"...There's nothing to understand. People steal them for money....That's the only reason that animates thieves. Forget the articles about the men who suffer a mad passion for maps and books and manuscripts: that's all romantic nonsense. Freud in the library...People steal books and maps and manuscripts, and they cut out single pages or whole chapters because they can sell them."
-Contessa Morosini-Albani to Commissario Brunetti
This was the first novel I've read by this author. The book was chosen for the Page Turners by one of the members who is a fan of Leon. I must admit the story grew on me but I can't give it higher than 3.
The setting was one of my favorite things about the novel---the city of Venice. I was intrigued by police taking boats to the scenes of crimes and it was a fun challenge to figure out some Italian phrases from the context. Commissario Guido Brunetti is called to investigate some significant thefts from a renowned Venetian library. In the process a murder is discovered and it is probably related to the thefts. The suspect list is not extensive but includes a mysterious library researcher who is supposedly American. I found the ending abrupt and disappointing but I'll not be a spoiler.
One interesting thing about this author, who apparently has written a series of mysteries featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti, is her mention in another book I read very recently. In The Little Paris Bookshop set in France, a character is listing books, among them "who-dunnits by Donna Leon." It seems she is well-known in Europe.
Well, I won't rule out another of the series but it will likely be a while. So many books in my queue!
-----------------------------
When the Page Turners met on our usual day, several regulars were missing but the discussion was great! The group average rating was 3.3 with most members liking but not loving the novel. I don't believe any of us had read this author before (well, maybe the one who selected it). Apparently Leon is quite prolific and well-known in Europe. Perhaps we will try another of her "who dunnits" one of these days.
Most in the group enjoyed the setting and we found Commissario Brunetti plenty resourceful and a bit more simpatico than most detectives. It was interesting hearing everyone's take on the value of antique books and/or pages of the same. And discussion about the possible theme of "You can't judge a book by its cover" was thought-provoking. Several of us admitted the plot thickened when the murder took place. The most common complaint about the book was the abruptness of the ending. You are warned!
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Saturday, September 10, 2016
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
"Like my own patients, I had to face my mortality and try to understand what made my life worth living---and I needed Emma's help to do so. Torn between being a doctor and being a patient, delving into medical science and turning back to literature for answers, I struggled, while facing my own death, to rebuild my old life---or perhaps find a new one."
-Paul Kalanithi
I believe this book was recommended to me by a friend some time ago and I had seen it on the Best Seller list for many weeks so I requested it from the library. When it arrived I put it off in favor of others in my book queue. When I saw that it was on hold and could not be renewed, I began reading and finished in a day and a half. I was hooked by the Foreword by Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone, one of our book club selections years ago. His impressions of Paul Kalanithi, the author of When Breath Becomes Air, were so beautiful I just had to keep reading.
This memoir by a gifted neurosurgeon/neuroscientist was the most powerful book I have read in ages! Just over 200 pages contain the story of an amazing and brilliant doctor with a terminal cancer diagnosis and his poignant advice for living and dying. It reminded me so much of The Last Lecture, a memoir written by Carnegie Mellon University professor and computer guru Randy Pausch who also died of cancer. Both are beautifully written, very inspiring and could appropriately be represented by Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young."
I found this book to be a page-turner even with its medical jargon way above my head. My rating is definitely a 5! Although it was very sad that Kalanithi's life was cut short (he was only in his mid-30's) he left an amazing legacy through the patients he helped and the writing of this book to share his journey as physician and patient as he confronted what was most important in life.
-Paul Kalanithi
I believe this book was recommended to me by a friend some time ago and I had seen it on the Best Seller list for many weeks so I requested it from the library. When it arrived I put it off in favor of others in my book queue. When I saw that it was on hold and could not be renewed, I began reading and finished in a day and a half. I was hooked by the Foreword by Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone, one of our book club selections years ago. His impressions of Paul Kalanithi, the author of When Breath Becomes Air, were so beautiful I just had to keep reading.
