BOOK: Book Club Reviews, Historical Style

Book reviews, book club style.

It's always interesting when books you read independently end up having a connection of sorts. I'm sure it is possible to connect any two books, but our last two book club books have been historical fiction, both set around 1800, and in the same part of the world, across the English Channel from each other. From the story of Josephine at the start of the French Revolution, to the story of Mary Anning at the start of a new era in science/geology, both book were very interesting, well written, and felt educational as well as entertaining. Win for book club choices! (We only pick from books our library has book club sets for, and that are available when Mary goes to get them, so sometimes our choices can be limited!)

The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B - Sandra Gulland, 436 pages

Confession: I knew practically nothing about the French Revolution other than some big names and the whole - Let them eat cake! Didn't finish Les Miserables or ever watch the musical. Couldn't even have given a rough estimate of dates. So, I found this book very educational, and I do want to read more about that time now. I did discover at the end of the book that this was the first of several books about Josephine. In fact, she only meets Napolean Bonaparte at the very end of the book, and he is the one who calls her Josephine. She wasn't Josephine until the last 50 pages! That certainly kept me reading.

This book tells the story up to the point where Rose, a girl from the island of Martinique, marries Napoleon. Before that, she travels to France for an arranged  (crappy) marriage, has two children, makes some important friends, and develops a real sense of responsibility for the people around her. Her husband was important in the French government, part of the revolution as well, but really, as a rich guy, was playing both sides.
Gulland has written a very readable tale, all the more remarkable because it is based on true facts. Gulland became obsessed with Josephine and spent years researching her life, resulting in this trilogy - The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B; Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe; and The Last Great Dance on Earth. I will definitely look into reading the rest of the series.

Remarkable Creatures - Tracy Chevalier, 305 pages

I've always been a big fan of Chevalier and her take on historical fiction. I've just about read all her books now, and have not been disappointed. Best known for The Girl With the Pearl Earring, her book The Lady and the Unicorn is my favourite. Remarkable Creatures will be near the top of my favourites by her.

So, what did I learn about here? Mary Anning, the fossil collector from the very early 1800s. I know I've enjoyed a book when I find myself looking up information about the characters after I've read the book, and find myself wanting to visit the area. Lyme Regis in Dorset, England is a prime location of fossil finding. There is a museum there on the site of Mary's original house that would be very cool to see. The fossils that Mary found changed the view of the history of Earth, and started the classification of dinosaurs.

Good historical fiction for me focuses on the characters and people and the facts become part of the story. Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot were two women leading unconventional lives in 1800. Neither married and with an age difference of twenty years, they became good friends and fossil hunters on the beach in Lyme. Different social stations added to the difficulties, but they managed to become experts, and eventually had men coming to buy their fossils, or learn from them. No easy feat for women who couldn't even vote at that time. The developing scientific thought, the poverty, women's roles, and the social classes provide lots of areas of discussion, and make a very well rounded, readable book.

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Auto Buy Authors

 

The topic this week for Top Ten Tuesday hosted at The Broke and the Bookish is Auto Buy Authors. Since I don't actually buy many books, this is as much a list of  MRE (must read everything) as it is auto buy. 

In the words of that beer actor, I don't buy many books, but when I do, I buy these authors.

 1. Maeve Binchy 
Although she has died, new books keep getting published, new collections of short stories, like Chestnut Street, which is the last new book I bought.

2. Tracy Chevalier
I still have a few of her books left to read, The Last Runaway and Remarkable Creatures. I'm rationing her books

3. Tana French
Oh, I buy these mysteries as soon as they come out.

4. Lori Lansens
Great Canadian author. I want to get her newest book, The Mountain Story soon.

5. Mary Lawson
Another great Canadian author, not very prolific, but all  excellent.

6. Kate Atkinson
I'm still missing Jackson Brody, but also still reading her newer books.

7. Mo Hayder
Creepy detective series with Jack Caffrey. Kinda like Criminal Minds as it's just at my threshold of being able to read without nightmares.

