Thoughts on TRUE BIZ by Sara Nović

True Biz by Sara Nović

Random House, 2022

386 pages

Source: ebook borrowed from library

Motivation for reading: MMD book club September selection

Summary (from goodreads):

The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history finals, and have politicians, doctors, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they'll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who's never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school's golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the headmistress, who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another's—and changed forever.

This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, disability and civil rights, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and, above all, great persistence, daring, and joy. Absorbing and assured, idiosyncratic and relatable, this is an unforgettable journey into the Deaf community and a universal celebration of human connection.

My thoughts:

Overall, I liked this book. I was unfamiliar with both Deaf culture and issues faced by the community, and this novel offered a way in. It introduced me to fundamentals of Deaf history, basic principles of signing, and the controversy surrounding sign language and the use of cochlear implants. Interspersed periodically between chapters were short nonfiction "lesson plans" - a creative feature which I enjoyed.

But there were some negatives, too. The novel had more of a didactic and YA (young adult) feel than I was expecting, plus the story dragged in the middle. 

The book club's author talk featured the author plus a sign language interpreter with Anne Bogel, and it was so interesting to watch! I never would have chosen this book on my own and appreciate the opportunity to learn about Deaf culture through MMD.

My rating:

⭐⭐⭐

The Pete Hamill Post, Redux

I was saddened to learn of Pete Hamill's death this morning and would like to share a post originally published here on January 8, 2010. 

 

The Pete Hamill Post

(AP photo/Bebeto Matthews)

When Pete Hamill's name appeared on the speaker list for the Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series, it wasn't immediately familiar. After a quick search, I remembered hearing about Snow in August,  but didn't know much about his career in journalism. A few months later, two of his books were on my 2009 list of favorites, his lecture was fantastic, and I am officially a fan!

After years of thinking, my book club finally took the plunge and eight of us purchased season tickets for the Gifford series. The group had been struggling with selections, and the lectures provided built-in reading material while infusing much-needed enthusiasm. Since previous authors focused on their most recent books, we chose North River for our December meeting.

After just a few pages, I loved it! Set in New York City during the Depression, it features mobsters and political corruption, but mostly revolves around Dr. James Delaney, a GP wounded in WWI and deserted by his both his wife and daughter, who one day finds his two year old grandson, dropped at his doorstep. Delaney, still struggling with war wounds and abandonment, hires Rose, a Sicilian illegal immigrant, as housekeeper and surrogate mother to Carlito, and a make-shift family is formed.

"Hamill has crafted a beautiful novel, rich in New York City detail and ambiance, that showcases the power of human goodness and how love, in its many forms, can prevail in an unfair world." (from Publisher's Weekly)

North River  has it all - beautiful writing, wonderful characters, and a setting rich in detail. Check out the few sentences I highlighted in this Teaser Tuesdays post.

After finishing North River, I wanted to read another of Hamill's books immediately. My choice was an audio version of the nonfiction Downtown: My Manhattan, read by the author.

Hamill is an excellent narrator, and Downtown: My Manhattan  ended up being my favorite nonfiction book of the year. It's a fascinating look at the history of Manhattan with bits of Hamill's life woven in. It covers everything from baseball to vaudeville, and architecture to politics. Hamill's love of the city is obvious throughout. While listening to him describe Trinity Church and its surroundings, I was wishing he would record narrated walking tours of Manhattan!

Finally, it was the evening of the lecture. As luck would have it, the weather was simply miserable and half the group didn't make it, but those that did were enthralled for 90 minutes. Hamill talked more about his life and experiences than the books he's written. He talked of his love for libraries ("temples of wisdom") and books, and the power of words. At 75, he's rereading many of his favorite books, and finds them even richer with the perspective gained from a "life lived".

As Hamill talked about print journalism, I was amazed to learn that 70% of the cost of a newspaper is in the delivery - the paper and ink, trucks and gas. He believes in the future of journalism, but sees a new model of delivery evolving.

We loved hearing about Hamill's childhood. We were taken with his humor, as well as his humility, and decided he'd be an asset to any dinner party! Since it's doubtful I'll ever find myself on the same guest list, reading more of his books will have to do.

The lecture series takes a short hiatus during the winter months (what writer would come to Syracuse in February?) and resumes in March with Richard Russo.

This Week's Read: Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

Prologue 

All the dying that summer began with the death of a child, a boy with golden hair and thick glasses, killed on the railroad tracks outside New Bremen, Minnesota, sliced into pieces by a thousand tons of steel speeding across the prairie toward South Dakota. His name was Bobby Cole. He was a sweet-looking kid and by that I mean he had eyes that seemed full of dreaming and he wore a half smile as if he was just about to understand something you'd spent an hour trying to explain. I should have known him better, been a better friend. He lived not far from my house and we were the same age. But he was two years behind me in school and might have been held back even more except for the kindness of certain teachers. He was a small kid, a simple child, no match at all for the diesel-fed drive of a Union Pacific locomotive.

