Outbreak of Love
Posted: 2013/05/20 Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust I, Fiction | Tags: 2013, australia, book lust i, book review, Fiction, Martin Boyd, may Leave a comment »Boyd, Martin. Outbreak of Love. New York: Penguin Books, 1984.
Throughout earlier Boyd books (Cardboard Crown, etc) we have been following the Langton family. In Outbreak of Love we focus on Diana. She has been married for twenty-three long years to egotistical and stuffy musician named “Wolfie.” Wolfie is an adulterer and it’s this unfaithful behavior that brings the drama to the book. Diana, of course, finds out and decides she needs an interesting relationship of her own. Of course there is the requisite high society blah, blah, blah such as who is going to invited to so and so’s ball and have to sit next to the bore.
Quotes that caught me, “Will we have a little love first, or will we go straight out to tea?” Wolfie’s mistress asks. Here’s another, “It shook my egoism, but I was not prepared to abandon reason” (p 53).
Oddly enough, I read this one better than the last two Boyd books. I don’t really know what I meant by that except to say my attention didn’t wander as much.
Reason read: to continue the series started in honor of the best time to go to Australia (March/April).
Author fact: Boyd was born in Switzerland.
Book trivia: This is the third book in the four-book series called The Langton Quartet.
BookLust Twist: Book Lust in the chapter called “Australian Fiction” (p 29). Here’s a laugh – Pearl lists all four books in the quartet but she mixes up the order in which they should be read. She lists When Blackbirds Sing before Outbreak of Love. According to the back cover of Outbreak of Love, When Blackbirds Sing is the last book of the quartet.
Fear of Flying
Posted: 2013/05/15 Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust II, Fiction | Tags: 2013, book lust ii, book review, Erica Jong, Fiction, may, psychology, sex Leave a comment »Jong, Erica. Fear of Flying. New York: Signet, 1973.
I think I started this book about eight different times, starting when I was 16 or 17. As a kid I always misunderstood the cover art – a naked woman under an unzipped… something. I thought she was in a body bag which, now that I think about it, doesn’t really make sense because if that were the case, she would have been sideways in the bag. Therefore she shouldn’t fit. Having no idea what the book was actually about back then I didn’t know it was a man’s unzipped fly. Now I say, “but of course!” The takeaway from Jong’s Fear of Flying is the underlying message of freedom (especially freedom from fear). To fly is to be free and this is one woman’s story about wanting that ability to become unfettered and free. Her sexuality and psychology are just metaphors for the deeper meaning of feminism and a woman taking control of her life…like a man. Yes, there is sex and lots of it but that’s not what Fear of Flying is all about.
Favorite lines, “A little girl who was neither bitchy nor mealy-mouthed because she didn’t hate her mother or herself” (p 46),
Reason read: May is considered the “Birds and Bees” month so let’s talk about sex.
Author fact: Erica Jong has a sexy website here. I love the colors and the use of multimedia – very eye catching.
Book trivia: According to Jong’s website, Fear of Flying was her first published book.
Reason read: from Book Lust in the chapter called “I am Woman – Hear Me Roar” (p 120).
In the Lake of the Woods
Posted: 2013/05/13 Filed under: audio book, Book Reviews, BookLust I, BookLust II, Fiction, Lust To Go | Tags: 2013, audio book, book lust i, book lust ii, book lust iii, book review, Fiction, L.J. Gance, may, Tim O'Brien Leave a comment »O’Brien, Tim. In the Lake of the Woods. Read by L.J. Ganser. Grand Haven, Michigan: Brilliance Audio, 2011.
