What are you reading the week of May 13, 2023?

I finished The Waves Extinguish the Wind by the Strugatsky brothers. The ending was better than the middle section, which was a pseudo-scientific, mystical bit of gibberish that didn't seem related to the rest of the novel. Or perhaps I was just in a bad mood. Certainly, this late (1986) novel by the Strugatskys was a weak example of their work.

I also read Maigret's Pickpocket which was one of Simenon's better entries in the series.

Now I've circled back to finish reading Lynne Olsen's Empress of the Nile.

Alternating between Culture in Nazi Germany, The Jasmine Throne, and The Other Modern Movement.

Finished Light Has Weight, but Darkness Does Not by Dean Koontz and started the 5th story in the series, Corkscrew.

I'm reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus for book club, and it's very good so far.

I'm close to finishing up the enjoyable On the Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin. After that I'll be diving into the Decameron.

>4 PaperbackPirate: - I've been wanting to read that. I'm glad to hear that you're liking it.
>5 rocketjk: - I have that on my shelf, but haven't read it yet. I loved his book 'In Patagonia', but I believe that 'On the Black Hill' is fiction?

I just finished reading a Canadian graphic novel, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton. It's a memoir about her two years working near Fort McMurray, saving to pay off her student loans. It was very well done, but the sexual harrassment in it really got me down, which is her point, really. I would not have the strength of will to work in such a place, where men outnumber women 50:1.

Listened to the audiobook Run Away by Harlan Coben this week. It started off really promisingly, but some of the plot points were cliche, and others downright unbelievable. I have ranked it as "okay".

>6 ahef1963: Yes, On the Black Hill is a novel about farm life in rural Wales from 1899 through the 1950s.

Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna – Alda P Dobbs
4****

Set during the Mexican Revolution of 1913, this novel is based on the author’s family history. When he was forcibly taken by federal troops to join the war, thirteen-year-old Petra promised her father that she would keep the family together until they could be reunited. Now those same Federales have burned her village and she, her grandmother, younger sister, Amelia, and baby brother, Luisito, must flee across the desert.

This is a marvelous story of courage in the face of adversity, easily enjoyed by middle-school children as well as adults. Petra is a wonderful character: strong, intelligent, observant, loyal, resourceful and a born leader. She is NOT going to be one of the women her grandmother insists she is destined to become: subservient, obedient, quiet, content to be at home caring for her husband and children. No, Petra has bigger dreams. She will learn to read and to care for herself.

On their dangerous trek towards the promised safety of the “other side” (i.e. the United States), Petra encounters a few people who help her and who nourish her dreams. She also learns from her grandmother’s experience, and always keeps in mind her promise to her father.

Petra carries her most treasured possession with her: a lump of coal her father brought her from the mine he worked. He explained how diamonds are formed by the pressure exerted on such black rocks. Petra contemplates how the pressures she is enduring are also forming her strong character. Like her rock, she is a “baby diamond” who will one day sparkle and shine.

Dobbs includes notes about how her own great-grandmother related her story of fleeing their village for the safety of the United States. Those stories sparked curiosity and Dobbs went searching for confirming details in recorded news accounts of the day. She includes a timeline of Mexican history leading to the critical events depicted in the book.

Inheritance: A Visual Poem – Elizabeth Acevedo
Illustrated by Andrea Pippin.
4****

“Some people tell me to ‘fix’ my hair
And by fix, they mean straighten;
They mean whiten”

A wonderful essay told in verse of the Afro-Latinidad experience, when even other Dominicans have “swallowed amnesia” because “it is easier” than living ”in this reality.” In this short work she addresses more than just hair; she tackles skin tone, slavery, relationships, immigration, prejudice, power and self-worth.

Pippin’s illustrations are wonderful – so colorful and detailed. They include eye-popping graphics and occasional focus on just one strand of curly hair.

“Some people tell me to fix my hair …
All I can reply is
You can’t fix what was never broken.”

started this audio via Libby ~

Shattered (A Michael Bennett Thriller, 14)
by James Patterson

Finished Corkscrew by Dean Koontz and started the last story in the series, Zero In. So far, Corkscrew is the best of this batch of stories.

The House on Mango Street – Sandra Cisneros
Audiobook read by the author
5*****

This is the story of Esperanza Cordero who lives in a poor section of Chicago and struggles to stay in school. At the time it was published there were few coming-of-age stories that portrayed people of color and the challenges of living in an inner city.

Cisneros began her writing career as a poet and those roots clearly show in the book. The short chapters are vignettes of Esperanza’s life. She witnesses the neighbors who fight, the boys who look at her, the women who nurture, the shopkeepers who are kind and those who sneer, the teachers who encourage young dreams, the effects of poverty and lack of education, and the promise of more. Esperanza talks about her feelings – how happy she is to have a garden to play in, how frightened of the man who gives off a bad vibe, how envious of an older girl who “paints her Egyptian eyes,” how frustrated by a younger sister, how embarrassed by her poverty.

My sister-in-law introduced me to Cisneros' works, and I immediately fell in love with the author. There is something about her writing that just speaks to my soul. I recommended her works to two book clubs who found them to have "too much Spanish," but when I recently suggested Cisneros to a book group that focuses on Latinx authors, she found an appreciative audience.

I've read this book (and the companion Woman Hollering Creek) at least 3 times.

Cisneros narrated the audiobook herself. She has a perfect “young” voice for Esperanza: eager and curious and sad and confused and sassy and happy and hopeful.

UPDATED review: I rated it 5***** when I first read it in 1995. I had not read anything like it before and it made a big impact on me. I won’t lower the rating now, though I would probably give it 4**** today.

