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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2010 15:52:25 GMT
Thanks Jazz! Am so glad you're enjoying the Notes... The thing about Dash's writing is,he puts into words what you envision when you see his garden,not an easy task. I do go back and reread for inspiration especially after a dry spell so to speak of lacking all of the above.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 5, 2010 18:13:34 GMT
Casimira, I posted the New Yorker review. Did you see it? Bjd, I had to give up Imperium. After the very interesting first part, his style and piling on of statistics kind of wore me out. Re: HW's remark about it being cool enough to read in bed ~~ I went to the library yesterday and one of my selections was pure chick-lit. That's because it's been so insanely hot that I mostly read in the hammock in the worst part of the day. However, hot weather reading aside, it started to rain while I was at the library. Hallelujah! It did mean, though, that I sort of rushed. I forgot to look for anything by David Foster Wallace since I didn't get as far back as the Ws. I did remember to pick up Theroux's Ghost Train to the Eastern Star. My other selections were (click for online reviews): Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura The Golden Spruce, subtitled "A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed". By John Vaillant Print excerpt and audio interview with the author here. I started reading this on the way home in the bus. Vaillant can write! The Mark of the Angel by Nancy Huston. I'm iffy about this one, as I was planning to put it back. But as I said, I started hurrying when I heard the rain. The Demon of Dakar by Kjell Eriksson. Yay, another Scandinavian mystery! And finally, thanks to the urging of an AnyPorter whose literary taste I trust, I got The Boat by Nam Le back out of the library, having returned it before after only reading a bit of it.
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Post by tillystar on Jun 5, 2010 18:29:35 GMT
I wish you knew how jealous you have made me. Sounds like heaven.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2010 1:43:45 GMT
Bixa,I did read the New Yorker review and I thank you for posting. It's so interesting that when I read it,I thought how reminescent this book is of another,The Ice Storm by Rick Moody. I loved this novel quite a lot.Set in New England . So many similarities . (Later made into a chilling,no pun intended, movie,Ang Lee directed).
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Post by tillystar on Jun 6, 2010 18:21:59 GMT
I just finished Anita Diamant's book "Day After Night". It is based on a true story of a rescue of 200 Jewish refugees from Atlit, a British Detention centre for illegal immigrants into Palestine in 1945. It centres on four young women who each have different but equally horrifying experiences during the war - one was in a camp, one forced into prostitution, another hidden in the Dutch countryside and another fought in the resistance in Poland - and it shows how the differnet people in the camp deal with their wounds and start to heal in different ways.
It is equally heart-breaking and full of optimism, but it left me unsatisfied. I would recommend it to anyone to read, but for me her earlier book The Red Tent is one of my most loved books and I hoped this would get me in the same way and it didn't. Maybe if I hadn't been hoping for that I would have appreciated more it for itself.
I just started Monica Ali's "In the Kitchen" and it's the opposite here. I wasn't so keen on her book "Brick Lane" but this tale of illegal immigrants working in a hotel kitchen in London has got me hooked straight away.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2010 1:33:59 GMT
The Diamant book sounds good Tilly, if not a tad depressing at the moment, given my recent state of mind,need something a little cheerier perhaps. I've never read her but,when I worked at the book store many people whose reading taste I admired spoke well of her work. The Red Tent has been on my short list of her work to read. I finally finished The Northern Clemency and do recommend. I am going to catch up on the accumulation of New Yorkers here and then move next to Allen Furst's new book as soon as I can get my paws on it!
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Post by Kimby on Jun 9, 2010 15:01:55 GMT
I just finished reading a book I started in Florida by Florida author Randy Wayne White (say that three times fast!).
Though I've read every one of his 15 previous Doc Ford novels, and enjoyed them as light reading with a Sanibel connection, I found Black Widow to be totally disappointing. An implausible premise, an uninspired cast of characters, an absence of some of his best characters - like Tomlinson and Dewey - from previous installments, and a Who Cares? plot.
I'm afraid with this one RWW just "phoned it in".
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 9, 2010 17:10:29 GMT
I finished my chick-lit book yesterday, and was quite pleased with it. I didn't think I'd stay the course at the beginning. That's because it seemed to be mostly a compendium of high-end consumerism. However, even though one of the plot surprises was obnoxiously outed on the book's cover, I found myself increasingly absorbed. The book is very well written, the characters are distinct, the plot twists are plausible, but what makes it really good is the empathy and compassion it elicits. This is excellent light yet not fluffy reading. Click picture for review, replete with spoilers.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 9, 2010 17:14:34 GMT
sounds like the perfect beach read.
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Post by Jazz on Jun 11, 2010 20:51:59 GMT
Never be limited by preconceived ideas. For a long, long time I resisted reading The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most glorious and Perplexing City, by David Lebovitz. Oh my god, its going to be one of ‘those’ books, rhapsodizing about Paris and aimed at rather well off travelers. In a similar limited state of mind, I avoided his blog.