This is many different stories rolled into one. It is the story of an abused childhood. It is a vicious Vietnam War documentary. It is a quiet mystery. It is a love-with-abandon story and a tangled tragedy. John Wade is an Vietnam vet who lost the election for a seat in the U.S. Senate. The campaign was a complete disaster prompting John to take his wife, Kathy, to a secluded cabin in Lake of the Woods, Minnesota, so that he might lick his wounds in private. After a week away from the world Kathy inexplicably disappears. Using flashbacks to John’s childhood, college days, tour in Vietnam & relationship with Kathy, John’s psychological history is revealed. As a young child his father taunted him about his weight, teased him relentlessly about his obsession with magic. John learned at an early age to hide his feelings by imagining mirrors in his head, mirrors that reflected the world he wanted to live in and how he wanted people to treat him. In college his obsession with his future wife Kathy was like a sickness. He would spy on her incessantly, claiming he loved her too much to leave her alone. He would not spend hours doing this, but entire days. Then there was Vietnam. His enduring love of magic prompted the soldiers in his company to nickname him “Sorcerer.” This, along with the mirrors still in his head, allowed John to become someone else during the atrocities of war. He believed his violent actions were not his own because they belonged to Sorcerer. Throughout dating in college and during the political campaign as man and wife Kathy and John’s relationship was never on the same page. He spied. She needed space. She wanted children but when she became pregnant he convinced her to abort. He loved the campaign trail. She wanted off it. But did that mean John had something to do with her disappearance? O’Brien introduces a kernel of doubt when he describes Kathy lost in the maze of rivers beyond Lake of the Woods. The boat is missing after all…
My one complaint? The “evidence” involving quotes from wars other than Vietnam. I know why O’Brien did it. He wanted to show that the atrocities of war were not limited to the actions of soldiers involved in the My Lai massacre. It was overkill (pardon the pun).
Reason read: Minnesota become a state in May.
Book trivia: I am shocked this has never been made into a movie. Really. Another piece of trivia – this is the equivalent of an ear worm. I haven’t stopped pondering the possibilities since.
Author fact: There are a few autobiographical elements to In the Lake of the Woods.
BookLust Twist: You can always tell when Pearl loves a book. She either mentions it a few times in one Lust book or she mentions it in all of them. In this case In the Lake of the Woods was found in Book Lust in the chapter called “Vietnam” (p 238), twice in More book Lust in the chapters “Big Ten Country: the Literary Midwest (Minnesota)” (p 28) and “It was a Dark and Stormy Novel (p 128), and once in Book Lust To Go in the chapter “Vietnam” (p 246). Four mentions!
Beneath the Lion’s Gaze
Posted: 2013/05/06 Filed under: audio book, Book Reviews, Fiction, Lust To Go | Tags: africa, audio book, book lust iii, book review, Ethiopia, Fiction, Maaza Mengiste, Steven Crossley Leave a comment »Mengiste, Maaza. Beneath the Lion’s Gaze. Tantor Audio, 2010.
The first half of Beneath the Lion’s Gaze tells of the downfall of Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia and self professed king of kings, and the subsequent brutal rise of the Derg. Selassie’s rein as emperor was, at first, a positive and influential one. Then in the early 70s popular opinion shifted as gas prices rose, food shortages become more frequent, and middle class workers went on strike. Famine was widespread and public outcry was loud. Tensions came to a head when a splinter group of the military overthrew the government, taking the great and powerful Selassie with it. Peppered throughout the historical tale are the human interest elements centered around one family. Hailu, a physician loyal to Selassie is witness to the brutalities of torture while his wife quietly dies of congestive heart failure. He eventually is arrested after aiding in the death of a tortured prisoner. This prisoner, a brutalized teenage girl becomes a focus of mystery. The reader doesn’t know her significance to Hailu and Selassie until the end. Meanwhile Hailu’s sons are on either side of the political fence. His older son, a professor, is the sensible one. Married with a family, he tries to stay neutral in the conflict. Hailu’s younger son is caught up in student protests and eagerly hands out pamphlets stoking the fires out outrage. Both sides will eventually feel the effects of being under the powerful and violent thumb of the Derg
While her subject matter is tragic (there is a lot of vivid violence and torture), Mengiste writes with such lyrical imagery that it is easy to keep reading her words – like adding a spoonful of sugar to the medicine, or, in my world, like listening to Natalie Merchant’s “What’s the matter here?” It’s a song about child abuse with a really catchy, extremely danceable melody behind it.
