Baba's Book Blog

20012-02 ~ Reading Challenges Book Decision

2012-01-04T10:02:00.000-06:00

OK, I have finally chosen a book that will qualify for BOTH of the reading challenges I have committed to finishing this year. Whew! I must admit that it feels good to have finally selected a book. I was intentionally trying to find a book that would qualify for both challenges as I wanted to start the year off by being able to make some headway on both challenges.

So, my first book of the 2012 reading challenge year will be.....

20,000 Leagues Under the See by Jules Verne

Since I have a Nook, I was able to get a free legally downloaded copy from the Barnes & I know that Amazon also has this feature available for Kindle owners. I have always wanted to read this book and I am sorry to admit that I never got around to doing so.While I have always considered it a classic, I was glad to see that Wikipedia also has it listed on their "100 Classic Book Collection" page.

After I have finished the book I will be posting a review. Please feel free to join me in reading this classic and perhaps we can compare notes.

2012-01 First Post of 2012

2012-01-03T08:45:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year's to Everyone! I probably should have tried to post something on January 1st but I was too busy just hanging with the family and in all honesty, this blog never even crossed my mind. Which is probably a good thing, right?

I have been giving a bit of thought (a tiny bit actually) about the book I am going to read to try to qualify for both of the reading challenges that I have joined. I think I have it down to a couple books, so until I make my final decision, just sit tight and I'll post it shortly. Perhaps you'll join me in my reading adventure?

I can tell you that yesterday I started reading a book (a real solid book, not an ebook) called "Last Rituals" by Yrsa Sigurdardottir. (Love that name!). It's translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder. And I am liking it. I wish I could remember how I stumbled across this author, who is Icelandic). According to the jacket she's an award-winning author of five children's novels who is also a leading civil engineer. She lives about 6-months of each year on various on-site projects and spend the remaining 6 months with her family in Reykjavik. And writes books! WOW! Makes my life seem pretty sedate by comparison.

Since I just started so I can't give too much of a review at this point but I do believe I like it.. Will post more as I can.

2011-09 ~ Gearing Up For a New Year and 2012 Reading Challenges

2011-12-26T22:42:00.000-06:00

Well, in a few day sit will be 2012 and the start of a new year and a new opportunity to make resolutions and promises that I hope to be able to keep (or at least not discard as easily as I did last year, and the year before that, and the year..... well, you get the idea).

I am starting to think about which book I could read to kick off the year that might possibly help me satisfy both of the reading challenges to which I have committed myself. There are a few possibilities so until I announce which one, I hope that everyone enjoys what is left of 2011!

2011-08 ~ Classics Reading Challenge 2012

2011-12-21T08:56:00.002-06:00

I have signed up for another 2012 Reading Challenge, "The Classics Reading Challenge 2012" hosted by Jessica at Thoughts at One In The Morning.

I have signed up for Level 1: 1 to 3 books, though I hope to be able to read more.

Rules and conditions for this reading challenge can be found here.

Added 1/4/2012: Oops! After re-reading the challenge rules posted by "Thoughts at One in The Morning" I realized tat I was supposed to list the books I intended to read and not just choose them throughout the year. Duh!! So here are my selections for 2012:

1. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ~ Jules Verne
2. The Call of The Wild ~Jack London
3.The Scarlet Letter ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

See more possible choices at Wikipedia's page.

2011-07 ~ Subtle Changes coming in 2012

2011-12-19T18:07:00.000-06:00

Just a brief post letting everyone know that starting January 1, 2012, I will be including the genre of all books that I have read when I post and/or review them. I'm curious about the types of books I am reading so this might be a good way for me to keep track of them.

2011 - 06 ~ "Best of " Lists

2011-12-16T08:11:00.002-06:00

I just recorded my first "Best of" list sighting for 2011. Hopefully you know what I'm talking about. This is the time of year when newspapers and magazines start to publish their "Best Books of 2011" articles and stories. Mine was in an email I received yesterday to get me to subscribe to O magazine (I don't so this email solicitation was wasted on me).

I"m a bit divided about these types of lists; part of me finds them very interesting and usually stops to read them (or bookmark them for later reading) while the other part of me finds them discomforting (the implication being that I have to rely on other people, whom I don't know and will probably never meet, to tell me what I should/should not read).

As usual, there will be books on any list that I absolutely want to read and other books that I wouldn't read even if you paid me. I have my style of reading and generally know the types and genres of books I am drawn to read; you probably do too.

But what is it about lists, especially "Best of..." lists that is somehow so irresistible to avoid? The fact that someone has gone through the trouble of compiling a list of the Top 10 of anything seems to hold a fascination for us.

I recently ran across NPR's "Best Books of 2011" list and they have listed books from a variety of themes and genres: historical fiction, science fiction and fantasy, best novels, freshest reads, ages 9 and up, etc. Check it out as it sees to be pretty thorough.

