief-by-markus-zusak-and.html" style="color: #771100; text-decoration-line: none;">The Book Thief</a></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"> by Markus Zusak (World War II Germany: an ordinary German neighborhood...narrated by “Death”...profound)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>2012: </b></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2012/01/count-of-monte-cristo-by-alexandre.html" style="color: #cc4411;">Count of Monte Cristo</a></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"> by Alexandre Dumas</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span style="background-color: white;">2012: </span></b></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-poisonwood-bible-by-barbara.html" style="color: #771100; text-decoration-line: none;">The Poisonwoood Bible</a></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> by Barbara Kingsolver</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: white;">2013: </span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span style="color: #990000;">The Painted Veil</span></i><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color: #38761d;">by W. Somerset Maugham</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>2014: </b></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><i><span style="color: #990000;">The Invention of Wings</span></i><span style="color: #666666;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">by Sue Monk Kidd (</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: #38761d;">Hetty and Sarah will live inside my head for a very long time.)</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b><span style="background-color: white;">2015: </span></b></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: blue;"><i><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2015/12/bohemian-gospel-by-dana-chamblee.html" style="color: #771100; text-decoration-line: none;">Bohemian Gospel</a></i> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #38761d;">by Dana Chamblee Carpenter (</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #38761d;">Strongest novel I have read in forever; originality; deep characters; great setting; tight plotting)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b><span style="background-color: white;">2016: </span></b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2016/04/lilac-girls-by-martha-hall-kelly.html" style="color: #771100; text-decoration-line: none;">The Lilac Girls</a> </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by Martha Hall Kelly (I received a galley of this novel and began talking about it weeks before it was available to the public; my enthusiasm never waned all through the year. Considering that books I read at the beginning of the year sometimes get short shifted when it comes to the weeding process for the "Top Ten" list, it speaks volumes about how memorable this one truly is.)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>2017: </b></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: #990000;">The Heart’s Invisible Furies</span></i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #38761d;"> by John Boyne (</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d;">John Boyne is best known for his stark, shocking novel,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d;"> </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #38761d;">The Boy in the Striped Pajamas</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d;">. He has managed to take all the emotion that he poured into that YA novel and double it in his newest adult release,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d;"> </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #38761d;">The Heart’s Invisible Furies</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d;">. This novel explores those universal questions: who am I?, where do I come from?, and where am I going? Layer in an intricately wrought exploration of love, and you have a novel being justifiably hailed as “transcendent.” As I think back on reading this tale, it isn’t plot twists or even the characterizations that come into my mind. It is the way the book deposited a lump in my throat and a tightness in my chest every time I cracked open its cover.)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>2018:</b> </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000;">The Great Alone</i><span style="color: #990000;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">by Kristin Hannah</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> (If you follow my reading life, you might recall that I really hated Hannah’s much lauded </span><i style="color: #38761d;">The Nightingale</i><span style="color: #38761d;">. Taking that into consideration and the fact that the last book I read that was set here in Alaska, Dave Eggers’s </span><i style="color: #38761d;">Heroes of the Frontier</i><span style="color: #38761d;">, was just flat out awful in every regard, I had darkest depths of a </span><i style="color: #38761d;">crevasse</i><span style="color: #38761d;"> expectations for </span><i style="color: #38761d;">The Great Alone</i><span style="color: #38761d;">. Since I wrote a review for this novel, I’ll direct you </span><b><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/search?q=the+great+alone" style="color: #771100; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue;">there</span></a></b><span style="color: #38761d;"> for more of my thoughts.)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>2019: </b></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000;">The Lost Queen</i><i style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;"> </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by Signe Pike (This </span><span style="color: #38761d;">is one of those genre bending novels that will appeal to a variety of readers. Between its covers you will find an historical fiction telling of the life of a real queen, Languoreth, in sixth century Scotland. Set in the era of the confluence of ancient pagan beliefs and Christianity, the novel is imbrued in a spirit of mysticism and taut with the kind of conflict that only an all out brawl to preserve ones' way of life can render. This novel will obviously find favor with readers of historical fiction and those who have a fascination with ancient Scotland, but those who love fantasy, myths and legends, strong woman protagonists, and atmospheric writing will also find much to love here.)</span></span><br />
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<b style="color: #990000; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Top Ten Nonfiction:</b><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>2011: </b></span><span style="background-color: white;"><i style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; color: #38761d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2011/12/unbroken-by-laura-hillenbrand.html" style="color: #771100; text-decoration-line: none;">Unbroken</a></i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> by Laura Hillenbrand (World War II Pacific theater/biography: fantastic writing; story so amazing in parts it is difficult to believe it is not fiction)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b>2011: </b></span><i style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2011/05/fear-by-peter-godwin.html">The Fear</a></i></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> by Peter Godwin (Contemporary Zimbabwe: possibly the most powerful book I have ever read)</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: white;">2012: </span></b></span><span style="background-color: white;"><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2012/04/ghost-soldiers-by-hampton-sides-and.html" style="color: #cc4411;">Ghost Soldiers</a></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> by Hampton Sides (nonfiction)</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color: #990000;"><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">2013: </span></span></b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span style="color: #990000;">The Boys in the Boat</span></i><span style="color: #666666;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">by Daniel James Brown</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="background-color: white;">2014: </span></span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000; font-style: italic;"><i>Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe</i> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">by</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"> Nancy Goldstone (A wonderful story of four sisters who’s lives paint a vivid picture of life in thirteenth-century Europe.)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b><span style="background-color: white;">2015: </span></b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #990000;"><i>In the Kingdom of Ice</i></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #6aa84f;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #38761d;">by Hampton Sides (</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #38761d;">Not as good as Ghost Soldiers, but still has characters you tuck away in your heart and a fascinating tale.)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b><span style="background-color: white;">2016: </span></b></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-way-to-spring-by-ben-ehrenreich.html" style="color: #771100; text-decoration-line: none;">The Way to the Spring</a> </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by Ben Ehrenreich (Without a doubt, this book gets my vote for the work that hasn't received near the attention it deserves. It is difficult, as an American writer, to write a book about the side of a conflict--in this case the Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories--that most Americans do not support. Given recent decisions made by the Israeli court system regarding illegal actions by Israeli settlers in the Occupied Territories, I would love to see more American readers give Ben's book another look.)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b><span style="background-color: white;">2017: </span></b></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: #990000;">The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir</span></i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #38761d;"> by Alexandria Marzano Lesnevich (</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I knew from the moment I finished this true crime story that it would be my number one nonfiction of the year. It is just that striking; I’ve never read another book like it. The author tells the story of her own abuse woven into the fabric of the story of a death penalty criminal for whom she has been tasked to prepare a legal defense. It is a story of wrestling with demons, finding moral footing, and exploring whether truth can ever be an absolute. If you struggle with dealing with an abusive past, this might be too intense for you; for all others, this is a must read. This would be a fabulous, fabulous book club selection!)</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>2018:</b> </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><i style="color: #990000;">In Extremis: The Life and Death of the War Correspondent Marie Colvin</i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Lindsey Hilsum (One of </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d;">the biggest issue that I tend to have with biographers is that they fall in love with their subjects. It would have been easy for Hilsum, who was both a friend and a colleague of Marie Colvin, to do so. Marie Colvin is, without a doubt, the most renowned female war correspondent of all time and was loved by those who spent time with her in the world’s darkest places for her willingness to help, positive attitude, courage, and passion for the mission she felt called to—that of shining a light on the most egregious happenings so that the world could not claim ignorance. For all her wonderful attributes, Marie Colvin fought some sizable personal demons every day. Lindsey Hilsum shows her readers that part of what made this woman so awe-inspiring was that everything didn’t come easily for her, that as dark as her professional world was, her personal world often shone rather less than bright, too. This is an outstanding, if at times grim, biography that I recommend to anyone curious about imbedded war correspondents. </span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d;">recommended for book clubs)</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b><span style="background-color: white;">2019: </span></b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">The Thousand-Mile War </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by </span><span style="color: #38761d;">Brian Garfield (This </span><span style="color: #38761d;">is a work of military nonfiction, which isn't usually my favorite genre by a long shot. However, Garfield, who wrote fiction thrillers, was clearly passionate about his subject and brought all his storytelling skills to the table. The book, a history of Alaska's Aleutian Islands and the role they played in World War II, was chosen by me as part of a high school Alaska History curriculum I wrote and taught last school year. All of my students and I approached the book with a bit of hesitation due to its length, boring cover (shallow, I know), and potential to be very dry. We were all pleasantly surprised and soon found ourselves immersed. Garfield showed his suspense writer chops, keeping up a brisk pace and setting a vivid scene, but what he did best is something not all thriller writers do well: he made us really, really fall in love with the men at the heart of his tale and care about what happened to them. Despite its length and 1960s publication date (mid-20th century history books tend to lack the narrative flair of those written in the 21st), this work is highly readable and engaging.)</span></span><br />