Reason read: May 28th is traditionally celebrated as Derg Downfall Day to celebrate the end of the Derg in 1991.
Author fact: Beneath the Lion’s Gaze was Maaza Mengiste’s debut book. She has an interesting website that is also incredibly difficult to read (black backgrounds with white wording is almost never a good idea).
Book trivia: I am not going to spoil the ending of the book but I do want to say that Mengiste holds you in suspense until the bitter end. So much so that I found I had actually been holding my breath waiting for the resolution.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Ethiopia, Or As We Used To Say, Abyssinia!” (p 81).
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built
Posted: 2013/04/30 Filed under: Book Reviews, E-Books, Fiction, Lust To Go | Tags: 2013, africa, Alexander McCall Smith, book lust iii, book review, ebook, Fiction, may Leave a comment »Smith. Alexander McCall. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built.
What is that saying? The more things change, the more they stay the same. When we catch up to Mma Ramotswe and the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Mma Ramotswe is now still at the agency but she is now married to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. Her assistant, Mma Matekutsi is still at the agency (although there is no mention of her typing school) and she is engaged to a well-to-do furniture salesman. The big drama lies with Mma Matekutsi. She has a competitor, another woman trying to steal her fiance away with immoral tactics. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe’s home life is doing well with the exception of her beloved tiny white van. As it becomes older it gets harder and harder to fix. She soon begins to hide the troubles from Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni for fear he will tell her to get rid of it. It seems unusual for Mma Ramotswe to love the tiny white van as much as she does but she considers it part of the family and goes to great lengths to keep it around. The one “mystery” of the book involves an always-losing football team. The manager is convinced someone is a traitor and losing games on purpose. Mma Ramotswe has been hired to find the culprit, which of course, she does.
A very good line, “Until you hear the whole story, until you dig deeper, and listen, she thought, you know only a tiny part of the goodness of the human heart” (p 60).
Reason read: This concludes my time with Mma Ramotswe and her friends. I started the series back in January with The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency in honor of Mystery month. I am sad to be ending this journey because I fell in love with the series.
Book trivia: Tea Time for the Traditionally Built isn’t the end of the series. It goes on but unfortunately I won’t be along for the ride.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Botswana” (p 42).
May Day or I Need Help
Posted: 2013/04/30 Filed under: Fiction, NonFiction | Tags: books, Fiction, NonFiction, reading Leave a comment »This list started as the Mini List of books I wanted to read between November 1st, 2012 and October 31st, 2013. I compiled this list of the 95-100 books I expected to read within a twelve month span of time. I should have known such a prediction would be setting myself up for failure. Lots of things got in the way of me strictly sticking to the list. For starters, there was (and still is) the inability to predict which (if any) Early Review books I would win from LibraryThing. Then, there is my never-ending habit of “filling in” with a shorter book at the end of the month. This is the scenario: Let’s say there are eight days left in the month of January and I have nothing left to read from the mini list for the month of January… so I scan the Big January list, looking for something 175 pages or less. I read that short(er) book and voila! I have read a filler that wasn’t on the Mini List.
Now, there are two new “things.” First, the decision to bypass a book simply because I’m not in the mood for it. Ugh! For the first time ever I skipped over a book simply because I wasn’t ready to read it. The House of Morgan by Ron Chernow fell victim to my whim. I won’t get to read the book about banking until NEXT April. Second, a big mistake – I forgot to include other books in the Martin Boyd series. There are three others that didn’t make the original list. Duh!