What a good read. It is half essays and half recipes (for which he is famous). Of course, the recipes are tantalizing, but the essays are excellent and unexpectedly critical of many parts of life in Paris. Especially the day-to-day special, small events which make up a life... his life. His wit and obvious love/hate affair with Paris makes this well worth reading. Given that he is a dessert chef who has become successful in Paris, it was fascinating to read of his tiny kitchen and how he made it all work.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 12, 2010 2:53:06 GMT
When I posted my library haul above at #391, I thought it would be nice to include some links. Thus it was that I practically ruined a perfectly lovely book for myself. I want to recommend the book Shipwrecks, by Akira Yoshimura, but I want to warn you all off of even reading the back cover. I swear, never did one poor little book suffer so much from so many so-called reviewers absolutely vying to give away every single plot twist and surprise. It was most obvious that the author carefully crafted how the book was to unfold. But instead of being able to enjoy his art as he intended, I was left thinking, "When is such & such going to happen?" Suffice to say that the story is related by a boy who is nine when the book begins. He lives in a poor fishing village in medieval Japan. In only 180 pages, we are taken through the sequence of the seasons and get to know the people of the village along with their concerns and the means they use to survive. The writing is spare and beautiful, and one is pulled into the story from the very beginning, to remain engaged to the end. ================================================================= Yesterday I began Paul Theroux's Ghost Train to the Eastern Star. I am completely bowled over. This is writing and thinking of a very high order, a mature author gracefully displaying his talents. Other readers here may know what I mean when I say I mourn each page I read, as it means I'm that much closer to the end of the book. Even more than he did in The Great Railway Bazaar, he conveys that itch to just take off, pack up and go.
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Post by joanne28 on Jun 12, 2010 19:50:56 GMT
I just finished "The Last Concubine" by Lesley Downer and enjoyed it. I like historical fiction when I get a feeling of place. This did it for me, although I found the central character rather modern.
I'm now reading "Animals in Translatioin" byTemple Grandin. It how the author, who is an animal scientist and also has high-functioning autism. It's fascinating.
I'm also reading a novel from 1962 "To Love and Corrupt" by Joseph Viertel. I had my favourite secondhand bookstore order it for me. I read the Reader's Digest Condensed version when I was about 10 and liked it. A couple of years ago I decided to chase down the three condensed books I remembered clearly. This is number two - only one to go.
I'm definitely enjoying it.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 13, 2010 3:19:40 GMT
Oh, books like The Last Concubine are as meat & drink to me! Lesley Downer has a really interesting website. Joanne, you'd probably like Shipwrecks, as the settings seem very real. I read a review a while back about Animals in Translation and it sounded good. Thanks for reminding me about this book.
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Post by cristina on Jun 14, 2010 23:57:01 GMT
I just finished Yoko Ogawa's The Housekeeper and the Professor.
While I generally liked the writing and story - the heart of it was quite good, and the poetry of mathematics unusual - I was left feeling unsatisfied.
Has anyone else read this book? I'd be interested in others' take...
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2010 10:33:11 GMT
No,I haven't read Cristina. I remember a review of Animals in Translation as well,and had it marked as something I might enjoy. I'm going to go and look for the new Allen Furst spy novel set in Greece. It's due for release this week.
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Post by bjd on Jun 19, 2010 16:15:20 GMT
I'm waiting for the latest Alan Furst to come out in paperback.
On holiday I read another book by Philip Kerr If The Dead Rise Not, in his series of stories about his Berlin detective Bernie Gunther, set in the 1930s and on from there. I like them a lot, and having been to Berlin again 2 weeks ago, I like to recognize a few names of streets. And at home, I'm reading Facts Are Subversive by Timothy Garton Ash, who is a British historian of the present. It's about the decade of 2001-2010.
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Post by ilbonito on Jun 20, 2010 22:26:21 GMT
I'm reading, (or re-reading actually) "The Slap" by Christos Tsiolkas. It is quite brilliant. The story starts with a group of friends and family in their 30s and 40s who meet at a suburban barbecue. The tensions and resentments between them come to a head when one of their bratty, unruly children throws a tantrum and attacks another child and one of the adult bystanders steps in, and slaps him, dividing the party between those who approve and those who are horrified. Its a lacerating account of modern (Australian) society, so many of the characters resonate with me very honestly; the brutish nouveau riche man who slapped the kids, the bourgeois "earthmother" who objects, having poured (squandered?)her whole life on her little brat, the insecure conflicted teenagers.... Completely recommended.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 21, 2010 1:05:35 GMT
The perfect literary description for the kids: "little no-neck monsters".
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Post by joanne28 on Jun 25, 2010 20:24:11 GMT
I've just started reading "Watching the English" subtitle The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour by Kate Fox. It's quite interesting. It's not the usual pop psychology tripe. She's a social anthropologist, co-director of the Social Issues Research Centre in Oxford and studied at Cambridge. She said she wrote for the "intelligent layperson". I find it well-written and, major bonus, she has a sense of humour.