This memoir by a gifted neurosurgeon/neuroscientist was the most powerful book I have read in ages! Just over 200 pages contain the story of an amazing and brilliant doctor with a terminal cancer diagnosis and his poignant advice for living and dying. It reminded me so much of The Last Lecture, a memoir written by Carnegie Mellon University professor and computer guru Randy Pausch who also died of cancer. Both are beautifully written, very inspiring and could appropriately be represented by Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young."
I found this book to be a page-turner even with its medical jargon way above my head. My rating is definitely a 5! Although it was very sad that Kalanithi's life was cut short (he was only in his mid-30's) he left an amazing legacy through the patients he helped and the writing of this book to share his journey as physician and patient as he confronted what was most important in life.
Thursday, September 8, 2016
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
"Books are more than doctors, of course. Some novels are loving, lifelong companions; some give you a clip around the ear; others are friends who wrap you in warm towels when you've got those autumn blues. And some...well, some are pink candy floss that tingles in your brain for three seconds and leaves a blissful void. Like a short, torrid love affair."
-Jean Perdu, from the novel
The word Paris in the title drew me to this novel since my husband and I will be traveling there in October. Right in the front of the book there is a map showing Paris and some other places we'll be visiting along the Rhone River, among them Lyons and Avignon. If that wasn't enough to hook me, the title bookshop is on a barge in the Seine River. Add to all that the fact that I am a fan of bookshops and this novel became a must-read for me!
The story involves Jean Perdu, the owner of the floating book store, known as la pharmacie litteraire (literary pharmacy) because Perdu prescribes books for his customers according to their emotional needs. The reader realizes early on that Perdu is grieving a lost love---one who is not even named for several chapters---merely represented by a blank, for example "He fought off the blurry picture of himself sitting at this table, not alone but with _____." This mystery woman sent him a letter some 20 years prior after she had left him to return to her husband. He has never opened it out of fear or bitterness, I am not sure which. When he finally does open the letter, he is in for a shock and a mountain of guilt. By the time we get to the first excerpt of "Manon's Travel Diary" we learn the identity of Perdu's lost love and some of their back story.
I had trouble settling on a quote to begin my post because there were many rather poetic and/or profound expressions, especially having to do with books. I liked The Little Paris Bookshop at the beginning but later I found it a bit tedious. I neither loved nor hated it but I am rating it a 3 because I am glad I read it. Here's why: the ending held a bit of a surprise. Also the mention of the "Saint Benezet Bridge, which had been immortalized in song." I remember "Sur le Pont D'Avignon" from high school French class and we will see this bridge at Avignon in person soon. Also in one of Perdu's letters, he suggests how to organize books by genre and mentions "whodunits by Donna Leon." My Page Turners book club is reading By Its Cover by Donna Leon this very month.
The book jacket calls this a "warm and charming tale of love, loss and the power of reading." Most readers will find it so.
-Jean Perdu, from the novel
The word Paris in the title drew me to this novel since my husband and I will be traveling there in October. Right in the front of the book there is a map showing Paris and some other places we'll be visiting along the Rhone River, among them Lyons and Avignon. If that wasn't enough to hook me, the title bookshop is on a barge in the Seine River. Add to all that the fact that I am a fan of bookshops and this novel became a must-read for me!
The story involves Jean Perdu, the owner of the floating book store, known as la pharmacie litteraire (literary pharmacy) because Perdu prescribes books for his customers according to their emotional needs. The reader realizes early on that Perdu is grieving a lost love---one who is not even named for several chapters---merely represented by a blank, for example "He fought off the blurry picture of himself sitting at this table, not alone but with _____." This mystery woman sent him a letter some 20 years prior after she had left him to return to her husband. He has never opened it out of fear or bitterness, I am not sure which. When he finally does open the letter, he is in for a shock and a mountain of guilt. By the time we get to the first excerpt of "Manon's Travel Diary" we learn the identity of Perdu's lost love and some of their back story.
