As noted in an earlier post, a while ago I read The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman, about a cholera outbreak in industrial England in the early 1800s - death, disease, body snatching, mass hysteria...and lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my! It was okay. Imaginative plot and characters, and Holman has a skill for setting a really evocative scene, with lots of sights, smells (mostly bad), and sounds. Some of the characters were a little over the top, though (especially Pink), and I was never quite sure how I felt about the narrator's role and voice, which was certainly unusual, but maybe a little gimmicky?
I got the book off of a shelf at home, so one of my parents must have read it at some point, but I was wondering, as I read, if I had already read the book. That is too much "read" and "ready" for once sentence, but oh well. I think it's probably NOT a good thing if you're not sure if you've already read a book (again - d*mn it), but, still, over all, I liked it. Didn't love it or anything, but enjoyed it. And I felt like, if nothing else, Holman clearly put a lot of effort into researching the time period. That's not to say that it was accurate - I really don't know much about that time/place/setting, and wasn't going to go look things up, but just the wealth of believable detail in the book made it clear that she tried (even if it wasn't totally right, but who knows). The back of the paperback edition I read includes a "conversation" with the author David Liss (a book of whose I quite liked in the past, and I've been meaning to read more of his stuff) and she mentions some of the books she read, like Death, Dissection, and the Destitute which sounds fascinating, and not like it was just for show.
Another one that was kind of familiar, and I also should have written about a while ago, was The Death Instinct by Jed Rubenfeld. THAT one, which I read on the way home from San Diego, was familiar because I had read the preceding book, The Interpretation of Murder. Both are mysteries featuring, among other, original characters, Sigmund Freud. As I recall, I didn't particularly like the first book; in fact, I think I actually disliked it, or at least was disappointed in it. To be fair, I think it might have been one of the books I read while I was recovering from surgery, and being in pain and housebound did not put me in a very good mood, so I tend to not remember any of those books very fondly. But I vaguely remember thinking the characters were simultaneously flat and irritating, and the mystery not all that mysterious.
I still had some issues with the characters in this second book, and sweet Jesus was the plot predictable, but I still was okay with letting the story unfold, minus a little frustration with the slowness of the unfolding. Huh, this sounds pretty negative, but it really was fine. I wouldn't recommend it, necessarily, but if someone said "hey, I was thinking about reading this, what do you think?" I certainly wouldn't dissuade him or her, and would say there were some good things about it. Bored of talking about it now though.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
House-cleaning
And once again, the pile is overwhelming - and over-toppling.
Read The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry a while ago, as I mentioned slightly closer to being at the time. What I apparently didn't say was that over all I really liked it. I don't know if the author did a good job of capturing the experiences and outlook of the main character, who I THOUGHT, until I just checked right now, had autism, but the publisher's website describes her as "painfully shy and sheltered." Now that I think about it, though, one of the issues in the book was whether or not she is. And, as I recall, ultimately the sort-of-resolution was that it didn't necessarily matter. Of course, the experiences and outlook of the character are also heavily influenced by her ability to summon ghosts by cooking...so, that's a thing. But the food & cooking parts were great - McHenry describes the whole experience of cooking and eating - the former particularly - so well, it's amazing. She hits all the senses: taste and smell, obviously, but the others too. Just in one meal, we have the crunch of garlic being smashed with the flat of a knife and the quiet snick of a knife hitting a cutting board through an onion, the grainy feel left after tearing canned tomatoes apart by hand, and glistening ribbons of batter. And now I need to go make a snack...