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<b style="color: #990000; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Top Audiobooks:</b><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>2011: </b></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; color: #38761d; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2011/10/parrot-and-olivier-in-america-by-peter.html" style="color: #771100; text-decoration-line: none;">Parrot and Olivier in America</a></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"> by Peter Carey</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(narrated by Humphrey Bower, who does such an excellent job with Parrot’s and Olivier’s voices that I thought there were two separate narrators)</span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>2011: </b></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; color: #38761d; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2011/11/book-thief-by-markus-zusak-and.html" style="color: #771100; text-decoration-line: none;">The Book Thief</a></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"> by Markus Zusak</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(narrated by Allan Corduner, who is absolutely pitch perfect as the narrator, “Death”)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #990000;">2012:<span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></b></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2012/07/their-eyes-were-watching-god-by-zora.html" style="color: #771100; text-decoration-line: none;">Their Eyes Were Watching God</a></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"> by Zora Neale Hurston, narrated by the incomparable Ruby Dee.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="background-color: white;">2013: </span></span></b></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2013/02/north-and-south-by-elizabeth-gaskell.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span style="color: #990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span">North and</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></i></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2013/02/north-and-south-by-elizabeth-gaskell.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span style="color: #990000;">South</span></i></span></a> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">by Elizabeth Gaskell, narrated by Juliet Stevenson</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="background-color: white;">2014: </span></span></b></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><i><span style="color: #990000;">The Invention of Wings</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Sue Monk Kidd (P</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: #38761d;">owerfully told through the excellent narration of Adepero Oduye and Jenna Lamia.)</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">2015: </span><span style="color: #38761d;">No audios listed for the year</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b><span style="background-color: white;">2016: </span></b></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-brief-history-of-seven-killings-by.html" style="color: #771100; text-decoration-line: none;">A Brief History of Seven Killings</a> </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by Marlon James (This complex tale of life in Bob Marley's Jamaica earned its author a well-deserved Booker Prize. Although the novel only earned three stars from me, its prose, scope, and characters definitely deserved much higher honors. The reason I rated it so low was because the subject matter and language (both profane and dialectal) made it such a difficult read that I cannot say that I truly enjoyed it. The audio--which featured an ensemble cast of narrators: Robertson Dean, Cherise Boothe, Dwight </span><span style="color: #38761d;">Bacquie, Ryan Anderson, Jonathan McClain, Robert Younis, and Thom Rivera--was very helpful to anyone who struggles to read the dense dialect of an unfamiliar culture. One huge downside to listening to this one is that it shifts lighting fast through a large cast of characters and back and forth along a very lengthy timeline. The voices used for some of the characters were so close that if I missed the announcement of who was speaking, or came back to listening after pausing it for a time, I was quite lost. Overall, though, I think the audio is the way to go with this one if you struggle, as I did, trying to read the dialect in print.)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b><span style="background-color: white;">2017: </span></b></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: #990000;">Homegoing</span></i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #38761d;"> by Yaa Gyasi (</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This was another book that was strongly in the running for my number one fiction slot this year. I’m glad the audio is so fabulous, allowing me to give this story of two sisters, one sold into slavery, the other married to a slaver, its due. This novel, which reads like a series of interconnected stories, traces the descendants of both sisters for three hundred years. The audio can get a little challenging to follow who is narrating, but the quality of the narration makes up for those issues. Whether you do it in print or audio, this is a must read! If you would like to read my full review, you can do so</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2017/01/homegoing-by-yaa-gyasi.html" style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.)</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b><span style="background-color: white;">2018: </span></b></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><i>Beartown</i> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">and its conclusion,</span><span style="color: #990000;"> </span><i style="color: #990000;">Us Against You</i><span style="color: #38761d;">, by Fredrik Backman</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> (Narrator Marin Ireland not only masters voices for each of the characters, she successfully conveys all the subtle emotional nuances needed to accurately impart the message behind the happenings in Beartown. There was some criticism that Marin Ireland didn’t attempt Swedish accents or that the publisher didn’t select a Swedish narrator for the audiobook, but I disagree. Her performance is so pitch perfect in every other regard. I also feel that a Swedish narrator would have taken the global aspect away from the story, which is written in such a way that it is not obviously set in Sweden. Because an American narrated the story, I could absolutely picture this tale playing out in any hockey crazy small American town. Fantastic story. Fantastic narration. What more could you ask for?)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>2019:</b> </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000;">The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by Louise Erdrich (This </span><span style="color: #38761d;">is narrated by Anna Fields, a narrator that was completely new to me. Everything from her individual voices to a tone that leant the novel just the right amount of gravity made this the perfect road trip listen as we drove through the area in the US where the book is set.)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>2019: </b></span><i style="color: #990000;">Americanah</i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (This is narrated so ably by Adjoa Andoh that at times I would have sworn there was more than one narrator. Not only did she master and consistently deploy all the many accents of this vast cast, she gave each of those voices character attributes that made them breathe: the jaded, exhausted med student single mother, the impatient elderly relative, the opportunistic house-husband.)</span></span><br />
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Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-62463063435487872162020-01-01T17:52:00.002-09:002020-01-01T20:24:07.220-09:002019: The Top Ten<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This year's Top Ten is extra fun because these are the books that will define the end of a decade for me. Numbers-wise, this has been the worst year in recent memory, with only sixty-five books read. I can't remember the last time I read less than seventy, and only a shocking few--twenty-two--were print. In general, the books were far shorter than normal as well. If you would like to see my complete list of 2019 reads and my stats, you will find them <a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/p/archived-reading-log.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>. A list of all my five star books is <a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/p/best-reads.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>. On the plus side, for the first time in a very long time, I completed a fairly sizable challenge, the Reading Women Challenge. My results are <a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2020/01/reading-women-challenge-2019-complete.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>. Despite having a smaller pool of contenders, this year's Top Ten could easily have held their own in any reading year.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Top Five Fiction:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">It was a difficult decision settling on the best of my five fiction selections. The first three books on this list were all strong novels, and I loved them all for different reasons. In the end, my </span><b><span style="color: #990000;">number one</span></b><span style="color: #38761d;"> fiction of 2019 is </span></span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Signe Pike's</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><i style="color: #990000;">The Lost Queen</i><span style="color: #38761d;">.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">The Lost Queen </i><span style="color: #38761d;">is one of those genre bending novels that will appeal to a variety of readers. Between its covers you will find an historical fiction telling of the life of a real queen, Languoreth, in sixth century Scotland. Set in the era of the confluence of ancient pagan beliefs and Christianity, the novel is imbrued in a spirit of mysticism and taut with the kind of conflict that only an all out brawl to preserve ones' way of life can render. This novel will obviously find favor with readers of historical fiction and those who have a fascination with ancient Scotland, but those who love fantasy, myths and legends, strong woman protagonists, and atmospheric writing will also find much to love here.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse</i><span style="color: #38761d;"><b style="font-style: italic;"> </b>by </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">Louise Erdrich</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> was also a huge hit for me this year. Storytelling at its finest is on display in this story of a priest, Father Damien, who has spent his life serving the Ojibwe. An intricate web is woven out of the priest's own secrets and those of a nun, Sister Leopolda. The twining together of their lives and Father Damien's end-of-life wrestling with truth at all costs is told against the backdrop of the dissipation of traditions and the dying of a way of life. This novel is all about character and moral dilemma.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX2QgLWpCMYMiFH26wxLRV164x41ZPnhHw7-EHIA8wBCNkv4z92HpF-Eg-WwcRqstZeIoC1JWpxvO9czecbY_uS1JvW-5prsT8dc4DHr-GFzWHvWmq_aNnHwVFIPAvPOWrgzyRox4KmJP9/s1600/roses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="267" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX2QgLWpCMYMiFH26wxLRV164x41ZPnhHw7-EHIA8wBCNkv4z92HpF-Eg-WwcRqstZeIoC1JWpxvO9czecbY_uS1JvW-5prsT8dc4DHr-GFzWHvWmq_aNnHwVFIPAvPOWrgzyRox4KmJP9/s200/roses.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">Roses </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">Leila Meacham </span><span style="color: #38761d;">was a huge surprise for me and another that spoke loudly in my mind as I tried to select the number one novel of 2019. I had never heard of this novel or its author and selected it on a whim while perusing ideas for a multi-generational novel for the Reading Women Challenge. I was in Texas at the time and wanted something that was set there. This novel follows three founding families of a small east Texas town, spanning the twentieth century and three generations. All about legacy, this narrative is centered around choices made at pivotal moments and the trickle down affect they can have on the ones we love the most.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-L_7Re6cqY275kcRy6ro3EajCQcuacpQAp1mUgKD1dK6XGJNfjJE2_qRLWH6GXDfmCgF7Aem58iIHz1vV_tDV3BVGBr8LD4zEaz4UTX-p6OhvoaVxWIPJF8F8ii07YFMt8LhcHcfaiMR/s1600/americanah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="263" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-L_7Re6cqY275kcRy6ro3EajCQcuacpQAp1mUgKD1dK6XGJNfjJE2_qRLWH6GXDfmCgF7Aem58iIHz1vV_tDV3BVGBr8LD4zEaz4UTX-p6OhvoaVxWIPJF8F8ii07YFMt8LhcHcfaiMR/s200/americanah.jpg" width="129" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">Americanah </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie</span><span style="color: #38761d;">, while not at the top of my list, was a novel that I pondered a lot while I listened to it and after. Its immigrant subject matter is definitely timely, but I think it will hold its own in any decade, as there will always be movement of peoples around the globe. I loved how unapologetic this novel is and feel that that is what sets it apart from other novels I've read in this genre. Even though I have never been an immigrant in the US, I was raised overseas and laughed aloud at how Adichie's characters perceived their adopted country and its natives. The point that she makes--that everything American isn't the only way or even the best way--is very valid and makes for reading that is in turns humorous and poignant.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">The God of Small Things </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">Arundhati Roy </span><span style="color: #38761d;">seems to be one of those books that is either a hit or a miss with people, and I can see why. The first half of this story--about an Indian family and how caste and racism can result in a chain of events that begins slowly and gains momentum until the climactic moment that ruptures their lives--was slow moving and full of nebulous plot lines. That, combined with prose that was a bit too formulaically sprinkled with figurative language for me at times, left me doubting the book would get more than three stars out of me. However, once those plot lines began to weave themselves together, Arundhati Roy's ingenious grasp of story crafting swept all other considerations away and sealed this novel's spot in my Top Ten.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Top Five Nonfiction:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Choosing my </span><span style="color: #990000;"><b>number one</b></span><span style="color: #38761d;"> nonfiction is always tricky because there is such a vast variety of material. This year was different in that one book really grabbed me. The biggest surprise came by way of the book's genre. </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">Brian Garfield's </span><i style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">The Thousand-Mile War </i><span style="color: #38761d;">had me from start to finish.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nDrXaUlXMSV3Y2eNjd0at-N9ps5faNKbJ0IpjMjlhzPkuY0Wp3N8kurLsq5zwB_nSw5nYftLKnn0nv2GEmpHelQ1v91glt6ibkiVle61KBibVRW56T4VmBt35hwtbJrFuJTNo5J1NCBf/s1600/war.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="273" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nDrXaUlXMSV3Y2eNjd0at-N9ps5faNKbJ0IpjMjlhzPkuY0Wp3N8kurLsq5zwB_nSw5nYftLKnn0nv2GEmpHelQ1v91glt6ibkiVle61KBibVRW56T4VmBt35hwtbJrFuJTNo5J1NCBf/s400/war.jpg" width="268" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">The Thousand-Mile War </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">Brian Garfield </span><span style="color: #38761d;">is a work of military nonfiction, which isn't usually my favorite genre by a long shot. However, Garfield, who wrote fiction thrillers, was clearly passionate about his subject and brought all his storytelling skills to the table. The book, a history of Alaska's Aleutian Islands and the role they played in World War II, was chosen by me as part of a high school Alaska History curriculum I wrote and taught last school year. All of my students and I approached the book with a bit of hesitation due to its length, boring cover (shallow, I know), and potential to be very dry. We were all pleasantly surprised and soon found ourselves immersed. Garfield showed his suspense writer chops, keeping up a brisk pace and setting a vivid scene, but what he did best is something not all thriller writers do well: he made us really, really fall in love with the men at the heart of his tale and care about what happened to them. Despite its length and 1960s publication date (mid-20th century history books tend to lack the narrative flair of those written in the 21st), this work is highly readable and engaging.