I had trouble settling on a quote to begin my post because there were many rather poetic and/or profound expressions, especially having to do with books. I liked The Little Paris Bookshop at the beginning but later I found it a bit tedious. I neither loved nor hated it but I am rating it a 3 because I am glad I read it. Here's why: the ending held a bit of a surprise. Also the mention of the "Saint Benezet Bridge, which had been immortalized in song." I remember "Sur le Pont D'Avignon" from high school French class and we will see this bridge at Avignon in person soon. Also in one of Perdu's letters, he suggests how to organize books by genre and mentions "whodunits by Donna Leon." My Page Turners book club is reading By Its Cover by Donna Leon this very month.
The book jacket calls this a "warm and charming tale of love, loss and the power of reading." Most readers will find it so.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Nine Florida Stories by Marjory Stoneman Douglas edited by Kevin M. McCarthy
"The nine stories have been selected not only for their excellence but also for the picture of life in South Florida during the first half of this century. They are told by a woman who has lived in Miami for the last 70 years and has spent her career writing about the area's problems and scoundrels and its beauty and heroes. For her writing and her contribution to the state's environmental concerns she might very well be Florida's Woman of the Century."
-Editor Kevin M. McCarthy, in his introduction, copyright 1990
I must admit I am not a huge fan of short stories. I read this one in preparation for a class I am teaching on Florida's Three Marjories, of which Douglas is one. I hoped to discover one to share with my class. She won an O. Henry Award in 1927 for "He Man" which is included in this collection. It was interesting and the surprise ending made me think of O. Henry's work.
My favorite was "By Violence," the one I will offer my students. It takes place near Chokoloskee Island in South Florida. It involves a very young man who has lost his father and wants to find a way to keep his siblings together. He takes a boat out hoping to find a way to make some money, perhaps by transporting tourists. He soon finds 3 men who seem to need rescuing but it doesn't take long to figure out these are some of the "scoundrels" mentioned in my quote.
-Editor Kevin M. McCarthy, in his introduction, copyright 1990
I must admit I am not a huge fan of short stories. I read this one in preparation for a class I am teaching on Florida's Three Marjories, of which Douglas is one. I hoped to discover one to share with my class. She won an O. Henry Award in 1927 for "He Man" which is included in this collection. It was interesting and the surprise ending made me think of O. Henry's work.
My favorite was "By Violence," the one I will offer my students. It takes place near Chokoloskee Island in South Florida. It involves a very young man who has lost his father and wants to find a way to keep his siblings together. He takes a boat out hoping to find a way to make some money, perhaps by transporting tourists. He soon finds 3 men who seem to need rescuing but it doesn't take long to figure out these are some of the "scoundrels" mentioned in my quote.
March by Geraldine Brooks
"If a war can ever be said to be just, then this war is so; it is action for a moral cause, with the most rigorous of intellectual underpinnings. And yet everywhere I turn, I see injustice done in the waging of it. And every day, as I turn to what should be my happy obligation of opening my mind to my wife, I grope in vain for words with which to convey to her even a part of what I have witnessed, what I have felt. As for what I have done, and the consequences of my actions, these I do not even attempt to convey."
-Mr. March, from the novel
After reading Caleb's Crossing by this author, I wanted to read more of her work. When I saw that March won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, it was the obvious choice. I really liked it but perhaps a bit less than Caleb's Crossing. I will still rate it a 5. As an historical fiction of the Civil War era it was quite unique in that it ties into the classic Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Most of the story is told by the father of the "little women"---Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy---who is away from home, involved in the war as an army chaplain. In the book he is known only as Mr. March. The author's style includes good use of flashbacks, first person narration of action by March and his letters home to his wife, Marmee. It really made me want to reread Little Women---it has been MANY years and I don't remember much of the plot.
The setting is 1861 at the start and the story moves around to battle sites, a plantation in the south, a military hospital in Washington, DC, and back to the March family home in Concord, MA, where they are friends of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The reader learns that the March family home has been a station on the Underground Railroad and they have helped numerous "packages" to their freedom. Most of the story is told by March but near the end, the perspective changes to Marmee's and it was bit confusing at first.
There were references to John Brown which were familiar to me but I found it interesting how the Marches became involved with his crusade. I did not know that the Union took over plantations in the South where they farmed with "contraband labor," slaves by another name.