Ordinary Grace
by William Kent Krueger

I added this title to my goodreads list in 2014 on the recommendation of several trusted blogging friends. Five years later I'm finally  going to read it, thanks to my book club. I borrowed the ebook from the library, but also seem to remember praise for the audio version. If that's the case, I may see if that's available, too. Either way, I'm looking forward to starting this book!

Here is the goodreads summary:

New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961. The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were selling out at the soda counter of Halderson’s Drugstore, and Hot Stuff comic books were a mainstay on every barbershop magazine rack. It was a time of innocence and hope for a country with a new, young president. But for thirteen-year-old Frank Drum it was a grim summer in which death visited frequently and assumed many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder.  

Frank begins the season preoccupied with the concerns of any teenage boy, but when tragedy unexpectedly strikes his family— which includes his Methodist minister father; his passionate, artistic mother; Juilliard-bound older sister; and wise-beyond-his-years kid brother— he finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal, suddenly called upon to demonstrate a maturity and gumption beyond his years.

Told from Frank’s perspective forty years after that fateful summer, Ordinary Grace is a brilliantly moving account of a boy standing at the door of his young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him. It is an unforgettable novel about discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God.

What do you think? Would you continue reading? Have you already read this book?

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intro is hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach.

Current Reading: Where the Crawdads Sing

Prologue

1969

Marsh is not a swamp. Marsh is a space of light, where grass grows in water, and water flows into the sky. Slow-moving creeks wander, carrying the orb of the sun with them to the sea, and long-legged birds lift with unexpected grace - as though not built to fly - against the roar of a thousand snow geese.

Where the Crawdads Sing
by Delia Owens, narrated by Cassandra Campbell

I wasn't planning to read this book. At least, not yet. It's almost too popular and there's so much hype... but my book club in NY will discuss it in early June. The meeting is just days after we get back. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again, so I started listening last night.

As you can tell from the quote above, the writing is lyrical, evocative of place, and quite beautiful. It almost feels like I'm missing some of that by listening. I'm wondering about downloading the ebook as well...


Here's the goodreads summary:

For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life–until the unthinkable happens. 

Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Karen Russell, Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

What do you think? Would you continue reading? Or have you already read this one?

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intro is hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach.

Book Club Read: Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

 Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI 

by David Grann

Vintage paperback, 2018

321 pages

(purchased)

audio version

narrated by Will Patton, Ann Marie Lee, Danny Campbell

Random House Audio, 2017

9 hours and 4 minutes

(downloaded from the library via Overdrive)

It's been over a month and I still  haven't written anything about this book. Why am I having such a hard time? Basically...

• the book was full of fascinating information
• I was exposed to a particularly unsavory period of history
• I learned a lot, but have very little to say

I liked//
- The structure... told in three sections and from three points-of-view: a member of the Osage tribe, a law-enforcement official, and a journalist
- The feeling of history unfolding as I read/listened

I didn't care for//
- The audio version... though the structure lends itself to multiple narrators, none seemed quite right. The middle section was downright annoying at times.
- There was not a lot to discuss, so probably not an ideal book club selection. Our conversation never moved much beyond "I never knew anything about this" or "here's what I found particularly interesting..."

Book club reaction//
Everyone finished the book (!) and appreciated learning about an unknown aspect of our history, but nobody loved it.

If you read it//
I recommend the print edition... plenty of photos are included.

My rating//

The Sunday Salon: July 9, 2017

Reading, but not writing... that's where I am now. Does it happen to you, too? I finish a book, reflect for a while, rate it on goodreads, and then I'm ready to dive into another. Here is my modest attempt to keep up.

Finished//

Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope

It took a month, but last week I finished the second book in Trollope's Palliser series, Phineas Finn ... 750+ pages and I was sorry to reach the end. Over the past two and a half years, I've read eight of Trollope's novels and don't plan to stop any time soon. There's nothing like catching a glimpse into Victorian England through his eyes. Trollope was a keen observer of society and his characters allow the reader to enter that world.

The political aspect of the Palliser series initially worried me. Would it be overwhelming or just plain dull? The answer, fortunately, is no. As the church and ecclesiastical life were to The Barsetshire Chronicles, politics is to the Pallisers. It provides a foundation for the lives of men... while women's lives are centered around men - their occupations, finances, and ambition. If a woman is lucky enough to possess money of her own, she may have some degree of power.

For me, the main draw of a Trollope novel is always his characters... and in particular, the women. While I eventually warmed to Phineas Finn, it was Lady Laura Standish, Violet Effingham, and Madame Max Goesler who kept me turning the pages. By the end of the book I was not ready to let any of the characters go. Trollope returns to Phineas in book 4, Phineas Redux, but The Eustace Diamonds is up next.

Thank you Audrey and Lisa for reading with me... should we do this again in the fall?