I also read at basically the same time Tania James' Atlas of Unknowns, which was fantastic. Intriguing and appealing characters, unique but relatable /believable plot, and really good writing. I had mixed feelings about how the time and tense was a little...loose...but it was an interesting approach even if I didn't always love it. I loved almost every bit of the book as a whole though. The description of a Christmas tree topper that is the "ready-made star that most resembles a flamboyant meteor" was, in context, funny and sweet (143). And one passage I especially liked was "All of this, even the dream, Alice relates while tearing off pieces of idli without a hint of discomfort. Linno feels smothered with someone else's secrets, an unpleasant experience, much in the same way that a stranger's body odor always smells far more repulsive than one's own. In Linno's home, and in the home of every other person she knows, families are stabilized by the preservation of secrets, the family honor maintained" (118).
James LOVES a good comparison - metaphors and similes abound. A feeling is described as "buzzing around her insides like a fly that would not escape a room, even after one opened all the windows and doors, as if it preferred frenzy over freedom" (200) and when a character "arrives home to find the apartment empty, the day suddenly seems not quite right, like a painting askew" (223). Basically, this is a really good story about two sisters in India, who are separated by life, and choices, and have to try to find one another again.
Read The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry a while ago, as I mentioned slightly closer to being at the time. What I apparently didn't say was that over all I really liked it. I don't know if the author did a good job of capturing the experiences and outlook of the main character, who I THOUGHT, until I just checked right now, had autism, but the publisher's website describes her as "painfully shy and sheltered." Now that I think about it, though, one of the issues in the book was whether or not she is. And, as I recall, ultimately the sort-of-resolution was that it didn't necessarily matter. Of course, the experiences and outlook of the character are also heavily influenced by her ability to summon ghosts by cooking...so, that's a thing. But the food & cooking parts were great - McHenry describes the whole experience of cooking and eating - the former particularly - so well, it's amazing. She hits all the senses: taste and smell, obviously, but the others too. Just in one meal, we have the crunch of garlic being smashed with the flat of a knife and the quiet snick of a knife hitting a cutting board through an onion, the grainy feel left after tearing canned tomatoes apart by hand, and glistening ribbons of batter. And now I need to go make a snack...
I also read at basically the same time Tania James' Atlas of Unknowns, which was fantastic. Intriguing and appealing characters, unique but relatable /believable plot, and really good writing. I had mixed feelings about how the time and tense was a little...loose...but it was an interesting approach even if I didn't always love it. I loved almost every bit of the book as a whole though. The description of a Christmas tree topper that is the "ready-made star that most resembles a flamboyant meteor" was, in context, funny and sweet (143). And one passage I especially liked was "All of this, even the dream, Alice relates while tearing off pieces of idli without a hint of discomfort. Linno feels smothered with someone else's secrets, an unpleasant experience, much in the same way that a stranger's body odor always smells far more repulsive than one's own. In Linno's home, and in the home of every other person she knows, families are stabilized by the preservation of secrets, the family honor maintained" (118).
James LOVES a good comparison - metaphors and similes abound. A feeling is described as "buzzing around her insides like a fly that would not escape a room, even after one opened all the windows and doors, as if it preferred frenzy over freedom" (200) and when a character "arrives home to find the apartment empty, the day suddenly seems not quite right, like a painting askew" (223). Basically, this is a really good story about two sisters in India, who are separated by life, and choices, and have to try to find one another again.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Men of Letters
Engaging, if puffy, piece in Smithsonian about Casanova and his autobiography:
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/Who-Was-Casanova.html#ixzz1qElAbhjr
I really ought to read this at some point - I feel like it's one of those Western classics that I am aware of, but don't really know that much about... But I'd need to find a good translation. Is there a definitive English edition?
Who Was Casanova?
The personal memoir of history's most famous lover reveals a misunderstood intellectual who befriended the likes of Ben Franklin
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/Who-Was-Casanova.html#ixzz1qElAbhjr
I really ought to read this at some point - I feel like it's one of those Western classics that I am aware of, but don't really know that much about... But I'd need to find a good translation. Is there a definitive English edition?