The Last Midwife – Sandra Dallas
3.5***

Gracy Brookens is the only midwife in the small Colorado mining town where she and her husband live. She’s delivered hundreds, if not thousands of babies, and the women of Swandyke trust and depend on her. But when a baby is found dead, and the father accuses Gracy of killing the child, she has to face the fact that some people in town are NOT on her side.

I was interested in the birthing stories, and in the ways in which Gracy worked among both the men and women of the community. With her knowledge of herbs and home remedies, her calm, steady presence in a crisis, and her willingness to attend to anyone, she’s the one who’s always been called upon, whether it’s to birth a baby, help treat a fever or stitch up a wound. She’s a marvelously strong woman, and over the course of the novel we learn a few of her own heartaches and how she’s overcome and persevered.

I liked the relationship between Gracy and her husband, Daniel. This is a good marriage, not a perfect one, and they certainly have their ups and downs. I also liked the friendship between the Brookens and sheriff John Miller, and the friendship between Gracy and the young woman, Mittie.

I actually guessed the big reveal fairly early on, but Dallas put plenty of red herrings in the story to make me question my assumptions. There were times when I thought the whole murder mystery was a bit too contrived, but it certainly held my attention. My F2F book club will be discussing it in December and I’m eager to hear what others thought of it.

Finished Zero In by Dean Koontz. Sad ending. Added Travel by Bullet by John Scalzi to my rotation.

Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her
Melanie Rehak
5/5 stars
Rehak tells the fascinating story of how book serials began. These serials included The Bobbsey Twins, Hardy Boys and in particular the Nancy Drew stories which were written by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Mildred Benson. Harriet Stratemeyer’s father had started the business in which he wrote the synopsizes and then farmed them out to other authors to flesh out the stories. These books took off and became a worldwide phenomenon and are still popular.

I finished Bruce Chatwin's On the Black Hill, which is about two-thirds an historical novel, as it follows a Welsh farming family, and particularly a pair of twin brothers, from the turn of the 20th century into the 1980s. Lovely writing with lots of acute insight into human nature, but also the psychological dangers of living too insular a life. I found it to be a very enjoyable book in many ways, but not a relaxing novel. Chatwin was born in England rather than Wales, but he seems to have had a strong if somewhat romanticized grasp of Welsh farm life through the 20th century. My moderately longer review is posted on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

Next up, I'll finally be taking on The Decameron. I have a 1931 Modern Library edition with the original English translation, completed in the 1880s I believe, by John Payne. 800 pages of small print and Victorian Era English. What could go wrong? Seriously, though, I'm looking forward to it all and not planning to rush. So I'll be a while.

Re-reading from the library: The Sisters of Sea View by Julie Klassen
It's the 1st installment of "On Devonshire Shores" series. When the Summers sisters learn there's not enough money to keep their home, they open a guest house in their seaside town on the English coast. Similar to the author's first series Tales From Ivy Hill.

The 2nd book A Winter by the Sea will be released in December 2023.

The Paris Hours – Alex George
3.5***

Paris 1927. Home to Josephine Baker, Maurice Ravel, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway and Marcel Proust, among others. But in addition to the many famous “lost generation” members, the City of Light was also home to many who led much quieter lives. George tells the story of four such souls, whose stories converge over the course of one day and night in Paris.

These four people are working hard but not succeeding at what they most want. One is a survivor of the Armenian genocide and suffers great guilt that his family perished. A painter and a writer struggle to produce the kind of work that will fully express their thoughts, hopes, disappointments, and dreams (and achieve financial success as well). And a woman is consumed by her job and the devotion she shows to her employer. They all mourn what they have lost and struggle to find a way forward. Some scenes are difficult to read about. Oh, how my heart aches for them!

I’ve read many a book with multiple perspectives, but this felt fresh and new. George deftly handled these different storylines to produce a cohesive tale. Despite the constant change in point of view and some long reminiscences that took me farther into the past of each character, I never lost interest in where it was going. The connections between the characters really didn’t gel until the last couple of chapters, and the ending was a nice surprise.

George used the setting of 1920s Paris to full advantage. The characters have interactions with the famous, sometimes just a small touch (one character hears a pianist playing the same piece every day in the apartment downstairs … it is Ravel), others enjoy a significant relationship (another character is Proust’s trusted maid).

I finished The Pathfinder which is a tale of a noble woodsman and a fair damsel as he guides her past the perils of Indians and the French in the wilderness on Lake Ontario. Suspense, intriguing characters and adventure.

I'm very much enjoying Donal Ryan's The Queen of Dirt Island and very glad that I read Strange Flowers first.

I Am the Messenger – Markus Zusak
Book on CD read by Marc Aden Gray
2**

From the book jacket: Ed Kenney is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He’s pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

My reactions
Water The Flowers.

I picked this up because I enjoyed Zusak’s The Book Thief and was hoping for … well, not more of the same, but something that would spark some of the same feelings I had reading that work.

I liked Ed well enough. He’s nineteen and struggling with what to do with his life. But when put to the test he rises to the occasion and figures out ways to help all those he’s directed to help. I loved a couple of the scenarios: the priest, the running girl, the elderly widow, and the family with the Christmas lights; but found several others really puzzling or even distasteful. I have no idea what the purpose was of Daryl and Keith.

In the end, I wound up confused about what was actually going on and found the entire premise rather unbelievable. Zusak joins the likes of author John Boyne for me – an author I’ve enjoyed at least once, perhaps even loved, but who is just as likely to completely disappoint me in another work .

Marc Aden Gray does a good job of narrating the audiobook, although his Aussie accent was a bit thick for me at times. I was glad I had the text handy so I could a read some of the passages when I wasn’t quite sure what I had just listened to. That’s not his fault, necessarily,

The new thread is up over here.