The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

It's time for Paris in July again and I decided to begin with this short, sweet, romantic novel. It involves a mugging, a designer handbag, a red moleskin notebook, a Modiano novel, a bookseller, and a bit of a mystery... all set in Paris, of course. At 160 pages, it was a pure delight to read. I highly recommend it.

Have you noticed the emails goodreads sends after finishing a book? Initially I thought they were silly, but after completing The Red Notebook this morning, they suggested I might like The People in the Photo by Hélène Gestern. Winner of fifteen literary awards, this "dark yet touching drama deftly explores the themes of blame and forgiveness, identity and love." The debut novel will be my next stop for Paris in July.  It should be available at the library by next weekend. I'll keep you posted.



Current reading//

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

I'm reading this with James and friends for his Jane Austen Read All A-long. It's been two years since I last read Jane Austen and over a decade for this novel in particular. Last night I read the first chapter and fell in love with Jane's writing and story all over again.

Listening to//

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren 

This book seemed to be everyone's favorite during Nonfiction November last year, so I was glad my book club decided to read it. About halfway through, I'm feeling completely out of sync with popular opinion... it's just okay. The author's narration isn't grabbing me either, despite the overall 4.4 rating on audible. Maybe the second half will be better?

I'll leave you with this photo of Zelda enjoying a cruise around the lake. That's my daughter off to the right... she always brings a book on the boat. What have you been been reading these past couple of weeks?

Circling the Sun, West With the Night, and my book club

I was disappointed when my book club selected Circling the Sun by Paula McLain for our May discussion. I listened to McLain's earlier novel, The Paris Wife, in 2011 and thought it was a good book, but not a great one. Still, I resolved to give her latest a try. After a winter in Florida, I missed my book club and wasn't about to go to the meeting without having read the book.

Basically, the novel is a fictionalized biography of Beryl Markham, who is perhaps best known as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west. She was also an accomplished horse trainer and lived in Africa for most of her life.

I opted for a read/listen combination, borrowing the book from the library and using an audible credit to download the audiobook narrated by Katharine McEwan. McEwan's narration is excellent and easily pulled me into the story. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Markham's childhood in Africa, career as a horse trainer, friendship with Karen Blixen (Out of Africa author), and her many affairs.

Yet there was a good deal of frustration, too. Beryl Markham was a real person, so which parts were fact and which were products of the author's imagination? This is a problem I have with all fictionalized biographies... and why they usually end up sending me in search of the real thing.

In this case, the real thing is West With the Night by Beryl Markham. Again, I borrowed the book from the library and downloaded the audio version narrated by the late Anna Fields. It was a pleasure to hear Field's voice again, but I had a much harder time getting into this one.

Markham doesn't let the reader get as close as the fictional Beryl in Circling the Sun does. Her feelings seem to be wholly absent from the book. She obviously loves Africa and her work (horses and flying), but there is very little here about relationships. Her emotional self and personal life remain an enigma. When Denys Hatton-Finch dies in a plane crash, there is no hint of anything more than a working relationship between the two them. (Perhaps that was a fictional aspect of Circling the Sun?) Markham's mother and Karen Blixen are not even mentioned.

West With the Night does provide wonderful descriptions of Africa, as well as stories of Markham's work as a horse trainer and her experiences as a pilot. That is more than enough to make this an interesting memoir.

A couple of quotes:

"Africa is mystic; it is wild; it is a sweltering inferno; it is a photographer's paradise, a hunter's Valhalla, an escapist's Utopia. It is what you will, and it withstands all interpretations."  

"You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people than you know about yourself. You learn to watch other people, but you never watch yourself because you strive against loneliness. If you read a book, or shuffle a deck of cards, or care for a dog, you are avoiding yourself. The abhorrence of loneliness is as natural as wanting to live at all. If it were otherwise, men would never have bothered to make an alphabet, nor to have fashioned words out of what were only animal sounds, nor to have crossed continents -- each man to see what the other looked like."

My final thoughts:

I enjoyed the Circling the Sun and rated it 4 stars. West With the Night  was a very good memoir, but not what I was expecting. For that reason, I ended up giving it 3 stars.

I'm certain I would have liked West With the Night  more if I'd read it before the novel. That way, the novel could have filled in the blanks left by the memoir. Instead, the memoir failed to provide the answers I sought. However, since Markham's personal account is so vague, I now understand the motivation for writing a novel.

Book club meeting:

Six of us met for coffee on a Friday morning, and five had read the entire book. I thought this would have been a very popular selection but, surprisingly, I enjoyed it more than most of the others. I was also the only one compelled to seek out the memoir.

We spent some time bemoaning the current popularity of fictionalized biographies, discussing our frustrations with that type of novel, and wondering how much longer the trend will continue. We also shared our experiences with the author's previous book (not a book club selection, but one most of us had read) and compared it to Circling the Sun.