What are your thoughts about "Best of..." lists? Do you follow them or run from them like the plague?

2011-05 Swapping Books

2011-12-13T23:56:00.001-06:00

I spent a portion of this afternoon going through books that my (almost) 19 year old son no longer wanted. I can't bear to just throw them out so I will end up posting them on Paperbackswap in the hopes that someone will want it, and will allow me to swap my book for a book that someone else has but wants to get rid of.

Most of the books he had, which I will be posting to PBS soon, are typical "boy" books, such as Goosebumps, Anthony Horowitz and various books about trains, volcanoes and gross, scary stuff. Most of the book were acquired when he is in 5th grade or so. While many were purchased by me (to help his school by buying Scholastic books) quite a number were either passed down from friends & neighbors, or purchased by me at library sales.

Anyway, my older boy is no longer interested in them and my younger son (almost 12) has almost a zero level interest in reading, period. So, I would just as soon have them go to a household that truly wants them instead of throwing them away. In all honesty, I really cannot imagine ever throwing a book away. I mean, that just wouldn't be right. And there's got to be a home somewhere that would want the book, right?

So, I will plan to keep these books posted at Paperbackswap for a few months and then if they do not get taken, I can donate them to an area school, or perhaps a homeless shelter where there might be families with kids. Cause every kid wants a book.

Well,... maybe not mine.

2011- 04 ~ Reading Challenge for 2012

2011-12-11T10:09:00.008-06:00

Last Christmas I bought a nook for myself as a Christmas present. I spent quite a bit of time researching the various readers out there: Kindle, nook, Sony ereader, etc. and decided that for me, the nook made the most sense.

Since buying it a year ago I have been very happy with it, though the battery life is not quite what I thought it would be. But aside from that, I can't complain. Within the last few months I found a website (A Pixel of Ink) that provides low priced and free ebooks for both Kindle and nook. There are actually quite a number of these websites out there, but this blog actually does a good job of listing many of them and providing links: The Unread Reader . For most of them you should be able to subscribe to receive updates when new books are available.

It was through this blog that I learned about the free ebook reading challenge for 2012 ~ "Why Buy The Cow" reading challenge for 2012. Since I have downloaded quite a number of these free, legal ebooks for my nook, and have yet to read any of them, this just might be the kick in the butt I need to get me going.

So.....(drum roll please).. I officially announce that I have joined the WHY BUY THE COW Reading Challenge 2012!!! I might even try adding one of the cute buttons available for this challenge to this site. The rules and challenge levels are laid out and after giving it some thought I have decided to aim for the Coupon Clipper level, which means I have committed myself to reading 12 free & legally downloaded ebooks during 2012. Seems like a good, realistic number and if I happen to read more, so much the better. I plan to post my reviews here so look for them in 2012.

Game on!!!

P.S. A big "THANKS!" to The Unread Reader and Reading the Paranormal for hosting this challenge.

2011 -03 Changes

2011-10-05T16:01:00.000-05:00

I have not been in a mood to blog for ages (well, at least since June) and have decided that starting today I will try to post more regularly, but only the titles, authors, genres and number of pages for books I have read. It will be interesting to see: (1) how many books I read in a month; (2) how many pages I read in a month and the genres I read.

So, without further ado, here's October's list (to be updated):

1) Sword and Blossom - Peter Pagnamento and Momoko Williams, 345 pages, Biography/Japan

2011-02 ~ New Book Find (For Me)

2011-06-30T09:33:00.006-05:00

I belong of two book clubs so I get to read a lot of books through them. A majority of the books I have read are books that I don't think I would ever have picked up. Some I wouldn't even have glanced at if I saw them on the bookshelf. Some I like, some I don't.

Up till now I have tried to steer clear of any sci-fi books. Just never found them to be my cup of tea. I do remember being in high school and trying to read the sci-fi book "Dune" by Frank Herbert. Not sure why I picked it up. But I tried to read it and just could not get into it. Honestly Frank, I'm sure it wasn't your book... it was me.

Then about 1 year ago I tried reading "A Hitchickers Guide to the Universe" by Douglas Adams, primarily because everyone I knew who read it loved it. Told me how funny it was. How it was great and I had to read it. So I tried. And, again, couldn't get into it. Didn't find it funny. I mean there were a few chuckles but all in all, again, not for me.

So as a result I have really tried to avoid reading any sci-fi materials deciding that it's just not a genre that I like. Fair enough. There are too many books I want to read so why spend my time trying to read books that I do not like?

I think I extended this dislike to the world of fantasy books. In my mind they are close cousins and I decided that since I didn't like the sci-fi genre why would I like the fantasy genre? And I would have kept that mindset were it not for the persistence of one member of my neighborhood bookclub who happens to be a sci-fi & fantasy devotee. She has only suggested 2 books to date but they have been books I have (pleasantly) enjoyed, though both are in the 600+ pages range.

