What are we reading in June?

Just finished Peggy Riley's Amity and Sorrow, apparently so new that there's no touchstone for it. Very nice "spinning" narrative shifts (which you'll understand if you read the book). Explores life for mother and two daughters who flee that uniquely American religious institutions, the polygamous cult.

Liked the style, liked the exploration of character. Didn't like the fact that it went gothic at the end and missed an opportunity to say something deeper about the lasting effects cult life has on women. Invites comparisons with Room, which I could barely finish, but seemed unflinchingly real to the very end.

Am moving slowly through St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves short story collection between novels. Very enjoyable.

(Edited for poor proofing.)

1> Just finished the first story in St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves myself. On Kindle I'm reading Mudwoman, which is getting to be a bit of a slog. (Oooh, and I just realized I may have made an unintentional pun.)

>1 nohrt4me2:

curious as to why you could hardly finish room - was it the topic or the writing? also (it's off topic entirely so feel free to ignore me) do you really think that it's uniquely american to do the polygamy thing, or just the polygamous cult thing? just clarifying for my curiosity.

sorry, i'm in the middle of reading a few men right now - more in a row (about 8) than i've read in a long long time. looking forward to my ladies coming up again soon.

Elisa, I've come to appreciate "Room" more now that I have distance from it. I suppose it's testimony to the power of the book that I keep revolving it around in my head.

However, I still feel there is something manipulative and exploitative in these "snatched from the headlines" types of novels, and for that reason I found the book somewhat distasteful. Also it was very hard to read some of the graphic parts. (Others disagreed in a not-too-long ago thread where we hashed some of these ideas over.)

Uniquely American polygamous or free-sex cults which generally exploit female members, including underage girls, in various ways. See David Koresh or the Yearn for Zion Ranch. Even the Oneida Community, which touted egalitarian sexual mores, encouraged menopausal women to "introduce" young boys to sex.

The cult in "Amity and Sorrow" is an amalgamation of several of these cults.

i haven't really given that much thought, but yes, definitely manipulative and exploitative. not sure how i feel about it, keeping that in mind...

probably this belongs more in the feminist theory group but are you saying that polygamous groups or societies elsewhere in the world, and elsewhere in time (historical) are more egalitarian in principle and in practice? again, not arguing, just curious. i don't know much about it, aside from some fiction books i've read, but thought this wasn't uncommon elsewhere, too.

Oh, no, I'm not saying that polygamy or group marriage is more egalitarian, though "Amity and Sorrow" is not designed as an indictment of polygamy so much as an exploration of how those raised in an isolated cult will deal with the larger society when they leave.

The cult in "Amity and Sorrow" is something that Americans would immediately recognize because author Riley has constructed her fictional cult from bits that are familiar to us from news reports--polygamous, off the grid, stockpiles weapons, has a fixation on apocalyptic Christianity, run by a man with who says he's God, requires adherents to break all ties with friends and family and turn their money over to the cult leaders, imposes rules that purport to be Bible-based to keep people in line, etc. etc.

I'm reading a load of Barbara Pym novels at the moment, as there's a monthly readalong in the Virago group and it's her centenary month this month. Joy!

>6 nohrt4me2: i see. definitely pretty american specific with the weapons, apocalyptic christianity, etc. not like what you might find in polygamous groups, say, in africa. thanks for the explanation. sounds like an interesting read, although your description of the ending left something to be desired (in the book, not in your comment).

8: Ending aside, I thought the book was worthwhile. I don't want to offer too many spoilers, but I sometimes wonder if the subject material doesn't get under an author's skin and affect the tone or outcome of the book. Emma Donoghue seemed so angry in "Room" ... and I'm not sure that writing that kind of a story wouldn't make you angry.

7: I saw that B. Pym read over on Virago. Read Pym many years ago, and I've followed some of the threads, and they are fun.

I'm reading Bring up the bodies and Excellent women.

Nohrt4me2 - Thanks for all your thoughts on "Amity and Sorrow"--I'll look out for that one.

Late last month I read the wonderful First Fruits by Penelope Evans. I mention it because there are so few copies here at LT and I think a lot of people would enjoy it. The novel is about school girls in Scotland, and a very creepy minister father of the main character. I wrote a review on the book's page if you think you might be interested.

Recently I finished the wonderful Witch of Exmoor by Margaret Drabble, and now I'm reading Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively. The two books have some similarities that I might not have noticed if I hadn't read them back-to-back.

I've just started listening to the audiobook of Doc. I am skeptical about this one, since westerns are definitely not my usual fare, and I only rarely read historical novels. But I do adore Mary Doria Russell, and I think that I've read everything else that she's written. LibraryThing reviewers seemed to like this one, so maybe I will, too.

Accidentally read Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the dolls and what do you know, I come here to, basically, praise it. Not a literary masterpiece, but I like the message. The message is the opposite of the standard romantic fantasy (assuming standard romantic fantasy hadn't changed in the thirty or so years since I last read one) in every way. Love is difficult to find, and if/when you do, it won't be like you expect it to, and it won't last. Give people a chance to be friends, but do stock up on diamonds.