We spent a great deal of time talking about Markham herself and how she was a woman ahead of her time. Her life was certainly remarkable, but not especially shocking by today's standards. We also discussed life in Africa, both during Markham's time and today, and even took a little detour into the world of "Glamping" and safaris.

Next month we will discuss Nobody's Fool  by Richard Russo.

Tuesday Intro: The Red Garden

THE BEAR'S HOUSE 

The town of Blackwell, Massachusetts, changed it name in 1786. It had been called Bearsville when it was founded in 1750, but it quickly became apparent that a name such as that did little to encourage new settlers. True, there were nearly as many black bears in the woods then as there were pine trees, but there were also more eel in the river than there were ferns sprouting on the banks. You could stick your hand into the murky green shallows and catch half a dozen of the creatures without using bait. If you ventured waist-high you'd be surrounded in moments. Yet none considered calling the village Eelsville, even though people ate eel pie on a regular basis and many of the men wore eelskin belts and boots. They said wearing eel made them lucky at cards, but when it came to the rest of life, love for instance, they had no luck at all.

The Red Garden
by Alice Hoffman

It's always tricky choosing the December book club selection. Everyone is so busy. That means nothing too long or too "hard", and, since it's the holiday season, nothing too depressing. We finally settled on The Red Garden  and are hoping it meets all the requirements.

The main attraction for me is the structure. A series of connected stories, moving forward over a period of 200 years, provides a history of one small town in the Berkshire mountains.

Here is the goodreads summary:

The Red Garden  introduces us to the luminous and haunting world of Blackwell, Massachusetts, capturing the unexpected turns in its history and in our own lives.
In exquisite prose, Hoffman offers a transforming glimpse of small-town America, presenting us with some three hundred years of passion, dark secrets, loyalty, and redemption in a web of tales where characters' lives are intertwined by fate and by their own actions. 

From the town's founder, a brave young woman from England who has no fear of blizzards or bears, to the young man who runs away to New York City with only his dog for company, the characters in The Red Garden are extraordinary and vivid: a young wounded Civil War soldier who is saved by a passionate neighbor, a woman who meets a fiercely human historical character, a poet who falls in love with a blind man, a mysterious traveler who comes to town in the year when summer never arrives. 

At the center of everyone's life is a mysterious garden where only red plants can grow, and where the truth can be found by those who dare to look.

What do you think? Would you keep reading?

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening. Feel free to grab the banner and play along.

Book Club Meeting: Out Stealing Horses

Out Stealing Horses
by Per Petterson
Graywolf Press, 2007
258 pages
source: purchased

The meeting that almost wasn't...

Our hostess lost power a few hours before the meeting and a series of urgent group texts ensued. Will the power come back in time? Should we change the location? To the local coffee shop? Hey, it's 4 PM on Friday, wouldn't a bar be better? Finally, thirty minutes before the meeting, power was restored and seven of us gathered as originally planned. (Wine was served!)

The book: 
- an older man, in a remote cottage, reflects upon a life-changing youthful summer
 - quiet, slightly melancholy, atmospheric, and visual
 - translated from Norwegian

As I was reading:
- I realized I'd started the book years ago and never finished
- the writing style was very appealing
- I switched to the audio version and loved the narration
- I got a little bored about two thirds of the way through

The discussion:
- Everyone read the book! (that doesn't always happen)
- We stayed on topic for the entire meeting (also a rarity)
- The discussion opened up plot possibilities/angles I hadn't considered
- Other members liked the book slightly more than I did
- We would all read more from this author

Favorite Quotes:

Time is important to me now, I tell myself. Not that it should pass quickly or slowly, but be only time, be something I live inside and fill with physical things and activities that I can divide it up by, so that it grows distinct to me and does not vanish when I am not looking.   

I look at myself in the mirror above the sink. The face there is no different from the one I expected to see at the age of sixty-seven. In that way I am in time with myself. Whether I like what I see is a different question. But it is of no importance. There are not many people I am going to show myself to, and I only have one mirror. To tell the truth, I have nothing against the face in the mirror. I acknowledge it, I recognize myself. I cannot ask for more. 

My rating:
Initially 3.5 stars, but 4 after further thought and discussion

The Sunday Salon: October 4, 2015

Happy Sunday, friends. This post is coming to you a little later than usual because the weekend just got away from me. They seem to get shorter and shorter, don't you think?

We finally broke down and turned on the heat yesterday morning. Overnight lows dipped down into the 30s, and I was forced to wear socks for the first time in five months. Thanks to those chilly temperatures, peak fall color is fast approaching. There should be a dazzling show by next weekend!

Finished this week//

Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg

This book lives up to all the praise you've been hearing - 5 stars!

Current reading//

The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Trollope? 

Favorite quotes from this week's reading:

Let her who is 40 call herself 40; but if she can be young in spirit at 40, let her show that she is so. 

The little sacrifices of society are all made by women, as are also the great sacrifices of life.