The first was "Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley, which I really enjoyed. Perhaps part of the reason was because I have always liked books about King Arthur, so I was already familiar with the subject. The other may have been because it's told from the perspective of strong female characters. While I have not read a ton of Arthurian literature, what I have read has always been from the male perspective, so reading a book by a woman from the female point of view was refreshing.

The second book chosen by this member is the book we will be discussing in August, "Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin. And I must say that I am getting thoroughly sucked into this book! I'm not sure why, though I suspect Martin's writing must be a large part of the reason. I'm blown away by how he has constructed so many characters and story lines and the topics he covers: power, love, honor, incest, duty. Perhaps it's because they are all so applicable to our society today. I'm not sure why and I'm not going to spend a ton of time analyzing why, but I am truly enjoying the book so far.

Oddly enough, the other day I was in a book store (OK, Barnes & Noble) talking with the nook person about something and noticed that she was reading "A Storm of Swords" on her nook. That got us to talking about about the series. Turns out she has read the entire series (well, all the published books in the series) three times. And she claimed that each time she has gotten something new/different out of each reading; something she missed before, or didn't pick up in an earlier reading. Which totally makes sense to me.

Anyway, I'm really enjoying my new found appreciation for the fantasy genre (or is it a sub-genre?). And I really must remember to thank my bookclub buddy for choosing this book. She has definitely helped expand my comfort zone of books.

2011-01 I~ t's Been a Long Time!!!

2011-04-09T14:15:00.002-05:00

My goodness! I knew that it had been some time since I last posted anything but has it really been since October 2010?!? The blog doesn't lie so I know that is the case.

So much to update on and not enough time. That has been the story of my life for the past 6 months or so; at least since October. Suffice it so say that while I have read many books between now October and now, none of them has moved me enough to force myself to make the time to post something. Not as organized as I should be. Or perhaps not as dedicated?

Anyway, we'll try again. I really do want to keep this blog updated, if only to act as a way to memorialize the books I have read, even if I don't post a review about them. So, we'll try again to update and keep this blog updated on a more reasonable basis. OK?

2010-21 Man Booker Winner announced

2010-10-16T10:30:00.002-05:00

Well, it's official!! The winner of the 2010 Man Booker Prize is Howard Jacobson for his book "The Finkler Question."

I haven't read the book yet; my local library does not seem to have a copy available yet. But since I have many months to go I'm not too worried. According to the Man Book website this book is about "love, loss and male friendship, and explores what it means to be Jewish today."

The book is 320 pages so it's not so long as to be imposing and I just hope that I will find it entertaining and engrossing. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for several of the books that were on the longlist for this year. At least the ones I tried to read. But I must remain optimistic that this one could strike a chord with me. Let's hope!

2010 - 20 Status Update on Man Booker Reading Challenge

2010-10-02T20:43:00.005-05:00

Well, it's been several weeks since I last posted about my own personal 2010 Man Booker Reading Challenge. My goal is/was/continues to be to read as many of (if not all) of the books on the 2010 Man Booker Longlist.

Over the past 3 weeks I have made 3 attempts to read 3 separate books and have failed. The first book I tried to read was Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey. I muddled through and got to finish the first two chapters and decided to chuck it in. Just could not get into the storyline; didn't care about the characters or what was happening to them up to that point. Decided to stop reading and made a vow that I would try again (perhaps in 6 months or so) to read it again.

Book two was The Long Song by Andrea Levy. This one started out somewhat promising but I soon realized that I was having trouble keeping my interest in the book. Not sure if it was the writing style or the story line or the way the main character seemed to be jumping back and forth between narrating in the present tense or reverting to telling her story in a type of flashback style. Plus, I spoke with a friend (who is from England and also is trying to read all the 2010 longlisted books) who told me she also had a difficult time reading it and stopped. I got to page 73 and decided to chuck it in. No vow to try to re-read it in the near future.

Book three was C by Tom McCarthy. I chose this one because this is the one, in all the reviews and blogs I have read, that seems to be the one that most people believe will be the 2010 winner. So I decided that I should put my focus on that book. Well, I got to page 59 and decided there was no way I could read it or pretend to try to read it! I really liked the storyline but did not like the writing style. Too much mundane details about too many mundane things. At times I thought McCarthy was a bit of a tease. He would go for long paragraphs about something, bore me, and then when he stopped and moved on to a new subject and drew my attention back to the storyline he would start all over again with the mundane details. And go on and on again. I tired of it very quickly and decided to chuck it all in.

So, I am taking a bit of a break from trying to read any 2010 Man Booker books. I am going to read something that I want to read for the sake of personal enjoyment. I'll still plan to try to finish this challenge, but not until I have had the chance to read a "palate cleansing" non-Man Booker book.

Wish me luck!!

2010 - 19 ~ 2010 Man Booker Shortlist Is Out

2010-09-07T10:24:00.005-05:00

The 2010 an Booker Shortlist is out today and the 6 finalists are listed here: Man Booker website.

