What are you reading the week of May 29, 2021?

I'm reading Liberty Bar by Georges Simenon. It's the complete opposite in tone of the previous book, The Misty Harbour. Instead of the moody, noirish atmosphere of the previous book, this one is a sun drenched lark.

I actually knock off RAF on the Offensive and Confederacy of Ambition in the last week, besides the other books I was working on. Fugitive Telemetry actually is going to get started today. At War's Summit and Fighting for Atlanta are also a likely choices.

Starting this OverDrive audiobook ~

While Justice Sleeps: A Novel
by Stacey Abrams

I finished listening to the excellent Lullaby Town.

Next up for listening is A Word Child by Iris Murdoch.

I'm still reading The Dark Tower by Stephen King and my Early Reviewer Phantasmagoria and Other Poems by Lewis Carroll. I joined a readathon on Litsy so I hope to finish The Dark Tower before the month is out, but there's 555 pages to go...

Just finishing listening to Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell.

Starting Unstuff Your Life by Andrew J. Mellen.

Started reading Homegoing by Yea Gyasi. =)

I'm about two-thirds of the way through The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe's famous history of the Mercury Project. I came upon it on my shelves at home and thought, "I ought to finally read this." I'm enjoying it quite a lot. I'm not sure how much to actually rely on it, facts-wise, but it is very good storytelling, certainly.

I have just finished reading the book HIDDEN FIGURES by author MARGOT LEE SHETTERLY.

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Seriously…I’m Kidding – Ellen DeGeneres
Digital audiobook performed by the author
3***

The best thing about this book is the back cover, where, instead of famous endorsement blurbs, Ellen blurbs about US, her readers! E.g. That’s a beautiful blouse you’re wearing. It goes nicely with this book. / You know what I love most about you? That we get each other. And also your eyes. / You’re my favorite reader. Ever, of all time Shhh…. Don’t tell the other readers.

Don’t get me wrong. I like Ellen DeGeneres. She’s a talented comedian and I’ve been a fan of hers for years. I may have actually watched a few episodes of her sitcom, and I think I’ve seen her talk show twice. (I watch little TV.)

But watching a talented performer give a 5-minute monologue that is funny and entertaining is not the same as reading a book … or, in my case, listening to it. It wasn’t great literature, but it was fine. I doubt I’ll remember it tomorrow.

DeGeneres performs the audiobook herself. I do admire her gift for delivering a comedic line!

I finished Elizabeth Gilbert's The Signature of All Things. It is a totally engaging story of an amazing woman of science and also an exploration of the place of man in evolution, a juxtaposition of science and mysticism. The winner of the battle was seen by me as science but might easily be seen as mysticism by another.

finished Not One of Us by Debbie Herbert. Enjoyed it. next up is Beneath Devil;s Bridge by Loreth Anne White.

otherwise, still reading The Mists of Avalon and King of Scars.

Didn't read a whole lot this week.
Prepping for three auditions. Two of them during the week.
When it rains it pours. Then long dry spells again.

So
Short stories - The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter
Just "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall"

Play - Timon of Athens - William Shakespeare
Deciding between two monologues. It's rarely performed so might be a change of pace for casting folks.

Mystery - Murder in Three Acts - Agatha Christie
We've got a full box of her books in the attic. I've opened it for the first time in 30+ years.

The Shadow of the Gods, by John Gwynne. It's pretty good so far. Not my favorite fantasy but i'm sure it'll pick up.

Gonna start Elevation, by Stephen King once this is done.

I got a few books off of bookoutlet this week and i'm feeling overwhelmed by choice.

I'm reading Stay With Me by Nigerian author Ayobami Adebayo, who is female. So far it's interesting and well-written.

Enjoying a reading life and a post COVID-19 fully immunized social life. Doldrums of 2020 behind me?