Up next//

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

A library book I'm dying to read... and the due date is looming.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Admittedly outside my comfort zone. I've never read Gaiman, but am tempted by this readlaong  at Bookfoolery. Besides, it will help will my less than stellar RIP effort this year. I'll make a decision soon. Have you read this one?


On the blog//
Book Brief: So We Read On: How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures by Maureen Corrigan
Pages From the Past: My 2001 Reading Journal
Tuesday Intro: Did You Ever Have a Family


Book club meeting//

I hosted our monthly book club meeting on Friday. We generally meet in the morning, but gathered at 4:00 this time and had a near-record ten members attend. There was a very lively discussion of Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande. Most found it to be a difficult read due to the subject mater, but we unanimously agreed that it was important to do so. My review is here.

Next month we will discuss Out Stealing Horses by Per Pettersen.
Are you in a book club? Which book has generated the best discussion this year?


That's about all from me this week. What's new with you? Did you read anything good last week?

This post will link to It's Monday, What Are You Reading?  hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Book Brief: The Sabbathday River

The Sabbathday River
by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999
499 pages
source: borrowed from the library
click here for goodreads summary

One sentence summary:
Set in a small town near Hanover, New Hampshire, The Sabbathday River  borrows elements from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter  to tell a story of infanticide and the resulting trial.

My thoughts:
I read this page-turner for my book club and we found plenty of discussion-worthy legal, medical, and social issues. But the novel, published in 1999 and set in 1985, felt somewhat dated. This quote, for example, made me laugh out loud... probably because I remember using the Index Medicus.

"One day this [medical research studies] will all be on computer, you know, and you'll be able to just look it up. But for now it's a matter of slogging through the literature, and there's a good deal of it out there."

Jean Hanff Korelitz has written several other novels including A Jury of Her Peers, The White Rose, Admission, and most recently You Should Have Known (which is on my kindle). Have you read this author?

My rating:

Tuesday Intro: In the Time of Butterflies

Chapter One:  Dedé, 1994 and circa 1943 

She is plucking her bird of paradise of its dead branches, leaning around the plant every time she hears a car. The woman will never find the old house behind the hedge of towering hibiscus at the end of the dirt road. Not a gringa dominicana  in a rented car with a road map asking for street names! Dedé had taken the call over at the little museum this morning.  

Could the woman please come over and talk to Dedé about the Mirabal sisters? She is originally from here but has lived many years in the States, for which she is sorry since her Spanish is not so good. The Mirabal sisters are not known there, for which she is also sorry for it is a crime that they should be forgotten, these unsung heroines of the underground, et cetera.

In the Time of Butterflies
by Julia Alvarez

A few days ago, I received the email about our May book club selection (we don't select titles in advance) and immediately downloaded In the Time of Butterflies  to my kindle. This is my first experience reading Julia Alvarez and I'm pretty impressed with the first couple of chapters.

Here is a portion of the goodreads summary:

From the author of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents  comes this tale of courage and sisterhood set in the Dominican Republic during the rise of the Trujillo dictatorship. A skillful blend of fact and fiction, In the Time of the Butterflies  is inspired by the true story of the three Mirabal sisters who, in 1960, were murdered for their part in an underground plot to overthrow the government. Alvarez breathes life into these historical figures--known as "las mariposas," or "the butterflies," in the underground--as she imagines their teenage years, their gradual involvement with the revolution, and their terror as their dissentience is uncovered.

What do you think of the opening? Would you keep reading?

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening. Feel free to grab the banner and play along.

Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr.

Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune 
by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr.
Ballantine Books, 2013
496 pages

Audiobook
narrated by Kimberly Farr
Random House Audio, 2013
13 hours and 34 minutes
source: purchased

Publisher's Summary:
When Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bill Dedman noticed in 2009 a grand home for sale, unoccupied for nearly 60 years, he stumbled through a surprising portal into American history. Empty Mansions is a rich mystery of wealth and loss, connecting the Gilded Age opulence of the 19th century with a 21st-century battle over a $300 million inheritance. At its heart is a reclusive heiress named Huguette Clark, a woman so secretive that, at the time of her death at age 104, no new photograph of her had been seen in decades. Though she owned palatial homes in California, New York, and Connecticut, why had she lived for 20 years in a simple hospital room, despite being in excellent health? Why were her valuables being sold off? Was she in control of her fortune, or controlled by those managing her money?

Dedman has collaborated with Huguette Clark’s cousin, Paul Clark Newell, Jr., one of the few relatives to have frequent conversations with her. Dedman and Newell tell a fairy tale in reverse: the bright, talented daughter, born into a family of extreme wealth and privilege, who secrets herself away from the outside world.

Empty Mansions reveals a complex portrait of the mysterious Huguette and her intimate circle. We meet her extravagant father, her publicity-shy mother, her star-crossed sister, her French boyfriend, her nurse who received more than $30 million in gifts, and the relatives fighting to inherit Huguette’s copper fortune. Empty Mansions is an enthralling story of an eccentric of the highest order, a last jewel of the Gilded Age who lived life on her own terms.