As part of my personal 2010 Man Booker Challenge I will focus on these books to try and read as any of them as I can before the winner is announced in October 2010.

2010-18 ~ The Page 69 Test

2010-09-05T21:37:00.003-05:00

How do you choose whether to buy a book or not? I ran across this blog by accident and was so intrigued by the crux of the blog that I had to write a quick snippet about it. Visit Campaign for the American Reader and this very brief posting of how to chose a novel to read. Basically, the theory goes, instead of relying on the summary that appears on the back of a book or on the book jacket, turn to page 69 and start reading. If you like what's on that page buy the book as it will be a good story and well worth your investment. If page 69 does not hold your interest then save your money; the book is a dud!

I've never heard of this theory but I might have to start using it in deciding whether to buy or read a book.

2010-17 ~ The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas

2010-09-04T20:00:00.003-05:00

Author: Christos Tsiolkas

483 pages

ISBN: 978-0-14-311714-8

Penguin Books

This is the first of the books I read for my newly established Baba's Man Booker Reading Challenge. I chose this as my first book because of the title and the premise: "At a suburban barbecue, a man slaps a child who is not his own..." Gotta admit that one sentence grabbed me.

Funny thing though, "The Slap" turns out to be about more than a slap. A lot more. The book takes place in a suburb of Melbourne where a group of friends is invited to a barbecue. Most of the people are married couples with their young children, though there are others there also. The barbecue is hosted by Hector & Aisha (husband & wife) and also present are: Anouck (childhood friend of Aisha), Harry (Hector's cousin & Aisha's cousin-in-law), Connie (a teenager who works with Aisha), Rosie (childhood friend of Anouck & Aisha and married to Gary), Manolis (Hector's father & Aisha's father-in-law) and Richie (friend of Connie's). One of the couples present, Rosie & Gary, have a son Hugo who is 4-years old. Something happens at the party involving Hugo and one of the above mentioned adults. And that's all I'll say, except that that incident acts as the spring board for other things that happen in the book.

However, the book is not just about the slap; it's about issues and feelings and the collateral damage that occurs as a result of that one act. The story unfolds from the perspective of each of these 8 main characters, and while they all involve that particular person's analysis of what did (or did not) happen at that fateful party, the story also tangents off to other topics and subjects that one might not anticipate. It seems like that slap opened the floodgates to a slew of emotions that have been repressed by most of the characters ranging from jealousy, envy, ethnic animosity and, sometimes, down right spite. For some, long suppressed emotions are brought to the surface and difficult decisions are forced upon some characters. Some characters are more likeable than others (but none is particularly loveable).

Since the book is set in Australia it took a bit of getting used to for me to understand some of the slang that was used by the author. At times I wished Tsiolkas included a glossary to help define some of the slang used but figuring out their meaning wasn't a huge obstacle to overcome. And after all, this is an Australian writing a book about Australians and distributed in Australia, so I can hardly fault him for my unfamiliarity.

I did learn that apparently there is a rather large Greek community in both Melbourne and Sydney and since Tsiolkas is obviously Greek himself, it was not a huge surprise that he brought in elements of this culture; In fact, a few of the main characters are Greek. I've read that it's best to write about what you know so I'm not surprised that there are characters of Greek heritage in this book.

The book did educate me about a few things: the diverse cultures that are present in Melbourne as introduced via main and ancillary characters (Indians and aborigines) and the amount of sex and drugs that was prevalent in this book. I guess this shouldn't surprise me as again, (hello!) the book is set in Australia and (duh!) there are aborigines there, and also, India is not that far away. In some parts of the book the younger characters (Connie & Richie and their mothers) display a greater appreciation and understanding of/towards these ethnicities than do some of the older characters (Manolis and his wife). But maybe that's to be expected.

And the frequency of sex was, well, interesting! Not only characters having sex (frequent and forceful) but thinking about sex (often). The descriptions of these encounters was graphic, but not so graphic that it would be considered hard porn, perhaps soft porn. And there were frequent references to drugs, mostly pot and Ecstacy, but also one narrative involving shooting up. Again, not enough to turn me off from reading the book but more of an eye-opening experience, for sure.

This book was close to 500 pages and in all honesty I would have to say that it was about 150 pages too long. But it did give me a very good picture of what life is like in modern Melbourne among the middle and upper middle classes.

A good book, but will it be shortlisted? Wait until September 7th to find out!

2010 - 16 Baba's Man Booker Reading Challenge

2010-09-04T11:44:00.024-05:00

The Man Booker prize is the UK's version of the Pulitzer Prize here in the United States. The longlist is composed of 13 books that are then cut down to 6 books, which are called the Man Booker Shortlist. This year the longlist was announced on July 27th and the shortlist will be announced on September 7th. I believe the winner will be announced in early October of 2010.