8. Gillian Flynn
Big fan after reading all of her thrillers. Stop making movies and instead write another book!

9. Emma Donaghue
I've really enjoyed the diversity of her writing style and topics, and I still have a few more in her back list to read.

10. Lisa Lutz
Never fails to disappoint with her humour and there is a new release, How to Start a Fire that I must get a hold of.

Hey! What do my authors all have in common? Can you guess?

AUDIOBOOKS: YA Sync 2015

All of these books were excellent!


X - Ilyasah Shabazz (audiobook)

Really good 'memoir', written by Malcom X's daughter. It is classified as fiction, but I felt like I learned a lot about his early life. I listened to this around the time/just after the (multiple) incidents with police and African-American deaths, and it was so sad. How have things not changed at all?

I should watch one of the movies about Malcom X.

Dodger - Terry Pratchett (audiobook)

Pratchett does not disappoint - see Good Omens for reference. Funny, educational (the guy who cleaned up the London sewers appears) and meta - what more could a person want? A young tosher named Dodger gets mixed up with a different class of people (Charles Dickens, Disraeli, Angela Burdett-Coutts) after rescuing a young lady. Much happens, including a run in with Sweeney Todd and maybe love. It's not Dodger from the Dickens book, but maybe how Dodger developed? I love that this was paired with Great Expectations.

Must watch the Sweeney Todd musical movie.
Must listen to Great Expectations, and then watch the movie.

Here in Harlem: Poems in Many Voices - Walter Dean Myers (audiobook)

This was certainly different, but might be a better way to 'read' poems. Sort of a Canterbury Tales, each poem is a biography of a person from Harlem, read by different readers. Each is short, and unique, and wonderful. I tried to just listen to one or two at a time, and then come back. I definitely felt the 'feel' of Harlem.

A Corner of White - Jaclyn Moriarty (audiobook)

While it took a while for me to get into this one, I persevered having read and enjoyed Moriarty books before. There are two worlds, which have to be developed and set up with characters and back stories which was took a while. One in London and the other the kingdom of Cello. Once the two worlds connected however, I was hooked. I loved the references to Newton and science a lot, and the characters of Madeline and Elliot, although young adult, where very real, and facing tough decisions.

I was a tad disappointed to discover it's part of a trilogy and that I couldn't get the second, The Cracks in the Kingdom on audiobook. However, I would read the next one definitely as the last chapter or two had a lot of new information, and makes the reader want to find out what happens!

The Explorers Club - Nell Benjamin (audiobook)

A little play acted out by the Los Angeles Theatre Works  which had a Important of Being Ernest vibe to it. (The LATW will show up again with a wonderful version of In the Heat of the Night). Set in the late 1800s, focusing on explorers and anthropologists in London and a feisty woman trying to gain entrance in the Explorer's Club. There are misunderstandings, word play, and plenty of 'there, there, deary' misogyny/British Empire dismissals. Silly boys.

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Last Ten Books That Came Into My Possession

 

 The topic this week for Top Ten Tuesday hosted at The Broke and the Bookish is Last Ten Books That Came Into My Possession. Two audiobooks each week from YA Sync is taking up the majority of the last books entering my home.

 The Journey by Katherine Lasky (bought, 2nd hand store)
 Youngest daughter, 12, decided to read the Guardians of Ga'hoole by Kathryn Lasky after finishing all the Dear Canada books. We checked the library and the second book, The Journey was unavailable. They only had one copy and it had been boxed up at a library undergoing renovations. We checked out the used book stores and got lucky at the second one.



 

Dark Fire by CJ Sansom (library)
Grabbed this at the library even though I don't need library books. It's been a while since I've read the first in this series.

The Explorer's Club by Nell Benjamin (YA Sync audiobook)
Listened to this already - a two hour full cast production of the play. Reminded me of The Importance of Being Ernest with the absurd British Victorian humour.
 