At the end of the novel, March is suffering with a great deal of guilt about the experiences he has had. Today I think we would call it PTSD.
The Afterword fascinated me as the author told how she based the main character on Alcott's own father, who left behind his journals and letters. Her research is amazing.
Of course, I love historical fiction so March was right up my alley! I will look forward to reading another by Geraldine Brooks, perhaps Year of Wonders.
-Mr. March, from the novel
After reading Caleb's Crossing by this author, I wanted to read more of her work. When I saw that March won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, it was the obvious choice. I really liked it but perhaps a bit less than Caleb's Crossing. I will still rate it a 5. As an historical fiction of the Civil War era it was quite unique in that it ties into the classic Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Most of the story is told by the father of the "little women"---Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy---who is away from home, involved in the war as an army chaplain. In the book he is known only as Mr. March. The author's style includes good use of flashbacks, first person narration of action by March and his letters home to his wife, Marmee. It really made me want to reread Little Women---it has been MANY years and I don't remember much of the plot.
The setting is 1861 at the start and the story moves around to battle sites, a plantation in the south, a military hospital in Washington, DC, and back to the March family home in Concord, MA, where they are friends of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The reader learns that the March family home has been a station on the Underground Railroad and they have helped numerous "packages" to their freedom. Most of the story is told by March but near the end, the perspective changes to Marmee's and it was bit confusing at first.
There were references to John Brown which were familiar to me but I found it interesting how the Marches became involved with his crusade. I did not know that the Union took over plantations in the South where they farmed with "contraband labor," slaves by another name.
At the end of the novel, March is suffering with a great deal of guilt about the experiences he has had. Today I think we would call it PTSD.
The Afterword fascinated me as the author told how she based the main character on Alcott's own father, who left behind his journals and letters. Her research is amazing.
Of course, I love historical fiction so March was right up my alley! I will look forward to reading another by Geraldine Brooks, perhaps Year of Wonders.
Saturday, August 6, 2016
Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
"Every happiness is a bright ray between shadows, every gaiety bracketed by grief. There is no birth that does not recall a death, no victory but brings to mind a defeat."
-from the novel
I selected Caleb's Crossing for our book club because it was a "book bundle" from our library (multiple copies), it was historical fiction and because we had read People of the Book by this author and liked it. I am giving it a 5---I LOVED it! I am not sure everyone in our group will. You may remember historical fiction is my favorite genre but you may not know I have a particular interest in colonial America. It was right up my alley!
The story is told, almost as if a diary, by Bethia Mayfield, who is 12 years of age in 1660. At the outset she is living on an island now known as Martha's Vineyard with her family, having originated from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Her father is a missionary among the native Wampanoags. Bethia meets a native near her age who becomes a secret companion; she calls him Caleb. As fate would have it, he ends up under her father's tutelage.
The story proceeds to Cambridge when the very bright Caleb and another native, Joel, end up at Harvard College. Bethia arrives there, too, not as a student, but due to circumstances with her brother. Though the daughter of a minister, she is a headstrong young woman with feminist ideas ahead of her time. I don't want to give away much of the plot but I will comment on some other things that kept my attention.
First, I was so very impressed with the dialect used in the book. I recently selected a historical character of colonial Williamsburg and wrote a script for myself. It was very difficult finding proper words and phrases of the 18th century and my script was only a few pages. The author's research was meticulous. I felt transported! Also, I have visited Martha's Vineyard and the Wampanoag village at Plimoth Plantation. I remembered John Winthrop, Anne Hutchinson and King Philip's War from history. The Afterword is fascinating as the author explains that Caleb's character is based on a real man and Bethia is completely fictional.
I liked the challenging vocabulary---several words I noted to look up later. I found the word "salvages" interesting as it was used in place of savages. I just watched a TV documentary on the lost colony of Roanoke and the stone being researched had the word salvages. As you know I like to find a juicy quote to begin each post. There were SO many in this book, it was hard to settle on one!
There was a scene I really enjoyed early in the book where Bethia is beginning to teach Caleb the alphabet. It reminded me so much of a YA novel called The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, a favorite of mine when I was teaching 5th grade. In it a young pioneer attempts to teach a native to read. I found humor in both situations.