From the Man Booker website: The prize, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2008, aims to reward the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. The Man Booker judges are selected from the country's finest critics, writers and academics to maintain the consistent excellence of the prize. The winner of the Man Booker Prize receives £50,000 and both the winner and the shortlisted authors are guaranteed a worldwide readership plus a dramatic increase in book sales.

I have known of the existence of this competition for a few years and it was only this year that I decided to make some attempt to read as many of the books on the longlist as I could. Call it my personal Man Booker Reading Challenge. Other bloggers that I follow, primarily UK based bloggers, actually try to read ALL the books on the longlist between the date the longlist is announced and the date the winner is announced. Some of these books are weigh in at 400+ pages so that's alot of reading in a short period of time! I like to think that I am a pretty veracious reader, but that would be too much for me between family, work and other obligations. So this year I am going to establish the very first Baba's Man Booker Reading Challenge. [It's entirely possible that I am not the first person in the blogosphere to come up with this reading challenge. So if there is someone else out there who is running a similar challenge, my apologies, but this challenge is really meant to be more of a personal one anyway and I'm just sharing it with anyone who cares to follow along.]

My plan is to read all (well, er, as many as I can get ahold of at any rate) of the books longlisted for the Man Booker award every year. Each year the challenge will start the day the longlist is announced and will end the following year on the day before the longlist for the next year is announced. Confusing? Well, this year's inaugural started July 27, 2010 and will end on July 25, 2011. (I'm not 100% certain when the 2011 longlist will be issued but suspect it will be on the last Tuesday in July which will be July 26th ~ but I can adjust this if needed. And since I'm just posting this challenge and it's already September 4th you can see I'm a bit behind schedule already!! )

I will try to read every book on the list during this time but confess that I may only be able to read the books that are available at the public library. With the advent of Amazon and vendors like that I suspect I can buy all the books if I really want to, but I am trying to drastically cut down on the money I spend on books. So I am going to take advantage of the resources that my library has and get the books through that if I can. An added advantage for me is that I tend to read library books faster than books I own, the premise being that someone else is waiting for the book so I don't want to be a hog about reading them. It serves as additional motivation to read quickly.

The challenge will be listed along the side of this blog and as I post my review there will be a link to the review. Now excuse me, but I really do have quite a bit of reading to get to! Until later....... keep reading and thanks for stopping by!

2010 - 15 ~ technically, IT'S NOT MY FAULT by John Grandits

2010-09-03T11:58:00.007-05:00

I TOTALLY picked up this book while browsing in my child's school library and I am so glad that I did! It's a book of concrete poetry!! Never heard of this type of poetry? Neither had I until I picked up this wonderfully charming book by John Grandits.

In a nutshell, concrete poetry is poetry that is in the shape of an object that helps convey the topic of the poetry. Its also called visual poetry because the poems usually take the shape of the subject of the poem. So, a poem about a car will be shaped like a car. A poem about a horse will be shaped like a horse. Get it? But the shapes don't have to be that defined. One of the poems in this book entitled "Spew Machine" (don't you love that title?) is about a roller coaster and the shape of this poem mimics the way a roller coaster moves; up, down, around. Visually it's a very interesting poem to look at as well as read.

Here's the really cool thing about concrete poetry: it doesn't have to rhyme!! In fact, all the poems in Grandits' book do not rhyme at all in any way, shape or form. They are more like tiny stories. Visit John Grandits' website for any example of his poems. My favorite from this book is "The Thank-You Letter With Footnotes." Every time I read it I crack up and have to stop cause I'm laughing so much that I cannot get through the poem in one straight reading.

I thought that concrete poetry was a rather recent (i.e. 20th century) invention but it looks like the concept is actually quite old. It appears to go back to the ancient Greeks and was used by e. e. cummings and Ezra Pound. The term "concrete poetry" or "visual poetry" probably developed in the late 1950's or so.

I have a 10-year old that I can't wait to show this book to. I hope he will like it as many of the poems in this particular book are geared toward boys and girls (mostly boys) and they are very funny.

John Grandits also has two other books out: "Blue Lipstick" which is another compilation of concrete poems, and "The Travel Game" which is a more traditional narrative book.

I think this author has done something that I thought was virtually impossible; make me want to go out and buy a book about poetry. And for that I must say a great big THANK YOU!!!!!!

2010 - 14 ~ Juliet by Anne Fortier Part II

2010-08-25T17:10:00.000-05:00

Well, I finished this book a few days ago and was holding off posting it so that I could reflect on my thoughts about the book. I wrote about this book before. The U.S. release occurred on August 24th and the book has already been released in Greece, Italy, Germany and Finland.

Here's a blurb from the author's website: "When Julie Jacobs inherits a key to a safety-deposit box in Siena, Italy, she is told it will lead her to an old family treasure. Soon she is launched on a winding and perilous journey into the history of her ancestor Giulietta, whose legendary love for a young man named Romeo rocked the foundations of medieval Siena.

