Started reading again

Okay, so my eyes are not falling out of my head anymore, so I can read without getting a massive headache. Colds are no fun, especially when they go into the sinuses. Well enough of the icky stuff. I decided to read a book that does not have much thought behind it and I was able to follow the story line. This means that I can get back to reading "THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST", I hope. It is beside my chair and when I get a chance to actually sit-down I will get back to the text. So hopefully I will be finished this book by the weekend. Hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving.

NO I HAVE NOT FINISHED

I thought I would be through with the ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST but I have been nursing a cold and reading hurts my eyes, so I am not done with the book. SO sorry, I know you were eagerly awaiting my blog, but I am afraid this is all you get. LOL. I hope that you have or will be having a lovely Thanksgiving and I hope that I am able to get back to reading soon.

Wish You Well: review

WISH YOU WELL, written by David Baldacci, he resides in Virginia. As a resident of Roanoke, VA for the past 18 years, I really enjoyed reading this book, though the expert witness from the Psych clinic seemed a total idiot, but that is further in the story. This is a book about struggles that seem insurmountable. A family is torn apart with death, trauma and the need to leave their home and move to the mountains of Virginia. It is also about major companies coming in and disrupting life on the mountain for gain and then abandoning the newly formed towns. This same thing is happening now, with blasting of the mountains. What we are left with is the ugly remains of a once beautiful and majestic mountain. It reminds me of the greed people feel when they feel they have nothing. It almost reminds me of how to stand strong and persevere with the strength all of us have to survive. This story touches many emotional strings and I hope that they do not botch the movie. I

Electric Kool-aid Acid Test review

All ready I am enjoying this book better than NAKED LUNCH, maybe because I have seen the movie, maybe because I know the character, maybe because it is written so that I can follow it better. Whatever the reason I am going to finish it before the end of November, that is my promise. Books that will follow that are also on the 100 list are: GRAVITY"S RAINBOW, by Thomas Pynchon- 775 pages, I might have to renew this several times DARKNESS AT NOON, by Arthur Koestler-272 pages Those two will be finished by the end of the year, I have currently 50 of the 100 read and these three books will bring it down to 47 left to read, I think. I will have to check again. Anyway, I will write a brief synopsis about the ones that I have read and am not planning to reread at the beginning of the 2014. Some books I am having trouble finding at my library so I need to look into some of my friends collections or find a used copy. I will also continue reviewing other books I read, so it is a work in progress,(this was accompanied by a shoulder shrug).

Figured out what book to read next of the 100

My next reading adventure from the list is THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST by Tom Wolfe. I went looking through my stacks of books and found it on my son's stack. He must of had to read it for class when he was in high school. So that is my next adventure into the book list, I hope that it is not like THE NAKED LUNCH, but if nothing else I can look at the psychedelic colors on the front cover. I am a child born on the cusp of the 60's. Scared to death of the older kids in my elementary school who snuck to the back of the school at recess to smoke. I was only in third grade and still had a rosy view of the world. In middle school it was worse because now there was no recess, pot was introduced and no way anyone was going to the bathroom with out having second hand smoke. As my allergies kick in when I am near cigarette smoke, I was glad I had a very healthy bladder. It should be an interesting read and I promise I will read the whole thing. Okay, I will promise to try to read the whole thing. I will also promise to read it before the end of November as I need to get through this list. I will also give my brief opinion on books that I have read in the past that are on the list. Please be patient. After this I think that I will try to do my own challenge of 100 books and vow not to make them all mysteries or fluffy books.

WHAT TO READ NEXT

I am stumped, I have read several books but none of them on the reading the 100 list. will give a brief review on those but I need to pull out my list to see what I want to read next. After my deciding not to read "NAKED LUNCH", it came up in a book I was reading as part of their reading list. I thought that was funny but did not really want to start reading it again. Plus it is hard to get a book that the library only has one copy of in the entire area which encompasses at least 10 libraries. How instrumental could this book possibly be if no one has it. Back to my list: THE BALLAD OF TOM DOOLEY, by Sharyn McCrumb- great historical fiction, her take on the events seems very plausible. She did tones of research and actually visited the places where the events took place. Very enjoyable read. She really made me want to smack the real life characters in the head and shake them up a bit and of course ask "What were you thinking." THE BLACK HOUSE, by Peter May- Mystery with some twists set in UK, the detective who is central to this story in Fin short for Fionnlach. I probably spelled that wrong, I had to take the book back today. I really liked this book and am upset that I cannot find the two other books here in the States. I really good way to get a look at life on some of the islands. BLUE TWILIGHT, by Jessica Speart- Mystery based on poaching butterflies, with Rachel Porter as the Fish and Wildlife person taking on the case. This author is getting better and better with each book. I wish my library carried her books, so I would not have to keep buying them. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, James Patterson- Another detective book, but I love a fast read when I am traveling, so that if you need to leave it behind you can. I have the third book in this series waiting in the wings. When I read a series book I have to read them all and then I put them aside for awhile, it is an addiction. NEXT NON-LIST BOOKS: WISH YOU WELL by David Baldacci (Book Club Choice) AMONG OTHERS by Jo Walton MY HEART IS BOUNDLESS: Writings by Abigail May Alcott, Louisa's Mother, by Eve LaPlante So what am I going to read next on the list, I will let you know as soon as I figure it out.

Naked Lunch

I am afraid gentle reader that I am not going to read this book, I entered into this book and got to the fourth chapter when I said "Nope, can't do it." There are two reasons, the first is that it is overdue and I do not think that I wish to pay over a dollar for it being turned in late. The second and most pronounced reason is hinted to in the first sentence I wrote. The author, William Burroughs, makes comments, as told by the junkie, "I am afraid gentle reader that though I shouldn't I must explain what I saw." Okay I do not need to read about ___ being stuck into___. I am not a prude I am just not interested in reading it. Maybe if I were younger or on drugs, but I am neither. I am sure it is well written, he seems to have a pretty good concept of what an addled brained drug user might be like. I just do not need to read some of the descriptive passages and there was an entire chapter based on some pretty wild descriptive passages. So whoever has this book next, have fun reading it, but I am on to the next book. Maybe when I get to be an addled brained octogenarian I will try it again.

FINISHED

Okay I have finally finished "A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES" by John Kennedy Toole. This man's real life is so tragic I wonder if this account was somewhat biographical. I am sure he changed it up just a bit, but here is a man who writes a novel, cannot get anyone to read it, puts it into a box and hides it away, then at the age of thirty-two kills himself, his mother finds the manuscript and forces someone to read it and it is published. Now if we look at Ignatius, we find a man who lives with his mother, writes pages and pages of documents explaining his theories and thoughts, who believes that he has great writings which no one will understand, a mother who nags him continuously and does not understand him and who he does not want to see his work, who is on the verge of being put into a insane asylum when he is rescued by a woman he would sooner kill. Ignatius is in his 30's living with his mother, I am not sure that Mr. Toole had the same fate. So it is viewed as a comedy and there are parts that make you want to laugh, but maybe I should have not read about Mr. Toole before reading the book because Ignatius character makes me kind of sad. I think that I relate with the mom in that she wants her son to do well, move out of the house and make something of his education. I would hope that my son would not want live independently. However, unlike the mom I do not drink and bemoan my fate. I am thinking that Ignatius may have had Asperger's syndrome, the reason I say this is that I know some children that have had this and they did not like being touched, they did not like to get their hands dirty and they just burst forth with statements that maybe other people would keep to themselves. So once again I do not find the character funny, but the predicaments he gets himself into that is another story. The whole book is filled with desperate characters trying to make a life for themselves, so as in life some of these failings can be amusing. I agree with the Walker Percy, who wrote the forward in my book, you have make your way into the book in order to become invested into it. I had to hit the halfway mark in order to want to finish the book. I could why it may have been a hard sell, if the publisher only read the first chapter or two. IT gets better, would I put it on my top 100 list -no.