Finished: Why did I wait years to read Circe? Well, I have no good answer because it's magnificent. Since that book, I turned to light reading. Whimsical fiction 'R' us whenever I can get it. Got the delightful The Matchmaker of Périgord and fell in love with a bunch of French villagers. In the same category that I put When We Were VIkings, I now add The Guncle to the small number of surprisingly good novels about "misfits" from whom I learn a lot about life. One of my favorite books ever is written by Chris Cleave, Little Bee. He's done it again with his latest, Everyone Brave is Forgiven, a hymn of praise for the incomparable courage of the Greatest Generation who never lost their faith in love. Another new book I really enjoyed is Swimming Back to Trout River. It's a debut novel, and stunning. Keep your reading eyes out for Linda Rui Feng.

Splitting Time: The Golden Hairpin by Qinghan Cece possible poor translation; Portrait of a Lady by Henry James Wharton is so much better at this society observation stuff; The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin eunuch detective slinks around 19th C. Istanbul; Fossil Men by Kermit Pattison who knew the famous 20th C. paleoanthropologists were so bitchy about one another?

Enjoying a split of time among:
"The Anchor anthology of French poetry : from Nerval to Valéry, in English translation" by Angel Flores (just a terrific mix)
"Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" by Doris Kearns Goodwin (always worth it)
"Don't know much about history : everything you need to know about American history, but never learned" by Kenneth C. Davis (eclectic, and contrary in a good way).
Then last night picked off the bookshelf again and started to get caught by Peter Carey's novel, "My Life as a Fake" ...interestingly, steps on from a true literary hoax famous in Australia still talked about when I was growing up - will have to put it aside for a bit, much as it looks in great Peter Carey mode. (4 books, with current writing commitment, will be too much of a split and too slow). Will check back in later.

Hugh Martin: The Boy Next Door
Hugh Martin
4/5 stars
This is the very interesting autobiography of Alabama born Hugh Martin. Martin was a composer and song writer for theater and movie productions. Probably best known for writing Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and The Trolley Song, he worked with Judy Garland and many famous singers of that time period. He also served in WWII as a soldier and died in 2011 at the ripe old age of 97. This is definitely a must read for Hollywood fans.

I finished The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe's extremely engaging and detailed history of the Mercury Space Program. I'm not quite sure how/why I'd never read this before. Maybe it was my life-long aversion to reading best sellers, and this book was huge when it was first published in 1980. At any rate, I'm very glad I finally got to it. I've posted a bit longer review on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

Next up will be a return to Richard Stark's (a.k.a. Donald Westlake) "Parker" series. I'm up to the seventh entry, wittily titled The Seventh, in these sly, "guilty pleasure" tales about about a cunning yet truly psychopathic thief.

finished King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo and started Rule of Wolves.

Ended May with A Secret History of Witches, which was a pretty lackluster tale of several generations of witches.

Time to start the June group read, Miss Benson's Beetle, which I'll begin tomorrow.

Finished up the month with 7 books read and two abandoned. Top read of the month was Abbi Waxman's The Garden of Small Beginnings.

Honorable mention this month goes to Jeffery Deaver's The Burning Wire, Kathy Reichs' Monday Mourning, and Nancy Pikard's The Scent of Rain and Lightning.

Enjoyed this audiobook via hoopla ~
Flight
by Laura Griffin

Started this Audible/Kindle combo ~
At the End of the Matinee
by Keiichiro Hirano (Author), Juliet Winters Carpenter (Translator)

Bluffton – Matt Phelan
4****

Subtitle: My Summers With Buster Keaton

This graphic novel explores the early 20th century era of Vaudeville, and one particular summer resort that catered to many of the era’s Vaudeville stars – including the Keaton family and their talented son, Buster.

It’s 1908 and Henry Harrison, whose father owns the local hardware store, is excited to learn that a troupe of vaudevillians will be taking over a resort near Muskegon, Michigan. Young Henry makes his way there to see the elephant and zebra and tightrope walker! And he meets a couple of teens who join him for a summer of baseball games and swimming in the lake. One of these is Buster Keaton, and Henry begins to dream of following in his footsteps.