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (YA Sync audiobook)
Last year there was Time Machine which I never got listened to. After The Explorer's Club, this will be perfect. I like how Sync matches up a classic with a modern book.

Hush Hush by Laura Lippman (book club book, borrowed from library kit)
Do all libraries have book club kits you can borrow? My little book club only reads books we can get through the library. Although it's the 12th in the Tess Monaghan series, it reads pretty easily so far, but I may have a new series to read.

Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill (borrowed, sister's audio library online in another city)
Another short one, I waited 4 months for this and listened to it in one night. 

Orphan Train by Cristina Baker Kline (borrowed, school library)
I grabbed this before my teacher friend could return it to the school library. This was the only book I borrowed from our school library for the summer - I was restrained!

Lord of the Flies by William Golding (YA Sync audiobook)
Hoping this goes much better than it originally did in grade ten. I think I'm ready for it!

 Monster by Walter Dean Myers (YA Sync audiobook)
The second Walter Dean Myers book this summer. Also very short, about a 16 year old on trial for murder.

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein (YA Sync audiobook)
Part of the Code Name Verity series, I recently listened to Code Name Verity leftover from last summer, so I am ready for Rose.
 

BOOKS: Bailey Prize Books + One Other

I like to follow the Bailey Prize each year. Formerly the Orange Prize, it recognizes women writers in English. This year I requested some popular books from the library and they arrived around the same time, some with shorter times to read, all over 350 pages. This all happened in June, my busiest school month of the year. To add extra activities this year, all three kids graduated from their schools and are moving up to the next level. So to say June was busy is an understatement!

oldest boy graduated from high school

Prom night with his date and me

I enjoyed these Bailey books to varying degrees. Just after I finished these nominated books, I stumbled across another book which maybe should have been on the Bailey list this year. I hope its omission is due to release/qualifying dates and that it will be there next year, because it was a great read! It also reassured me that I can read books with unique form and structure, that I can get a book that is a little different, because after some of the books from the shortlist, I was questioning myself. Granted, I think if I had been discussing some of these books with other people, my enjoyment may have gone up.

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler, 368 pages (2015 shortlist)

By far the most readable of this group of Bailey Prize nominees. Tyler writes of a Baltimore family, and their history, told in stories, as families do. Much of the book revolves around the family home - how it was built, how it came into their possession, their lives in it, and then as it leaves. Sometimes it meanders a little too much, I didn't love all the characters (two in particular were pretty selfish) but it was a great family tale.This actually felt similar in theme and characters to Emily, Alone.

 How To Be Both by Ali Smith (2015 winner)
 The Winner! As chosen by the judges, but not me. There were parts of this that I did like, particularly the first half which has the present day narrator, a teenager dealing with her mother's death. The second half follows a 16th century painter whose painting was a focus of the first half. I've read that there are copies of the book which allow the reader to pick which part to read first. That would have been interesting to see. Smith is known for playing with her writing, the composition, the characters and it was not linear or traditional in any way. I'm okay with that, but since it was focused so much on the art, and art in society my interest or understanding lagged. Thinking about some of the elements after the fact is giving me fonder memories than I had as I read it. The role of women, the painter as a spirit in the 21st century, the mystery of the mother and how she died (did I miss something?): I liked all that. But maybe it was just too hard for my little brain to think about during the end of June, a particularly tiring time for me at work. Let's say wrong book at the wrong time.

The Bees by Laline Paull, 352 pages (2015 shortlist)
The title does not lie - this is about bees. One in particular, Flora 717, seems to be a bit Divergent* (able to morph into different roles in the hive) so the reader gets to experience many different locations. I'm torn on this one, because it was interesting, (but I knew there was Queen trouble early, and knew that Flora would be involved. Does that make it predictable?) but dear Lord, the bees! I'm sure there are some issues with what bees think and do, but it seemed realistic to me. I would have enjoyed a shorter version, because a lot happened at the very end, and seemed rushed.
Also, June.
*Divergent, by Veronica Roth, a YA dystopian novel, recently made into a movie.