DRAT

I went on vacation and I forgot "THE CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES", now I have to read fast, because "THE NAKED LUNCH" is due back at the library this week. That is unless I want to help maintain the library with an overdue book. Has anyone else noticed that the overdue book fine has become rather expensive? It used to be around .50 cents a month, now depending on how popular the book is you can get charged $1.00/ day. Yikes. So you can see why I need to get these books back to the library, which means tonight I will have to finish "THE CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES" tonight. I do feel now that I got to know the characters better the book is somewhat humorous. But I am close to the end so we will see how it goes and I keep thinking how would these characters be portrayed now. There are some things in the story I find interesting and will see how the book turns out to see if I can tie it in with todays dilemmas.

Crazy Story

Still in the midst of the book "CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES." It is rather interesting and I really should pick the book up again and just finish it. However, the list of crazy characters and there interconnections could go on forever, so suffice it to say I am at a loss on how best to describe it. I will finish hopefully this week and then give you a synopsis of the story and if it has redeeming qualities. After I finish this book I will be starting "THE NAKED LUNCH", drugs and the underbelly of society, yeah for me.

Ballad of Tom Dooley by Sharyn McCrumb

I just finished the book and I must say I can see that Ms. McCrumb dislikes Pauline Foster and I cannot say that I blame her. When I suggested this book for book club I was drawn to the fact that it is part of her ballad series, but knew that it was not quite like her other books in that series. I also suggested to the group that they will hate the character of Pauline. I have to say I was not thrilled by the character of Anne Melton and would have hated to be pitted against her. I have always wanted to know the history behind that ballad and know that I know I want to know more. I feel like I want to travel to that part of the world to see the things that Ms. McCrumb found. I appreciate the story but did get a little lost initially with the dated headings. I think that one of the March titles is really an April title, but that is what happens in the editing world. A good read, lots of emotions, most of them anger at one character or another.

GO TELL IT ON A MOUNTAIN by James Baldwin

SO I had to look up James Baldwin as I have never read any of his books, he is also a poet. He was born in Harlem New York and according to Bio.com this book is somewhat autobiographical. He was born to a single woman who did not tell him his father's name just like our character John. But in the book, I believe that John truly believes that his father is the preacher who his mom married to his mom, which must really bug him when his own father does not love him. In fact we know this to be true. WHen his mother has another son by John's stepfather then he is really put on the back-burner. The preacher condemning all those around him, but living a double life of lives and deceit. Married but messing around with another woman who he sends away after he finds out she conceived a child. She dies and the baby comes to live in the town, but he does not visit him, the only poignant moment that occurs is when he tells the boy to be careful about being out in town when there is a bunch of white boys around. Then that son tragically dies without ever knowing, though it is intimated he does, know his father. After reading the description of the preacher and knowing that this is somewhat autobiographical, I feel sorry for Mr. Baldwin and hope that his step-father, who was a preacher, was not as bad as this man seems to be. I do know that the North were just as hard-lined on race issues as the South, especially in the 1950's. There is always that treatment of all races as if they are not worthy of the ground they stand on. I believe that things have changed dramatically since that time period, but do we just use other scape goats? It seems Mr. Baldwin pulled himself up and out of Harlem, eventually moving to Paris. This book is about a man's life and how he makes the decisions that will affect him the rest of his life. The turning point of changing hell into heaven. But there is a part in the end when I wonder what he means after he has watched his mother and father, where he turns to Elisha and says no matter what happens, remember I was saved, I was there. It gives me pause.

Finished CLOUD ATLAS

Alas I have finished CLOUD ATLAS, by David Mitchell, I wish that I may have gleaned a little more knowledge about what was happening in the context of are these souls being reborn, transfiguration, or just a coincidence. Actually strike the word coincidence because we know that they are joined by the writings that each person contributes, the birthmark and if we are to believe the movie freakishly similar in looks. The author's note in the back of the book liked the idea of the same characters playing parts even if it meant that they had to change Zachary from a boy into a man. They also had to change him from a son to an uncle, in order to keep with the screenwriting. So we start and end with the same story, the Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing. I think the best hints as to what the book is about comes from the continued writings of Frobisher to Sixsmith in the next to the last chapter. I liked the way the book was written over the movie, because the book made sense and as with all books you get a wealth of information that gets knocked out of a movie. That happened with the HUNGER GAMES, because you could not get into the minds of the characters and that is where you needed to be in that movie. Also that is where you needed to be in this book CLOUD ATLAS. Poetic license I guess. Read this book but remember to follow the links.

MOvie Cloud Atlas

Okay, so I broke down and saw the movie Cloud Atlas before finishing the book. As with the book it was a little confusing, but had a good rhythm, problem is that is did not solve the questions I have, about timing. See in the movie all the characters are played by the same cast. So is this movie trying to say that these are the same people just in different time periods or is it saying that they are all related, which seems impossible because not one of them had children. Also there is the comet birth mark that never gets answered in the movie, just mentioned, and the birth mark is on a different spot on each character. There are differences in the movie from the book, for instance who has the birthmark, how people come to be linked to the previous story and sequences of events, especially with Somni and on the island of Hawaii. Also significant, at least I think is the sacred place that we see both at the beginning of the book and in Hawaii, but it is not mentioned in the movie. So once again we have more information to be obtained by the book. I should be finished this book before the end of the week. I will let you know if I get my questions answered or if this is a book that will be debated for its essential meaning.

More Cloud Atlas

Okay so I am halfway through the book and I am now thinking how the heck did they do the movie. I will finish the book hopefully by this weekend and then my daughter and I are going to watch the movie. I am not sure how it did in the box office, but if the book is any indicator, I am sure the movie was confusing, making me think it did not do well at the theaters. It seems that they are a bunch of little stories but they are all interconnected, hence Cloud Atlas, time travel is not apparent at first but I am not sure I would call it time travel. I love the use of areas that we know, and peoples that we know to ground the story to earth.