So, having said all that, here is the list of books STILL TO GO from the mini list:
- Abide By Me by Elizabeth Strout
- Among the Missing by Dan Chaon
- Apollo: the epic journey to the moon by David West Reynolds
- At Home in the Heart of Appalachia by John O’Brien
- Beyond the Bogota by Gary Leech
- Burma Chronicles by Guy Delise
- Burning the Days by James Salter
- Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lillian Jackson Braun
- Child that Books Built by Francis Spufford
- Conspiracy and Other Stories by Jaan Kross
- Deafening by Frances Itani
- Death in Verona by Roy Harley Lewis
- Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
- Fixer by Joe Sacco
- Going Wild by Robert Winkler
- Golden Spruce by John Vaillant
- Grand Ambition by Lisa Michaels
- Guardians by Geoffrey Kabaservice
- House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferre
- Light Infantry Ball by Hamilton Basso
- Nobody Knows My Name by James Baldwin
- Ocean of Words by Ha Jin
- ADDED: Outbreak of Love by Martin Boyd
- Old Friends by Tracy Kidder
- Panther Soup by John Grimlette
- Points Unknown edited by David Roberts
- Return of the Dancing Master by Henning Mankell
- Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell
- Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham
- Southpaw by Mark Harris
- Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
- Time, Love, Memory by Jonathan Weiner
- What you Owe Me by Bebe Moore Campbell
- ADDED: When Blackbirds Sing by Martin Boyd
- Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
- Working Poor by David Shipler
ON DECK FOR MAY:
- Dining with Al-Qaeda by Hugh Pope (audio)
- Fear of Flying by Erica Jong
- Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengist (audio)
- Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco
- ADDED: Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou for the Early Review Program
- ADDED (because I am an idiot – I forgot to add the next books in the Martin Boyd series): A Difficult Young Man by Martin Boyd
- ADDED: The long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz
FINISHED:
- Adventures of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
- Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day by Philip Matyszak
- Apples Are From Kazakhstan by Christopher Robbins
- Arctic Grail by Pierre Berton (I started this last year. No, sorry – two years ago)
- Ariel by Sylvia Plath
- Author, Author by David Lodge (audio)
- Beautiful Swimmers by William Warner
- Before the Knife by Carolyn Slaughter
- Bellwether by Connie Willis
- Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
- Billy by Albert French
- Brass Go-Between by Oliver Bleeck
- Breakfast with Scot by Michael Drowning
- Brush with Death by Elizabeth Duncan
- Brushed by Feathers by Frances Wood
- Camus, a Romance by Elizabeth Hawes
- Cardboard Crown by Martin Boyd
- Churchill, a life by Martin Gilbert
- City of Thieves by David Benioff
- Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
- Descending the Dragon by Jon Bowermaster
- Diamond Classics by Mike Shannon
- Domestic Manners of the Americans by Fanny Trollope
- The Evolution of Jane by Catherine Schine
- Edward Lear in Albania by Edward Lear
- Fanny by Edmund White
- Final Solution by Michael Chabon
- Flamboya Tree by Clara Olink Kelly
- Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez by Gerald Martin
- Galton Case by Ross MacDonald
- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
- Girl in Landscape by Jonathan Lethem
- ADDED (in lieu of House of Morgan): God: a biography by Jack Miles
- Gold Coast Madam by Rose Laws
- ADDED: Good City edited by Emily Hiestand
- Good Thief’s Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan
- Good Thief’s Guide to Vegas by Chris Ewan
- Good-bye Chunk Rice by Craig Thompson
- Her by Christa Parravani
- Hole in the Earth by Robert Bausch
- Hole in the World by Richard Rhodes
- ADDED: Iliad by Homer
- Idle Days in Patagonia by William Hudson
- ADDED: Imperfect Harmony by Stacy Horn (for LibraryThing’s Early Review program
- Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
- Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
- Lives of the Painters, vol 2, 3 & 4 by Giorgio Vasari
- Mortality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith
- No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
- Of Human Bondage by William Maugham
- Playing for Keeps by David Halberstam
- Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
- Rosalind Franklin: Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox
- Scar Tissue by Michael Ignatieff
- Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
- Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers
- Tatiana by Dorothy Jones
- Tattered Cloak by Nina Berberova
- Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith
- Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
- Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers
- Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery
- Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin
- Wholeness of a Broken Heart by Katie Singer
- Widow for One Year by John Irving
- Women of the Raj by Margaret MacMillan
POETRY COMPLETED:
- “Golden Angel Pancake House” by Campbell McGrath
- “Lepanto” by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
- “Listeners” by Walter De La Mare
- “Mandalay” by Rudard Kipling
- “Road and the End” by Carl Sandburg
- “Sea-Fever” by John Masefield
- “Winter” by Marie Ponsot
- “In My Craft or Sullen Art” by Dylan Thomas
- The Long Hill” by Sarah Teasdale
- “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
NEXT YEAR:
- House of Morgan by Ron Chernow (as previously mentioned)
A Difficult Young Man
Posted: 2013/04/26 Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust I, Fiction | Tags: 2013, april, australia, book lust i, book review, Fiction, Martin Boyd Leave a comment »Boyd, Martin. A Difficult Young Man. New York: Penguin, 1984.