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCdCeZHiEkvk6cUoxx_ZroJ_YdL5xWSAc1We7maxsL19tkr0sl2gB599LAinKsUawQgiuaWHbr5LvB8Mn64CJe8xXXB03wd-9omvLxgWTM4nM56rNrwnxIETVsCxgDdGAsS8W-ipPq6t4a/s1600/blood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="263" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCdCeZHiEkvk6cUoxx_ZroJ_YdL5xWSAc1We7maxsL19tkr0sl2gB599LAinKsUawQgiuaWHbr5LvB8Mn64CJe8xXXB03wd-9omvLxgWTM4nM56rNrwnxIETVsCxgDdGAsS8W-ipPq6t4a/s200/blood.jpg" width="129" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">Blood and Thunder </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">Hampton Sides </span><span style="color: #38761d;">would have been the book that all my reading friends, having seen my list of 2019 five star reads, would have predicted would be my top nonfiction pick of the year. Don't get me wrong. I loved this book about the conquest of the American West, focusing on Kit Carson's three pivotal decades from the heyday of the mountain man to the dying of both his way of life and that of the Navajo and other Native American tribes. That said, I feel like Sides chose a topic that was a bit too vast with this one. In his other books such as <i>Ghost Soldiers </i>and <i>In the Kingdom of Ice</i>, Sides was able to tell a tighter story that focused on the men at the heart of his tales. While you do get a good feel for Carson, I think I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't on the same visceral level that you get to know the men in Garfield's Alaska, the level that Sides normally delivers on. As a history, Sides definitely still delivers in his fantastically narrative five-star way, but because history is, for me, about the people who made it, Garfield gets top billing.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">Spineless </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">Juli Berwald </span><span style="color: #38761d;">was bound to be a winner for me as I am endlessly fascinated by the creatures at its heart: jellyfish. This is one of those books that the entire time I was reading it I was constantly saying, "Did you know...?" to anyone who was nearby. In addition, I related in an intimate way with the author of this natural history memoir. Juli Berwood, like me, put her own academic pursuits on hold to raise her family and then gradually drifted back to them as her children grew more self-sufficient and made fewer demands on her time. The biggest complaint reviewers have about this memoir is that there is either too much personal narrative or too much natural history, dependent upon what the reader wanted or expected. I found it the perfect balance of both.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">Men We Reaped </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">Jesmyn Ward </span><span style="color: #38761d;">was one of the first books I read for the year and one that stayed with me. While I could not identify at all with the subject matter--the author's loss, over the span of five years, of five young men who were important in her life, losses that stemmed from growing up black in the poverty and racism of rural Mississippi--I felt that reading this book helped me to better understand and sympathize with their reality. We cannot walk in each other's shoes, but books by someone from the inside which so clearly, for the understanding of outsiders, unpack the experiences of their people can go a long way towards building a bridge across racism and class divides. This is a beautiful eulogy that gives a greater meaning to the all too brief lives of those young men.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">Heartland </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">Sarah Smarsh </span><span style="color: #38761d;">is another such book. When I first read about the book, I thought that is sounded like one big long excuse. I couldn't have been more wrong. Just like Jesmyn Ward, Sarah Smarsh is able to look at herself, her community, and her country and see, without excuses or judgement, both the micro and macro picture of poverty in working class middle America. While Ward's book is about black poverty, Smarsh's tells the story of white poverty. As with Ward's book, this is cultural commentary at its finest and from someone on the inside. Reading these two books together was extra eyeopening. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Top Audiobooks:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">This year two audiobooks, both from books that made my Top Ten, both so different from each other, really stood out equally among this year's listens:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse </i><span style="color: #38761d;">is narrated by Anna Fields, a narrator that was completely new to me. Everything from her individual voices to a tone that leant the novel just the right amount of gravity made this the perfect road trip listen as we drove through the area in the US where the book is set.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">Americanah</i><span style="color: #38761d;"> is narrated so ably by Adjoa Andoh that at times I would have sworn there was more than one narrator. Not only did she master and consistently deploy all the many accents of this vast cast, she gave each of those voices character attributes that made them breathe: the jaded, exhausted med student single mother, the impatient elderly relative, the opportunistic house-husband.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span>Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-21384550406208154612020-01-01T11:43:00.000-09:002020-01-01T12:01:34.021-09:00Reading Women Challenge 2019 -- COMPLETE!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58435fdf37c581d99d8c1f43/t/587d2434414fb5c9a57665fe/1577828057123/?format=1500w" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="reading women" border="0" height="283" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58435fdf37c581d99d8c1f43/t/587d2434414fb5c9a57665fe/1577828057123/?format=1500w" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Learn more about Reading Women <a href="https://www.readingwomenpodcast.com/who-we-are" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For 2019, I decided to try a new challenge, the Reading Women Challenge. Not that I had much hope of succeeding. Challenges for me tend to be more of a roadmap for what I'd like to read during a given year, and I rarely succeed at them. This challenge, however, proved to be an exception to the rule. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As the year progressed, I noticed that I was making very good headway and was thoroughly enjoying the books I read, which motivated me to continue. The Reading Women Challenge encourages the reader to read books by and about women and makes your reading life a bit more focused by giving you specific guidelines to follow as to what you read. I followed the spirit of the challenge to the letter; all of the books I read were by female authors and had women as their subject or protagonist.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Many readers, even women, find upon analyzing their reading that they read books that are predominantly written by men and about men. When I looked at my reading life from the previous few years, I discovered that for me that wasn't necessarily true. Regardless, I decided to give the 2019 challenge a go.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I would like to give a shout out to my many friends and family who responded with great enthusiasm to my Facebook post requesting suggestions for the 2019 categories. You will see many of your suggestions reflected in the books I ultimately read. Thanks for helping to make my reading year wonderful! I look forward to all your suggestions as we move forward into the next decade. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you would like to see the 2020 Challenge list, you can find it <a href="https://www.readingwomenpodcast.com/reading-women-challenge-2020" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here is my completed Reading Women Challenge 2019:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">Reading Women Challenge 2019:</u><span style="color: #38761d;"> (This challenge celebrates women, as authors and subjects. For more info: readingwomenpodcast.com)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">1. Mystery/thriller by a WOC: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">My Sister, the Serial Killer</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Oyinkan Braithwaite </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">2. Woman with a mental illness: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">Sybil Exposed </span></i><span style="color: #38761d;">by Debbie Nathan </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">3. Author from Nigeria or New Zealand: </span><span style="color: #38761d;"><i style="color: #990000;">Americanah </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">4. About or set in Appalachia: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Kim Michele Richardson </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">5. Children's book: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">Becoming Madeleine</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Charlotte Jones Voiklis </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">6. Multi-generation family saga: </span><span style="color: #38761d;"><i style="color: #990000;">Roses </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by Leila Meacham </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">7. Featuring a woman in science: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Brenda Maddox </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">8. A play: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">A Raisin in the Sun</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Lorraine Hansberry </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">9. A novella: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">The Yellow Wallpaper</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Charlotte Perkins Gilman </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">10. About a woman athlete: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">Run the World</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Becky Wade </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">11. Featuring a religion other than your own:</span><i><span style="color: #990000;"> I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Maryse Conde </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">12. Lambda Literary Award winner: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">Another Brooklyn</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Jacqueline Woodson </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">13. A myth retelling: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">Circe</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Madeline Miller </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">14. A translated book published before 1945: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">Ourika</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Claire de Duras </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">15. Written by a South Asian author: </span><span style="color: #38761d;"><i style="color: #990000;">The God of Small Things </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by Arundhati Roy </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">16. By an indigenous woman: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Louise Erdrich </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">17. From 2018 Reading Women Award shortlist: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">Hunger</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Roxane Gay </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">18. Romance of love story: </span><span style="color: #38761d;"><i style="color: #990000;">I Owe You One </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by Sophie Kinsella </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">19. About nature: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">Spineless</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Juli Berwald </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">20. Historical fiction: </span><i style="color: #990000;">The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by Katherine Howe </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">21. Bought or borrowed in 2019: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">The Lost Queen</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Signe Pike </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">22. Read because of the cover: </span><i style="color: #990000;">The Death of Mrs. Westaway </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by Ruth Ware (⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">23. From a series: </span><i style="color: #990000;">The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet </i><span style="color: #38761d;">by Becky Chambers </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #38761d;">24. YA book by a WOC: </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">Poet X</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Elizabeth Acevedo </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">25. BONUS: By Jesmyn Ward: </span><i style="color: #990000;">Men We Reaped </i></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">26. BONUS: By Jhumpa Lahiri: </span><span style="color: #990000;"><i>Interpreter of Maladies </i></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(⭐️</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">⭐️)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">#ReadingWomenChallenge</span>Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-72020963903377477172019-02-27T10:27:00.000-09:002019-02-27T13:58:49.389-09:00When You Read This by Mary Adkins ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️<style type="text/css">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">When I was offered an Advanced Reader's copy of Mary Adkins’s debut novel, </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">When You Read This</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">, I was a bit skeptical. The book has a very serious theme: a woman passes away tragically young; how do her death and her final wishes affect those she leaves behind? The epistolary format of the book, composed mostly of blog entries, emails, and text messages, seemed a little irreverent to me. However, I enjoyed Maria Semple’s </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Where’d You Go, Bernadette?