As Julie crosses paths with the descendants of the families involved in Shakespeare’s unforgettable blood feud, she begins to realize that the notorious curse– “A plague on both your houses!” –is still at work, and that she is the next target. It seems that the only one who can save Julie from her fate is Romeo–but where is he?"

The story line alternates between present day Siena, Italy and Siena, Italy in 1340. And oddly enough, it was the story line set in 1340 that I found much more interesting than the story line set in the present day. The story line set in the present day felt much too contrived, too many coincidences that popped up to permit the heroine (Juliet/Giulietta) to conveniently find her next clue or that allowed her to miraculously meet people who would help her in her quest.

And then there is the predictable series of events that leads her to find her Romeo and allow them to be united (or is that reunited) in the present day. I found myself, more than once, thinking "Really?!"

In some ways I actually felt bad that I had spent time reading this book. As I said, I really liked the historical storyline much, much better than the storyline set in the present day. But to be fair, the author did a very good job of introducing me to a city and a part of the world about which I know very little. Would I recommend this book? Probably not, or else I would suggest that the reader skip every other chapter and focus only on the 1340's story line.

2010 - 13 Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

2010-08-24T16:35:00.008-05:00

Well, late last night I finished this massive (532 pages) book about Thomas Cromwell; a man who rose from being the son of a low class commoner to become the the right hand, "Go To" guy for King Henry VIII. I read somewhere that Mantel wrote this book to try to give a softer side to Cromwell's reputation. There are multiple places to find brief biographies about Cromwell, including Wikipedia, Tudor Citizens and this BBC website.

I have to say that while I did not know very much about Cromwell before I picked up this book (though I did know who he was in British history) I did come away with a somewhat sympathetic view of the man, at least until towards the end of the book. Throughout much of the book he does display episodes of great care and concern, not only for those in his family, but those who are strangers and somehow find their way into his home.

There is also a funny and sarcastic side presented. Both in his dealings with his family, the other men and women at Henry VIII's court and the king himself. I found myself at times feeling quite sympathetic towards Cromwell, given all the characters at court he had to deal with, not to mention soothing the egos of Henry VIII and his paramour (and soon to be 2nd of 6 wives) Anne Boelyn, along with her family of hanger-oners.

However, towards the end of the book I started to sense that another Cromwell was coming out, a more ruthless Cromwell; one who would sacrifice whomever he had to in order to get his job done. And what was his job? Primarily, it was appeasing and soothing Henry VIII. Whether it was trying to get Henry's first marriage to Catherine of Aragon (a Catholic) annulled and his daughter Mary declared a bastard in the process, or trying to get his former friend and contemporary Thomas More to swear an oath that Henry VIII was the true head of the reformed English Church, or taking away the lands and wealth of the monasteries throughout the British Isles. A picture begins to develop of a more calculated Cromwell (though truth be told he really is calculating from the first chapters of the book).

When Wolf Hall ends Cromwell is a different person than he was when the book started. Just how different will be for the reader to decide. All in all I thought it was a good book. It won the Man Booker Prize for 2009 and after reading it I can see why.

I understand that Mantel is working on a sequel which will pick up where Wolf Hall ends. And that will be a very interesting book indeed!

2010 - 12 List of Mystery Books by Theme

2010-08-23T10:12:00.005-05:00

I subscribe to many book blogs; I suspect you do too. One of the blogs I subscribe to is "Murder, Mystery & Mayhem: A Resource for Readers." The name of the blog says it all. It's a nice blog and I have added several books to my TBR pile because it has showcased books about which I might never have heard.

So, imagine my surprise when I ran across a listing they compiled of mystery books by theme: Deadly Vows (dealing with mysteries/murders that occur at/in connection with weddings); Kill Them With a Smile (Humorous); Historical Mysteries. I could go on but you might as well jump over to the lists yourself and scroll through to see if there are any book titles that strike your fancy. Check it out at: Murder, Mystery & Mayhem Book Lists.

There are also loads of other interesting posts at this blog, all (of course) devoted to murder, mystery & mayhem. Many thanks for all their hard work at maintaining this great resource!!!

2010 - 11 ~ The Chicago Way by Michael Harvey

2010-08-12T21:49:00.015-05:00

I doubt I would have checked this book out of the library except for one reason: the author is scheduled to appear at a book fair being held in the area and I have volunteered to help at this book fair. It's being sponsored by a library I frequent and in a few weeks they are hosting a program where local authors are going to speak, presumably to talk about their books, or perhaps writing books. In any event I decided that there might be a remote chance that I would be assigned to the portion of the program featuring this author so decided it might be nice to actually read one of his books.