I have to admit this story lagged for me. It wasn’t as non-directional as The Cardboard Crown but it still couldn’t hold my attention for long periods of time. Shoot, I couldn’t get through ten pages without straying from the page. A fly crawling along a windowsill could capture my attention faster and hold it longer.
So, right from the start I need to tell you the “difficult young man” of the story is Dominic Langton, grandson of Alice (writer of the journal in The Cardboard Crown). Dominic’s story is being told by his younger brother, Guy. Dominic is indeed difficult and troubled and sort of a loose cannon. He kills a horse, after all. But, it’s also the story of a family who is discontent wherever they are. Bounding between England and Australia, the grass is always greener on the other side.
Interesting lines, “It was difficult to run a house that was being looted” (p 105). good point.
Reason read: to continue the Langton Quartet (in honor of April being a good time to visit Australia).
Author fact: According to Penguin books Boyd had a preoccupation with his family and out of that preoccupation rose the mostly autobiographical Langton Quartet.
Book trivia: This is the second book in the Langton Quartet. It should be read before Outbreak of Love.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter “Australian Fiction” (p 29).
Author, Author
Posted: 2013/04/22 Filed under: audio book, Book Reviews, BookLust II, Fiction, NonFiction | Tags: 2013, april, audio book, book review, Christopher Kay, David Lodge, Fiction, henry james Leave a comment »Lodge, David. Author, Author. Narrated by Christopher Kay. New York: Recorded Books, LLC, 2005
This was a long listen! 14 cds equaling almost 17 hours. If you want to do the math that meant 51 trips to and from work in order to finish it. While the print version is under 400 pages the audio seemed much longer. Because Lodge’s writing is rambling I found myself getting distracted and confused about what was happening when. Author, Author is a biography that focuses mainly on Henry James’s relationships with Constance Fenimore Woolsen, the granddaughter of James Fenimore Cooper and with fellow author/friend George Du Maurier and the “horrible opening night” of his play “Guy Domville.” The best part of the story was Henry’s relationship with Constance Fenimore Woolsen (fondly known as Fenimore throughout the book). James struggles to have a relationship with her that is private yet meaningful.
Confessional – I swapped this out for another audio book as soon as the new one became available.
Reason read: Henry James was born in April and so to celebrate his birth I am listening to Author, Author.
Author fact: Lodge’s body of work is quite impressive. I have a few more of his titles on my challenge list.
Book trivia: The audio version of Author, Author is read by Christopher Kay.
BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter called “Literary Lives: the Americans” (p 144).
In the Heart of the Canyon
Posted: 2013/04/18 Filed under: audio book, Book Reviews, Fiction | Tags: 2013, adventure, april, Arizona, audio book, book review, Cassandra Campbell, Elisabeth Hyde, Fiction, Mark Deakins, rivers Leave a comment »Hyde, Elisabeth. In the Heart of the Canyon. Westminster, MD: Books on Tape, 2009.
In the Heart of the Canyon is an accurate portrayal of a thirteen day river trip down the Grand Canyon; so much so that I felt I could have been there. Hyde effectively describes the guides, the tourists, the scenery, and of course, the Colorado River picture perfect. The character development of everyone involved in the trip builds just as if you were in the boats with them, getting to know them as the days and miles pass by. The weather (and how to deal with the heat) and surrounding nature comes alive with Hyde’s words. And when it comes to rafting down the river you can tell Hyde has seen rapids and even had a “maytag” experience or two. She puts you right in the action. A story about a rafting trip down the Colorado would be enough material for a book but Hyde takes it a step further by introducing a stray dog early in the story and creating characters that are not only interesting but complex. One character in particular, seventeen year old Amy keeps a journal. Her journal gives the events described by Hyde a new perspective. She introduces a different point of view and her comments serve as a reminder that everyone has an alternate truth based on their own unique personality. It’s what happens when you put twelve strangers and three guides together.