My thoughts:

If ever there was a book perfectly suited to a read/listen combination, Empty Mansions is it. The text includes photos, charts, lists, etc., but the audio version includes recorded conversations between Huguette Clark and her nephew, the book's co-author, Paul Clark Newell, Jr.

The beginning of this book is slow going. It's mostly about Huguette's father, W.A. Clark, and how he became the richest man in American history you've never heard of. Your patience may be tested, but the background provided in this section is essential for a clear understanding of Huguette. The audio production and Kimberly Farr's excellent narration helped pull me through to the main attraction.

 Huguette Clarke's story is much more interesting and, once the focus shifted to her, any thoughts of putting the book aside vanished. She was ultra-wealthy, extremely reclusive, and passionately interested in art, music, dolls and dollhouses, and Japanese culture. When she died in 2011 at 104, her closest relatives hadn't seen her in decades.

The question is whether she was manipulated by those closest to her (accountants, lawyers, and nurses were gifted huge sums of money), or simply shy, but happy within the narrow boundaries she imposed upon herself. Huguette's voice, as heard in phone conversations included in the audio version, certainly gives the impression of an alert, engaged, and cheerful woman. In many ways she reminded me of my husband's great aunt, who also lived to be 104 and read The Wall Street Journal until the day she died.

Book club reaction:
My book club's reaction to Empty Mansions was lukewarm, at best. Several member did not finish the book. They gave up during the early history of the Clark family and never even got to Huguette's story. The comment "too boring" came up repeatedly and we did not have much of a discussion. My reaction was the most favorable.

Several group members are audiobook fans and I suspect they would have enjoyed the book more if they'd listened.

Bottom line:  I recommend listening to this book, but be sure to borrow a print copy and take a look at the photographs.

My rating:

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

The Light Between Oceans
by M.L. Stedman
Scribner, 2013 paperback
362 pages
source: purchased

Summary (from goodreads):
After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.

M. L. Stedman’s mesmerizing, beautifully written novel seduces us into accommodating Isabel’s decision to keep this “gift from God.” And we are swept into a story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their North Star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another’s tragic loss.

The Light Between Oceans is exquisite and unforgettable, a deeply moving novel

My thoughts:
The Light Between Oceans  had been on my wish list for quite some time, so I was very glad when my book club decided to read it. Unfortunately the meeting was help when we were in Florida, but by all accounts the discussion was far-reaching and lively and the book was universally loved. (Note to self: look for a library book club if I'm in Florida next winter)

I liked this book from the opening paragraph. Initially, it was the writing that stood out. The physical description of the lighthouse was fascinating and in my mind I could see the stark beauty of the landscape. Next I became impressed with the characters - so human as they struggled to make difficult decisions that would eventually impact many lives. Finally, and this took a little longer, I got involved with the story. The pace is quite slow at first, perhaps a little too slow, and although that's usually of minor importance to me, it is my one criticism of this novel.

A growing sense of dread and unease was palpable as the story unfolded. Decisions were made, and guilt  began to eat away at Tom... reminiscent of scenes from Therese Raquin by Emile Zola. Yet I could also relate to Isabel in a very personal manner. Her sorrows were my sorrows.  Relationships become strained as more people get caught up in the web of deceit. I loved this book!

Book clubs will have a field day discussing these characters, their motivation, choices, and ramifications.

M.L. Stedman is definitely an author to watch.

Some Favorite Quotes:

There are times when the ocean is not the ocean - not blue, not even water, but some violent explosion of energy and danger: ferocity on a scale only Gods can summon. It hurls itself at the island, sending spray right over the top of the lighthouse, biting pieces off the cliff. And the sound is a roaring of a beast whose anger knows no limits. Those are the nights the light is needed most.  (page 71) 

The isolation spins its mysterious cocoon, focusing the mind on one place, one time, one rhythm - the turning of the light. The island knows no other human voices, no other footprints. On the Offshore Lights, you can live any story you want to tell yourself, and no one will say you're wrong: not the seagulls, not the prisms, not the wind.  (page 110) 

There had never been any guarantee that conception would lead to a live birth, or that birth would lead to a life of any great length. Nature allowed only the fit and the lucky to share this paradise-in-the-making. Look inside the cover of any family Bible and you'd see the facts. The graveyards,too, told the story of babies whose voices, because of a snakebite or a fever or a fall from a wagon, had finally succumbed to their mothers' beseeching to "hush, hush little one." The surviving children got used to the new way of setting the table with one place fewer, just as they grew accustomed to squishing along the bench when another sibling arrived. Like the wheat fields where more grain is sown than can ripen, God seemed to sprinkle extra children about, and harvest them according to some indecipherable, divine calendar.  (page 18)

Bottom line:
The Light Between Oceans  is a book you can really sink your teeth into... a must read for book clubs.