The Cloud Atlas by david Mitchell

Okay, so in my last report I said I was reading the CLOUD but it is the CLOUD ATLAS. I think my brain was in the clouds, too much drama in my life to think. So I am on the third section of this book. Wasn't I surprised when the first section ended mid-sentence only to find that the rest of the sentence was at the back of the book along with the last chapter. I had a thought, how do I read this, should I cheat and go all the way to that chapter then go back to section 2 read that next section, which coincidently is the next to the last chapter, or do I go I just read it page to page like any book? I was tempted by the first option, but decided to be boring an read page for page. The first section is called THE PACIFIC JOURNAL OF ADAM EWING, I am not sure when the timing is but I am thinking sometime in the 1800's. The second section is called LETTERS FROM ZEDELGHEM and is set in 1930's, in this section we have a brief mention of the journal of Adam Ewing and Zedelghem is writing to the one of the characters in the next section Sixsmith. Now the third section is called THE HALF-LIVES OF THE FIRST LUISA REY MYSTERY, this is what makes me become interested in the book. She meets Sixsmith when they are stuck in an elevator and he tells her about a problem with a nuclear plant. HE ends up dead but not before he makes an interesting statement, that he has been carrying around Zedelhem's letters for a century. HE also says that he is 66 years old, which makes me curious on how he can have held the letters for a century and what time is this third section set in. Plus also curious, how many Luisa Rey's are there and what is a half-life? See curiosity piqued.

Two books read while I was on vacation

When I go on vacation I usually try to find a book or two based in the area I am traveling to, in this case Chicago. I went to the local library and retrieved three books, one of which I got for my husband but he enjoyed another book of mine so much that he did not get a chance to read the book I had obtained for him. One of the books I picked up had actually been recommended by a friend and at the time I did not know it had anything to do with Chicago, it was a fun surprise to find as I was reading it that the author was from the Lake Shore area. It was not fiction but a memoir of her life in 2012. It is the book that my husband thought was hilarious. In fact, he wondered where she had hid the cameras in our house. I have to say that Jen Lancaster is a bit more put together then I am, it was a fun book to read and while my husband was in his classes I had to read ahead in the book. He would always break out laughing every two to three sentences and read me the passages. The book is called "THE TAO OF MARTHA". If you have not read any of her books please put it on your book list. The second book I read was called "CITY OF ASH" by Megan Chance. This book started in Chicago but ended up in Seattle. The city in ash was Seattle and not as I had earlier surmised the city of Chicago. The book is about a socialite who is not playing her "position" in the correct manner, especially after she becomes a married woman. Her husband and her father conspire against her , she has two choices, move with her husband to Seattle or be committed. There more conspiring occurs which puts Ginny in contact with the theater and two people who will forever be entwined with her: Sebastian and Beatrice. Beatrice is a actress and Sebastian is a playwright. They are both introduced to Ginny through her husband. A good book as it made me get furious with Ginny's husband Nathan and actually a little furious with Ginny herself. This character was supposed to be smart, but she let her fantasy world derail her. She did not stop to think of anyone but herself, she kept forgetting how conniving her husband was. I really would have liked to kick her in the pants and I guess that is what Beatrice did, sort of. Two good books, next 100 book will still be "THE CLOUD" but also "GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN" by James Baldwin.

Two books: Maid to Match and Brave New World

I have decided to try to read faster and get my book reading the 100 finished by the end of the year. This means that I will do a quick review of the 48 books that I had previously read before starting the 100 list. But in the meantime I will review the current books that I ha read. One which is on the reading the 100 and the other is a book that my book club is reading. Are there similarities in the two, some, but not many. The first book I finished was MAID TO MATCH by Deeanne Gist. This book is set in 1898, on the Biltmore Estate. The author makes note at the back of the book that not all facts are real but do make an interesting story. The Vanderbilt's at this time were newlyweds and they were very nice people who took care of their servants, so that part of the story is true. The orphanage is not true, nor are the names of the servants mentioned in the book. It has a very upstairs downstairs point of view, but central focus is on the servants and their interaction and desires. I found that the mother who groomed our main character, Tilly, to be a Lady's maid has somehow forgotten about love. I really became angry with her for not supporting her daughters decision to marry, but instead wanted her to spend all her days a slave, though treated nicely, to other peoples desires. There was a cast system in play and some biases against people in the mountains of Asheville. I have been to Ashville, several times and find the area fascinating. I do however, find that I do not wish to spend the 50 dollars to go to the estate, I rather like the village. I really enjoyed the book, it was a fast read and I am looking for a good discussion at book club. I guess this falls in the category of a historical romance and is on par with Downtown Abbey. The next book I read was A BRAVE NEW WORLD, by Aldous Huxely, very different for a book written in 1932. We have a Utopian society that I am sure at the time was looked at with incredulity. In this society, everyone is manufactured to be the same, but it is still built on a class system, that goes from Alpha's to Epsilon's. As you guess the Alpha's get all the best from their test-tube lives up to meds that help them to achieve all their goals. The Epsilon's are bred to basically be stupid and for menial jobs. Each are also given medicine that helps in the various areas where they will find work, such as malaria drugs. The children are also conditioned at night while they are sleeping, with songs that are to either keep them in their place, or to look down on the lower castes. The other shocking thing that is introduced is the use of drugs to keep everyone stable and looking young. The other is the sex that is for everyone, within caste. Even the small children are encouraged to engage in sexual acts. I can see why in 1936 it was not a popular book. I dare say it probably would still not be considered a proper book. As you might suspect there are people who just do not fit in this mold, even when conditioned to do so. There are also areas where there are other societies. They are generally called savage areas. When one "savage" is brought back then there is definitely some friction. No mothers or fathers for the utopian society, they are obscene names and acts. The utopian society does have a God who replaces God that they call Ford. There are Ford manuals on how to do things. God was replaced because all the books were old, just like Shakespeare. I enjoyed the book. But I think that in 1932 and then especially around 1942, when we have Hitler trying to make a special type of person the norm, there would be a hard time getting into this book without some sort of reservations. Again the thing that pulls these two boks together is the class sytem., wheteher ist is 1898n or the 2500's.

Next -up CLOUD ATLAS

My next book from the 100 is CLOUD ATLAS I have started it three times and I have not really got into it yet. I keep seeing the ads on the TV for the movie and how wonderful it is, but I am stuck in the middle of the ocean with a stow-away and it just started getting interesting. SO I will keep you posted get some facts about the writer and try to make sense of this book. I refuse to watch the movie until I read the book. I am just going to tell myself that it is going to get better. In the meantime, I have read two books that are not on the list: COASTAL DISTURBANCE by Jessica Speart and THE DOUBLE CROSS by Clare O'Donohue. I started reading books by Jessica Speart after I read her non-fiction book called WINGED OBSESSION, about butterfly smuggling. It was a real eye opener and when I went to see if she wrote anything else, I found a series books called the RACHEL PORTER MYSTERIES. These books are difficult to find as they are out of print, but I have managed to track most of them down. Since I was in Florida I decided to read the book COASTAL DISTURBANCE about manatee abuse and water pollution, with a liberal sprinkling of ghosts and superstitions. DOUBLE CROSS is also a mystery featuring a group of women who quilt and solve mysteries. Love interests with the main character Nell and the Jesse, the police detective. This book dealt with the mountains, not the beach but still a good story, perfect for relaxing.