</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">, which also utilizes an epistolary format, so I decided to give it a go.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuA2bf_yFptAv_X5M1fKDEDREEk_kkl9J79VEXpp389hOxllhPswKc4CMZrL0ESLwBo5MziE44noouJAfs4ioyeyMHrC9Y8__f12n5M5-vD3oY8YqZAA5FKJDpbP1-d6xV-NUsdYao6gI9/s1600/When+you+read+this.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="267" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuA2bf_yFptAv_X5M1fKDEDREEk_kkl9J79VEXpp389hOxllhPswKc4CMZrL0ESLwBo5MziE44noouJAfs4ioyeyMHrC9Y8__f12n5M5-vD3oY8YqZAA5FKJDpbP1-d6xV-NUsdYao6gI9/s400/When+you+read+this.jpg" width="262" /></a><span class="s1"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">I’m so happy I did. Through the blog posts of Iris (the woman who passed away from cancer) and various forms of communication primarily involving her boss, Smith; her replacement at work, Carl; and her sister, Jade, this novel achieves flow and a lovely arc of emotion as those left behind find their way through grief and living and come to terms with how they can honor Iris’s final wishes in ways that also honor their goals for their own lives and help them come through Iris’s death more in touch with themselves.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Watching Jade and Smith process their shared grief as they read through blog posts and drafts that Iris left behind resonated with me. I lost my mom and my daughter within ten months of each other four years ago. After their passing, I thought about so many things that I wished I had done with them or spoken about with them. I realized, in particular with my mother, how many questions I had never asked her, questions for which I will now never have the answers.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">I think most readers will feel a kinship with the characters in this book and be able to identify with those left behind after Iris’s death. The only reason this book didn’t get a fifth star from me is something which in another reader might be why they would give it a fifth star. I didn’t like some of the humor in the book. Sometimes it felt forced and other times it seemed silly or inappropriate. Other readers might like this aspect of the novel because it keeps it from being too somber.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">If you have never tried an epistolary novel, this one would be a great place to begin as it utilizes a number of elements characteristic of this format and does so in an effective manner. If you are already a fan, I think you will enjoy this novel immensely. The only people I might caution against this book are those who have very recently lost a loved one as some of the humor might not meet you where you are right now.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
<br />Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-16400061084519690932019-01-14T13:11:00.001-09:002019-01-14T13:11:13.735-09:002018: The Top Ten
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 2018, I didn’t have as many five-star reads as I did in 2017—only nine, five fiction and six nonfiction, as opposed to a total of sixteen, ten fiction and six nonfiction. In 2016, sixteen books also garnered top honors. Historically, I tend to be a bit tougher on my nonfiction reads, and this year, for the first time ever, I read more nonfiction than fiction. Usually, though, including this year, they are fairly close, so I don’t know if that can really explain my somewhat lackluster year. To be fair to the books that did earn five stars this year, the ones that did shine did so brightly.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">This year’s top ten rose to the top of a pile of 77 total reads—the lower end of average for me. Here are the basic stats:</span><span class="s1"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">Total number of books:</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">77</span></span><br style="background-color: whitesmoke; font-family: schoolbell;" /><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">Total fiction:</span><span style="color: #990000;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">34</span></span><br style="background-color: whitesmoke; font-family: schoolbell;" /><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">Total nonfiction: </span><span style="color: #990000;">43</span></span><br style="background-color: whitesmoke; font-family: schoolbell;" /><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">Number of print books:</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">35</span></span><br style="background-color: whitesmoke; font-family: schoolbell;" /><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">Number of pages read: </span>11,688</span><br style="background-color: whitesmoke; font-family: schoolbell;" /><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">Number of audio books:</span><span style="color: #990000;"> </span>42</span><br style="background-color: whitesmoke; font-family: schoolbell;" /><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">Number of hours listened to: </span>523</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>2018 Top Fiction:</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This year’s top novel was a difficult choice, but there was one book that I talked about more than any other. It could be that it is set where I live, or it could be that I went into it with very low expectations. No matter the reason, here it is:</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b><i>The Great Alone</i> by Kristin Hannah</b></span><span style="color: #38761d;"> snags Lit in the Last Frontier’s top fiction read of the year. If you follow my reading life, you might recall that I really hated Hannah’s much lauded </span><i style="color: #38761d;">The Nightingale</i><span style="color: #38761d;">. Taking that into consideration and the fact that the last book I read that was set here in Alaska, Dave Eggers’s </span><i style="color: #38761d;">Heroes of the Frontier</i><span style="color: #38761d;">, was just flat out awful in every regard, I had darkest depths of a </span><i style="color: #38761d;">crevasse</i><span style="color: #38761d;"> expectations for </span><i style="color: #38761d;">The Great Alone</i><span style="color: #38761d;">. Since I wrote a review for this novel, I’ll direct you </span><b><a href="http://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/search?q=the+great+alone"><span style="color: blue;">there</span></a></b><span style="color: #38761d;"> for more of my thoughts.</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>2018 Fiction Runners-up:</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rounding out the other four fiction slots, in no particular order, are:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9781492647454_p0_v1_s550x406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="If the Creek Don't Rise" border="0" height="200" src="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9781492647454_p0_v1_s550x406.jpg" width="132" /></a><span class="s1"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>If the Creek Don’t Rise</i> by Leah Weiss:</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> This book is </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">a </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">fabulous</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> example of Southern Fiction and was recommended to me by two of my favorite readers, a Tennessee lady and a North-easterner. I found it interesting that two friends of mine who don’t share a common reading circle and who generally enjoy different books from each other would both rave about this evocative and wrenching debut. Within its own genre, <i>If the Creek Don’t Rise </i>was also chosen by the Southern Independent Booksellers Association as a top pick. As is common in Southern Fiction, this book is drenched in that slow burning melancholy of lives that happen to a person—as opposed to lives mastered—and the systemic inability to alter your trajectory once on it. I wanted so much for our protagonist that I just had a terrible feeling wouldn’t be within her grasp. I read this outstanding novel at the very beginning of the year and even then had no doubt that it would make this list; I cannot recommend it highly enough. <b>recommended for book clubs</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9780399585968_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="As Bright as Heaven" border="0" height="200" src="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9780399585968_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" width="132" /></a><span class="s1"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>As Bright As Heaven</i> by Susan Meissner:</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Meissner is one of the many, many authors whom I have never read and always mean to “get to.” I read the synopsis of this novel in the publisher’s pre-publication marketing and was drawn to its unique plot line. Set in 1918 Philadelphia, this lovely, character driven novel centers on a mother and her three daughters, newly arrived in the city when the Spanish Flu arrives and alters all of their lives beyond imagining. I loved every minute of following these women as they built not the life they had anticipated but one even richer in love, accomplishments, and service. <b>recommended for book clubs</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Us Against You </i>by Fredrik Backman:</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> This novel is the </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">conclusion to Swedish novelist Backman’s </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Beartown</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">; you absolutely must read that novel first. Both novels are set in a small, rural Swedish town and show what can happen when priorities become skewed. I enjoyed both novels, but the finale earned the fifth star because the plot didn’t always go in the direction I thought it would (or wanted it to), the characters that were interesting in the first book became riveting in this one, and the conclusion of the message was profound without being trite.</span></div>
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<a href="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9781612197111_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="In Every Moment We Are Still Alive" border="0" height="200" src="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9781612197111_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" width="133" /></a><span class="s1"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>In Every Moment We Are Still Alive</i> by Tom Malmquist:</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Another great work from a Swedish writer, this one is very different stylistically—Malmquist’s writing is far more spare and artistic (he is a poet), and this is an autobiographical novel (the main character is tellingly named Tom). His style, tone, and personal engagement are perfect for this stirring story of a man trying to go on in the wake of his wife’s death, a death which has left Tom alone raising their baby daughter. This is not an easy read from start to finish, but it is short (again, not surprising from a poet) and will leave you thinking about it for a very long time.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>2018 Top Nonfiction:</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As the year began to draw to a close, I had five five star nonfiction reads and no idea how I would decide between several of them for the top slot. In December I read Lindsey Hilsum’s standout biography of Marie Colvin, and I knew without a doubt that I had found a winner. So, Lit in the Last Frontier’s top spot for nonfiction goes to:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9780374175597_p0_v1_s550x406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="In Extremis: The Life and Death of the War Correspondent Marie Colvin" border="0" src="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9780374175597_p0_v1_s550x406.jpg" /></a><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #990000;"><i>In Extremis: The Life and Death of the War Correspondent Marie Colvin</i> by Lindsey Hilsum:</span></b><span style="color: #38761d;"> One of </span></span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">the biggest issue that I tend to have with biographers is that they fall in love with their subjects. It would have been easy for Hilsum, who was both a friend and a colleague of Marie Colvin, to do so. Marie Colvin is, without a doubt, the most renowned female war correspondent of all time and was loved by those who spent time with her in the world’s darkest places for her willingness to help, positive attitude, courage, and passion for the mission she felt called to—that of shining a light on the most egregious happenings so that the world could not claim ignorance. For all her wonderful attributes, Marie Colvin fought some sizable personal demons every day. Lindsey Hilsum shows her readers that part of what made this woman so awe-inspiring was that everything didn’t come easily for her, that as dark as her professional world was, her personal world often shone rather less than bright, too. This is an outstanding, if at times grim, biography that I recommend to anyone curious about imbedded war correspondents. </span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">recommended for book clubs</b></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>2018 Nonfiction Runners-up:</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The other four nonfiction books that earned top honors, in no particular order, are:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9781501135927_p0_v3_s550x406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike" border="0" height="200" src="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9781501135927_p0_v3_s550x406.jpg" width="133" /></a><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;"><i>Shoe Dog</i> by Phil Knight:</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> This might look to be an improbable book to make the top ten of someone who reads as much serious nonfiction as I do, but there is a lot to like here. Phil Knight is the founder of Nike, and this is the story of how a college project—that absolutely no one thought was plausible—morphed into a fantastic success story. A former collegiate runner, Knight shares what drove him as an athlete and how he used the mental attributes and knowledge of equipment honed as a competitive runner and the networking connections made during those years as the driving factors in beginning and then growing Nike. This story is inspiring and fast paced. Even if you have no interest in beginning a business, it is a great read about an iconic product and the man behind it.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9781492650959_p0_v2_s550x406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women" border="0" height="200" src="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9781492650959_p0_v2_s550x406.jpg" width="131" /></a><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;"><i>Radium Girls</i> by Kate Moore: </span><span style="color: #38761d;">Until I read </span><i style="color: #38761d;">In Extremis</i><span style="color: #38761d;"> in </span></span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">December, it was looking like this work would be my top nonfiction of the year. Another book that covers many micro topics in the course of telling its central tale, this story of small town America and unscrupulous company practices made many, many “best of” lists this year. During the first decade of the 1900s, paint containing radium began being used to paint numbers on clock faces and aviation equipment because the paint glowed in the dark. This book tells the story of the young women—whose small, deft hands were particularly suited to the minutia of the work—who painted the faces of the watches, clocks, and instruments. By the 1920s, it was becoming apparent that these women were all suffering terribly—and dying—as a result of their work. The book tells of their desperate fight during their dying years to get justice from the companies they worked for and bring awareness to their plight.</span></div>