What a great way to introduce young readers to a by-gone era. Phelan’s illustrations are marvelously detailed. I love one set of panels that show the day slowly progressing through sunset over the lake and followed by a night sky illuminated by fireworks. And I like how he adroitly shows the passage of time with just a few panels moving from the end of summer through fall, winter and spring and then to the next summer’s adventures when the vaudevillians return.

While the characters of Harry, Sally and the other residents of Muskegon are fictional, there really was an Actor’s Colony at Bluffton on Muskegon Lake from 1908 to 1938. It was founded by Jim Keaton as a place where vaudevillians could gather and rest in their off-season.

>8 rocketjk: I felt the same way about The Right Stuff.

>11 snash: I loved this book!

>19 rocketjk: I don't think I have read the book but it is one of my favorite movies.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
C.S. Lewis
4/5 stars
Lucy finds a wardrobe while visiting a professor and discovers that it leads to the land of Narnia. Her siblings don’t believe her but when they enter the wardrobe they realize she was not lying. While in Narnia, they realize that the White Witch has cast an evil spell on the land and with the help of a lion named Aslan, they attempt to free Narnia from the Witch. Enjoyable!

Over the weekend I finished If the South Had Won the Civil War and Space Cadet. Currently reading Lamar Hunt A life in sports and The Politics of Freedom in dead tree from the library and The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell on audiobook. Standby no due-date owned books are Debt: The first 5,000 years and Stargate SG-1 Do no harm.

On hold at the library Star Trek TNG Section 31: Rogue and Starman Jones

Almost finished with Secrets of Happiness by Joan Silver. Hate to see it come to an end.

Almost finished with Secrets of Happiness by Joan Silber. Hate to see it come to an end.

The Winter of Frankie Machine – Don Winslow
Digital audiobook performed by Dennis Boutsikaris.
4****

From the book jacket: Frank Machianno is a late-middle-aged ex-surf bum who runs a bait shack on the San Diego waterfront when he’s not juggling any of his other three part-time jobs or trying to get a quick set in on his longboard. He’s a stand-up businessman, a devoted father to his daughter, and a beloved fixture in the community. Frank’s also a hit man. Specifically: a retired hit man, once known as Frankie Machine. Years ago Frank consigned his Mob ties to the past, which is where he wants them to stay. But a favor being called in now by the local boss is one Frank can’t refuse, and soon he’s sucked back into his former life. Someone from the past wants him dead. He has to figure out who, and why, and he has to do it fast.

My reactions:
Wow, what a ride! The action is fast and furious, and deadly. Frankie is really on his own, with no one to trust. And the reader is pretty much on her own as well. There are more potential suspects than Carter has pills. Frank is a consummate professional, however, and he’s no fool. He may have left his Mob life behind, but he never gave up certain safety measures. He knows how to watch his back, and how to make sure he gets the opposition before they get him. The action is non-stop and there are surprises right up to the ending.

This is the first book by Winslow that I’ve read. It won’t be the last.

Dennis Boutsikaris does a marvelous job of narrating the audiobook. He has a gift for bringing these characters to life.

I finished The Seventh, which is, in fact, the seventh book in the "Parker" series by Donald Westlake, writing as Richard Stark. These books are guilty-pleasure fun due particularly to the quality of the writing, though Parker is a particularly nasty anti-hero.

Next up for me will be this month's reading group selection, The Best of It: New and Selected Poems by Kay Ryan.

My latest is a special re-read Home by Marilynne Robinson

Haven't been reading so much the past month or so. This morning I finished The Woman in the Window, a thriller. Entertaining, and a quick read but the writing is forgettable, plus the author A.J. Finn (a pseudonym) has been exposed as having fabricated huge chunks of his life which does not endear me to him.

Earlier in May, I finished Raceless, a memoir which I'd recommend.

This Time Together – Carol Burnett
Book on CD narrated by the author
4****

Subtitle: Laughter and Reflection.

In this memoir Carol Burnett chronicles her show business career, from her early roles in New York, to headlining her incredibly popular variety show and beyond.

I love Carol Burnett. She is truly an American Treasure. She’s a huge star with legions of adoring fans, and yet she can be completely star-struck and awkward when meeting one of HER idols. In performing she gives all her heart to a role and to her audience.