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Reading Recommendation
I just emailed ten friends (well, eight friends, two brothers) the following:
I don't normally recommend books unasked (at least, I don't think I do), but I feel compelled to in this case, since I just finished a book that I thought was really, really good: Sonia Faleiro, Beautiful Thing: Inside the Secret World of Bombay's Dance Bars.The book really was fantastic. I want to write more, but the library called the book back, and I feel like it's so good it deserves a "review" written with book in hand, for checking stuff. So I think I will need to call it back myself.
http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Thing-Sonia-Faleiro/dp/0857861697
I had some issues with the way the book handled non-English words and phrases - some were "translated," others weren't, and I couldn't always figure out from context what the characters were saying, which was a problem. But I also appreciated the way they were used to set the scene, so it might have been the right call on the author's & editors' parts. Maybe less of an issue for my Desi friends?
Overall it's an impressive book, though; incredibly funny, despite being about a prostitute - although just what she is, and isn't, is part of the story - in Bombay, and, obviously, also incredibly sad. "Leela," the main character, is just an amazing figure, though, the kind of subject I would think journalists spend their lives looking for (and the NY Times agrees - see their review). Not that this is strictly journalism, if that kind of distinction still holds in this day and age, but the book is based on the research the author did into the women who worked in Bombay's "dance bars" (kind of like clothes-on stripping, but generally stemming from sexual exploitation and poverty, and leading to more). And the relationship between the author and Leela is one of the best parts of the book.
So...anyways, of course no pressure to read it, but if anyone's looking for a book that is as easy to read as a novel, but is nonfiction, and totally engrossing, I vote for this one :)
Monday, March 12, 2012
Lauren Groff!
Her second novel, Arcadia, is releasing tomorrow - have requested the library get it, but I don't know if I'll be able to wait...anyhow, yay!
Sorting reality from ‘truthiness’ | Harvard Gazette
Sorting reality from ‘truthiness’ | Harvard Gazette
To follow up on something I think I was talking about somewhat recently...maybe the D'Agata thing?
To follow up on something I think I was talking about somewhat recently...maybe the D'Agata thing?
Friday, March 9, 2012
Biblio-Mysteries, Lost Books and Forgotten Letters
So, I have been looking for a book for a long time - specifically, that is, the second or third in the series, after I read and enjoyed the first two.
And I looked for a long time - on and off, mostly off, in my defense - and I couldn't find it. But I think I just did!
By Googling "harvard oxford key sequel mystery historian" I found a link to the New York Public Library's page of "Biblio-Mysteries, Lost Books and Forgotten Letters."
First of all, that is an AWESOME page name, and is going to be the new title of this post (rather than the "success at long last???" that I put already). I love all of those things! Nerdy historians who need some escape-time & are turned on by archives, rejoice... I kind of want to take some time and peruse the list - but, for now, will settle for "storing" the list (access to it, anyways) here.
Secondly, just skimming down the list, I see that the second entry is for The Devlin Diary.
Embarrassingly for me, though, the author's name is suddenly seeming very familiar...like, I think I may have even typed it in as a tag on this blog. Which means that either I could have in theory looked up the damn thing on the blog (which was the whole point of starting it, so I would be able to keep track of my for-fun reading) OR that I have documented this very same quest on the blog (which means just in the couple of years), which is even worse...
I am scared to post this and then check the "Card Catalogue" for Ms. Phillips, but it must be done.
In any case, good to have tracked down the series, and maybe there will be some awesome new books on this NYPL list.
PS - have been in LOVE with the NYPL website recently. They have an amazing wealthy of information (graphics-heavy, in a good way - their digital gallery is insane), well beyond their catalogue. You can really use the site for research, not just as a tool for research, if that makes sense. That is to say, you can learn stuff (and see tons of contemporary documents and art, which is what makes my heart flutter) from the site, not just use it to identify & locate other resources you then need to access. And it looks gorgeous too.
Seriously puts the Boston Public Library's site to shame. Which is a shame. I don't like to concede that NYC can be better than Boston, but they are whipping us, in this case. Just the homepages alone are barely comparable (and we lose the comparison).
