So. What’s a-Happenin’?

Howdy.

I have read a few books while away from The-Blogging. Actually, I have stalled, for no good reason, on Kitchen Confidential. I think I’m about half way. And, one of the books I ‘read’ was more like a ‘listen’:  Tropic of Cancer.

Just yesterday, I finished Life After Life by Kate Atkinson and I LOVED IT! Yesterday was also my last day of my long-term subbing job at the High School.

A quick check on goodreads.com says I finished Called to Coach by Bobby Bowden back in April. Add that to the list I need to review. Wow, I was gone awhile, huh.

I want to thank all of you who checked in with me via Twitter, snail-mail, emails and Instagram. You’re all awesome. I’ve missed you.

Trish suggested I not pressure myself with a review to show I am back, but to just say HELLO. So, here I am, saying HELLO!

“We needs must love the highest when we see it.” — Alfred Tennyson

(If you’ve read Life After Life, you recognize the NEEDS MUST. Yes?)
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Copyright © 2007-2013. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

World Book Night

My friend Holly will be helping me pass out Still Alice  by Lisa Genova. (clicking on this cover will take you to my review.)

 Here’s the somewhat blurry pic I took at the World Book Night KickOff Reception hosted by the Berkley Public Library.

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Copyright © 2007-2013. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Boston Strong

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Copyright © 2007-2013. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

Thoughts  The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, translated from the Swedish by Rod Bradbury, Kindle edition HarperCollins 2012 (orig 2009), 400 pages

AudioGO 2012, narrated by Steven Crossley, 12 hours

Whispersync attempt #2 – I mostly listened to this one and only twice was I prompted to the ‘currently-at’ position when I switched from one to the other. And that was only when going to the eBook from listening for awhile. When I read and bookmarked, then hopped in my car to listen, I was never caught up to the spot I should have been at in the reading.

WHY I read/listened:   Our April Book Club selection. Discussion scheduled for April 25.

WHAT’s it ABOUT: I think the title says quite a bit. Except, he doesn’t really disappear. We flashback to all the crazy adventures he had on his life leading up to why he wanted to escape the nursing home on his 100th birthday.

What’s GOOD:  It’s comical, it’s got dry wit. Our centenarian protagonist truly gets himself into some interesting situations and meets the most famous of politicians while not having any political opinions one way or the other – except to stay out of it unless he needs to get ‘into it’ to save his skin. He was a master of deflection and turning a bad deal into a good one. Totally unrealistic and thus very fun.

What’s NOT so good: Well, if you are not really a history buff, I suppose you could roll your eyes and be rather bored about it all, or even just in spots. It is not likely a book for someone who is not comfortable outside a favorite genre if this book isn’t OF that genre. I don’t really know what genre this is – but I wouldn’t quite call it romance. Crime thriller perhaps; historical comedy perhaps?

Caveat – it does have some romance in it, though, so I can’t discount the hooking up that happens.

Caveat #2 – I was NOT bored. I think I even learned a few things.

AND…  It also has a circus animal. A bonus!

It’s a book about friendship. It’s a book about the importance not to over-react, to have a good attitude in the face of crisis, to not snap to rush judgements. And perhaps, about the importance of having a useful skill. (But that is sad to me in light of recent tragedies. The guy was an explosives expert.)

PIE mention:  ~45% in, page 177 of 385:   “… well, the rest would be easy as pie!”  (curious; wondering if the original Swedish used this same phrase and if it was an exact translation…)

RATING:  Three slices of pie. Would rate it 3.5 stars in goodreads, if they allowed that which they do not.
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Copyright © 2007-2013. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Howl’s Moving Castle

Thoughts   Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, A Greenwillow Book EOS • An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 2008 (orig 1986), 429 pages

I have been wanting to read this since Jenny of Jenny’s Books educated me on the MUSTS of knowing this author.

I wrote all about my attempt to participate in the first DWJ Week way back when in my review of her short story collection Mixed Magics.   <– click on that underlined part Miss Mad…

I enjoyed Mixed Magics and I must say that Howl’s Moving Castle is just as delightful.

Delightful and LIVELY. Lively was the word I used to describe Mixed Magics and it applies here, too. Especially the beginning. I was grinning and giggling and very much excited to continue once I began. Ms. Jones just writes extremely engaging and SMART stories.

So this time around, “they” declared March as DWJ month and tweeted and twitted about it with hashtag #dwjmarch. I was a bit late to the party and was proud of myself for getting my hands on this book. Finally. AND reading it in March. Though I had to finish it in April.

I’m not going to yap too much what it’s about. An eldest daughter realizes that because she is the eldest, her chances of adventure are non-existent but things end up happening to her anyway. I’m actually liking the story even more reflecting on it.

Question for you parents of 11 year olds…  Is this the perfect book for an 11 year old niece of mine? I’ve been just the wretchedest of aunties and forgot her birthday. I know, I feel horrible. So much for vying for FAVORITE-AUNT.

I actually am thinking of sending her the non-perishable ingredients plus recipe for Coconut Custard Pie – I just don’t know if she likes coconut!  oh well, I think I’ll do it anyway…

SO then, let me know if you think I should buy this for the poor niece of mine who has been treated shabbily by Auntie-Care and do have a delightful day!

NEVERMIND. I believe this will be PERFECT for her. (I just read that post of Jenny’s again that I link to above…)
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Copyright © 2007-2013. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Possession: A Spoileriffic #ReadByatt Post

Thoughts  Possession by A.S. Byatt, Vintage Books 1991 (orig 1990) – Movie Tie In (which seems odd that this is 1991 since the movie came out in 2002), 555 pages

I’m warning you that this is a convo for people who have read the book. If you ever think you want to read it and hate spoilers, please do not read on. You’ll hate me and yourself. Probably in that order.

First Sentence: “The book was thick and black and covered with dust.”

OK, let’s start with a bang. Not until Ellen’s grand confession of the most delicate and private truths as to what kind of marriage she had with Poet Ash, did I even question or wonder who knocked up the maid in Chapter _?_. (I couldn’t find it.) Can you say FORESHADOWING that went WAY over my head I didn’t even notice anything went by? So, we have a pregnant girl who disappears soon before the birth and we never know what happens. And Poet Ash did it!  He had to. Makes sense to me, anyway. He was both admirable and despiscable.

Ellen was passive-aggressive. Did she or didn’t she want everyone to know? Yes to both. Poor thing. Couldn’t decide… And really POOR THING that she got what she wanted (or didn’t) and never knew what she was missing. AND THEN, her understanding somewhat faithful husband!!!  whoa.

Ellen – truly the most tragic figure in the book. And her husband gallivants around the countryside to study biology. It’s rather humorous.

I loved that the child was anti-poetry. HA!

I was tripped up how many great-greats Christabel was to Maud. Didn’t there seem to be an excessive amount?  Just looked – there were 3.  So if Maud was in her thirties in 1986, she could have been born in, let’s say 1953. If I subtract 22 for her mother’s birth year, we get 1931. Then for her mother, which would be Maud’s GRANDMOTHER, another 22 years back would be 1909. That puts Maud’s FIRST great-grandma born in 1887 and then 2nd great in 1965. SO, they were REALLY young mothers to pop in another layer of generation to get to 1861 for May’s birthday!  I know, I’m strange, but the too many great things really took me out of the story…

Not that I didn’t love the twist that Maud was a relation! So cool. Really should have seen it coming with all the white-blonde and pale skin reference to BOTH of them. What a fun circle back that Maud studies her great-to-the-third-or-second-gma’s work unbeknownst.

And the last chapter was lovely. How sad that Ash and Christabel failed to get their last messages of love to their lover.

Rating:  Four slices of pie. I would have to say the pie that best goes with this work is a decadent rich dark chocolate torte with real cream garnish and a few raspberries. (I either was careless and failed to note any pie references or there just weren’t any.)

I can’t give you a five star rating on this because I just didn’t fall in love with the poetry. So the rating is for me because on an academic literary impressive scale, this is a five star book and I do think it deserves all the love and awards it has won.

I don’t have the energy to record all the vocabulary but be assured, this has many words I did not know. But honestly, I was not as intimidated by this like I was for her Matisse stories.

And I’m out of steam. Please visit Kim and Lu for more insight…

Finally a BIG thank you to Kim of Sophisticated Dorkiness and Lu of Regular Rumination for hosting a readalong/tweetalong #ReadByatt. I appreciate the nudge to finally get this read.

If you loved this book, I highly recommend you read Byatt’s lovely novella collection Angels and Insects. Especially the Angels one.

.

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Copyright © 2007-2013. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

The Face on the Milk Carton

Thoughts  The Face on the Milk Carton (Janie Johnson #1) by Caroline B. Cooney, Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group 1991, 184 pages

I was fortunate enough to be asked to read aloud a few chapters of this book while I was subbing for the Special Education Department at the High School and it just happened to be Read Aloud Day! Nifty.

And then I was firmly entrenched in the story and just had to find out what happens next but they wouldn’t let me take a book home with me so I had to wait until I was subbing again the next week.

And…    

I give it four slices of pie for its addictiveness and charm of characters and the urgent sense of drama! Four slices of HONEY PIE due to the milk ingredient as featured in my year’s project book.  

But was mildly upset with the ending. Such a cliff-hanger and obvious setup for the next book. Boo.

Still, it was quick and engaging and I enjoyed the chance to read while at work AND help with the students.

Synopsis:  A happy daydreaming young girl sees her face on one of the milk cartons at school lunch and it sends her into quite a tizzy with the What Ifs. What if her loving parents kidnapped her? Does she have another “REAL” family? Are these new flashback memories TRUTH? Why won’t her mother let her see her birth certificate?

Her awesome boyfriend-next-door is adorable and he helps her ‘face’ the dilemmas.

Will I be reading on?  Probably not. I’m just like that. “Book One of a Series and Done.” It’s how I roll…

I started with the copy above and finished with a new edition; this cover is MUCH creepier, wouldn’t you agree?  

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Copyright © 2007-2013. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

The Dinner (eBook & Audio)

[Updated a few hours after posting when I thought of something I meant to add...]

Thoughts  The Dinner by Herman Koch, Hogarth · Imprint of Crown Publishing Group Ltd / Random House 2013 (orig 2009), Translated from the Dutch by Sam Garrett, 304 pages eBook

 AudioGo 2013, Narrated by Clive Mantle, 8 Hours 55 Minutes

Three words:  Disturbing, Alarming, Haughty (not sure a book can be haughty but the main character/narrator certainly could be described as ‘blatantly and disdainfully proud’.)

When Marie told me via Twitter that this is a ‘tough read’ and ‘is disturbing’, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. And when I had heard comparisons to Gone Girl, I was most intrigued. I loved Gone Girl!

Well, this one I did NOT love. Yes, it IS disturbing. The narrator of the story (not the narrator of the audio!  The fictional character) is condescending and thoroughly unlikable. He comes across very angry, in a way that you know he admires himself on how well he keeps himself in control.

Yea, well. I didn’t like him.

So it was hard to like the book. I would not say I enjoyed it. In fact, for some parts, I felt physically ill.

None of the characters have much going for them, in my opinion.

(Marie’s review is excellent, by the way. She says it is ‘masterfully written’. In fact, she argues for ONE sympathetic character and I will grant her the explanation as valid.)

As for the audio… Narrator is British and did an excellent job. He certainly was able to sound haughty and condescending. I wasn’t too impressed with one of his female voices but it was near the end of the book when I noticed it. Whispersync only worked about half the time, but it IS cool to bounce back and forth from audio to print and be immediately at the spot where you left off. I went back and forth a LOT. Sometimes, the audio was too slow for the pace of the story, if that makes sense. I kept wanting Mr. Lohman (did we ever get his first name? Serge’s brother, Claire’s husband, Michel’s father) to STOP thinking outloud and tell me what is GOING ON.

This book counts as one that happens on ONE DAY. I’m sort of collecting them.

I wrestled with giving it a two stars but also wavered with 4 stars precisely because I do think a book that provokes me so much has something powerful to credit. So I compromised with three. Three slices of CREAM pie. With blackberries, since a dessert in the story provokes one of the characters to push it away.

“Even if this head were to be pelted with rotten eggs, the smile had to remain intact. Even behind the remains of a cream pie pressed into his face by an angry activist, the smile could never, ever fade from the voters’ view.”  -p.33, 12%

Also, another reason this book hit me a bit hard was due to a post I read (and reposted) on Facebook and linked here from the blog source:  Accidental Devotional’s “The Day I Taught How Not to Rape”. Thank you Jeanne for sharing.

The post talks about how we think teenagers should KNOW about respect. And sex. And what is rape. And all the other things we think nice responsible people should  know. And this book also addresses this exact question of whether or not teenagers are CHILDREN or ADULTS. We want to assume they ‘know better’; how do we handle these tough situations when they do not ‘know better’.

WORDS
p.63 – CHANSONS – song, specifically a music-hall or cabaret song
p.64 – FRÈRE – French for ‘brother’ (figured it out from context but like to make sure)
p.76 – SLIP DE BAIN – French for ‘swim suit’
p.285 – EXCRESCENCES – disfiguring, extraneous or unwanted marks or parts

Question for my Dutch friends – The audio says something that the book wouldn’t clarify but it translated as GAS CAN. It sounded like JELLY can. Explain? Thanks!  ***THANKS Laurie! The answer is JERRYCAN. I am a much more visual learner and really needed to see how the word was spelled so I could accurately hear it. NOW I get it!

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Copyright © 2007-2013. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Moby-Dick (Print & Audio)

Thoughts  Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, Houghton Mifflin Company · Riverside Editions 1956 (orig 1851), 432 pages.

 Recorded Books 2008, narrated by Frank Muller, 22 hours

I heartily recommend anyone who has any interest in this ASTONISHING work of literature to listen to the audiobook. The story comes alive.

I was more than impressed with the passion and drama that Melville presents in this oh-so-much-more than a determined captain chasing his nemesis, The White Whale. And it has comedy and wit, too.

Sure, I will freely admit, that parts might be considered BOOOORRRRINNNG; Herm tediously offers every describable biological inch of the whale, every huge and minute detail of the whaling industry, and all sorts of facets about creatures of the deep to astound and fascinate and bore. Also thoughts on the Great Questions of philosophy & religion. But the language could also be delightful and poetic and lyrical and it was a lot of fun to listen to. Most of the time.

However, by 15 hours in, I was ready for this 22 hours Festival of Leviathans to be over. I likely heard only 80% while driving around or attempting to vacuum. I zoned out.  As soon as dialogue came back to my ears, I was fully into it and entranced once again.

“Moby-Dick is not only a very big book; it is also a peculiarly full and rich one, and from the very opening it conveys a sense of abundance, of high creative power, that exhilarates and enlarges the imagination. This quality is felt immediately in the style, which is remarkably easy, natural and “American” yet always literary, and which swells in power until it take on some of the roaring and uncontainable rhythms with which Melville audibly describes the sea.”  - Introduction by Alfred Kazin, Editor

I also heartily recommend Sam Ita’s Pop-Up Book:  Sterling Press 2007, 8 pages

 I love  pop-up books… 

I had always been intimidated by Moby-Dick. Nineteenth century language, it’s either loved or hated (which honestly, are the books that appeal to me), it’s long, Fizzy hated it, etc. But I found a copy that my Father-in-Law used in college that included some of his hand-written notes and I was thrilled to have that connection. I seriously doubt I would have survived it without the audiobook. But now that I’m finished, I could be tempted to read it again (someday). I live near New Bedford, Massachusetts which is steeped in whaling history and offers fun Melville connections – and a fabulous whaling museum. Come visit!

Now, if you prefer a more artsy interpretation of Moby-Dick, you might want to read what Brain Pickings shares about Matt Kish and his project to illustrate every page of this classic. I honestly can’t decide if I would want to look at this in its entirety, but I’m also quite drawn to it…

My favorite Moby-Dick quotes:

“Better to sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunk Christian.” 

“It is not down on any map; true places never are.”  (remind you of anyone? reminds me of Harry Potter and/or Neil Gaiman)

“As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.”

“To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the flea, though many there be who have tried it.” 

This post is dedicated to my good friend KB, who has endured my tweeting and mailing quotes from this magnificent work of literature; my hope is that I might lure her to the pages and the poetic prose within.

The End.
Finis.

I am glad to have read ye, my Moby-Dick. And glad to be done with ye! Til next time, fare thee well.

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Copyright © 2007-2013. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Happy Pi Day 2013

I’ve got pies to create!

So in the meantime, go read Jill’s post for today at Rhapsody in Books…

Will be using the pie crust recipe from this book.

Will be using the recipes for Key Lime and also the Mint Chocolate Cream from this book.

This book uses more lime juice for the Key Lime recipe than the Year of Pie book but I did consult…

 

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Copyright © 2007-2013. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.