I have now realized Geraldine Brooks won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel, March, another historical fiction of the Civil War Era. Guess what I am reading next!
------------------------------
When our Page Turners met, the average rating for Caleb's Crossing was 4.2. The discussion was lively and enjoyable. Most of the participants liked the book and found the clash of cultures thought-provoking. Several in the group expected Bethia and Caleb to become a couple but we agreed that just wouldn't have worked. We liked that Bethia was an independent thinker, questioning much of the Puritan theology and accepting the natives as they were.
-from the novel
I selected Caleb's Crossing for our book club because it was a "book bundle" from our library (multiple copies), it was historical fiction and because we had read People of the Book by this author and liked it. I am giving it a 5---I LOVED it! I am not sure everyone in our group will. You may remember historical fiction is my favorite genre but you may not know I have a particular interest in colonial America. It was right up my alley!
The story is told, almost as if a diary, by Bethia Mayfield, who is 12 years of age in 1660. At the outset she is living on an island now known as Martha's Vineyard with her family, having originated from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Her father is a missionary among the native Wampanoags. Bethia meets a native near her age who becomes a secret companion; she calls him Caleb. As fate would have it, he ends up under her father's tutelage.
The story proceeds to Cambridge when the very bright Caleb and another native, Joel, end up at Harvard College. Bethia arrives there, too, not as a student, but due to circumstances with her brother. Though the daughter of a minister, she is a headstrong young woman with feminist ideas ahead of her time. I don't want to give away much of the plot but I will comment on some other things that kept my attention.
First, I was so very impressed with the dialect used in the book. I recently selected a historical character of colonial Williamsburg and wrote a script for myself. It was very difficult finding proper words and phrases of the 18th century and my script was only a few pages. The author's research was meticulous. I felt transported! Also, I have visited Martha's Vineyard and the Wampanoag village at Plimoth Plantation. I remembered John Winthrop, Anne Hutchinson and King Philip's War from history. The Afterword is fascinating as the author explains that Caleb's character is based on a real man and Bethia is completely fictional.
I liked the challenging vocabulary---several words I noted to look up later. I found the word "salvages" interesting as it was used in place of savages. I just watched a TV documentary on the lost colony of Roanoke and the stone being researched had the word salvages. As you know I like to find a juicy quote to begin each post. There were SO many in this book, it was hard to settle on one!
There was a scene I really enjoyed early in the book where Bethia is beginning to teach Caleb the alphabet. It reminded me so much of a YA novel called The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, a favorite of mine when I was teaching 5th grade. In it a young pioneer attempts to teach a native to read. I found humor in both situations.
I have now realized Geraldine Brooks won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel, March, another historical fiction of the Civil War Era. Guess what I am reading next!
------------------------------
When our Page Turners met, the average rating for Caleb's Crossing was 4.2. The discussion was lively and enjoyable. Most of the participants liked the book and found the clash of cultures thought-provoking. Several in the group expected Bethia and Caleb to become a couple but we agreed that just wouldn't have worked. We liked that Bethia was an independent thinker, questioning much of the Puritan theology and accepting the natives as they were.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Live by Night by Dennis Lehane
"'The night,' Joe said. 'Tastes too good. You live by day, you play by their rules. So we live by night and play by ours. But, D? We don't really have any rules.'"
-from the novel
This book was chosen for our Page Turners group partly because it was a "book bundle" (several copies available in a set) and partly because the author attended college in our home state of Florida. I must say it is far different than any we have read. The language was strong and the violence was intense with more graphic sex than we are used to seeing. I am giving the book a 4; it was pretty well written, a definite page-turner but not really enjoyable. If this were a movie, you could close your eyes at the bloody, sadistic parts but, of course, that's impossible with a book! A fellow reader described Live by Night as more of a "guy book" and I agree.