The Lone Wolf and Winter GArden

Thoughts on the Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult: The whole kit and caboodle were Lone Wolves. They each left the family unit and the whole thing fell apart. Cara was like the baby wolf who has to deal with a dysfunctional unit. To die or be accepted by a new pack or try to stick with the old pack. The son Edward runs away to hide from his troubles with the pack leader, and would not have come back if it were not for the father being in the car accident. Georgie leaves because she has a broken heart but finds and makes a new pack. Luke is the wolf, and also the main lone wolf, away from both packs that he loves and should be apart of, out on his own, dying to spare the rest of the pack. What a decision to have to make. Knowing that you have guilty feelings associated with your father, feeling that you are thrust into an uncomfortable situation. I would not like to be any of them. I liked the way you hear Luke’s thoughts even though he was not conscious. I also liked the ending with Barney, who was probably a recipient of Luke’s kidneys. Really chilling and sad. Cara-daughter Georgie- exwife Luke-wolf/father Joe-new husband and lawyer Edward-son These are my thoughts before heading to book club. This was our pick for June and I have to say that I loved the twists but thought that it would be highly unlikely for the step-father to represent his step-son when they were going against the step-daughter. I think that he should have asked a partner or another lawyer to help, as this would have affected the family dynamic and it was already dysfunctional. This leads us to the story I just finished for this months book club at the end of July. Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah. Another dysfunctional family, a mother haunted by her past in Russia. Two girls who are alienated from their mother because she refuses to love again. The father the only one handling everyone and keeping all healthy and happy, until he dies. A fairy tale that Anya the mother is telling which we later know to be her story. A happy and very sad story. Again with twists some expected, some not. I just wanted "Anya" the mother to warm to her daughters and talk to them but she cannot, she is more afraid to face lost love then to let herself love, and then when she does love them, more fates step into play. What would you do if you had loved someone with your whole heart and you thought they had died a brutal death, would you seal up your heart or would you try to love again? It is hard to say, and even harder to do, I think. I thank God that I have not had to deal with the atrocities of war. I have never had to worry about bombs falling on my head as a country fighting different regimes. WE have had different kinds of atrocities happen in the US, and wars fought in country that I was not apart of, so I do not know the grief that surrounds a parent with this type of loss. I do not know how to work so hard to keep someone alive when there is not food to be found. What I do know is that we hear of heroism in the face of danger and pray that we never have to make a decision that would mean life for one of our children and death for another. I wish no one had to face that ordeal as it is a life changer. I am hoping that my next book will be a little lighter in concepts, I think I have a few lined up.

Alice in Wonderland

It seems that I have slid back to not writing as frequently as I should for thus blog. But I finished Alice in Wonderland and for the fun of it Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. Being an adult I am thinking what stimulus was he on to create such characters and scenarios. But according to his biographies there is no mention of drugs though he may have suffered from migrains and he stuttered. His real name was Charles L. Dodgson. He wrote several books but none as popular as the Alice books. He died shortly before his 66th birthday from pneumonia. What little girl would not like to be involved in such an adventure. I used to traipse through the woods and look for all sorts of fun things, creating stories as I went. TO fall into a rabbit hole and alternately becoming large and small, would be a grand adventure, or to walk through a mirror to an alternate universe. Surely, a very imaginative and curious mind did our Mr. Dodgson have when stretching our conscious reality. Through the Looking Glass is concept that has been used in many a horror show or in current TV shows such as Fringe. TO walk into another universe, but even to walk into on where all the books you read are backwards, reminds me of Manga. Fun fantasy. Lots of poems especially in Through the Looking Glass. In the back of that story is another poem in which the letters spell out a child's name Alice Liddell, the girl who got Charles started by sharing the story he had written with another author, who then talked him into publishing the book. So next time you are looking for something adventurous you might want to look into Lewis Carrols work. I am going to try to find "Hunting Snarks." But I will finish Gatsby next and also discuss with you a book I read for my book club called LONE WOLF by Jodi Picoult.

Reading not necessarily the 100.

As a person who loves to read I find myself enamored by all sorts of books and I want to sit in the library and read one book after another until I have completed the Mystery section, the fiction section, not so much the romance section, books about dogs, houses, cooking, etc. But two days ago I went into the Children's section. This is one that I had not been into in a long while, since my kids are grown. There were two reasons I went into this section. The first reason is that I was looking for the Wonderful Wizard of OZ by L. Frank Baum. The second reason was that I was looking for Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Why was I looking for these two books? Well, as luck would have it I forgot my top 100 list and I knew that one or both were on the list, I just could not remember which one. They had both copies and I found out it was Alice in Wonderland that was on the list. That was okay because I really wanted to read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Why you may ask would I want to do that? it is I realized that I could not remember reading this book when I was a child. I remember the movie and maybe because of the movie I did not wish to read the book. So I decided to read this book even though it is not one of the 100. Here is what I found out in case you have never read the book, it is similar but also quite different. My curiosity had been roused by the fact that the current movie out talked about China dolls and other things that are not mentioned in the first movie. So I read and I found out that when Dorothy lands in Munchkin land that it is not Glinda the good witch that meets her but her sister the Witch of the North. Glinda is the witch of the South and does not make an appearance until the end of the book. Glinda does not go to the Emerald city to rescue Dorothy but Dorothy must travel to Glinda in the south. ALso the flying monkeys are not the Wicked witch of the West's personal pets, but must do the bidding of the person wearing an enchanted hat. That there are other creatures that we do not meet that are apart of the book, like the china dolls. But the most interesting thing to me is that L. Frank Baum in the introduction to this story tells us why he wrote the story. I will take the liberty to quote that passage, but he did not want to scare children into behaving. "Folk Lore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed children through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Anderson have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all human creations. Yet the old-time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as "historical" in the children's library: for the time has come for a series of newer "wonderful tales" in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling incident devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes morality: therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder-tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident. Having this thought in mind, the story of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was written solely to pleasure children of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heart-aches and nightmares are left out." So I look at this and I think, is this the beginning of the end. We do not teach morals and now we have children who do not care what they do to others. Not sure, because the book is mild, but the person who made the 1959 movie was certainly trying to scare people, and teach a moral.

Beloved Reviewed

I have just finished the book Beloved by Toni Morrison. I have to say that it was a very informative, descriptive and scary book. The words put up images that I would like to forget, especially the scene in the shed. This gets elaborated on throughout the book, so it starts off with just a suggestion and then little by little the truth is revealed. Other scenes are described and the idea that a ghost could manifest itself into a living breathing person, is somewhat scary. Especially when that ghost is possibly your child. I loved when Paul D arrives and the heat and anger of the ghost is red hot. That the mother just accepts this ghost because it is her child and she is feeling guilty. She does not seem to care about the living child, the one who has stayed with her from birth. But there are lots of stories of mother/ daughter separations in this book. Slavery caused families to be torn apart as soon as the children were of age and sometimes before. But what makes a mother try to kill her children, what is the lesser of the two evils? A very eye opening book. I wish I could shut out some of the scenes.

Remiss

I am afraid I have failed to be an adequate writer or reader for that matter with this blog. But I am reading the book Beloved by Toni Morrison. I have been a little freaked out by a child ghost. Also, I have been writing another blog called The Life of Kai, more frequently. But I plan to finish this book and get back to my goal of reading the 100. If I look at books on this list that I have already read, I would be have found that I have read 48 of the books. Some I will reread, like THE GREAT GATSBY, especially since I re it in high school some years ago. I love to read and that is what I do more than I write. One day I will write an actual story, I will keep you posted on that, then you can critique me.

Catcher in the Rye

I just finished Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. This book was first published in 1945, my edition was from 1999, publishing company Little Brown and Company. J.D. Salinger had several characteristics that make the character Holden Caufield similar to him, in that he did not like the structure of the school life. More information about Mr. Salinger can be found in World Biography online. He lived in NEw York, attended school, was in the service, was a writer and got out of service in 1945. Catcher in the Rye is about a boy named Holden Caufield, he is still in High School but has been farmed out to several schools because though he likes English and writing he just cannot apply himself to the rigorous studying of other subjects. He does not seem to like anyone, using names to describe them as phonies, flits, and other deragatory names. He is not happy with his older brother because he writes movies and he Holden thinks all movie people are phonies, who do not know how to be real. He loved his younger brother who dies at a young age and sends Holden into a tailspin. He loves his younger sister Phoebe and spends his time after bailing out on his school Pency, a few days before school ends for winter break. Well, he was actually kicked out but that was not in effect until after winter break. So Holden bails after an argument with his roommate about a girl that his roommate took out who is actually a friend of Holden's from home. He ends up getting knocked out, and then he leaves, goes on a calling binge and for a high school student a drinking binge. Calling friends or should I say aquintances as holden does not consider anyone a friend. The whole time he is doing this you are constantly hearing his thoughts, mostly all negative, unless he is reminiscing about his brother or thinking about his sister. His one drinking "buddy", who is actually someone who graduated from another school Holden was kicked out of, tells him he should see a psychoanalyst. This book is full of teenage angst and unresolved issues with the death of his brother. I think that is his brother who he felt was perfect had not died Holden might not have had such animosity towards the people who fell short of his expectations. But then again do not all teenagers feel animosity towards others. Good book, pretty current with todays issues.

Books up next

I have just finished a book for book club Gone Girl. This is a psychological thriller that had me guessing what the final outcome would be. There wer some who wanted both characters to have a murder/ suicide just because the Amy and Nick will never have a happy marriage, they will always be constantly watching each other. The combination, like Nick's sister Go is explosive and not in a good way. Many twists and turns and makes you look at your own marriage. It is positively scary that this type of person has a relationship with anyone. I recommend you read it but it is not part of my Reading the 100 list. On that list, however is Catcher in the Rye, but as I said in a previous blog the book The Golden NotebookI will probabky not read yet. I had to take it back to the library today, but will pick it up the next time I go to the library. I have several of the books on Reading the 100 challenge at my home so I will read those first before heading back to the library. MY next non-hundred book will be decided later as I have to decide from several books that I promised myself that I would read.

Main Street complete

I have finished Main Street by Sinclair Lewis. Yeah me. It actually a pretty good book. I guess the best thing it did was present a picture of a small midwest town set around 1916-1920. The people who reviewed the book said that Sinclair Lewis probably started writing this book when he got out of college and finished it when he was older.

I guess this is in reference to the central character Carol who was an idealist. She got out of college ready to change the world, took a library job to change the minds of youth about the value of an education. Was quite bored. She said she would not marry until she reached her goal. Her original goal ws to change a small town into something wonderful. But she changed her mind several times, but keot that in the background. Then she meets Dr. Kennicot, who lives in just the small town she wants to change. The kicker here is that she wanted to change a small town was not happy with the small town she was living in. So here is a potential town to change and she starts off alienatiing everyone. Her husband is none to pleased with her attitude towards the town folk.

The marriage is not working out but how can it when she has no interest what so ever in her husbands interest, not even one thing. She does go through periods of respect for him but those do not last very long. The other thing that she tends to throw over is her desire to make a difference in the town. Instead of sticking to her guns, she drops projects. Her biggest project that she works on all the time is how to escape her husband and this town. Every man that comes into town she pictures a romantic liason. Will he whisk her away? Will she make a difference in his life? She is not a happy person. We get to hear her thoughts quite a bit and I think she could use a little shrink help.

But to be fair, the women are not very accepting of her. Probably because she thinks that they are all stupid. Carol tends to step on toes. She does not try to fit in because she does not like theses women. They are slightly annoying. They believe that they are above everyone But they have been running the town for quite sometime. We also have the small town affairs, the bullies, the busybodies, and just about anyone that you could possibly think was annoying.

She does have children and the end scene was actually kind of interesting because of the reference she made to the year 2000. The descriptions that Sinclair used were very for a better term descriptive. The winter scenes made you think, boy I could use a blanket. The houses were nicely described and I paid close attention to the fact that Carol did inot really like the bungalow style. I thought this was interesting because that was a style that came into being about that time. I would have thought it was a forward thinking idea, but she wanted columns and other over the top decor. She did not appreciate the quiet or simpler things to life.

I said I would compare this to two other books I read: The Secret Lives of Dresses and The Lifeboat. In all three books the central character is a young female. Two of the books are set in the 1920 eara and one is curent day. The women in the 1920's are looking to be strong and independent, with the aid of a man in thier lives. The woman in the The Secret Lives of Dresses is trying to figure out whaere she belongs. She too loks for the strenght of a man. But she is independent and goes for what she wants with some prompting. It is okay for her to be strong, not like in the 1920's where you were expected to get married. The other two woman found some independence from their husbands but you have to say that they were still relient. The girl in the book The Lifeboat, would not have been on the lifeboat if not for her husband cutting a deal. Though unlike Carol, she went after her gentleman because she knew he had money. This was after seeing him in the betrothel section of the paper, thereby destroying a realtionship. When she was in the lifeboat she went with the power, at first a man then the women. She also had to deal with stronger, older women, but she just let her lawyer help her out of a sticky situation.
Carol on the other hand used her husband to get where she thought she wanted to go. Then she leaves him but with his blessing and money to go to DC, towards the end of the book. She would have not been able to do any of that without his help at that time. But she did not really appreciate what he did for her, even to the end of the book. The girl for The Secret Lives of Dresses, stood on her own, had to deal with an Aunt, Uncle and cousin who wanted to strip her of her grandmother's store, but she stood her ground, and with the help of friends, one being a possible boyfriend, she was able to take back the store and find her nitch in life. The other two I do not think will ever be as successful, but that unfortunately was the sign of the times in the early 1900's. Three woman, thrown into making life decisions, some successful, some not.

All I know is that I fall somewhere in between, and I think that is where most of us fall. When I graduated from college I had all sorts of ideals. I was going to find the cure for cancer, I had a plan for when I would get married, when I would have kids and when I would win the Nobel Peace Prize. So I got married, had my kids in the exact time frame that I wanted. It all fell into place, the only thing I have not done is to cure cancer, though I did have cancer and I feel cured. I did not win the Nobel Peace Prize. There will always be people who say no, tell us what to do, think our plans are crazy, but all you need is the support of one person to make you feel invincible. Sure you should feel that way all the time, but we all no that that does not always happen. Having someone in youor corner whether male or female just makes life a little easier. The sufferagets found this to be true that is why they formed an organization, so they would not stand alone. All these women needed a support group, some got it others did not. Great story, really made me think.

Almost done

I am almost finished Main Street by Sinclair Lewis. I lost it and finally realized the last time that I had read it was while in bed. Apparently, in my sleep I knocked it off the table and forgot where it was. But today is cleaning day and I looked under my bed, heavens, and there it was still with the bookmark in place thankfully.

I do want to make a comment about the book. I have lived in DC and Norfolk, VA and thought those were large places, similar to this stories heroine, Carol Kennicott in her town of St. Paul, Minnesota. When my husband finished hi s obligation to the services we moved to a small town. I feel for this character who finds herself under the microscope of all the people in town. In DC or Norfolk, you can go everywhere without running into someone you know, just like our character states in her circumstances for moving from St. PAul to a small prairie town. In my small town, my husband was wearing sweats when he went to the store and ran into several people who asked if he was feeling okay. Everwhere we go we run into someone accessing us and this is what happens in this book.

But in the same token, Carol, has judged these people as being inadequate because they are not like big city folk. This is what she wanted to do was to change a small town into a large town, to redesign the city. I am not sure what she thought she would have to do to do this but there are many lessons in this book.

Two down one more to go

A couple of blogs ago I said that I was reading three books and going to try to draw some parallels between the three main characters who are women. The first book finished was the Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan, the second book a finished was The Secret Lives of Dresses, by Erin McKean and the third book is Mainstreet, by Sinclair Lewis. Two are set in the early 1900's and the third Secret Lives of Dresses, is set modern America, but involves vintage dresses. I just finished reading this book and it was a pretty easy read.

The main character is Dora, who is supported by a group a strong women, who help mold her into who she is to become. I do have to say that though I loved the idea of a story behind each dress, I was not sure where it lead to much like Dora until the end of hte book. I also thought some of the stories behind the dress were quite lengthy, giving me the feeling that they were there to meet a page quota. That being said it was a good book.

I have just started the third book and find myself with another strong woman, faced with choices that are not usually open for woman in this setting. I will know more when I finish which shoud be sometime this week or possible next week, as I am not 100% and reading is tiring. If my dog will allow me to sit in peace outside and soak up sunshine I may get more read. 

We will see where we get because I would really love to compare all three main characters.

LIfeboat

I am almost finished my Book Club book, Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan. I am not sure the comparison of this book with the others that I mentioned that I would be reading but it does involve a young woman in the early 1900's, who through a weird circumstance finds her in the company of at least 36 people in a lifeboat after their boat catches on fire and sinks. There is much speculation and much bitterness about who is on this raft that should not have been on the raft. Death and forced death puts in the present day situation of our girl in prison with some of the other women for murder.

We have a mix of young and old, dependent and independent woman, and a few men that we meet. There are several people that we do not meet, but are noted as disappearing.

 Maybe when I get to the end of the book all will be explained. It also makes me think, what would I do if I were on a boat loaded to capacity with people with other people trying to get on. Would I be like Mr. Hardie and move them away with an oar or would I implore him to take them on, knowing we would sink? Would I be whiney or strong? Would I challenge Mr. Hardie? Who knows what you would do in a seemingly hopeless situation.

MAybe I will compare Grace to the other two books, once I read about their characters.

Sick and tired

So I cannot write or read because I have a cold that is making my eyes hurt so I guess I eill start reading as soon as I can see straight. It has taken me five minutes to write this.

The next challenge 100 book.

Since I have finished the last challenge book I will embark on the second book starting tomorrow, in addtion to that book I have two other books I will be reading, just to make me a little crazy.

The challenge book is Main Street, by Sinclair Lewis, this book was first published in 1920, the book I am reading is a Barnes and Nobles republication in 2003. Any pages I reference will be based on this book. There is an introduction and notes to this book by Brooke Allen, but I will not read them until after I have read the book. I do not like to be told what I am supposed to be reading, it causes a bias. Which makes me writing my opinion about books kind of challenging for the reader. So maybe you want to read this book and then wait patiently for my thoughts so that you can challenge my ideas. That would be fine by me.

The second book I will be reading is my new book club book entitled, The Lifeboat, by Charlotte Rogan, copyright 2012 by Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown amd Company.

The third book is The Secret Lives of  Dresses, by Erin McKean, copyright 2011 by 5Spot publications.

I hope that there is some overlap between the books as these are all written around female central characters, Carol in Main Street, Grace in  The Lifeboat, set in 1914, and Dora in The Secret Lives of Dresses, set in current times. Two from what I can tell are set in small towns, while one starts on a boat.

I am not sure how long it will take me to read these books but I should be finished by the end of March or sooner. Happy reading.

A BIG FAT YEAH

I have finished All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren, I am not sure if you are as glad as I am. SO  somewhere during the last few chapters of this book I was reminded of the nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty.As you know Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, All the King's Horses and All the King's Men could not put Humpty together again.

We have the Boss, Willie Stark who comes from humble backgrounds who wants to do good in the world but eventually becomes power hungry. We have his staff willing to do anything to keep the Boss in power. And as with many corrupt politicians we have his downfall. A downfall that does not allow his men to be able to fix things.

Then we have Jack Burden, our storyteller, who is aptly named. We find out thoroughout the story that he is burdened by many things. His work ethic when it comes to doing the Bosses bidding. His love/hate relationship with his mother. His incredulity with his friend Anne Stanton's choices, especially when it come to her relationship with Willie.

There is no great chase scene, unless you look at the driving of Sugar Boy, named because he pops sugar cubes in his mouth. There is a gradual incline to the story and while the Boss is sitting on the wall we learn more about Jack Burden. Then we get back to the Boss and all still seems like it is going okay but then we have the fall. And it is a fast fall, the whole organization falls a apart.

There is a resolution of sorts. Not wrapped up neatly in a prety bow, but some messy resolution, that leaves you thinking is everything going to be okay, will all the suppositions that are made at the end come to fruition or not.
It was a good books and it was made into a movie, so it has some merit. Would I say it is the best book I ever read, maybe not. I could not identify with the character. Also, the pacing was off just a little bit, until we were focused more on Jack Burden and less on the Boss.

House at Tyneford

Yesterday, I had a wonderful day with it ending at my book club meeting at Olive Garden to discuss the book The House at Tyneford, by Natasha Solomon. This story is based on the happenings in WWII.The writer gathers inspiration for this novel from the history of her great aunt and her grandmother who had escaped from Europe to England to become a "mother's helper" and from a manor house that used to sit in Tyneham, England on the Dorset coast.

We are introduced to Elise as she is about to embark by herself to England from Vienna to become a maid at Tyneford House. She leaves behind her married sister who is heading to America and Anna and Julian (mother and father) who are patiently waiting Visa's to leave Vienna. Plus probably the only one who understands her the maid at her house, Hildegarde.

She leaves all that she knows and travels by herself to a country that she does not know to a job she does not care to do. But with all that she accepts her fate and works hard. She also comes to the attention of two men in the household, Kit and his father. The story goes on with an ending that you may or may not like, with deaths that you may or may not suspect.

It is a book that will attract several groups, WWII buffs who study the in and outs of war coming to England and the cicumstances of the Jewish population. Also, people who enjoy British writing, and those who enjoy watching shows based on British lifestyle, such as Downton Abbey.

I liked the book because I think that it is amazing to me that during the time of WWII, everyone thought that the war would last only a few months, no on realized or turned a blind eye to the happenings during that war. I always think of the thousands of people who walked past citizens in a variety of countries and no one thought anything was going on or were afraid to say anything because they knew what was actually happening. But that brings us to people who actually did help and offer some solution to the problems happening in Europe. And the people who lost loved ones because they could not escape fast enough.

I also liked the main character Elise, she is terrified but also spunky. Who else throws stones at an enemy plane? She is a young adult but there are times she acts like a child and other times as someone who is wise beyond her years. A good book

Over Booked

It seems I have underestimated the number of books I can read at a given time. I have at least 10 books piled up to read, okay it is more than that. I am trying to do All the King's Men justice by taking my time but now I have runout of library borrowing time and must delivery it back amoung the stacks. Do not fret dear reader because I do have an Ipad and a kindle and will download the book and start from where I left off.
 But to give you a brief synopsis: We are not looking at the Boss but the reflections of the narrator who started off as a history major, hence the looking back quite frequently in his musings. He shows us the things he used to do and how that reflects his work with Boss Stark, but that in itself is also a history, as we get glimpses of the present every once and awhile. Which is why I am having some difficulty, he has gotten better about denoting his reflections or I have just gotten better at discerning when we are about to travel to the first past instead of the second past. We have also started getting some religious philosophy so that is interesting.

In addition I have started reading the book The House at Tyneford, by Natasha Solomons, which I have to have read by Feb 25th, actually before then as I have promised to share the book. Where does the time go? This is for bookclub so I will not talk about the book until I have finished with the book and heard some other thoughts on the book.

So here I sit trying to keep you up to date, but I must have lunch and then run this book back to the library so I do not get charged anymore late fees. Once I finish All the King's Men, I will be looking at two books from the 100 that seem to be interesting, Main Street, by Sinclair Lewis (457 pages) and The Golden Notebook, by Doris Lessing (565 pages.) I need to find some smaller books to read on the 100 books challenge.

Happy Valentine's day.

Sorry

It seems that though I am enjoying All the King's Men, construction on my house has got in the way of reading. I promise that I will finsih this book and move onto my next book read for the 100, by the end of next week. The next book to be reviewed as part of the 100, is Main Street by Sinclair Lewis. I am trying to get all the older books read first.

One thing I love about All the King's Men, are the very southern sayings, for example: "His chances looked about as good as the chances of a flea making a living on a carved marble lion on a monument."(page 62) This is referring to Willie Stark getting elected as Governor.
Another saying was "He had galloping political anemia.", this also refers to Willlie Stark's campaign and his inability to deliver a speech that moved the masses.
On page 78, Sadie, Willie Stark's campaign manager, is talking to our narrator, Jack Burden, about who she prefers to date. Her response to him when he asks if she thinks he is good looking is "I never did go for anybody that reminded me of a box of spilled spaghetti. All elbows and dry rattle."

My next book I will review, from the book club I attend, will be The House of Tynford, by Natasha Solomon.

If you are over 50 and looking for a dog, then read The 50+Dog Owner by Mary Jane Checchi. This is a very informative book, that makes you really think about the type of dog you should get or if you really can handle a dog. It made me realize that if I got a young dog and it lived 10 years would I be able to lift it if I had to take it to the vet or if it got hurt.

Uncharted by Angela Hunt: A review

As promised I am writing this review after my book club. THe first part of this review is before I went to book club.

Uncharted by Angela Hunt

There are some books that you have to get passed the introduction of all the characters to get into the meat of the book.  This is one of those books. The prologue draws you in, where did the bottle with Sarah’s name on it come from.  Who is the lady on the beach? At first I thought it was her mother and that she was just being snippy when she called her the woman under the umbrella. From there we get into the characters.

This is a group of people who worked with John in selling his book, Happily Ever After, when they were in college. 3 guys and 3 girls, but we are introduced to them in their current life. They all seem to have issues, one being they do not have time for each other, all are very self-centered. One is a psychopath and only one is a humanitarian, and he dies immediately bringing all the other’s together to his funeral.

Previous to his death he has asked all of them to help build a school on a remote island and all of them have refused. Now after his death they decide to help John Watson. They all go and get caught in a storm, where John, the boat captain and his son die. “Miraculously,” they all survive on a deserted island. Theories are past around and escape attempts are made but they cannot get off the island. They find treasures of their past but chalk it up to coincidence. Then they find a mysterious cave which shows them their past.

It is a little bit of a stretch to think that all of them went on this trip. That they all happened to clear their schedules and that the two parents left their child behind to go on this trip, when previously they were fighting about whose job was more important so that they could pass her from one person to another.

This book is about spirituality, how you live your life now affects where you will end up. The island is a land of limbo, purgatory, will they ever get off this island? Is there a purgatory? What is the book Happily Ever After about? Is it a representation of the New Testament? Why is vanity lumped in with murder? Does Karyn who wishes to save her daughter have any redeeming qualities? Are we all destined to a remote island with no chance of escape, since none of us are perfect?

__________________________________________________________

The questions I ask above were discussed at book club. We all felt that if you were to redeem yourself that you would not be sent to this hopeless place. The author defines the difference between Hades and Hell. HAdes being a place where you wait until you are judged. There is some hope if only a little that you will somehow with repentence be judged and sent to heaven. Hell is a place that once you get there you have no redemption. If that is the case from reading this book, you are in hell, but there is a small indication at the end of the book that they might be in Hades.

No matter what this book makes you think about your past, did you do something that you have not reconciled. Have you thought evil thoughts or took action that brought about someones ruin? What if you thought you were doing a good deed but it turns out you were wrong?

I will contrast this to a book I read over the Christmas. In this story there is a place just outside the pearly gates of Heaven. SOme people pass through without stopping. THe people on the outside of the gate are wiating for their chance to go in. This is where we meet our main character, he has been sitting here for some time and has watched people go through the gate that he knows were not very good people. Then he sees his girlfriend that he wronged because of his self-centered attitude, by not marrying her. SHe never married and he starts to feel remorse especially as she passes by him to go into heaven. He starts evaluating himself and that is when he gets called before the coubcil. HE asks why has he been kept outside the gates, when thsi other person got in that he knew was not a good person. The answer was he did something that was selfless to save others. So our character is sent back to earth as an angel, whois only seen by the litle girl he is trying to help. WHen he finishes this mission and is allowed into heaven, he meets his girlfirend and all the others who came before him. But he feels so good about how he has helped that he wants to go back and help others. THAT is the kind of inspirational book I want to read. This book was found in a mystery book I just happened to pick up around Christmas. And I remembered this book about 4 AM this morning and will have to find the name but it stuck in my head so I had to get up and write down this inspiration.

 

 

 

Reading dilemma

Have you ever had one of those weeks when electricty, electronics and life makes you crazy. Well that has been the whole month of January, actually December jumps in the fray as well. Between power outages, garage building and computer glitches, I have been stymied in my attempts to read or write. All the King's Men still resides on my table, to be finished. If my writing course is cancelled tonight my goal is to curl up with a cup of tea and read. Then, hopefully, I can write a review of this book. What I can tell you about the book which I mentioned before is that this author is very descriptive. When he talks about heading to where he grew up with the Boss, you can almost smell the sea water. As a person who heads further south once a year, the description really jumps out.

His character descriptions paint a lovely picture, so that you are not relying on a movie director to give you the image of the character. For example, the description of Willie Spark, AKA the Boss, when our narrato first meets him.( Found on page 19 of the Book Club edition, 1974.) "His lips were a little bit meaty, but they weren't loose. Not exactly. Maybe at first glance you might think so. You might think he had the mouth like a boy,.....but if you stick around long enough you would see something a little different. You would see that they were hung together, all right, even if they were meaty."

So that is it for now as I have to deal with construction issues. Hopefully, more will be revealed by next week on this book. And I will also be reviewing Uncharted, by Angela Hunt.

Continuation of All the KIng's Men

I have read further in the book, but lost the book for a few days. We have the South, the coast, the Boss and our narrator who was a reporter at one point but is now the right hand man on the Boss.
The Boss a former farmer has worked his way up the political ladder and promotes those he wants to win and does not back down from a fight. Our narrator is looking back, 1920's, 1930's, 1940's, so that we are getting his background as well, from the first time he meets the Boss, his mother and his many stepfathers. I will finish the rest of this critique when I finish the book.

NExt week I will critique Uncharted, after my book club meeting so that I can get there input. This is not on the Reading the 100 list but it is on my book club list.

As I am new to blogging, eventually I will get pictures of these books to post.

Also in my book collection that will be read sometime this year:

The Fall of Giants by Ken Follet
Crossroads by Wm. Paul YOung
The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling
The Giving Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini
Marmee and Louisa  and My Heart is Boundless by Eve La Plante

Okay so there is a bunch of books that I plan to read. I will be critiquing all that I read and hope that if anyone feels the need to critique me, I understand the need. I am a very ananlytical person though I have to admit my earlier writings may not seem that way. I will improve with my writing and make this a more enjoyable Blog. May have to change the name if I keep reading my own list and not that of the 100 book challenge.

Let's cozy up and read a book.

All The King's Men

All The King's Men, by Robert Warren Penn, copyright 1946, renewed 1974, published as a Book of the Month Club book through arrangements with Harcourt Publishing.
(My next few blogs will be about this book.)

I had not gotten far when I realized this man had very descriptive verse. In fact the first page had me reminiscing about a highway I used to travel, that fit the description of Highway 58 so well that it may have been that highway. "You look up at the highway and it is straight for miles, with the black line down the center coming at and at you, black and slick and tarry-shining against the slab, and heat dazzles up from the white slab, so that only the black line is clear..."(chapter 1 page 1)
I have been hypnotized on a road like that and you have to break your concentration on the road or hope another car comes your way.

But it was from that description that I wondered what else has Robert Warren Penn written, and was correct to discover that he was a poet. His work is very lyrical and though I have only read the first few pages, I think I will enjoy the book. The setting is in the South in the 1930's, because he talks about cotton fields and reminisces about the 1920's. The author also uses words that we would not use today, unless we were writing a book set in the past and we wanted to be authentic in the derogatory terms used at the time. I will not write them for you, it is better left to the author.

Hopefully, I will read this faster then I attempted to read The Ambassadors.
Other books on my reading agenda are:
Uncharted, by Angela Hunt: I actually finished this but will be discussing it at bookclub near the end of the month so I may critique it at that time. After a lively discussion about Heaven and Hell.
An Irish Country Christmas, by Patrick Taylor: I fell in love this author after visiting Ireland. I found one of his books while I was waiting for a train. But I do not read a series out of turn, unless by mistake. So I copied his name down and went in search for the first book. A very fun read.

Have fun reading.

"All The Pretty Horses" complete

I have finally finished All The Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy. In my last blog I talked about leaving John Grady Cole in the middle of being rousted out of bed by men with guns. My assumption it was because he was sleeping with the bosses daughter or because of a young man named Jimmy Blevins. It ws actually a combination of the two. The men had come to talk with the owner of the farm previously about horse rustler's and he told them to wait until he had further information about John Grady. The daughter spilled the beans about them sleeping together, that was all that was needed to let the "deputies" come for John Grady and his friend Rawlins.

This book is full of adventure and if you want to practice your Spanish, this is a good book to read. There are many times that the John Grady who is fluent in Spanish talks to the Mexican people without explaining what he is saying. Sometimes you can get a gist of what is being said, but other times I wished I had my Spanish dictionary by my side.

The book I read is the first book in The Border Trilogy. Mr. McCarthy first published All the Pretty Horses in 1992. The other books in the series are The Crossing, published in 1994 and Cities of the Plain, published in 1998. They were published as one book in 1999 by  Everyman's Library by Alfred A. Knopf.

I have not read the others in the trilogy as I am bound and determined to read my 100 books initailly placed in the challenge. But I may get my Spanish dictionary out again this summer and read the other two books. Also, It needs to get back to the library.

My next book is All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren

Resolutions

I have not stopped reading but unfortunately time has slipped away from me in the writing of this blog.  My daughter Katy Cain told me in order to have a succesful blog, one must actually write at least 2 times per week. My New Year resolution includes at least one hour of writing, everyday. That means that I can get some writing in while blogging, between my books. Since my last blog, I have finished many books but have not completed the ones on the 100 challenge list.

So what have I read:
1. Yes, Chef by Marcus Sammuelson- An interesting book that looks at this Chef's life from the beginning to current times. I loved that he got a break by being adopted by the Swedish family. His world would have beeen so different had he stayed in his village. I also liked that he paid it back by helping his half sibling.
      This book allowed me to explore the workings of a restaurant hierachy that I knew little about but suspected existed from shows like Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen, and other shows on television. I can safely say that my brief encounter as a luncheonette cook was not as crazy. I certainly would not have put my hand near anything that could rip the flesh off it. My husband says I have enough trouble in my own kitchen. He has taken me to the ER already with stupid mandolin wounds.

2. The Sweetness at The Bottom of The Pie and I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley.
    I absolutely loved these books. I think that I was enamored by Falvia de Luce because she reminded me of myself. I was not quite as enamored with poisons, but loved chemistry. I would sepend hours mixing concotions in my bathroom, no lab in the East wing for me. I also had no qualms about seeking outside entertainment and being a pest to my older sister. I contrived many a fake problem just to get my sister in trouble. I had a mother, but my father was absent not dead. I loved that she is always knee deep in a mystery. I also connected to the reader and had my nose in many a book, especially Nancy Drew.
Both books were fun to read especially the last one right around Christmas, where Falvia is trying to prove to her sisters that there is a Father Christmas, by capturing him in a glue substance that she has put together. A very charming book.

AND yes I have been reading the 100 books on the challenge. I have two checked out from my local library:
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy and All The King's Men by Robert Penn Warren.

All the Pretty Horses took some getting used to, I had to start over several times because Mr. McCarthy uses a interesting technique of not putting quotation marks around his conversations. I had to figure out who was speaking. Once I got over that, because I did have a slight hissy about focusing on my characters, it started to become a little more interesting. I still was not fond of the meandering in the desert to get to a farm in Mexico. I am enjoying the book more, but have left our main character in the middle of being roused by men carrying guns. I suspect this is because of one or two reasons: he was temporarily traveling with a young man who was causing alot of problems including stealing his "own" horse back, or because he is messing around with his bosses daughter. I suspect it is more of the latter then the former. He was warned by her grandmother about not making her grandaughter's reputation be tarnished. A little more action currently then just riding with a pest thru the desert.
More on this before the end of nest week.
I have not started the other book yet but that will be the next 100 list book I will read.

Also for CHristmas I received 6 new books so I will review those as well.
SO my resolution not only includes writing about the 100 books but my own list of books.