PPS - YEP. Totally already had the author and books in here. In June of 2010 I made a specific point of mentioning, and tagging, her in a post I also tagged "books I want to read" so that I would be able to track her down in the future. In my (admittedly weak) defense, the list of "books I want to read" does keep getting longer, so it's not like I ever actually searched that (or remembered it was a tag).
- I knew the protagonist was a female graduate student (History or English, I think) or young-ish professor, at Harvard (definitely the northeast).
- I knew she found some letters or documents (or something like that), and those led to the other story, which was set in the past (seventeenth or eighteenth century).
- There was a guy - maybe Italian? More likely English, but maybe she met him in Italy? Also a scholar. Older? From University of Cambridge, or Oxford.
- She went to England (Cambridge or Oxford) to do further research.
- The cover of the second book (I think; it might have been the first) was sort of a pastel-y watercolor, possibly of a river near some academic looking buildings.
- The name might have something to do with a "Rossetti Key"?
And I looked for a long time - on and off, mostly off, in my defense - and I couldn't find it. But I think I just did!
By Googling "harvard oxford key sequel mystery historian" I found a link to the New York Public Library's page of "Biblio-Mysteries, Lost Books and Forgotten Letters."
First of all, that is an AWESOME page name, and is going to be the new title of this post (rather than the "success at long last???" that I put already). I love all of those things! Nerdy historians who need some escape-time & are turned on by archives, rejoice... I kind of want to take some time and peruse the list - but, for now, will settle for "storing" the list (access to it, anyways) here.
Secondly, just skimming down the list, I see that the second entry is for The Devlin Diary.
- Light colors, and there is a picture of a KEY on the cover!
- Author is a woman, Christi Phillips - women frequently write books with female leads (and men rarely do), so that's a good sign!
- The annotation says it's about a "new female fellow at Cambridge college [not sure if that means at U of C, or if it's a fake name for Harvard, although I'm thinking both will figure]" who finds a seventeenth century diary and there is "murder, mystery and intrigue in both the present and the past" - all stuff I thought.
- Annotation also notes (heh) that it's the sequel to...The Rossetti Letter! Four points for the win!
Embarrassingly for me, though, the author's name is suddenly seeming very familiar...like, I think I may have even typed it in as a tag on this blog. Which means that either I could have in theory looked up the damn thing on the blog (which was the whole point of starting it, so I would be able to keep track of my for-fun reading) OR that I have documented this very same quest on the blog (which means just in the couple of years), which is even worse...
I am scared to post this and then check the "Card Catalogue" for Ms. Phillips, but it must be done.
In any case, good to have tracked down the series, and maybe there will be some awesome new books on this NYPL list.
PS - have been in LOVE with the NYPL website recently. They have an amazing wealthy of information (graphics-heavy, in a good way - their digital gallery is insane), well beyond their catalogue. You can really use the site for research, not just as a tool for research, if that makes sense. That is to say, you can learn stuff (and see tons of contemporary documents and art, which is what makes my heart flutter) from the site, not just use it to identify & locate other resources you then need to access. And it looks gorgeous too.
Seriously puts the Boston Public Library's site to shame. Which is a shame. I don't like to concede that NYC can be better than Boston, but they are whipping us, in this case. Just the homepages alone are barely comparable (and we lose the comparison).
PPS - YEP. Totally already had the author and books in here. In June of 2010 I made a specific point of mentioning, and tagging, her in a post I also tagged "books I want to read" so that I would be able to track her down in the future. In my (admittedly weak) defense, the list of "books I want to read" does keep getting longer, so it's not like I ever actually searched that (or remembered it was a tag).
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
So, this is kind of interesting...
New York Times / Books
Electronic Mini-Books That Allow Writers to Stretch Their Legs
By DWIGHT GARNER
Published: March 6, 2012
Kindle Singles are works of long-form journalism that seek out that sweet spot between magazine articles and hardcover books.