I had my favourite secondhand bookseller find it for me.
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Post by onlymark on Jun 25, 2010 20:39:51 GMT
I've just ordered that one from Amazon. £1.80.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2010 0:47:19 GMT
I've just started reading "Watching the English" subtitle The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour by Kate Fox. It's quite interesting. It's not the usual pop psychology tripe. She's a social anthropologist, co-director of the Social Issues Research Centre in Oxford and studied at Cambridge. She said she wrote for the "intelligent layperson". I find it well-written and, major bonus, she has a sense of humour. I had my favourite secondhand bookseller find it for me. I think I just decided on my next read J. Thank you! I too, order from my favourite second hand bookseller,she is a god send,and I avoid the big,big Amazon. (nothing at all against them,I just enjoy any excuse to go to the second hand bookstore,and the whole experience of wonderment,contentment,and comfort, in being surrounded by so many fabulous books!!
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Post by joanne28 on Jun 26, 2010 2:11:07 GMT
C, I do love secondhand book stores. I seek them out everywhere. My ambition is to go to Hay-on-Wye, which apparently is the capital of secondhand book stores.
Amazon is much cheaper, I'm sure. And I could always find the books for myself. But it's much more fun to drop in on David and Sylvia, have them find it for me and spend time socializing and hanging out with them. They used to have a lovely beagle called Guthrie but he died 6 months ago.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2010 2:29:32 GMT
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Post by bjd on Jun 26, 2010 6:00:59 GMT
I read Watching the English about 2 years ago. Quite interesting, but it gets repetitive after a while.
Casimira, I went to the Strand when we were in NYC in 1998. As much as I like books and bookstores, I admit I was overwhelmed in there. The smell of dust and old paper were too much, there were just too many books or shelves that were too high up. I too dream of going to Hay-on-Wye.
I just finished a book by Timothy Garton Ash called Facts Are Subversive, political essays written during the first decade of the 21st century. Now I just started a Scandinavian detective story by Jo Nesbo -- a Norwegian.
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Post by onlymark on Jun 26, 2010 6:08:37 GMT
I have to get stuff from Amazon for logistical reasons.
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Post by joanne28 on Jun 26, 2010 14:02:38 GMT
bjd, I love that smell of dust & old books - how sad is that! But it can be overwhelming at times.
Mark, I understand your reason and a perfectly good one it is. My DH tries to limit me to 30 minutes in bookstores, mainly because we came back from our honeymoon with about 30 books from a fabulous store in Penticton, BC. Me online for books would make him nervous, I suspect.
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Post by onlymark on Jun 26, 2010 14:35:56 GMT
There are a couple of bookshops in Cairo with some good stuff, but it's more convenient for me to just order it to my UK address and pick it up on one of my numerous visits, if there is a specific book. Otherwise there is a bookshop in my local town there that does 3 books for 5 pounds, with some good titles, so I stock up there and bring them back as well.
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Post by joanne28 on Jun 27, 2010 21:40:13 GMT
3 books for 5 pounds sounds very reasonable to me. I've found many a little treasure that way. The good thing is - if you really don't like a book, the fact it was inexpensive makes it easier to get rid of.
Easier for me, I mean. I'm one of those packrats when it comes to books. I'm currently cataloguing mine & am up to around 600 with perhaps 3,000 to 3,500 to go. I'm doing a (very) little triage along the way.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2010 23:03:19 GMT
Yes, 18 miles of books of will produce some dust I'm afraid...particularly used books,and they have to put them up high for obvious reasons. I've never had a problem gaining access to what I see that may be of interest,they have those real cool ladders available as well. Not for everyone I guess... It's always one of the highlights of my trips to NYC. I usually plot out a whole half day to spend in there,and they will ship for you too!!!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 28, 2010 1:28:36 GMT
Yesterday I finished Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, by Paul Theroux. It is sublime: thoughtful, beautifully crafted, informative, and touching. This is a book that I will definitely read again and wholeheartedly recommend to everyone. I've read several reviews which do not conform to my great admiration and enjoyment of this book, and can only think the reviewers are stupid, small-minded, and or peevish because they wanted some other kind of book. Here is a review with which I concur: www.mcclelland.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780771085338 ================================================ Concurrently with the above, I was reading The Mark of the Angel by Nancy Huston. This book has won all kinds of prizes, but I found it terribly flawed and ultimately not only unsatisfying but over the top. It started quite well, with even some very improbable events being freely accepted by the reader. However, somewhere around the middle of the book, I sensed that the author was floundering about where to go next, and things sort of move along in the same direction until there is a flurry of plot concerning the war in Algeria, but with no real lead-up to this. By this time the end of the book is near, so it seemed the author decided to stuff the pages with details and statistics about the horrors suffered by the Algerians. Since this occurs almost as though an encyclopedia page got into the book by mistake, it is simply jarring and failed to engage me. ================================================ I just started a book by Kjell Eriksson. I was immediately & hugely impressed and will be reporting on it later in the Scandinavian mysteries thread.
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