I wouldn't call it cynical (Brett Easton Ellis is cynical); merely clear-eyed.

>13 LolaWalser: how do you come to accidentally read a book?

When it falls into your hands from the sky, opens to chapter 1, and you realise only at chapter 34 that this is not Partial differential equations of mathematical physics you were MEANT to be reading!

:)

Actually, I fished it out of a dollar bin attracted by its pinkness (Grove Press edition with double cover); random encounter with a book I never planned nor was curious to read. Hence "accidentally".

i liked your first explanation better! ;)

Finished Bring up the bodies, and thought it was excellent in spite of me not being a fan of the prose. Even though I knew how it would end, I was still completely gripped. I'm very much looking forward to the end of the trilogy.

Now I'm reading a YA title, The raven boys by Maggie Stiefvater which, despite the title, has plenty of interesting females in it.

I finished and reviewed The Accursed by Joyce Carol Oates. I have to say I'm not a 100% fan of hers, some of her stuff just doesn't work for me, and I was worried that this might be one. The writing style is, should I say boring? She writes in the style of an early 20th century upper class American so, understated and repressed. But, once I got past the style, kind of once Upton Sinclair entered the picture, I was hooked on this very cleverly revealed Freudian Gothic novel. She's a talented woman.
Now I'm reading Skirt Steak: Women Chefs on Standing the Heat and Staying in the Kitchen by Charlotte Druckman and am once again wondering why any woman would be willing to put up with the crap they have to to succeed in this male dominated profession. She does give a list of pros and cons by one woman chef about why she's a chef. Essentially, she loves it. Well, loving what you do is an important part of a fulfilled life. But women have to put up with being denigrated, sworn at, called slut, whore, cunt, etc., even physically harmed to make a place in the kitchen. One woman I was pleased to note said that she put up with all the abuse and rose to the top of the kitchen, and she cautioned her female staff not to take the abuse personally, just to let it flow past them. After a while, for some reason, her ears opened and she heard the foul thing that were being said to her co-workers, and she changed her mind. She told them no one should have to put up with that kind of environment, and if they couldn't get it changed they should quit. At least now there are other places women can work, they don't have to cling to a spot in a horrible kitchen. I'm beginning to think there should be an agency to rate kitchens as hate free as in "In this restaurant the staff is encouraged and supported, never denigrated or made to feel less than human." I'd eat there.

Thanks for the thoughts about Oates "The Accursed." It's in my wishlist, but I was waffling about it.

God forgive me, I have become side-tracked by George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones. I clearly need big-time escapist fiction lately, what with finishing China Mieville's The Scar and Connie Willis's The Doomsday Book in the past six weeks.

I took a break from Moon Tiger when it got bogged down in WWII and read This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor, by Susan Wicklund. I was a fascinating, compelling read.

Has anyone one read What Soldiers Do: The American GI in World War II France by Mary Louise Roberts? She was interviewed on NPR this week, and it sounds like a very interesting read.

> 18 Wow, how horrible to hear that women chef are treated so hardly. Surprised to hear that given that the kitchen is traditionally considered "a woman's place," though I guess all bets are off once it becomes a profession ?

I'm currently reading a bloke book (although it is about a woman, The French Lieutenant's Woman, to be precise).

But earlier this month I read Glamour in Glass, the second in the Glamourist series (Regency romance with magic) which was good enjoyable fun. And I also read Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell, another delightful piece of fluff.

Noooo! I'm reading two books by men at the moment! I can't think when that last happened! I have had a bit of a Barbara Pym fest before that, though ...

I just finished P.S. Be Eleven, Rita Williams-Garcia's *****-sequel to One Crazy Summer, and should be posting a review in the next few days.

I do want to get around to a re-read of Things Fall Apart, since it figures in P.S. Be Eleven (just like Island of the Blue Dolphins figured in One Crazy Summer).

ETA: Here's my review.

I just started Gone Girl. It is a rare treat for me to read something this new. I usually get my reading material from the used book stores and even then it sits in my TBR pile. But a friend of mine just passed this on to me, and I hope that it is as much fun the reviews make it sound.

I'm now reading Annie Proulx' Bird Cloud which is about her family and her house. Very good so far. Atmospheric.

Still reading Game of Thrones, which is really a glorified comic book in somewhat stilted courtly prose, but about what I can deal with right now.

I see Karen Joy Fowler has a new one, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. I didn't read the NYT review about it because the first para of the review advised me not to. I put the book on my wishlist right away. Also Americanah by Adichie.

I've just started No fond return of love, this month's Barbara Pym group read.

>26 vwinsloe:, Gone Girl is such a strange read. A man in another group hated it because he thought it was completely sexist, denigrating men. I loved it but also thought it was completely sexist, denigrating women. Let us know what you think. That's a warped mind at work.
I've just started Life After Life by Kate Atkinson and am liking it very much. The oldest child, Morris, reminds me of Kevin in We Need to Talk About Kevin. I wonder if he'll end up the same even though living nearly a century earlier.