This book as well as the other two books he has written all are set in Chicago so I immediately felt a connection seeing as how I grew up in Chicago and now live in a suburb of that wonderful city. Harvey is listed in the jacket as being the co-creator and executive producer of A&E's Cold Case Files, a show that examines evidence from crime cases that are unsolved but technically "open" in the police records. Theses crimes usually involve murder, or missing people who might have been murdered. Using DNA testing and other innovations in in crime detection, the show attempts to try and find the real criminals. It is hosted by Bill Kurtis, who is a journalistic legend in Chicago. He was part of the local news team of Bill Curtis and Walter Jacobson, who will be paired up again on the local CBS station starting September 1, 2010. For years they were THE 10:00 P.M. TV anchors and had a loyal following. Their TV partnership ended in 1989, much to the disappointment of many people. Each man went on to do other things in the field of journalism, with Kurtis developing and hosting the A&E show. Presumably this is where Kurtis and Harvey first met, or perhaps they knew each other prior to the show. Maybe Harvey will talk about that at his presentation.

This book is about a Chicago private investigator, Michael Kelly, who used to be a Chicago cop. Something happens and he is forced off the police force and becomes a private investigator. One day his former police partner (John Gibbons) contacts him and asks for Kelly's help in solving an 8-year old rape and battery case. Seems that Gibbons was the cop who handled that rape case and was instructed to "forget about it," which he did. However, when Gibbons turns up dead shortly after contacting Kelly, the former cop decides he needs to try to solve the murder of his former partner and friend, and in the process, the 8-year old rape.

The one thing I really, really like about the book was the fact that Harvey has the characters visiting real areas in and around Chicago. There's Navy Pier, various North Side locations like Wrigley Field, Calumet City (which is a suburb south of Chicago) and numerous other landmarks and areas that are readily identifiable to long time Chicago residents (like me). He also threw in characters based on real life local crimes. A character named John William Grime is not-so-loosely based on John Wayne Gacey (Chicago area serial killer of boys between 1972-1978); a character named John "Bull Dog" Donovan is based on John "Bull Dog" Drummond (a veteran Chicago Newspaper reporter famous for his encounters with various local mob men and criminals). The author's notes reflect that he has tried to be faithful to the city's geography, buildings and institutions, but where necessary, he has intentionally taken liberties to fit the needs of the story.

I have to admit that the first 20-30 pages did not immediately impress me. The dialogue was almost something out of a bad 1930's Jimmy Cagney gangster movie. I remember wondering if it was supposed to to be set in the 30's but then Harvey started referencing more contemporary things like cell phones, computers, Google, etc. so I knew that was not the case. After I got over the hump of those first 30 pages or so things began to move and the story flowed much better. I had one of the characters pegged within about 15 pages of his first appearance in the book, but I did not see the ending coming. It was good and I found myself throughout the book coming to like Kelly more and more as a character. He's the kind of (former) cop and friend I would want in my life, especially if I was a victim of a crime.

Harvey has written two books, The Fifth Floor (2008) and The Third Rail (2010), both of which are Chicago terms. The Fifth floor is the floor of City Hall where the mayor's office is located and the third rail is a reference to the third rail that powers Chicago's el trains. Kelly is back in each of these books and I am looking forward to reading these books to see what trouble he gets into (and out of) and what other parts of Chicago he visits. I'm really glad that I made the decision to read this book and I'm looking forward to getting to hear this author speak in a few weeks.

2010 - 10 Juliet by Anne Fortier - Part 1

2010-08-10T08:53:00.011-05:00

I am reading two books now, as indicated over on the right hand column: Juliet by Anne Fortier and Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Berbieres. Generally I tend to switch back and forth between books when I am reading several books at a time (which I usually do). I'll spend some time reading one book and then switch over to another book for a while and then back and forth.

About one week ago I received an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) of Juliet by a new author Anne Fortier, published by Ballantine Books, a division of The Random House Publishing Group. Many thanks to Ballantine Books for sending me this ARC. The scheduled release date is August 24, 2010.

According to the ARC Juliet is Anne Fortier 's debut novel. She lived in Denmark until she moved to the United States in 2002. She and her mother shared a passion for Shakespeare and spent many vacations in Verona, where they visited the site of Juliet's balcony many times. It wasn't until they went to Siena that they discovered that Shakespeare's famous story of Romeo and Juliet was actually inspired by events that took place in Siena. And thus was born Fortier's book.

The book is being billed as "an ambitious, utterly engaging historical novel on the scale of The Thirteenth Tale and The Birth of Venus, [that] follows a young woman who discovers her family's origins reach all the way back to literatures greatest star-crossed lovers."

It's a somewhat oft-used theme: twin sisters are raised by a relative after their parents die under mysterious circumstances. The twins are opposites in personality, style and attitude. One twin ( Julie Jacobs) is more sensitive and suffers from a lack of confidence, especially when compared with her sister (Janice Jacobs) who is portrayed as being prettier, more confident and often times mean to her sibling. Julie appears to be more favored by the aunt who has raised them but when the aunt dies who gets the house, the paintings, the fine art left behind? Not the favored child (Julie); instead everything goes to Janice, who immediately makes plans to sell everything she can because she doesn't have the connection to the family history that all these things hold.