The Girl Who Was Saturday Night by Heather O'Neill (2015 longlist)

Much like O'Neill's first book, Lullabies for Little Criminals, she writes about a bohemian, Quebecois life on Boulevard Saint-Laurant. Nicolas and Nouschka are twins of a (locally) famous singer. They were part of his television show when they were children, so are famous in their own right. What happens to 'famous' people after the fame fades? How do they get that rush, that adrenaline?

This took place during one of the Quebec referendums and I remember that time. Reading from a Quebec point of view was a nice Canadian touch. (Because Quebecois are still Canadians after the referendum.)

What I find fascinating about O'Neill's characters and her writing is that I have no idea what they are going to do or say. Their experience is so far outside my world, that it boggles my mind. Nouschka said what? (great analogies) She did what? (pretty raunchy by times) Nicolas did what? (pretty much a criminal) Nouschka is a touch more grounded, and is trying to settle down (how I'd describe it) after a pretty ridiculous childhood.I recognize that people live this way, but it is not something I enjoy imagining.

Dept of Speculation by Jenny Offill (audiobook, a little over 3 hours)
Apparently, The New York Times Book Review calling this book “joyously demanding.” I flew through this in one evening, captivated by the voice of the narrator, only referred to as The Wife but did not find it nearly as demanding as the books on the Bailey list above.
The author herself read the book and she was very good. The beginning felt random, as the narrator in her twenties tries to find love, finds many boyfriends instead. She wants to write, be an artist. Then suddenly finds love, gets married and has a baby. All of this is only clear by putting it all together in an overview. It is linear in the sense that there is an order, but it is stream of consciousness style narration. And I usually hate that! But here it worked for me. In her thirties, the baby grows, her career stalls, and her marriage gets rocky. A similar book for me would be The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan. There are random bits, images, anecdotes, that you have to put together to get the full picture.
I heard of this book from AMB at The Misforturne of Knowing and her review made me want to read this. I'm so glad I did. Go read her, and her husband's reviews because they do a fabulous job of actually analyzing the book.

BOOKS: Assorted Literature

The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver

I've read several Kingsolver books already (Flight Behavior; Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; Poisonwood Bible) but I had never read any of her early work. The Bean Trees was a delightful and quirky debut novel. Taylor graduates from high school and to escape her Appalachian dismal future, hits the road and heads west. Along the way, she picks up a baby to adopt, and she and Turtle, the baby, land in Arizona. The book becomes about making your family, fitting in, and finding your place. The friendship between Taylor and LouAnn, another young girl with a child, was very touching.  There is a sequel, Pigs in Heaven that I might look into. It's a book to be shared and enjoyed.

Emily, Alone - Stewart O'Nan

Stewart O'Nan is one of those versatile, reliable authors that I pick up now and then. (Last Night at the Lobster, The Night Country) Emily, Alone is the second book about Emily Maxwell, but this seems fine on its own. Emily's husband has died and she's reluctantly settling into widowhood. Not much happens but life goes on. She gets the house ready for Christmas because 'everyone is coming' and she is really looking forward to it, but of course, it doesn't work out perfectly like she wants. Emily's a bit crotchety, and doesn't like change. The book is simply a character study, also about families.

All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr (audiobook)

 Each time I think I've read enough WW2 books, but then another one comes along with a compelling story. Here, two separate orphans, a German boy with a talent for radios, and a blind French girl living under Occupation, each trying to get along in the war years, with the two separate stories eventually colliding. There is also a legend about a famous jewel, some nasty Nazis, art history, and French resistance (which was my favorite part). This was a long audiobook, but kept my interest and was a great listen.