I am sure I read this a long time ago, but I saw Up the Down Staircase in ebook form and just had to get it.

>#30, I'm sure that is one thing that makes Gone Girl such a fascinating read. I didn't get much reading done over the weekend, so I am still not too far in, but what I am appreciating is the way that the author tells the story in layers, like gradually peeling an onion. Well crafted, and I think intentionally meant to have the reader's sympathies alternate between the two main characters.

This morning started Without a Summer, the third in Mary Robinette Kowal's Regency-era SF Glamourist Histories series.

Finished Without a Summer but moved on to Little Women, which I've never read before and for reasons I can't explain felt the urge to pick up.

Thoroughly enjoyed Eudora Welty's The Optimist's Daughter, but now I'm immersed in Ana Menendez for an essay I'm writing. Her story collections, In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd and Adios, Happy Homeland! are better (and they're very good) than her novel, Loving Che (which was OK).

34> I think I must have read Little Women about 10 times when I was a kid, but I don't think I'd pick it up now. If I were going for an Alcott reread, I'd start with Eight Cousins.

I discovered a listen to read Little Women and a bunch of other classics on audiobook for 99 cents. It's sort of elaborate--I did it through Audible. You go to audible.com, search on whispersync and there's an advertisement for a bunch of books that are listed as 99 cents. You have to go over to amazon and get those books free there first. Otherwise, they're regular price at audible. Once you've loaded the free books on kindle (or computer) then you head back to audible and get the 99 cent specials.

The readers are professional. So far I've listened to a Wodehouse book and The Scarlet Pimpernel (Wowza, that thing is purple) and Little Women. I think there might be another Alcott book or two listed.

No fond return of love was excellent, as funny and insightful as the other novels by Pym that I've read this year.

Now I'm reading The starboard sea, a debut novel set in a New England prep school. I do love boarding school stories, even though I'd have been utterly miserable if I'd had to go to one.

finally back to women! am starting femme d'adventure today

just read maeve binchy's a Week in Winter. I always start her books annoyed that she gets away with so much telling rather than showing....and then I get sucked right in and stop noticing. It wasn't my favorite of hers but I'm glad I read it. Some of the short character stories were lovely and, as usual, they wove together well.

a Barbara Pym group? Yes! Yes!

I'm starting The Sky People by Maori writer Patricia Grace.

Good way into Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. Not sure where this is heading, but I like the shifting narrative style.

Also read first four installments of Margaret Atwood's dystopian serial, Positron: In a closed community, half the population lives in prison for a month while the other half lives in the community, working to support the prison and community needs. The next month, everybody switches places.

It's a little ridiculous, but it gives Atwood a chance to exercise her dark humor and explore her favorite topics of repression and exploitation. There are sexbots.

just starting chocolat by joanne harris; not sure about it so far (40ish pages in) but it's starting to capture my attention. planning on reading all 3 in the series in one shot (that's how i always read series).

I am beginning Interpreter of Maladies. I find that I like it better than The Namesake, which I thought was kind of dreary, weary sad, although beautifully written.

>45 krazy4katz: that's funny. i really liked interpreter of maladies but almost gave myself an apoplexy by how much i loved the namesake

(edited to fix typo)

46> Could have been my mood. I was feeling dreary weary myself and was looking for a distraction. Instead The Namesake portrayed so many of our emotional insecurities and inability to predict the future along with the dissonance of growing up in a family that Gogol felt was not mainstream enough for his comfort.

In Interpreter of Maladies I find some of the same themes and anxieties, but the stories are short, so I don't get so invested in the people improving their lives. I was frustrated with Gogol, I admit.

k4k

> 47 to be sure, the namesake isn't a distraction read. too intense.

>47 krazy4katz: & 48. The Interpreter of Maladies may be my favorite short story of all times. I didn't care for The Namesake at all. I read Unaccustomed Earth not long ago and liked it quite a bit. My conclusion is that I like Jhumpa Lahiri's writing best in a short story/novella format.

Enjoyed Where'd You Go, Bernadette, but felt that the title and cover art that put it in the chicklit genre, was misleading. This novel isn't about chicks, and it isn't about love and romance. The title character is too old, crazy, and antisocial for that.



At least it's not one of those covers that doesn't show the "faceless woman." That trend, discussed here about a year ago, showed up today in the NYT Book Review: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/books/review/show-some-spine.html?ref=review&a...

(Edited to show the book cover)

>#50. Ah,, the old cover bait and switch. It's gotten a bit of discussion at Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/07/coverflip-maureen-johnson_n_3231935.htm...

Definitely, a dumb publishing trend.

#50 - Thanks for posting that link. I'll repost it to the thread where I've been having this ongoing conversation.

And a thread where 75'ers are posting covers for a June challenge called "Read a book where a person is featured on the cover but that person's face isn't seen "

http://www.librarything.com/topic/154747

> 50 I don't know, I didn't think of "chick lit" at all when I saw the cover and read the title. It seemed like it would be something quirky, and I'm thinking about reading it.