And what does our heroine Julie get? A letter left by the aunt containing a key to a safety deposit box held in a bank in Siena, Italy. Seems the key was among her mother's few possessions found after her (mysterious?) death. The aunt seems to think the safety deposit box will help Julie learn more about her family history and lead Julie to a treasure left by her mother in Italy. Oh, and by the way, Julie discovers that her real name isn't Julie Jacobs. The aunt changed her name from Giulietta Tolomei to Julie Jacobs because that sounded more American.

And of course Julie/Giulietta goes to Siena (knowing almost no Italian) and conveniently ends up meeting people who are able to help her in unraveling her family history. First there's an Italian countess and her mysterious/attractive, soon-to-be Julie's lover (?) godson (who just happen to be descendants of the family that was involved in a feud dating from the 1300's with the Italian family of Julie/Giulietta); then there's the manager of the hotel Julie/Giulietta is staying at while in Siena; then there are her godparents, who knew her parents before their mysterious(?) deaths; then there is an artist who seems to have a painting of Julie/Giulietta's namesake who was born in the 1300's. And I could go on and on.

The book alternates between present day and 1340 Siena, Italy, where the story of the star-crossed lovers Giulietta Tolomei and Romeo Marescotti and the involvement of the Salimbeni family is played out for us. Each chapter takes us another step deeper into the story.

I am currently on page 158 but I have to tell you that I am finding the book to be rather predictable so far. Part of it is because Julie/Giulietta just seems to bump into all these characters who can help her. It's almost like everyone we are introduced to turns out to be a long lost relative, or had known her parents or has some connection to her family history. It's just a bit too convenient.

At this point in the book she also discovers that she might be being followed by someone who might be after some papers she has in her possession. There is a chase scene down some dark alley ways in Siena and an unknown knight in shining armor figure (on a motorcycle) who comes to her rescue. Who are these people and what do they want? Who can Julie/Giulietta turn to for help?

I have not yet reached the point where I am thinking about putting down this book. I truly hate to not finish a book; it's in my DNA. Not that I haven't ever stopped reading a book. But to do that the book has to totally turn me off; and at this point Juliet has not done that. So, I'll continue reading it and hope to post about it in teh near future. Until then..... keep reading!

2010 - 9 Change in Focus

2010-08-05T15:52:00.009-05:00

I have been away from this blog for a long time. No particular reason other than I've had other things to do (work & family) and it is summer and to be very honest, posting a blog reviewing a book I have read has not been at the top of my "To Do" list. But I do miss posting about the books I have read so I think I am going to change direction on this blog, at least for a bit.

Instead of posting reviews about books I have read (though in all honesty it has been quite some time since I have done that) I am going to post lists of books I have read. If I feel really strongly about a particular book I might post a review of it, or at least post my thoughts about it. Or if I have something book-related that I want to share I post something.

Full disclosure: I also have to be honest and admit that I got the idea/incentive/nudge to make this change from Li who blogs over at Rule The Waves. Though I'm not exactly following the same month-by-month format. Thanks Li!

From now on the list will be kept at the margin on the right side of this blog entitled "Books I Have Read in 2010." Not a very original title, I know. But it will have to do until I can think of something more original.

As always, if you want to post a comment on a particular book or on something I've posted, please do. Until then... keep reading!!

2010 - 8 Loving Frank Part II

2010-04-09T07:15:00.005-05:00

In an earlier post I mentioned that I was reading Loving Frank by Nancy Horan for the library book club to which I belong.

Well, this past Wednesday we met (about 15 of us) and discussed this book. The consensus? None of us thought this was a great book. At least great enough to generate all the positive reviews we had read.

This particular book club is 99.99% women, with a lone male. And none of us could find anything about the characters of Frank Lloyd Wright or Mamah Borthwick Cheney that made us sympathetic to their lives, at least as fictionalized by Horan.

There was discussion, but it centered around how selfish we thought Mamah was by leaving her children and running off to follow Frank. Virtually to a woman (including the lone man) we could not understand how she would abandon her kids and spouse and then seem surprised by the fact that it was generating such bad press. The same holds true for Wright as he also abandoned his wife and kids, but didn't seem to be as bothered by the bad press as Mamah was.

Perhaps it was because most of us were married with children that we were not able to relate to Mamah's actions. However, even those women who were unmarried and did not have children had a hard time generating sympathy for this relationship and Mamah's actions.

Most of us decided that Horan's initial project (writing the book from the perspective of four characters ~ Mamah, Frank, Edwin & Charlotte) would have been a better book. And none of us expressed any desire to talk with the author, if we had the opportunity to do so.

So, sorry Nancy; I suspect that you spent many, many years of research on this book and probably put a lot of effort into its development and getting it published. But this particular book club did not find this book very compelling. Better luck next time!