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<a href="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9781439170915_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" border="0" height="200" src="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9781439170915_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" width="128" /></a><span class="s1"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Emperor of All Maladies</i> by Siddhartha Mukhergee: </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am very late to the reading party with regard to this book depicting the history of cancer. If you have read a broadly about the history of disease, then a good portion of this book will be a refresher course on the topic but from the standpoint of how that history relates to cancer. It was yet another work that was a strong candidate for my top nonfiction spot. The reason I didn’t select it was because I don’t think it is a book that will have the universal appeal of <i>In Extremis</i>. There are times when the book gets a bit bogged down in medical jargon, and if you don’t come at the subject with a decent knowledge base and interest in the subject, you will likely end up skimming a bit. If however, it is a subject you enjoy, you will love this book.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9780804138000_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Ticker: The Quest to Create an Artificial Heart" border="0" height="200" src="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9780804138000_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" width="131" /></a><span class="s1"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Ticker: The Quest to Create an Artificial Heart </i>by Mimi </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Swartz:</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> My dad and I had been talking about the research that led to the artificial heart. I was pretty positive that it had its genesis at the University of Utah (where I had heart surgery), but my dad was positive it began in Austin, Texas. Shortly after our discussion, I saw this book in its publisher’s new book marketing. Dad was correct, and this is the story. I loved this book! Mimi Swartz does a great job of making not only the history of the artificial heart interesting and understandable to the layperson but of bringing to vibrant life the many researchers. The book also tackles the path that any medical device takes to FDA approval, the ethical issues, and the emotional and familial stressors of the researchers. While this book is an easier read than <i>The Emperor of All Maladies</i>, I still felt it lacked the broad appeal that might have earned it my top spot. That said, the artificial heart is one of the most significant medical milestones of the twentieth century, and this readable history will find many devotees.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nonfiction Near Miss:</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #38761d;"> I only had one extra nonfiction title that didn’t make the top five: </span><span style="color: #990000;"><i>Nine Continents </i>by Xiaolu Guo</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9781501160776_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Beartown" border="0" height="320" src="https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9781501160776_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" width="207" /></a><span class="s1"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Beartown</i> and its conclusion, <i>Us Against You</i>, by Fredrik Backman</b></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> were the absolute best audiobooks I listened to this year. Narrator Marin Ireland not only masters voices for each of the characters, she successfully conveys all the subtle emotional nuances needed to accurately impart the message behind the happenings in Beartown. There was some criticism that Marin Ireland didn’t attempt Swedish accents or that the publisher didn’t select a Swedish narrator for the audiobook, but I disagree. Her performance is so pitch perfect in every other regard. I also feel that a Swedish narrator would have taken the global aspect away from the story, which is written in such a way that it is not obviously set in Sweden. Because an American narrated the story, I could absolutely picture this tale playing out in any hockey crazy small American town. Fantastic story. Fantastic narration. What more could you ask for?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>2018 Big Miss:</b></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <span style="color: #990000;"><i>Spies in the Congo: America’s Atomic Mission in World War II </i>by Susan Williams.</span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It baffled me that someone could manage to take a spy story, set in colonial Africa and based upon the secrecy of the hunt for uranium, and make it so incredibly boring. This book desperately needed an editor to weed out the minutia and bring into focus the heart of what should have been a fascinating tale.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hopefully you will have a chance to add one of these outstanding books to your stack! I wish for you all a wonderfully bookish year!</span></span></div>
<br />Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-78027500622519780442018-11-27T12:47:00.001-09:002018-11-27T21:48:54.045-09:00The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️<style type="text/css">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Nobody among my reading friends disliked Kristin Hannah’s </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The Nightingale</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> more than I did. Couple my shudders at the memory of that book along with the way I felt about the last novel I read set in Alaska, Dave Eggers’s </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Heroes of the Frontier </i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">(lucky to pull two stars out of me), and it is a wonder that I even considered reading Kristin Hannah’s </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The Great Alone</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">. All of the raving about how </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The Nightingale</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> was the book that Hannah was born to write is completely misplaced. She has a family history that is linked in with the plot of </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The Great Alone</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">, and that resonates throughout the novel. This was the book she was meant write.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDcsgSOp_9j6duM8zzBGWAykPEOrRqMsr1nDDPjtw_olVHJRufayPvwzQofRyoIA_NkQRwJiO_njbcbQwJFiHGUaSL4D3FLBGdaRVNnVxyTRl1rWOOXkj02zJK_vc-3XuMIKFIvsO5gait/s1600/great+alone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDcsgSOp_9j6duM8zzBGWAykPEOrRqMsr1nDDPjtw_olVHJRufayPvwzQofRyoIA_NkQRwJiO_njbcbQwJFiHGUaSL4D3FLBGdaRVNnVxyTRl1rWOOXkj02zJK_vc-3XuMIKFIvsO5gait/s400/great+alone.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I love my state and read a fair number of books set in Alaska, but most of them tend to be nonfiction. Oddly enough, the bulk of the fiction that comes from Alaskan writers tends to take place in places other than here. This leaves people from Outside as the ones who write the majority of the novels set on my home turf. Many of them have never even been here but see in our state either a catchy setting that will draw readers to their novels or someplace that gives their imagination room to roam. Often, that imagination goes well beyond the bounds of the possible and the real and into the realm of eye rolling, trying to play up stereotypes that any Alaskan would find ridiculous. I’m looking at you, Dave Eggers.</span><span class="s1"></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">From the standpoint of sticking to the truth of things, Hannah is spot on with this novel. The setting of the book, a location a short boat ride from Homer, Alaska, is well sketched without playing up aspects that Outsiders would find enticing but locals would immediately spot as false. Her novel is set several decades ago, but even today many of her markers of plot and setting still hold true. Our family loves the Homer area, and my husband and I plan on retiring there, perhaps even in Seldovia, a small hamlet, much like the setting of <i>The Great Alone</i>, across Katchemak Bay from Homer. I love how this novel brought this place I love so much home in such an intimate way.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another thing that Hannah does really well in this novel is letting her characters shape the plot and setting instead of letting those elements drive character development. One of my biggest complaints with <i>The Nightingale</i> was how stereotypical and wooden her characters were, as if the author had made a list of all the characters she felt a novel set in France during the Nazi occupation required. In this case the novel makes sense because the characters create a setting to suit themselves and in so doing an authentic plot is formed.</span></span></div>
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<br />Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-27348164634796831732018-11-16T09:13:00.002-09:002018-11-16T09:13:52.497-09:00Us Against You by Fredrik Backman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">In </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Us against You </i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Fredrik Backman does something very rare. He takes everything you learned in the first book of his duology and uses it to maximum effect without making you feel like he was just trying to sell another book. This book follows his </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Beartown</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">, which was good but not quite five stars for me.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And pick them up he did. Both books tell the story of the people in a very small rural town in Sweden. You only need to know one thing about the town: hockey is everything there. All of the town’s pride is wrapped up in the sport—past, present, and future. The first book revolves around a crime that takes place, involving the town’s star hockey player and the coach’s daughter. While the story does resolve in <i>Beartown</i>, <i>Us Against You</i> brings it to its full potential.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Backman’s strength is in the characters he creates. Without bowing to extreme stereotypes, he deftly brings his readers home to where his people live. The characters combine into collective forces to become, well, us against you. There is workplace drama, family dynamics, powerful friendships, dreams of glory. Plenty of dreams of glory. And what they can do to a town completely blind to their destructive side.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The power in this story comes from the exploration of human nature and what happens when the drive to win overtakes absolutely everything else. You do not need to know a thing about hockey to love both of these books. Hockey isn’t really the story here but the vehicle in which the psychology of the story is set. I cannot imagine a reader who wouldn’t marvel at these finely crafted novels, and so I recommend them without reservation to all readers.</span></span></div>
<br />Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-37652026482036890202018-06-04T09:31:00.000-08:002018-06-04T09:31:00.639-08:00Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Hearts in Atlantis </i>by Stephen King was my Chloe’s Choice Challenge book for January. My youngest daughter, who is choosing one book a month off our shelves for me to read, chose the book because she liked the title and the cover and because, “It has been on the shelf ever since I can remember.” Honestly, I think that I have had this book since long before she was born in 2007.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfJ8Vl36T-7rfHJeh3kBANd_iR0itC81Frsz5_jjYyhNJg7Wip-3FEMBNE3y0oheL2ibEt2h6aDMvKfvaS-Cz8O1_g3bKRBqX0XrFAyQqP01DeQVM9X_cwwSGq0pYrY_mq_VVVv8SsOViY/s1600/hearts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="328" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfJ8Vl36T-7rfHJeh3kBANd_iR0itC81Frsz5_jjYyhNJg7Wip-3FEMBNE3y0oheL2ibEt2h6aDMvKfvaS-Cz8O1_g3bKRBqX0XrFAyQqP01DeQVM9X_cwwSGq0pYrY_mq_VVVv8SsOViY/s400/hearts.jpg" width="261" /></a><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The narrative is five interconnected stories that share a common theme—how group behavior can affect people in a negative fashion. The first two stories, “Low Men in Yellow Coats” and the title story, “Hearts in Atlantis,” are by far the longest (I would call them novellas) and introduce the reader to all of the main characters who will pop up in the stories. Both main stories are set in the 1960s, with subsequent stories being spaced out chronologically until 1999. Group behavior, first in small town childhood and then in college, sets the tone of these first two stories and gives the reader insight into what is looming on the horizon for these kids (Vietnam) and how their crowd mentality, learned in childhood and adolescence, will adversely affect their future actions.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A common question with Stephen King books is whether or not it is a horror novel. The only thing that comes close is the first story, “Low Men in Yellow Coats,” but even that is more a sci-fi vibe than horror. “Hearts in Atlantis” has a psychological element to it. “Blind Willie,” the third story, was, in my opinion, the weakest story; it almost has it’s own theme, with its emphasis on the morality of the choices made by a Vietnam vet after his return from the war, but you do see the group behavior element quite strongly in Willie’s flashbacks. The premise of the story was great, but I just felt that it lacked emotional punch and thus was a missed opportunity. The last two stories, “Why We’re in Vietnam” and “Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling,” have a very slight magical realism element to them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What cost this book a fifth star was continuity. The character element was the only area where I felt like every story flowed smoothly into the next. In the sci-fi/magical realism area there wasn’t any continuity, and its lack made the stories feel disjointed despite their common characters. The first story was sci-fi, the second psychological, the third had no supernatural elements, the fourth had a ghost, and the fifth wrapped things up for two main characters with a baseball mitt that traveled mysteriously through several stories. There were just too many different supernatural elements for there to be flow in that regard, and it was enough to cost the book a fifth star from me.</span></span></div>
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Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-90358395025170227582018-06-04T09:22:00.003-08:002018-06-04T09:22:30.713-08:00The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">As is no doubt obvious from my less than stellar rating, I didn’t find as much to appreciate in Chloe Benjamin’s </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The Immortalists </i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">as some reviewers.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The author chose an interesting premise: four children go to a fortune teller who tells them the exact days on which they each will die.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The rest of the book is divided into four sections, one for each of the kids—Simon, Klara, Daniel, and Varya—that, with the exception of Varya, cover the span of their lives.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I did find the premise of the book enticing and kept going because I wanted to know what became of the characters.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix8i9iFdm6SXJrL2QoKANi_u-qPyGbimN4wRKS5vhb7RuLayvw5SmqjYWhBOZQn4wauvEnJls-XpJxuKV7LZWIARkU2BvEBi78knJ1k6XswqiF5rNzV70SegdRhFgz5hJN2dbdzVi_ibDH/s1600/immortalist+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="166" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix8i9iFdm6SXJrL2QoKANi_u-qPyGbimN4wRKS5vhb7RuLayvw5SmqjYWhBOZQn4wauvEnJls-XpJxuKV7LZWIARkU2BvEBi78knJ1k6XswqiF5rNzV70SegdRhFgz5hJN2dbdzVi_ibDH/s400/immortalist+.jpg" width="265" /></a><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">One of my major complaints about the book—and one I noticed put off many readers to the extent that they dropped the book in its first section—was the very graphic homosexual sex scenes in Simon’s story.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Literary fiction is not erotica.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">In my experience, readers of literary fiction do not want graphic sex scenes, be they heterosexual or homosexual, in their novels.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">And before you go off and call me homophobic, I invite you to look on my blog, Lit in the Last Frontier, where you will discover that my number one novel of 2017 was </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The Heart’s Invisible Furies</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> by John Boyne.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I understand that Chloe Benjamin was trying to show Simon’s tumultuous experience in 1970s and 80s San Francisco, but she needs to learn the value of the literary “fading to black” and letting the readers fill in the rest from their imaginations.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">There are other places in the book where she inserts odd, needless sexual references.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">In all of these cases the graphic portrayals neither further the plot of the novel nor flesh out its characters in a way that couldn’t be accomplished in a more literary fashion.</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The other three sections cover the other characters, with each one being given a time frame: Klara from 1982-1991, Daniel from 1991-2006, and Varya from 2006-2010. Unfortunately, this format doesn’t do the premise any favors. Such large segments of Daniel’s and Varya’s lives are jumped over that the author has no opportunity to develop their characters, and, as a result, the things that both characters do seem very out of character for the people they were when we last spent any pages with them.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I found the plotting rather weak in places, making it easy to tell how the characters are going to die. For instance Simon’s story—that of a gay young man who tells his siblings that the fortune teller told him he would die “young”—in early 1980s San Francisco, is pretty easy to predict. To give Ms. Benjamin her due, where a crystal ball isn’t necessary to know where the plot arc is taking us, the emotion with which the stories are told carries the reader through.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This book almost got two stars from me for the above reasons. However, Chloe Benjamin writes beautiful prose, worthy of the literary genre. She just needs to perfect her intimate scenes to bring them more in line with what literary readers want from their novels.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I also felt that the separate, almost interconnected short story format didn’t work for the premise of the book. The reader really needs the opportunity to see how the characters develop year by year as a result of knowing how their days are numbered. Jumping large time segments robbed Ms. Benjamin and her readers of the opportunity to explore the entirety of her characters’ development. A compellingly successful example of interlinked short stories comes from the book I read just, <i>Hearts in Atlantis. </i>In this 800 plus page novel, Stephen King uses the same format but takes the time (and the pages) to flesh out his all of his characters. Perhaps the 300 plus pages in which Ms. Benjamin tries to tell her story were simply not sufficient to the task.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Overall, this book is a solid three stars. It has issues that I know some readers will find extremely off-putting. For those who are either unbothered by the first section’s sex scenes or are willing to scan over them in order to get to the heart of the book, I think you will find, as I did, that the premise is interesting, the prose is lovely, and the characters engaging enough to keep you turning the pages. </span></div>
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Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-68068458759131405602018-01-26T22:17:00.000-09:002018-01-26T22:17:57.034-09:00A Crack in Creation by Jennifer Doudna and Samuel Sternberg ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I don’t write very many book reviews. When I do they are usually motivated by one of two reasons: the book is fabulous and compels me to become a book pimp, or the book got an abysmal rating from me that needed explaining. Every now and again I write a review for a third reason: the book is important. As in “if you are human you need to read this book.” <i>A Crack in Creation </i>is that kind of a book and will likely be the most important 249 pages you read this year. I highly recommend this work for book clubs that look for thought-provoking books that incite serious discussions.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBan4MNoZk_HISH49mXLGSBkAJyLHKiekOmuaK-N5vjHZkMrhr-NUwSPpqIt2CHDWI_RCLDiA7Xh4FzM8r19W5FKgPIAxDZPZ1PKb6akAG5hWcHC2QWcEGFE-tFrSFWVvli5U6JjxPIpq3/s1600/crack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="269" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBan4MNoZk_HISH49mXLGSBkAJyLHKiekOmuaK-N5vjHZkMrhr-NUwSPpqIt2CHDWI_RCLDiA7Xh4FzM8r19W5FKgPIAxDZPZ1PKb6akAG5hWcHC2QWcEGFE-tFrSFWVvli5U6JjxPIpq3/s400/crack.jpg" width="265" /></a><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Authors Jennifer A. Doudna and Samuel H. Sternberg give </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">their readers a brief history of DNA, genetics, and gene editing followed by an explanation of their own breakthrough research with a biotechnology known as CRISPR/Cas9. Building on the research of many of their predecessors, Dr. Doudna and her team made a discovery that vastly simplified the process of gene editing, allowing for cutting a DNA strand at a given sequence and replacing it with an alternate sequence. While gene editing was possible before, it was complex and so costly that even some universities couldn’t afford to research it. Using CRISPR/Cas9, scientists—and even hobbyists in their homes—are now able to target specific sequences of DNA, allowing for gene editing that can remove mutations that cause a variety of heritable diseases, add desirable characteristics, or edit out those that are less desirable.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The explanation of what exactly CRISPR/Cas9 is and how it functions is what cost the book a fifth star from me.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The authors struggled to pinpoint their target audience; for the average reader the explanation is rather dense, but for a fellow scientist it would be too simplistic.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you are the average reader, my recommendation is to power through it even if you find yourself struggling to wrap your brain around the information.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Trust me, the back half of the book makes it well worth it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Several reviews that I read of the book are critical of the authors, saying that they do not give credit to others who paved the way in the field of gene editing and don’t reveal their own commercial interests involving their technology. I completely disagree. The fact that the main researchers have founded biotechnology companies is openly discussed, and all throughout the book the authors lay out the chain of discovery that led them to their breakthrough, mentioning countless scientists whose research was invaluable to their success. The authors even ponder the curious mix of collaboration and competition that exists in the field of biotechnology. In the final chapters, they express their excitement or unease as they have watched where their fellow biochemists have taking their discovery.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">CRISPR/Cas9 technology is changing the world as we know it, and the jury is still out as to whether it will be for good or for ill or some of both. Dounda and Sternberg do a masterful job laying out the directions in which their fellow scientists are taking the technology and sketching for their readers the pros and cons of these different uses of the technology. Their writing is organized, lucid, and thought-provoking. Even if you struggle through the scientific descriptions earlier in the book, the back half makes it worth it with its presentation of the many sides of this complex issue. One major concern expressed by the authors is that the technology isn’t 100% en pointe for targeting exactly where in a human’s genome to cut and zipper in the replacement code, which could prove catastrophic if rushed into human clinical trials. There are also huge ethical considerations that need to be addressed. As Dr. Doudna and her partner, Emmanuelle Charpentier, pursued their research, they hoped to pave the way to a method that could, on a cellular level, heal those stricken with devastating heritable illnesses. Other uses such as improving crops, both in terms of yield and disease resistance, editing the human germline (editing heritable diseases out of a person’s DNA, ensuring they cannot pass on to descendants), recreating extinct species, and the eventual possibility of “made to order” babies are discussed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dr. Doudna is concerned about the ethics of many possible uses of CRISPR/Cas9, even those that might, on the surface, seem to have no apparent down side. She addresses the issue in the book and talks about her efforts to engage fellow researchers, legislators, and the public in open discussion about the technology and how it should—or should not—be regulated. Herein lies the reason that I feel this book is so important. This technology has the potential to change the future of the human genome, agriculture, the environment, and animal biology, and the implications of that are enormous. It is crucial that people have a thorough understanding of just what CRISPR/Cas9 makes possible so that they can fully grasp its impact on their lives and those of their descendants and make informed decisions as individuals and members of society.</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For me, gene editing became very personal a couple of years ago when I was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a rare and inheritable disorder which causes a body to produce insufficient levels of collagen, which leads to serious connective tissue deficiencies. There is no cure, no surgery, and no medication that can cure or treat EDS. Currently, the location of the mutant gene that causes my illness is unknown, but my hope is that during the time it takes for CRISPR-Cas9 technology to become more target specific, researchers will locate where the EDS causing mutation is in the human genome. CRISPR/Cas9 could ensure that my children, grandchildren, and further descendants do not have to endure the pain and medical issues that I live with every day. Millions of people worldwide suffering from diseases such as sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, Down’s Syndrome, and many, many others, could eventually be cured by this revolutionary discovery, but we need to ensure that the dark possibilities, such as a new brand of eugenics, don’t evolve alongside this bright future of biotechnology.</span></span></div>
Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-71593724610065894942018-01-17T10:59:00.000-09:002018-01-17T10:59:01.181-09:00Shoe Dog by Phil Knight ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As Christmas of 1984 approached, I looked forward to one thing. My elder brother, Dave, was coming home from college. Yes, I was excited to see him, since Minnesota is a long way from Germany and communication was not what it is today. I, however, had another motive for wishing him home quicker: Dave was bringing home my first pair of Nike running shoes which were, at the time, unavailable in Germany. When I heard that Nike founder Phil Knight had a book out, I was almost as eager to read his story as I was to lace up that first pair of his running shoes.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rxVoJ8QcodNKvku1h3yGbSDkv2lK_X0qadjH0ZiXIPzFKe-1sdih-THe0QD1JjP9yHla1QbDABVJfkfNh_rmzIEiNYroy332ad3XTuitbZ_1q7iVg79iP5hiNZ49Ka10ruoMV3be8XDB/s1600/shoe+dog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="229" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rxVoJ8QcodNKvku1h3yGbSDkv2lK_X0qadjH0ZiXIPzFKe-1sdih-THe0QD1JjP9yHla1QbDABVJfkfNh_rmzIEiNYroy332ad3XTuitbZ_1q7iVg79iP5hiNZ49Ka10ruoMV3be8XDB/s320/shoe+dog.jpg" width="210" /></a><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Shoe Dog by Phil Knight was one of those books where I had to try incredibly hard to find something that I didn’t like. This nonfiction book tells the story of Phil, otherwise known as the guy who created the Nike shoe and sportswear empire. I am not a fan of autobiographies; in general, I find them either self-aggrandizing or a stilted coverup job. Phil’s book is neither.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In order to set the stage so the reader understands his background, Phil tells a bit about his suburban upbringing, his relationship with the sport of running and some of its legends, his education, and how the idea to build a shoe business grew out of a college presentation assignment that most of his classmates dozed through. Phil never put the idea on the back-burner, though, and a gap-year trip around the world included a stint in Japan, where he pitched the idea to a group of executives at a shoe factory. The rest, as they say, is history. A very rocky history.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Phil’s story is inspirational not because he built an empire, but because of everything he had to go through along the way. Readers will marvel at Phil’s grit as they follow his very unconventional management style. While his practices might make your average MBA cringe, they show that, in Phil’s case at least, following your gut, respecting others (their oddities and quirks included), and building a culture of creative collaboration can build something amazing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">From a mechanical standpoint, the book is well put together. The story flows so well it is difficult to quit reading, or in my case, listening. Narrator Norbert Leo Butz is the perfect teller of this story. His voice is engaging, grasping Phil’s dry wit and letting the reader feel the heart at the center of the narrative. It is one of those first person narrations where you feel like the author is narrating the book and pulling you in with warmth and confidences. I’d highly recommend the audio of this one.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Whether you have ever laced up a pair of Nike shoes or not, the company is so dominant in our culture that I think all readers would enjoy learning the inside scoop on the megalithic sportswear company. Readers with a business background will find much of interest in Phil’s candid sharing of the mistakes he made along the way and how, time and again, he made unconventional choices that pulled his company back from the brink of ruin. </span></span></div>
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Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-76176760588745435392018-01-01T23:20:00.000-09:002018-01-02T00:33:09.382-09:002017: The Top Ten<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">2017 was a fantastic reading year for me, both in terms of the numbers (boosted due to some pretty crappy health issues) and in terms of the quality of what I read. I read a total of 81 books: 43 fiction and 38 nonfiction. Forty print books added up to 14,185 pages and 41 audios to a total of 532.5 hours. I had ten five star novels and six five star nonfiction reads.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some years, I announce a number one choice for fiction and one for nonfiction. Others, I find it impossible to rank them, so I just list them all. I try to always select five each for fiction and nonfiction, but some years, I just have to cheat. Trying to pick five novels this year, let alone select a number one, has been nearly impossible. However, last year I made a commitment to play by the rules, at least to the extent of picking five in each category. This year I’m forcing myself to pick a number one selection in each category as well.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">So…Lit in the Last Frontier’s number one novel of 2017 is:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0U1chVPLZ4d0kvnKCTT-g3RtOGdsgN5R4xRjaxCrscHFp9XhV6FNNVDYUUJYJR5ojoiKktID_3FIYQUMqsaVM9Hq3JwgYph5sZAwiT0t47LlDBYpxXQWbMnq6mUjttG8SlmPOdGmmI6DA/s1600/heart%2527s+inv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="324" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0U1chVPLZ4d0kvnKCTT-g3RtOGdsgN5R4xRjaxCrscHFp9XhV6FNNVDYUUJYJR5ojoiKktID_3FIYQUMqsaVM9Hq3JwgYph5sZAwiT0t47LlDBYpxXQWbMnq6mUjttG8SlmPOdGmmI6DA/s400/heart%2527s+inv.jpg" width="258" /></a><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">The Heart’s Invisible Furies</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by John Boyne</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">John Boyne is best known for his stark, shocking novel, <i>The Boy in the Striped Pajamas</i>. He has managed to take all the emotion that he poured into that YA novel and double it in his newest adult release, <i>The Heart’s Invisible Furies</i>. This novel explores those universal questions: who am I?, where do I come from?, and where am I going? Layer in an intricately wrought exploration of love, and you have a novel being justifiably hailed as “transcendent.” As I think back on reading this tale, it isn’t plot twists or even the characterizations that come into my mind. It is the way the book deposited a lump in my throat and a tightness in my chest every time I cracked open its cover.</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">The other four fabulous novels, in no particular order, to make my Fiction Five for 2017 are:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBgHA4OsZeKTe8gmovVnuPihFe2qagZ8EO7039ZfDChvhNQ1nKsBL_qUCG_kEfa9KZnKpHMqIgB4S2gjdrw3JBJNadx5fdz9tbZR7Gpg7jTMUf0d35O6NQsaqfKU4fecARqvK648kqUyRB/s1600/violets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBgHA4OsZeKTe8gmovVnuPihFe2qagZ8EO7039ZfDChvhNQ1nKsBL_qUCG_kEfa9KZnKpHMqIgB4S2gjdrw3JBJNadx5fdz9tbZR7Gpg7jTMUf0d35O6NQsaqfKU4fecARqvK648kqUyRB/s200/violets.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">A Memory of Violets</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Hazel Gaynor</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A reading friend of mine, Sheila, recommended this one for me, and it almost took my top pick for the year. Sheila says that it reminds her of a Dickens novel where everyone is nice. On one hand I agree with her, but at the same time, it doesn’t pull any punches describing the squalor and hardship suffered by street children during the Age of Industry in England’s big cities. This historical fiction, based on actual people and events, has been put on my daughters’ high school reading list.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUvCZl1LehXXIt58JK6Xtzc-A7eLsuFrZjdV_hxCueIXY6oBBoYI-hMVefN4SHJ69A-TAG9iD4nzGdLqheNtC7y_TsXdJmE71VTU0H43W9c-Ov_2jmLN520ERpYHUisBWSJCXrNh3Lw91/s1600/news.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUvCZl1LehXXIt58JK6Xtzc-A7eLsuFrZjdV_hxCueIXY6oBBoYI-hMVefN4SHJ69A-TAG9iD4nzGdLqheNtC7y_TsXdJmE71VTU0H43W9c-Ov_2jmLN520ERpYHUisBWSJCXrNh3Lw91/s1600/news.jpg" /></a><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">News of the World</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Paulette Jiles</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Of all my selections, this short novel about two lonely people, an older man and a young girl, who look out for each other as they travel in the Old West, is the least heart-wrenching. Which isn’t to say that it lacks emotion; tissues are still required.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5zmDg2ni3h7XfRyNdnqP06OlnoeESA3JD0R4g606qZuMduoGEkUVPPff7rKvmtQ_jJK8rcvLdkPO3bqdFYe8XLag0egcaL6nO9fgfNPC2738cEGCqBwzwEoC1FvwUzps2SXrfDdjao3u_/s1600/before+we.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5zmDg2ni3h7XfRyNdnqP06OlnoeESA3JD0R4g606qZuMduoGEkUVPPff7rKvmtQ_jJK8rcvLdkPO3bqdFYe8XLag0egcaL6nO9fgfNPC2738cEGCqBwzwEoC1FvwUzps2SXrfDdjao3u_/s1600/before+we.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">Before We Were Yours</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Lisa Wingate</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You will need tissues from start to finish for this historical fiction that is also based on true events. There are two plot lines, one following stolen children during the Great Depression and the other a modern family living with its legacy. This is a staggeringly beautiful novel that is in turns uplifting and gut-wrenching and will keep you riveted until the last page. It is another novel that almost took my top spot for the year. Of all my fiction selections, this is the only one I’d really recommend for good book club discussions.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLpJv7-dP6I8dyslCsT2i8HF3dMvV-0E6jnzXZ17NbcDp8Mwu7Tmk-RwjaXV5dZJrta8efMkYYBCyB_k5m3DMjRLFIk7mKxhKxNZ7w-U7KZXWlQ_KEKmKelI-nVdtP81fIt19R1rWt7zaP/s1600/dickens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="324" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLpJv7-dP6I8dyslCsT2i8HF3dMvV-0E6jnzXZ17NbcDp8Mwu7Tmk-RwjaXV5dZJrta8efMkYYBCyB_k5m3DMjRLFIk7mKxhKxNZ7w-U7KZXWlQ_KEKmKelI-nVdtP81fIt19R1rWt7zaP/s200/dickens.jpg" width="128" /></a><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">Mr. Dickens and His Carol</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Samantha Silva</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of the last books I read this year, this biographical historical fiction about Charles Dickens and the writing of his <i>Christmas Carol</i> knocked A Gentleman in Moscow out of my top five (or maybe Homegoing—so many good ones this year!). Samantha Silva did a masterful job of creating a plot that echoes the themes of A Christmas Carol and yet remains fresh. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Honorable Mentions for 2017 fiction are:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">Homegoing </span></i><span style="color: #38761d;">by Yaa Gyasi</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">A Gentleman in Moscow</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Amor Towles</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">The Life We Bury </span></i><span style="color: #38761d;">by Allen Eskens</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">Sleeping Beauties</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Stephen King and Owen King</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">A Christmas Carol</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Charles Dickens</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">The top billing for 2017 nonfiction, a hands-down winner, is:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Alexandria Marzano Lesnevich</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I knew from the moment I finished this true crime story that it would be my number one nonfiction of the year. It is just that striking; I’ve never read another book like it. The author tells the story of her own abuse woven into the fabric of the story of a death penalty criminal for whom she has been tasked to prepare a legal defense. It is a story of wrestling with demons, finding moral footing, and exploring whether truth can ever be an absolute. If you struggle with dealing with an abusive past, this might be too intense for you; for all others, this is a must read. This would be a fabulous, fabulous book club selection!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">The four other nonfiction works to make the 2017 cut are:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-u4JxNGNDouD7Y65hPyxDoDV0LYfNDDxNbKR5mBFi6DgJnwe_-BCSwfbqxDPmxFMAulxa5nWzpmaR7w_WQB9yy9-9-i07QVcg7cEOzkVsUhV3Z2YOpffIjNheWoDDK5MrwexnrwDEONMY/s1600/memorial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="336" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-u4JxNGNDouD7Y65hPyxDoDV0LYfNDDxNbKR5mBFi6DgJnwe_-BCSwfbqxDPmxFMAulxa5nWzpmaR7w_WQB9yy9-9-i07QVcg7cEOzkVsUhV3Z2YOpffIjNheWoDDK5MrwexnrwDEONMY/s200/memorial.jpg" width="134" /></a><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Sheri Fink</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The author was a physician in New Orleans, working at Memorial when Hurricane Katrina hit. This is the shocking story of what went on in that medical facility during and after the storm. It is not a pretty story. This is another book that would be great for book clubs.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57DEqIOZjVPtimj-xEqNRCTBVVeBLr2vma6PpQwv0nhfYUH-bP1pozqGgFPrWEqzWkhZtcZToTe8g8aqy-C8aPgCw9ZbqZ3H2lJJmKGJus2AAvIFepdR1tb41Nb6J5s5p20jKIwqmT7VB/s1600/loyal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="335" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57DEqIOZjVPtimj-xEqNRCTBVVeBLr2vma6PpQwv0nhfYUH-bP1pozqGgFPrWEqzWkhZtcZToTe8g8aqy-C8aPgCw9ZbqZ3H2lJJmKGJus2AAvIFepdR1tb41Nb6J5s5p20jKIwqmT7VB/s200/loyal.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">The Loyal Son: The War in Ben Franklin’s House</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Daniel Mark Epstein</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I love a book that rehashes a story we all know but does it from a totally different perspective. Everyone knows the story of Ben Franklin and the role he played in the Revolutionary War. The story that is seldom told is that of his son, William, who remained loyal to the Crown, and the tension that existed in their family as a result of their divided loyalties. This is an engrossing, well-written work telling both sides of the story.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimksYUMSMUwQGaalB1zfsvLrDYkPcLzprrnZAEBdUwQFGzR5idm6-1LzYVAgfHTz5BPWX2jhmwDPgzyAlIlXrY9VTVxXFYBEarf6x9OYA8YCEtTrFoJtXDMyW8U6rx1xOP3eAJoZ9Yey_A/s1600/love+africa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="331" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimksYUMSMUwQGaalB1zfsvLrDYkPcLzprrnZAEBdUwQFGzR5idm6-1LzYVAgfHTz5BPWX2jhmwDPgzyAlIlXrY9VTVxXFYBEarf6x9OYA8YCEtTrFoJtXDMyW8U6rx1xOP3eAJoZ9Yey_A/s200/love+africa.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">Love, Africa: A Memoir of Romance, War, and Survival</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Jeffrey Gettleman</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This work takes the “journalist in a danger zone” story and pumps it up to a whole new level. Jeffrey Gettleman writes a beautifully candid narrative expressing his love affair with Africa and how he feels called as a journalist to share the stories of both carnage and hope to be found there. The other side of the narrative is that of his other love: his wife and their family and his struggle to find a life of balance between the family he treasures and the stories he knows he is meant to write. I read a lot of this genre of books, but I have to say, I really, really loved this book and hope it gets a wider readership. If I hadn’t read <i>Fact of a Body</i> this year, this would have been my top pick for nonfiction.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkF8PEeJI4V7n7ivyRlxi4WPCVclmRq1nec9FIflkGZKrnj1Whs2PCN2mDFdhmxE00t1fDz01HfOZSRWGtUBcWgmxMWECQtcIEuye-jJYvr0eneCkGYYZ-uDGRC1JjTPTi43_ZjLoM3LMx/s1600/heiress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="324" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkF8PEeJI4V7n7ivyRlxi4WPCVclmRq1nec9FIflkGZKrnj1Whs2PCN2mDFdhmxE00t1fDz01HfOZSRWGtUBcWgmxMWECQtcIEuye-jJYvr0eneCkGYYZ-uDGRC1JjTPTi43_ZjLoM3LMx/s200/heiress.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes, and Trial of Patty Hearst</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Jeffrey Toobin</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I knew only the basic outline of the story of Patty Hearst, so experiencing it in all of its crazy glory through the writing of a narrative nonfiction master, Jeffrey Toobin, was a wonderful reading experience. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to know the full story beyond all the media hype.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">In the Heart of the Sea</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Nathaniel Philbrick</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMYw-fm7tB2RXfiwZnjS6TjoHxG3S1vJ48wPys4Vopsthy7CXAwXAst5uD3L_HYaBxNuOpCvYUu7sDrJGyigbFtailepNutE41734RsrWgjJFBYd1tX5CS3I-FUSSjqOgtVVgFi_2WRMRG/s1600/homegoing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMYw-fm7tB2RXfiwZnjS6TjoHxG3S1vJ48wPys4Vopsthy7CXAwXAst5uD3L_HYaBxNuOpCvYUu7sDrJGyigbFtailepNutE41734RsrWgjJFBYd1tX5CS3I-FUSSjqOgtVVgFi_2WRMRG/s320/homegoing.jpg" width="211" /></a><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">Homegoing</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Yaa Gyasi</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This was another book that was strongly in the running for my number one fiction slot this year. I’m glad the audio is so fabulous, allowing me to give this story of two sisters, one sold into slavery, the other married to a slaver, its due. This novel, which reads like a series of interconnected stories, traces the descendants of both sisters for three hundred years. The audio can get a little challenging to follow who is narrating, but the quality of the narration makes up for those issues. Whether you do it in print or audio, this is a must read! If you would like to read my full review, you can do so <a href="https://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2017/01/homegoing-by-yaa-gyasi.html">here</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend</span></i><span style="color: #38761d;"> by Katarina Bivald You can read my review <a href="https://litinthelastfrontier.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-readers-of-broken-wheel-recommend.html">here</a>.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I hope your reading year was amazing, and I wish you a fabulously bookish 2018! </span></span></div>
Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-55466970947475578232017-01-18T21:50:00.004-09:002017-06-07T16:56:07.025-08:00HOMEGOING by Yaa Gyasi ✮✮✮✮✮<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This has to be one of the finest debut novels I have ever read! It optimized the use of a unique format, flowed smoothly, successfully sifted through a huge cast of varied characters, and spanned both generations and multiple locales with ease.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig16yPKF0ug9EISKbX8uCcEHBM8iZrUcrIMuegx9RaqrY6uP3YGg4-7tZfb05koQDUS0V1k_7kSvnbldFNDqj3ElOU-yeYwZYHXH2fLWmLeOCNn-UuAOG2H_-dtq_ZzymRbvggnGJJmhOA/s1600/homegoing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig16yPKF0ug9EISKbX8uCcEHBM8iZrUcrIMuegx9RaqrY6uP3YGg4-7tZfb05koQDUS0V1k_7kSvnbldFNDqj3ElOU-yeYwZYHXH2fLWmLeOCNn-UuAOG2H_-dtq_ZzymRbvggnGJJmhOA/s400/homegoing.jpg" width="267" /></span></a><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">At its heart, this is a novel about family couched in the history of slavery and prejudice. As the novel opens, the reader is introduced to two young African village girls who are then followed into their marriages. Each section of the novel as it progresses tells about a pivotal time in a new character's life and gives enough backstory for the reader to understand how that character is related either directly to one of the initial two young women or her descendants. The novel progresses in a clean chronological line from the time of slavers on Africa's western coast into the present.</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I listened to the audio for this one (marvelous, if rather slow-paced, narration by Dominic Hoffman) and at times it was a struggle to follow along through the generations. To the novel's credit, I never did have to resort to looking for a character list or family tree online--something that frequently happens when listening to these types of multi-generational works. Mr. Hoffman's talent for the many required accents also helped me to keep everyone straight.</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have read several critiques that said that just as soon as the reader began to get attached to one character, the novel would spring forward to someone else. I actually loved that about the book. It kept the book from ever lagging since only the most relevant times in each character's life were laid out for the reader. In being introduced to so many subsequent generations, I felt like I was able to see just how each character's life impacted those of their descendants. You also found out some "epilogue" type information about earlier characters through the later chapters about their progeny.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of the themes that I felt strengthened the novel was that of setting and how regardless of time or place, there were certain elements that were found in the experiences of every character. This element really came into play when the novel was brought to a perfect full circle at its conclusion.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I cannot recommend this one highly enough! Reading about the "black experience" is not a topic that I, as a white woman with no family connection to the subject, naturally gravitate towards, but this novel is rich in so many ways--history, family, finding one's self, to name a few--that it is likely to appeal to a very broad base of readers. </span>Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-40314457329614542952017-01-14T16:55:00.005-09:002017-01-14T16:55:57.198-09:00THE READERS OF BROKEN WHEEL RECOMMEND by Katarina Bivald ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If asked to sum up this novel, words like "idyllic" and "heartwarming" would come to mind. There is nothing complex or extraordinary about either the story line or the characters. It is a simple story about the simple people of a small town in Iowa and one unremarkable Swedish woman who manages to shake up their status quo.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu39GcelMxL4t-58ugNlX9KmIkwV_oUzR6jlXh5MHzGAHiykG18UPDBxdGp58qwx0HmKklo0Ul3DWPqomx3tRVInQKF0GACKL_Mxe_5N1kKGql0t6lEZy9Rcrt0jqvMghqNOrPJdiy5mAF/s1600/broken+wheel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu39GcelMxL4t-58ugNlX9KmIkwV_oUzR6jlXh5MHzGAHiykG18UPDBxdGp58qwx0HmKklo0Ul3DWPqomx3tRVInQKF0GACKL_Mxe_5N1kKGql0t6lEZy9Rcrt0jqvMghqNOrPJdiy5mAF/s400/broken+wheel.jpg" width="267" /></a><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Since I tend to like characters who are a bit more opaque and plots full of twists and layers, it is surprising that I enjoyed this novel as much as I did. In many ways it reminded me of <i>The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat</i> by Edward Kelsey Moore but lacked that novel's fantastical elements. Both novels share a small town setting, some stereotypical characters that would be found in that setting, and the usual plot elements that one might find in a small town where everyone is in everyone else's business.</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The unusual plot element in <i>Readers of Broken Wheel</i> is the legality of the main female character's residency status in the United States and how the whole town bands together to fix things so that she can stay. Along the way, several unlikely couples find each other and work their way, by novel's end, to happily ever after.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is nothing terribly unique to be found here; it is simply a feel-good story. What pulled the novel from three to four stars for me was the narration talents of Fiona Hardingham. The audio absolutely blew me away. From the waitress at the local diner to the immigration officer and his police sidekick, every single character had their own distinctive voice and persona--a feat made all the more admirable when you realize that within a given section Ms. Hardingham would flow seamlessly from a woman with a Swedish accent, to a southern black shopkeeper, to a local do-gooder, to name just a few. Fiona Hardingham's narration was so outstanding that in the future I will listen to her books, not because I have any interest in the books themselves but because I know her interpretation will make the novels well worth my listening time.</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you are looking for a read that isn't at all demanding and could be classified as gentle entertainment, I think you would find this worth your time. Better yet, cue up the audio and check a few things off your chore list while you listen.</span></div>
Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-41635908370228162592017-01-13T22:46:00.003-09:002017-01-13T22:46:54.362-09:00BOOKS FOR LIVING by Will Schwalbe ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In response to requests for another book similar in vein to his bestselling <i>The End of Your Life Book Club</i>, Will Schwalbe has written another collection of essays, this time about books which, for him, have given guidance along the road of life. Through the lens of a certain book, each essay addresses a certain life skill or emotional challenge.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgd6tu9WudEozP6iTuA3fOXFkj_ANk73i3fRJWstczEpSU3lZwXnBWg-DqiiN-2W6gHXzzSkgKWbjxkrwJkFgMNN9YNmuIrT7oD4-R72S-HnRHPyQ2enarHun62OwIiQCUIy5OUcj0TjUl/s1600/books+for+living.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgd6tu9WudEozP6iTuA3fOXFkj_ANk73i3fRJWstczEpSU3lZwXnBWg-DqiiN-2W6gHXzzSkgKWbjxkrwJkFgMNN9YNmuIrT7oD4-R72S-HnRHPyQ2enarHun62OwIiQCUIy5OUcj0TjUl/s400/books+for+living.jpg" width="270" /></a><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">One very important thing to keep in mind as you read this collection is that these essays are very personal to Will but in all likelihood you as his reader will not relate to many, many things he addresses. While there are some topics that are universal--such as the idea that napping is something from which we can all benefit--many of the issues that he, as a gay man, faces are simply not identifiable for me as a straight woman. He also speaks of personal issues, such as not liking to be hugged, which might or might not touch a nerve with his readers.</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The fact that his essays are very deeply personal did not, for me, affect my enjoyment of this collection. I was so thoroughly absorbed in his ability to share so completely of himself that I ceased to see all the things that made us different and began to see only this emotional avenue that he so readily opened up to bring his readers into his perspective. Through his eyes I understood what it felt like to be a gay man in the 1980s, in the early days of AIDS. Suddenly, I didn't need to be a gay man to identify with those things of which he wrote. His wide-open soul, expressed through his beautifully chosen prose, made it all so perfectly clear.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think that how a reader feels about this book is going to depend largely upon what you are expecting or looking for as you begin to read. If you seek a collection of essays, every one of which will be universally identifiable to every reader, you will be disappointed. If you are interested in viewing how one man chose the books which meant the most to him and why, perhaps with the intent to use this collection as a model for a similar set of essays that pertain specifically to you, you will likely enjoy the book.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Although I was very drawn in to most of the essays, there were, as is almost always the case with books of this nature, some that didn't seem to fit quite as well. In several cases, I felt that the book the essay was supposed to be centered upon did not really seem to have a strong correlation with the point Will was trying to make. This was a bit disappointing, as it weakened the structure of the collection.</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">As long as the reader knows what to expect and is looking forward to reading the essays under those terms, I definitely recommend reading this book. I cannot imagine a single reader who wouldn't gain emotionally from the experience.</span></div>
Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6198077335403391790.post-68418387290733557292017-01-13T21:53:00.001-09:002017-01-13T21:54:06.949-09:00THE DARKEST SECRET by Alex Marwood ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This novel was an unusual one for me in that I pulled it off the new arrivals shelf at the library completely on a whim--something I absolutely never do. There are so many books for which I have read reviews and heard author interviews and whose release I have anticipated for months. Quite simply, I can't finish all those books and so don't even bother pulling random works that might end up being awful. Rather quickly after setting my library haul on my nightstand, I was pulling this one out to put in my library return pile. Then something made me pause. I reread the jacket copy. It just sounded so intriguing with its missing child and litany of family drama; I compromised. I looked to see if it was available on audio--a format in which I read many lighter, less thought-out reads. I'm so happy that it was, because not only was the book great entertainment, the audio was very well done as well.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">This type of novel, a tale of subterfuge and slowly unfolding truths, reads particularly well in audio. It took a bit to get into the book, which begins with two young protagonists crashing their father's birthday party--a party which will end in the tragic mystery that sets up the rest of the novel--but once it got going, it held me right up until the very twisted ending. I love it when I am completely blindsided and yet have no trouble believing where the author just led me. This novel definitely will take you there. The plot was just that well-crafted.</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">While suspense novels usually do plot very well, often I find that characters are a bit stereotypical or one-dimensional. Not so here. This was my first novel by Alex Marwood, but as someone who loves character development, I will definitely be exploring some of her earlier work. Her characters are impacted by the events that happen to them, and she writes into them all such humanity that as they are pulled by the tide of events, you find yourself rooting for the ones you've become emotionally invested in and hoping the ones you love to hate will get their deserved ends.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you enjoy a story where the layers slowly unfold, progressively easing closer and closer to the heart of the matter, and one where the characters are diverse and realistically sketched, then definitely give this novel a read or a listen. Bear with the slow start; it absolutely picks up steam. It would be perfect for a road trip or to keep you entertained during a lengthy project.</span>Saorse Eilidh Care Lykinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09961257179484971447noreply@blogger.com0