As an aside about the guides, I am around these kinds of people all the time. I can picture them perfectly. Tanned, well-built, confident and sure-footed moving in and around the boats. Congenial and comfortable. They give off an air of relaxed attitude but in the back of their minds they know everything about the trip is in their hands. Safety and fun.
Reason read: John Muir was born in April. Being a naturalist I thought it would be appropriate to read something that takes place 100% outdoors.
Author fact: According to Hyde, In the Heart of the Canyon came about when she was on a rafting trip and got “maytagged.”
Book trivia: In the Heart of the Canyon has a YouTube trailer. It makes the book out to be more of a dramatic thriller than it is.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “AZ You Like It” (p 31).
“Mandalay”
Posted: 2013/04/13 Filed under: Fiction, Lust To Go, Poetry | Tags: 2013, april, book lust iii, Fiction, poem, Poetry, Rudyard Kipling Leave a comment »Kipling, Rudyard. Mandalay. Rudyard Kipling’s Verse: Definitive Edition. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1940. p 416.
“Mandalay” is like a song with a chorus. It could easily be set to music. Even the subject matter, a soldier imagining his Burma girl pining away him, is appropriate for a ballad. He is still in lonely London. In my mind’s eye this poem is visually stunning.
Reason read: Poetry month. Need I say more?
Author fact: Kipling has long been a childhood favorite of mine. I can remember wanting to meet Mowgli just so I could hang out with the animals.
BookLust Twist: Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Travelers’ Tales in Verse” (p 237).
Full Cupboard of Life
Posted: 2013/04/11 Filed under: audio book, Book Reviews, BookLust II, Fiction | Tags: Fiction, mystery, africa, book review, book lust ii, series, audio book, Alexander McCall Smith, Botswana, Lisette Lecat Leave a comment »Smith, Alexander McCall. The Full Cupboard of Life
Reason read: In honor of Mystery Month I started this series way back in January. The Full cupboard of Life is the fifth book in the series recommended by Nancy Pearl in either Book Lust, more Book Lust, or Book Lust To Go. I am nearing the end of my time with Mma Ramotswe and her family at the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. I started in January with The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and now have one more book to read after The Full Cupboard of Life.
When we return to Mma Ramotswe we learn she is still engaged to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. They have yet to set a wedding date. There is no doubt Mma Ramotswe is patient lady! Although, in this 5th installment she is losing faith and dares to ask Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni the dreaded “when” question. It is even starting to weigh on Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni as he dreams about a wedding date.
The one noticeable difference about The Full Cupboard of Life is that, unlike previous books in the series, the plot is not as seamless as the others. Instead of picking up where the reader left off Smith takes the time to bring the reader back to the very beginning of the series, explaining who Mma Ramotswe is and how she came to have the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency in Botswana. He also takes the time to reintroduce us to Mma Ramotswe’s beloved daddy and other early relationships. There is less emphasis on “mysteries” to solve.
Book trivia: The Full Cupboard of Life is the last book I will read in order in the series. After this I am actually skipping THREE others: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies, Blue Shoes and Happiness, and The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (does this mean I missed the wedding?). I wonder why Pearl doesn’t include them in any of her recommendations?
Author fact: Alexander McCall Smith is currently on a lecture tour but (unfortunately!) comes nowhere near me. Bummer. I’m a huge fan now.
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Ms. Mystery” (p 171). But, of course. As an aside, this was the first book I listened to on cassette and sadly, the tape was a little warped. This listening experience was not as enjoyable as the disc versions.
Cardboard Crown
Posted: 2013/04/07 Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust I, Fiction | Tags: 2013, april, australia, book lust i, book review, Fiction, Marttn Boyd Leave a comment »Boyd, Martin. The Cardboard Crown. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. 1953.