A Sudden Light - Garth Stein (audiobook)

Multi-generational tale with secrets and supernatural that didn't appeal to me as much as I would have liked. A fourteen year old Trevor and his father head to the father's family home in Seattle during a separation/divorce. There were a lot of previous generations to keep straight, many father-son duos that did not get along. Each next generation had different ideas about the sustainability of the trees, and the need to make money. Trevor's aunt was most annoying and creepy, and I never got a good feel for Trevor's age. Most books with a kid coming to realizations about their parents or the world are in the ten, eleven age (see Stephen King for excellent examples of how to work eleven year old characters) but the author needed Trevor closer to an age where sex is possible, so he was an awkward fourteen, sometimes young, sometimes old. There are many topics tackled, including Alzheimer's, hidden gay relationships, ghosts, greed, tree-industry in the Northwest. It was difficult for me to keep track which is my issue with audiobooks, but I also didn't like any of the characters, at all. And I don't have to like the characters, but I needed something more. I finished it, but did contemplate stopping. I'll still try The Art of Racing in the Rain, the author's book, which seemed to be all the rage a while ago.

June 30: Top Ten Books I've Read So Far In 2015

The topic this week for Top Ten Tuesday hosted at The Broke and the Bookish is Top Books I've Read So Far in 2015. Great topic! I've read and listened to some awesome books so far. I wonder what books the second half of 2015 will bring and which ones will be bumped from a year end review?

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

An older book that was delightful, about what makes a family. Passed this one around the staff room.

Dodger by Terry Pratchett (audiobook)

Fabulous invented historical novel with lots a real people stopping by, like Sweeney Todd and Charles Dickens. I shouldn't have been surprised with Pratchett writing.

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Really scary because it seems plausible but it also has well developed characters and doesn't make me feel like I'm reading a young adult book; just a really great story.

A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie (audiobook)

I'm picking one of the twelve Christie book I listened to, which was the best of them, but all of the Miss Marple books have been wonderful and will be my favorite 'book' of the year. The series is better than any individual book.

I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend by Martin Short (audiobook)

A book which makes me laugh and cry? Even (slightly annoying) Martin Short couldn't ruin this book for me. Great memories of Canadian comedy from my childhood.

Cobra by Deon Meyer

Great mystery, great characters, great setting - Meyer writes some of my favourite mysteries around.

X by Ilyasah Shabazz (audiobook)

A novelized biography of Malcolm X by his daughter, up to the point he was imprisoned. My Malcolm X knowledge was sadly lacking, and I was very impressed by this book.

                                                               The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
There are good reasons why certain books are everywhere - great, surprising plots with characters that make you want to bang their head on a wall! 

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (audiobook)

Epic WW2 novel about two different characters.

Walt by Russel Wangersky

I started the year with this creepy little number, and it holds up in my memory after six months.

BOOKS: Young Adult Titles

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

For no good reason, this one took a while to read, but it was easy to pick up and get right back into the book. The narrator had a strong voice, 16 year old DJ who is looking after the farm, and peace-making with her parents and brothers, and having teen-age angst. She agrees to 'train' the rival quarterback before the season, but it only serves to make her realize she wants to play football too. For an easy to read, quick novel, there are lots of topics dealt with here, including a teenager coming out, teenagers dealing with adult problems, and realizing your parents are people too. Pretty good read, easy to recommend.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth (audiobook) book 2 of 3 in the Divergent series

The factions are falling apart; the dystopian world not working out; surprise! Tris and Four are dealing with their divergent qualities, their parents, and betrayers all around. Because I am listening, I am not as into the characters as I probably might be, but it is a simple divergence (ha!) and I'm planning to listen to the final in the trilogy this summer. It's no Harry Potter or Hunger Games, but it's a good teenage dystopian series.

The Dead & the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
A number of years ago, I read Life as We Knew It, and found it a very compelling read. It was just reasonable enough to be scary and realistic future world building. Pfeffer writes realistic characters that are easy to cheer for. (I confess, I spent months after the last book imagining how I would deal with a disaster like this - how would I get food? would I survive? would I think of the things I'd need to get for my family? Should I have a wood stove?) I took a long time to get to this book, dealing with my usual trepidation - would this next book be as good as the first? And it is. This isn't so much a sequel as a companion book. At the same time as Miranda in Pennsylvania (Life As We Knew It) is dealing with the natural effects of an asteroid hitting the moon, Alex is dealing with the same problem in New York City in The Dead And the Gone. Alex's parents are both away from home when the disaster strikes, and Alex is left to look after his two younger sisters. The realism of these books is what makes them so scary and tragic and Pfeffer writes great stories. I waited seven years between books, and both books were fabulous. There is a third book, where Alex and Miranda meet up, This World We Live In, and I think it may be part of my summer reading.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl (audiobook)

YA Sync 2015 is back! Two free audiobooks each week, pairing a classic and a newer young adult book. This was the first book I listened to, and it was a ridiculous, fun mess. [This was paired with Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier which was unavailable in Canada, to my extreme disappointment!] Narrated by a 16 year old Ethan, there are witches and vampires, and southern history (Confederate flag type history) and he is the perfect first boyfriend!. The plot is crazy and predictable but still it was a blast to listen to. This is book one of six in The Castor Chronicles (six?) and while I have no intention of seeking out any more in the series or watching the movie, it was still enjoyable enough. The narration was perfectly Southern and dramatic.

BOOK: The Green Road by Anne Enright

The Green Road by Anne Enright, 309 pages

I do like Anne Enright. I particularly loved The Forgotten Waltz, closely followed by The Gathering. This book places third, but is following some great books that I've loved. Some authors just match your brain, and Enright is in mine. I 'get' her half sentences, her Irish sentiment, her family sense. I love her writing. I liked the structure of this book.

Family. The love and hate and relationships that can't be explained, but you spend your whole life trying to define. You know so well, but yet, you spend little time with them. Enright has it all down pat. This story is about four siblings, and each gets a section of the book, all at different times in their lives, in different places in the world (Ireland, Mali, New York, Toronto). Not necessarily connected or even mentioning the other. Then, about half-way through, their mother decides to sell their family home, and they all come home for Christmas to 'deal with mother.'

Nothing happens, but family. As Enright can write, with similies like nobody else. (Poor example, that's why I'm not a writer and Enright is!) If you have a sibling, or mother, or father, there is something to relate to in this book. What's that quote: " Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." from Anna Karenina? There's your theme, set in Ireland, by the amazing Anne Enright. Can't wait for the next book.

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Most Anticipated Releases For the Rest of 2015

The topic this week for Top Ten Tuesday hosted at The Broke and the Bookish is Most Anticipated Releases for the Rest of 2015.  I'm not really someone who gets excited about new books (mostly because I don't buy them often). I'm usually waiting for the library to get a copy, but I do get excited if I'm the first to request it before it comes in and get it first. First!  I'm often not even very aware of new books, except for the next in a series, which is what my list is mostly:

.

Mrs Roosevelt's Confidente: A Maggie Hope Mystery by Susan Elia Macneal
(I like to listen to this slightly earnest series, so will wait for the library, but it must be coming soon)

The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny
(Inspector Gamauche - I liked listening to the last book, so I may wait for that to be released, although the narrator of all the other books has sadly died.)

A Beam of Light by Andrea Camilleri (19th)
(another trip to Sicily...)

The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine by Alexander Mccall Smith
(next in the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series)

Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans
(From the Bailey Prize for Women's Fiction longlist)

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
(This girl rocks - smart and funny)

Circling the Sun by Paula Mclain
( I really liked her book, The Paris Wife, and would give her next book a good look)

The Mountain Story by Lori Lansens
(It was already released in April, but anything in 2015 counts for me)

That's all I can come up with for now - what are you looking forward to?