I thought I could make that look nicer...anyway, I wasn't aware of these "singles" (which makes me think of slices of American cheese, but whatever), in part, I am sure, because I am desperately trying to stick to "real," flesh and blood (or paper and ink) books.
But I like this idea a lot. Essays, in general, are just a great idea. And these remind me of the broadsides of yore - quick, cheap, accessible to the masses but also potentially brilliant and thought-provoking.
Nice.
Electronic Mini-Books That Allow Writers to Stretch Their Legs
By DWIGHT GARNER
Published: March 6, 2012
Kindle Singles are works of long-form journalism that seek out that sweet spot between magazine articles and hardcover books.
I thought I could make that look nicer...anyway, I wasn't aware of these "singles" (which makes me think of slices of American cheese, but whatever), in part, I am sure, because I am desperately trying to stick to "real," flesh and blood (or paper and ink) books.
But I like this idea a lot. Essays, in general, are just a great idea. And these remind me of the broadsides of yore - quick, cheap, accessible to the masses but also potentially brilliant and thought-provoking.
Nice.
Monday, March 5, 2012
A "Tourney of Books"?!
Well, I am calling it a tourney, anyways, but not like a "Tournament of Books" needs to get any cooler.
http://www.themorningnews.org/article/here-comes-the-rooster
How did I not know this was a thing? And, if I was going to come to it late, couldn't I have come at least a little earlier, so I could read everything on the shortlist before the thing kicks off on Wednesday (March 7)??
Of the sixteen books
I've only ready one (Patrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers) although most of them are on my to-read list (although that's not saying much; they're pretty representative of the books that were on everyone's to-read list in 2011, not to mention the Times' reviews), and some I've actually taken possession of.
This week is pretty busy for me, too, so I won't have a lot of time to read (although it's practically all I did just this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, whoops)...maybe I can adjust the game so part of it is anticipating the top 4, and seeing if I can get those read before they advance to the final slots in the bracket?
I just need to finish The Night Circus first, which I began last night, at long last, on my brother's recommendation. Huh. We were meant to swap that book for my copy of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, but I just realized I didn't give it to him. Oh, well. The valiant men & women of the U.S. postal service shall have that honor at some point. Maybe when I mail my friend's shirt back to him in New Jersey...that would be good to remember to do, too...
*the titles were cut & pasted from the Tournament announcement (see link above), and link to, I think, Powell's Books. I don't know how to get rid of the links easily, and since I have no problem with Powell's (quite the opposite) see no reason to waste time trying to, but if it should matter down the road...not mine.
http://www.themorningnews.org/article/here-comes-the-rooster
How did I not know this was a thing? And, if I was going to come to it late, couldn't I have come at least a little earlier, so I could read everything on the shortlist before the thing kicks off on Wednesday (March 7)??
Of the sixteen books
I've only ready one (Patrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers) although most of them are on my to-read list (although that's not saying much; they're pretty representative of the books that were on everyone's to-read list in 2011, not to mention the Times' reviews), and some I've actually taken possession of.
This week is pretty busy for me, too, so I won't have a lot of time to read (although it's practically all I did just this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, whoops)...maybe I can adjust the game so part of it is anticipating the top 4, and seeing if I can get those read before they advance to the final slots in the bracket?
I just need to finish The Night Circus first, which I began last night, at long last, on my brother's recommendation. Huh. We were meant to swap that book for my copy of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, but I just realized I didn't give it to him. Oh, well. The valiant men & women of the U.S. postal service shall have that honor at some point. Maybe when I mail my friend's shirt back to him in New Jersey...that would be good to remember to do, too...
*the titles were cut & pasted from the Tournament announcement (see link above), and link to, I think, Powell's Books. I don't know how to get rid of the links easily, and since I have no problem with Powell's (quite the opposite) see no reason to waste time trying to, but if it should matter down the road...not mine.
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