Joe Coughlin is the wayward son of a Boston police captain, a self-described outlaw as opposed to a gangster. He gets mixed up with crime boss Maso Pescatore while in the Charlestown Penitentiary. When they are both released, Maso sends Joe to Ybor City in Tampa to run his illegal businesses, rum running and others. It isn't long before Joe finds he has become a gangster. (Outlaws do illegal things, gangsters kill!)
Part I was set in Boston, 1926-1929 but I particularly liked Part II where the action moved to Tampa, FL, 1929-1933. I knew about the cigar industry in Tampa and Henry Plant's Tampa Bay Hotel, called "Plant's Palace" but I didn't know that Ybor City was named for Vicente Ybor, a cigar magnate. I really didn't realize the racism of that time and place, though I should have. There was serious prejudice against blacks and Cubans and a dangerous presence of the KKK. By Part III, Joe is working in Cuba.
Joe was not a respectable citizen but I found myself rooting for him when he found his true love and stood up, at great risk, to the Boss as he refused to kill his longtime friend and right-hand-man. There certainly are plenty of characters to hate in the novel. I look forward to hearing what our group members think about the book tomorrow so I will be back.
-----------------------------------
Park Lake Page Turners met this morning, always an enjoyable occasion. The average rating for Live by Night was 3.4, no 5's and no 1's. There was plenty to discuss, in fact with 18 questions from the publisher found on litlovers.com, more than we could get around to. Some talk centered around main character Joe and his seeming to have some good in him which he kept hidden much of the time. We found it interesting to speculate about his upbringing, particularly the loss of his mother, and how he became an outlaw. Being Floridians, we liked the Tampa setting with Ybor City in the forefront because many of us have been there. We pretty much agreed that Graciela was a refreshing character amidst so many heartless criminals and we thought she brought out the best in Joe. To say much more would possibly spoil the plot so I will sign off here.
-from the novel
This book was chosen for our Page Turners group partly because it was a "book bundle" (several copies available in a set) and partly because the author attended college in our home state of Florida. I must say it is far different than any we have read. The language was strong and the violence was intense with more graphic sex than we are used to seeing. I am giving the book a 4; it was pretty well written, a definite page-turner but not really enjoyable. If this were a movie, you could close your eyes at the bloody, sadistic parts but, of course, that's impossible with a book! A fellow reader described Live by Night as more of a "guy book" and I agree.
Joe Coughlin is the wayward son of a Boston police captain, a self-described outlaw as opposed to a gangster. He gets mixed up with crime boss Maso Pescatore while in the Charlestown Penitentiary. When they are both released, Maso sends Joe to Ybor City in Tampa to run his illegal businesses, rum running and others. It isn't long before Joe finds he has become a gangster. (Outlaws do illegal things, gangsters kill!)
Part I was set in Boston, 1926-1929 but I particularly liked Part II where the action moved to Tampa, FL, 1929-1933. I knew about the cigar industry in Tampa and Henry Plant's Tampa Bay Hotel, called "Plant's Palace" but I didn't know that Ybor City was named for Vicente Ybor, a cigar magnate. I really didn't realize the racism of that time and place, though I should have. There was serious prejudice against blacks and Cubans and a dangerous presence of the KKK. By Part III, Joe is working in Cuba.
Joe was not a respectable citizen but I found myself rooting for him when he found his true love and stood up, at great risk, to the Boss as he refused to kill his longtime friend and right-hand-man. There certainly are plenty of characters to hate in the novel. I look forward to hearing what our group members think about the book tomorrow so I will be back.
-----------------------------------
Park Lake Page Turners met this morning, always an enjoyable occasion. The average rating for Live by Night was 3.4, no 5's and no 1's. There was plenty to discuss, in fact with 18 questions from the publisher found on litlovers.com, more than we could get around to. Some talk centered around main character Joe and his seeming to have some good in him which he kept hidden much of the time. We found it interesting to speculate about his upbringing, particularly the loss of his mother, and how he became an outlaw. Being Floridians, we liked the Tampa setting with Ybor City in the forefront because many of us have been there. We pretty much agreed that Graciela was a refreshing character amidst so many heartless criminals and we thought she brought out the best in Joe. To say much more would possibly spoil the plot so I will sign off here.
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