I can’t remember the last time I read a book that had me both howling out loud in uncontrollable laughter (I’m talking my husband coming from the other side of the house to see what’s going on), and crying to the point where I had to put it aside for a moment because I literally could not see the words on the page for my tears. That speaks, I think, to the genuine person Burnett is, and to her generosity of spirit to lay it all out there.

Burnett narrates the audiobook herself. I cannot imagine anyone who could do a better job.

I've decided to W.E.B. DuBois' classic, The Souls of Black Folk, to my reading. I'm enjoying the collection The Best of It: New and Selected Poems by Kay Ryan very much, but I've decided to read a few a day rather than blasting through them. The poetry collection is for my reading group, which doesn't meet until June 20, so I have time to read them without rushing through them.

Listening to a Recorded Books of Paris: 1919 by Margaret MacMillan. The subject of their Paris peace convocation following WW I and the details about the leaders and individual countries that attended and didn't attend (Russia) are fascinating.

However, the point of view is at times heavy handed, leaving a reader of history longing for a more objective one. For instance, Herbert Hoover is elevated to god-like status because of his (admittedly) outstanding performance of the manager of post-war relief supplies for a year, but the paean extended to his future abilities to his administration during the beginning of the Great Depression, which he managed, in part, as he did his earlier relief charge -- adherence to laissez-faire capitalism, trickle down prosperity, and austerity.

After a year of administering American relief to Europe, Hoover said it should cease and that Europe could get itself in shape by austerity, rationing, and belt-tightening. As a consequence of his opinion, American aid was drastically cut and Europe suffered until 1926 and later, unable to recover to prewar prosperity.

Still, the subject is fascinating and the details enlightening.

Caddie Woodlawn’s Family – Carol Ryrie Brink
3.5***

This sequel to the popular Caddie Woodlawn book was originally titled “Magical Melons”

Set in the late 1800s, in Western Wisconsin, the books chronicle life in the Woodlawn family, primarily from the perspective of Caddie, who is almost 13 in this episode. She and her five siblings have great fun in and around their farm and the land surrounding it. They enjoy school, visit with neighbors, marvel at the stories told by traveling preachers and peddlers. A rare trip to town fills them with wonder and joy.

There are some vignettes that made me cringe … chiefly dealing with the prejudices against the native Indian tribes in the area. But, like the “Little House on the Prairie” series, these books provide a reasonable look at life in those pioneer days.

Currently reading the first of the Murderbot Diaries, All Systems Red by Martha Wells.
Listening to the audio book Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks.

finished Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo. added Juniper Wiles by Charles de Lint to my rotation.

The new thread is up over here.

Night Boat To Tangier – Kevin Barry
Digital audiobook performed by the author.
2**

From the book jacket: In the dark waiting room of the ferry terminal in the sketchy Spanish port of Algeciras, two aging Irishmen – Maurice Hearne and Charlie Redmond, longtime partners in the lucrative and dangerous enterprise of smuggling drugs – sit, none too patiently. It is the evening of Oct 23, 2018, and they are expecting Maurice’s estranged daughter, Dilly, either to arrive on a boat coming from Tangier or to depart on one heading there. This nocturnal vigil will initiate an extraordinary journey back in time to excavate their shared history of violence, romance, mutual betrayals, and serial exiles.

My reactions
Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2019, I had high hopes for this work. But the dark, bleak tenor of the prose, the underworld inhabited by these characters, their despair and inability to lift themselves out of the mess they’ve made of their lives …. Just not my cup of tea, especially not at this stage of my life and given the current events (COVID 19 pandemic, and the US presidential election).

There were moments when the writing captured my attention. Barry’s ability to put the reader into the time and place his characters inhabit is admirable. But I really didn’t want to go there. So it was clearly the wrong book at this time. I finished it only because it is a selection for one of my F2F book groups.

Kevin Barry narrates the audiobook himself. He does a marvelous job. I’m not sure anyone else could have done better.