My rating:

Defending Jacob by William Landay

Defending Jacob
by William Landay
Random House, 2012
431 pages
source: purchased ebook


Summary (from goodreads):
Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student.

Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He’s his father. But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own—between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive.

Award-winning author William Landay has written the consummate novel of an embattled family in crisis—a suspenseful, character-driven mystery that is also a spellbinding tale of guilt, betrayal, and the terrifying speed at which our lives can spin out of control.

My thoughts:

Uneasy, disquieted, anxious, and more than a little depressed. That's how I felt most of the time I was reading Defending Jacob, yet I could not put the book down. These feelings surely attest to the skill of the author, yet they also remind me why I don't read more psychological thrillers.

As a former DA in the Boston area, Landay is well versed in all aspects of the criminal justice system. He presents an almost too real account of a teenager murdered in a suburban Boston park, and the DA's son is charged with the crime. The ultimate moral dilemma ensues.

The book begs the reader to ask, "What would I have done?" or "How would I react given those circumstances?"

And the ending? Don't even get me started. This is one book I won't forget for a good long time.

Defending Jacob was the latest selection for my book club. They always seem to pull me out of my comfort zone. Unfortunately I was not able to attend the meeting, but this was a popular choice and lead to a pretty lively discussion.

Now it's time for me to get back to literary fiction and classics...

Bottom line:
If you're reading for relaxation, choose a different title.

My rating:

The Boys in the Boat by David James Brown

The Boys in the Boat 
by David James Brown
narrated by Edward Herrmann
Penguin Audio, 2013
14 hours and 25 minutes
source: library

Publisher's summary:
Daniel James Brown's robust book tells the story of the University of Washington's 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal, a team that transformed the sport and grabbed the attention of millions of Americans. The sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the boys defeated elite rivals first from eastern and British universities and finally the German crew rowing for Adolf Hitler in the Olympic games in Berlin, 1936.

The emotional heart of the story lies with one rower, Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not for glory, but to regain his shattered self-regard and to find a place he can call home. The crew is assembled by an enigmatic coach and mentored by a visionary, eccentric British boat builder, but it is their trust in each other that makes them a victorious team. They remind the country of what can be done when everyone quite literally pulls together - a perfect melding of commitment, determination, and optimism.

Drawing on the boys' own diaries and journals, their photos and memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, The Boys in the Boat is an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times - the improbable, intimate story of nine working-class boys from the American west who, in the depths of the Great Depression, showed the world what true grit really meant.

My thoughts:

Who would guess a book about crew could be so exciting?  Before beginning, despite living on a lake where local college crew trains and the coxswain's voice is frequently heard drifting across the water, I knew next to nothing about rowing. In addition, I wasn't especially interested in learning more. So when I received an audio review copy, I promptly donated it to the library. Glowing reviews began to appear soon afterwards and lingering suspicions that I'd made a mistake grew.

When my book club decided to read The Boys in the Boat, I borrowed my previously donated copy, began to listen, and found myself completely enthralled by the end of the prologue. As the blurb notes, one of the rowers, Joe Rantz, is at the emotional heart of this story, but the book includes so much more. The reader/listener gets to know the coaches and the other men in the boat. We witness their hard work, dedication, determination, and, most importantly, learn what it means to function as a team.

I also enjoyed the book's strong feeling of time and place - from the economic hardships of the 1930's and pre-war tensions, to the college crew scene with its historic traditions and rivalries. The descriptions of the actual races, whether on New York's Hudson River or for Olympic gold in Berlin, are among the most exciting passages I've experienced on audio. At times, it felt like I could scarcely breathe! I must mention my delight at the passing mention of Louis Zamproini (from Unbroken), too.

This book would be a great fit for fans of crew or the Olympics, of course, but I think it has a much broader appeal and would encourage anyone interested in adding more nonfiction to their reading mix to give The Boys in the Boat a try!

A note on the audio production:
Edward Herrmann has an excellent voice for nonfiction. I found his performance here, as in Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand, to be perfectly paced, engaging, and exciting, without being overly dramatic.

As always with audio nonfiction, be sure to take a look at the print edition, too. You won't want to miss the photographs.

My rating:

Tuesday Intro: The Light Between Oceans

27th APRIL 1926 

On the day of the miracle, Isabel was kneeling at the cliff's edge, tending the small, newly made driftwood cross. A single fat cloud snailed across the late-April sky, which stretched above the island in a mirror of the ocean below. Isabel sprinkled more water and patted down the soil around the rosemary bush she had just planted. 

"...and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," she whispered. 

For just a moment, her mind tricked her into hearing an infant's cry. She dismissed the illusion, her eye drawn instead by a pool of whales weaving their way up the coast to calve in the warmer waters, emerging now and again with a fluke of their tails like needles through tapestry. She heard the cry again, louder this time in the early-morning breeze. Impossible.