This is the story of Alice Verso told through her grandson’s discovery of her diary. From its pages half written in French he is able to uncover generations of intricate and complicated relationships. Alice marries into the Langton family and brings the clan financial stability. But, despite this Alice discovers her husband is having an affair with a childhood friend named Hetty. Told across three generations and bouncing between Australia and England everything about this story was strange. As a reader, I couldn’t stay engaged with the story or the characters. There wasn’t a single person I connected with or cared about. It was the kind of story I often lost place with – meaning, when I put it down I couldn’t remember the last thing I read.
Favorite lines, “All history is a little false” (p 43), “If she could bring her prey to bed, she wouldn’t have cared if she had mutton fat in her hair and a smut on her nose” (p 46), and “We must accept that people do behave idiotically…” (p56). And the follow up to that quote, “Any idiot can reproduce himself” (p 112). Too true!
Reason read: April is the best time to take a trip to Australia.
Author fact: Boyd is one of Australia’s best loved authors. He was a talented poet as well.
Book trivia: The plot of The Cardboard Crown is “founded on fact” according to the author.
BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called “Australian Fiction” (p 37).
“Golden Angel Pancake House”
Posted: 2013/04/06 Filed under: Fiction, Poetry | Tags: 2013, april, book lust i, Campbell McGrath, Chicago, Fiction, NonFiction, poem, Poetry Leave a comment »McGrath, Campbell. “The Golden Angel Pancake House.” Spring Comes to Chicago. Hopewell, New Jersey: Ecco Press, 1996. p 5.
I loved this poem. This has got to be one of my favorites read so far this year. It reminded me of Natalie Merchant’s song “Carnival” off her 1995 album, Tigerlily. In “Carnival” Natalie pays homage to New York City and I see Campbell McGrath doing the same thing for his hometown of Chicago in “The Golden Angel Pancake House” (which is a real restaurant, by the way). The imagery is amazing. I can just see this group of friends stumbling out of a bar at closing time. It’s way early in the morning and they are prowling the streets looking for a place to eat. The sights and sounds are chaotic and gripping. A freak show.
Favorite line, “a troupe of toothless, dipsomaniacal clowns.”
Reason read: It’s still April and I’m still reading poetry. Obviously.
Author fact: As I mentioned before McGrath is from Chicago.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Kitchen Sink Poetry” (p 139).
Gentlemen Prefer Blonds
Posted: 2013/04/03 Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust I, Fiction | Tags: 2013, Anita Loos, april, book lust i, book review, chick lit, Fiction, movie Leave a comment »Loos, Anita. “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: the Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady.” Grosset & Dunlap, 1925.
This was a positively silly book and it almost embarrassed me to be reading it. Luckily, it was incredibly short (less than 200 pages) so I was able to get through it in one weekend. It is the journal of Lorelei Lee, a Midwest girl making her way in the New York City with gal pal Dorothy. Lorelei’s idea of making her way is to see how many men she can charm into “educating” her with their wallets. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is Lorelei’s diary from March 16th to July 10th and chronicles (complete with spelling and grammatical errors) her trip to Paris, France and Europe beyond all the while juggling many different male suitors. She starts nearly every sentence with “So” to the point where it got on my nerves the way someone says “like” all the time (and not the “like” on FaceBook, although that can get annoying as well). Lorelei uses shopping as her weapon and is quite good at it. I had a few laugh out loud moments. My recommendation is to find the 195 version. The illustrations are priceless.
The line that made me know I was in trouble, “I mean I seem to be thinking practically all the time” (p 11). That’s on the first page of the book.
Reason read: Anita Loos was born on April 26th so I am reading Gentlemen Prefer Blondes as a Happy birthday to Loos.
Author fact: Anita Loos was also an actress. Too cool.
Book trivia: Every one knows of the movie version starring Marilyn Monroe, but did you know there was an earlier version from 1928? Obviously, it didn’t do as well.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “100 Good Reads: Decade By Decade (1920s)” (p 176)