The Light Between Oceans
by M.L. Stedman

Even though I haven't finished Middlemarch, I still need to pack a few more books for our upcoming vacation. The Light Between Oceans  is my book club's next selection and it's already in my bag. My sister loved this one and, after reading the intro, I can't wait to get started.

What do you think? Does the intro make you want to keep reading?

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening. Feel free to grab the banner and play along.

Book Club Meeting: Runaway

In theory, I suppose it was a good idea -  expand our literary horizons by reading a short story collection from recent Nobel Prize winner Alice Munro. In reality, it was a poorly attended meeting where nobody finished the book.

Five of us gathered (eight is considered a good turnout, though we occasionally get twelve or more for summer pot luck events) Monday morning to discuss Runaway by Alice Munro over coffee and pumpkin bread, but it turned out that none of us had actually finished the book. Two of us had read four of the eight stories, and the others read only one or two. We were unanimously underwhelmed and struggled to maintain a discussion.

So what was the problem? We all liked the writing, but had trouble working up much enthusiasm for the stories themselves. I liked the linked aspect of the stories featuring Juliet at different points in her life. My favorite was "Silence", the third Juliet story, where she loses contact with her now-adult daughter, Penelope. It mostly made me sad, but I really wished for another story told from Penelope's point of view. Other member used words like "weird", "unsatisfying", and "meh" to describe the first two stories. After 15 -20 minutes, the conversation shifted to holiday plans, wedding preparations, and winter travel.

You might remember that this was all my idea. Runaway was chosen because it had the most library copies available. Perhaps her other collections were checked out because they are better? In the end, we were all glad to have tried something new and I'm happy no one is holding this against me. However, I have a feeling it will be a long time before we select another story collection.


Runaway
by Alice Munro
Vintage, 2005
352 pages
source: purchased

Tuesday Intro: Runaway

Carla heard the car coming before it topped the little rise in the road that around here they call a hill. It's her, she thought. Mrs. Jamieson - Sylvia - home from her holiday in Greece. From the barn door - but far enough inside that she could not readily be seen - she watched the road Mrs. Jamieson would have to drive by on, her place being half a mile farther along the road than Clark and Carla's. 

If it was somebody getting ready to turn in at their gate it would be slowing down by now. But still Carla hoped. Let it not be her.

Runaway
by Alice Munro

Runaway is a collection of eight short stories from recent Nobel Prize winner Alice Munro. This intro comes from the first (and title) story. Raising all sorts of questions, it seems to pull the reader in immediately. I suggested the book to my book club and we will discuss it next week. We've never read a short story collection before, so I'm not sure what to expect. Discussion tips and suggestions are welcome!

What do you think of the intro? Does it make you want to read more?

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening. Feel free to grab the banner and play along.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
by Katherine Boo
Random House, 2012
256 pages
source: library copy

Audiobook:
narrated by Sunil Malhotra
Random House Audio, 2012
8 hours and 15 minutes
source: purchased with Audible credit

Motivation: book club selection

One sentence summary (from goodreads):
From Pulitzer Prize-winner Katherine Boo, a landmark work of narrative nonfiction that tells the dramatic and sometimes heartbreaking story of families striving toward a better life in one of the twenty-first century’s great, unequal cities.

My thoughts:
Life in the Mumbai slums, or "undercity", is marked by unspeakable poverty, corruption, filth, hopelessness, and often despair. Katherine Boo spent years documenting the lives of several families in the Annawadi slum and, as you would expect,  Behind the Beautiful Forevers is heartbreaking, sobering, and just plain sad.

Raising awareness and increasing understanding are necessary first steps toward solving a problem, and Boo's book deftly accomplishes that. Reading about these "invisible" people provides an important alternate perspective, and I see why the book is appearing on reading lists for AP English classes and incoming first year college students.

Did I enjoy it? Really good narrative nonfiction is always a treat and Behind the Beautiful Forevers is certainly that, but enjoyment doesn't figure into this experience. It's an important, but ultimately depressing book.

Should you read it? Probably, but be prepared.

A couple of quotes:

"As India began to prosper, old ideas about accepting the life assigned by one's caste or one's divinities were yielding to a belief in earthly reinvention. Annawadians now spoke of better lives casually, as if fortune were a cousin arriving on Sunday, as if the future would look nothing like the past."

"Sunil thought that he, too, had a life. A bad life, certainly - the kind that could be ended as Kalu's had been and then forgotten, because it made no difference to the people who lived in the overcity. But something he'd come to realize on the roof, leaning out, thinking about what would happen if he leaned too far, was that a boy's life could still matter to himself."

A note on the audio production:
In an attempt to finish in time for book club, I downloaded the audio and listened on my walks. This was the first time I've encountered Sunil Malhotra and, while he did a perfectly adequate job narrating, it did not add anything to my overall experience. So, read or listen according to your own preferences.

My rating: