Presented to you by @AvidReader25 and me! Recent Twitter activity: A few quotes, a few observations, updates. Pretty quiet. Facebook has an update that someone raced through to the end. No worries! It’s flexible. Just keep engaging.
Part 4 – April 21 ✦ Part 5 – April 26 ✦ Part 6 – April 30 – The End ✦
Discussion on any part is not limited to only these dates. Be early be late, all good.
Part 3: Coffey’s Hands
In comments on post for Part 2, it was mentioned that King uses a LOT of cliches. Anyone have any to share? I didn’t note them but did give a chuckle of recognition when I encountered “no good deed goes unpunished.”
THE QUESTION.
King constantly portrays Percy much less sympathetically than Delacroix of Coffey. What is he trying to say?
Presented to you by @AvidReader25 and me! Recent Twitter activity: We have a schedule. Today being April 6, we will post on Part 1, the first 95 pages, including King’s note about the project structure. We also have 6 of us reading! at least, 6 have enthusiastically tweeted or FaceBooked that they are willing to participate. (I’m sorry – I don’t have any more party favors…)
Part 3 – April 16
Part 4 – April 21
Part 5 – April 26
Part 6 – April 30
Part 2: The Mouse on the Mile
THE QUESTION.
Sorry, my part 2 didn’t have a provided contest question. These will resume Part 3.
Any thoughts to share?
How about this quote and what it might mean? Discuss:
We had once again succeeded in destroying what we could not create.
What is being referenced here. (p.44 in Part 2, right after the scene with Chief and the doctor confirming.)
Presented to you by @AvidReader25 and me! Recent Twitter activity: We have a schedule. Today being April 6, we will post on Part 1, the first 95 pages, including King’s note about the project structure. We also have 6 of us reading! at least, 6 have enthusiastically tweeted or FaceBooked that they are willing to participate. (I’m sorry – I don’t have any more party favors…)
Part 1 – April 6 …………………………………………….. Part 4 – April 21
Part 2 – April 11 ……………………………………………. Part 5 – April 26
Part 3 – April 16 ……………………………………………. Part 6 – April 30 – The End.
Discussion on any part is not limited to only these dates. Be early be late, all good.
Part 1: The Two Dead Girls
OK, whew. I probably should have kept better notes. I did have a very “Hmmmm…” reaction to a few choices made by our author regarding race. Did we need to know the Sheriff was caught with a 17 yo black girl? I think not. Anyway,
THE QUESTION.
I purchased the serialized collection of individual paperbacks. At the end of Part 1, King asks the following:
Why does the mouse, Mr. Jingles, choose Delacroix as its special friend?
Answer? Because Delacroix feeds him? I have seen the movie multiple times, but I don’t recall the answer to the question….
.
.
.
Also, did we need all those many words to describe the urinary infection?
Presented to you by @AvidReader25 and me! Here, there and maybe Twitter? Litsy already has a readalong started for this book going on right now – can you believe it? Well, we will just add another…
It is high time we get back to reading another book by this esteemed author. How ’bout it?
Challenge: Pop-Up Book Club!
Genre: Thriller
Type/Source: eBook/Amazon for Kindle
Why I read this now: A friend recommended it because it was her current read.
MOTIVATION for READING: I have always wanted to read a Bohjalian but always got stumped by which book to start first. And he keeps churnin’ em* out! So when J— told me she was reading The Red Lotus and thought it would be fun for a Pop-Up Book Club choice, I said,
“Maybe.”
But that was because I’ve already spent a bunch of cash on books when pandemic-ordering from favorite indie bookstores and have SO MANY BOOKS I NEED TO READ NOW. I was afraid to send more $$$ out to books when I have way-overblown by annual spend amount**. But that’s OK. I bought it.
(I also bought THIS: for another book club and I need to read it by mid-June.)
WHAT’s it ABOUT: Rats. The plague as a weapon. An emergency room doctor who happens to have a cute fun boyfriend invite her tag along on a biking tour in Vietnam….
So Alexis (ER doc) has this cute boyfriend (the cyclist) and it is early in the relationship, early enough that no one has said, “I love you.” It’s good, it’s fun. Vacation trips are romantic. He has a sentimental reason for going to Vietnam. UNTIL WE ALL FIND OUT it is a LIE. Why would he lie? But then, we don’t find out about the lie until he goes missing.
But he LIED! But he is missing. NOT GOOD. Not good at all. So many things pointing to utter destruction…
THOUGHTS: Pacing is good. An appropriate amount of tension-build. A few clues but nothing to make me roll my eyes to distraction. Sure, a few convenient connections that almost produce an eye-roll, but I’m invested enough, so not quite annoyed, and then rolling along without annoyance I will let the little things slide. (THRILLERS ARE SO *NOT* MY THING) Heck, Mr B has an impressive vocabulary — he earns a few positive points. All the characters are likable and have admirable qualities presented in the perfect way to make me admire said characters. OR/AND, all the obvious villains are villainy …
I even got teary-eyed when the two Moms meet and overcome negative expectations! That scene worked and amused me at the same time.
Plausibly enough presented that I can overcome my doubts. So….
RATING: I gave it 4 stars in goodreads but rounded up from 3.5. NO PIE MENTIONED. Which, upon reflection, is just fine for a book about rats and the plague…
Still!! I should probably give it only 3 slices of pie because NO PIE!
* The font for author name is bigger than the font for the book title. If not careful, he might become an “AUTHOR I WON’T READ”… But he seems so nice on Twitter.
Genre: Historical Lit
Type/Source: Audiobook, Audible
Why I read this now: Reading this for both TOB and to satisfy my own curiosity. I want to be ready for the 3rd in the series which is due in March.
MOTIVATION for READING: Super Rooster Chase <– see post. This edition of the TOB is to be held sometime in 2020. The March 202o edition will be just another regular TOB, I think. The Long List for that is due next week! (I’ll update a link when I have it.) #SuperRoosterTOB
I really enjoyed listening to Wolf Hall and was wowed by the dialogue, the drama, the layers and depths to Cromwell’s persona.
Mantel was able to make him a sympathetic character! I like history, I do. I just don’t know as much as I think I should. Prior to this, I really didn’t have much knowledge other than the popular image of King Henry VIII and all his wives. I would say I thought Cromwell to be a shrewd, cruel man involved in some way with that period of English history. But this story does NOT portray him as particularly evil or mean, but rather quietly ambitious, loyal, fatherly, community-minded and very very thoughtful. I wasn’t sure what to do with this gentle, considerate and — oh sure, scheming — person.
Was he scheming or just very very good at being flexible and adept at taking advantage of the opportunities presented?
So, I liked Cromwell. I did. Sigh. After finishing this book, I googled what might happen next and…. huh. Well.
I’m not going to give a review of what happens in this book. It’s about Tom C and his rise to power, basically. And all THAT is very dependent on the relationship with Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Anne is fascinating; very very fascinating… OH, the whole thing is just DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA. I love how Hilary imagined it might have gone down. And I was amazed at how subtle and slippery it was. In fact, truly, I missed the milestones in the day to day to day – wait. WHAT happened? What did I miss?!
OFF WITH THEIR HEAD!
I googled SO MANY names! so many histories so many s/he begat so-and-so.
I googled Rafe Sadler. I googled his son Gregory. I googled “Is Oliver Cromwell related to Thomas Cromwell?” Such history! I can see why some people get obsessed with all things Royal. It’s just fascinating for some reason. (I’ve googled descendants of our Founding Fathers, too, to see if any have popped up famous…) Family histories fascinate me, what can I say. You might wonder if I’m agog with the Kennedys but actually, I’m only mildly interested in them… The Vanderbilts tho? OH YEA.
I can’t wait to do the next in the series; will probably do the audiobook.
From a #SuperRooster perspective, this is not my favorite to win but I’m glad to finally read it and I’m psyched to be ready for the Champion TOB when it happens.
Your turn. Thoughts? Do share!
Ch 19 42:28 “Like he was a lid to a pie,”
Four slices of pie.
Up next: the Accidental by Ali Smith. Discussion 12/15/2019
My copy just arrived… This will be my first Ali Smith!
Presented to you by @AvidReader25 and me! Here, there and maybe Twitter? I suspect this readalong will take place on Litsy more than anywhere else…
It is high time I finally read a book by this esteemed author. How about YOU?
Pull up a chair (laptop), and tell me your favorite book by Ursula-KLG
-or-
if you are like me, can I ask why haven’t you yet?
My own answer to that is multilayered. I have no good excuse and I insist that I haven’t avoided her. It’s that I have a ton of books on my tbr; how does one choose the “right time”? When an author is known for lots and lots of titles, which book of hers do I choose? So, I am grateful for Melissa for suggesting this author, this book, this time.
To gripe a bit, I do blame my education in that I don’t recall many women authors being suggested to me. I read The Hobbit in 5th grade. Why did not someone suggest I might enjoy Ursula K Le Guin?
3. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward – National Book Award winner; destined to be a classic.
4. White Tearsby Hari Kanzru – many are rooting for this in the Tournament of Books. I’m just starting it and it has gripped my attention.
and 5. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas – a very well done YA story on an important issue and because a movie is being made about it — who doesn’t love to read the book before the movie?
Have you read any of these? Which would you recommend as a book club read? Which would you most like to read? I will share which was chosen by the club as soon as I hear…
The second time, I suggested this list from which they choose State of Wonder.
Now, I get to do it again: Care’s BOOK CLUB FIVE. (Links to my goodreads bookshelf.) Or keep reading.
My current book club is reading Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough which I chose because I had heard it has quite the #WTF ending. “…takes the modern day love triangle and not only turns it on its head, but completely reinvents it in a way that will leave readers reeling.” It sounded like a fun one just to have that reaction to discuss. The blurb reads like one crazy dramatic mess. At only 20% in, I’m reserving judgement but it is very much a setup for secrets and manipulation. It’s not quite sweeping me to that can’t-put-it-down place but I’m intrigued enough to finish it. THIS IS THE BOOK CHOSEN FOR AN END OF JUNE DISCUSSION._______________________________________________
The only nonfiction I’m suggesting this time is Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime. I’m recommending it all over the place. It’s just fascinating, funny and heartbreaking, and delivered perfectly on audio. I very much recommend you listen to the audiobook – his voice is the whipped cream on that pie. __________________________________________________
They have read The Underground Railroad so why not suggest another excellent slave narrative that was big for 2016: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. I enjoyed Homegoing more than TUR, I found Homegoing much easier to connect to the characters even if for so few pages each. They were alive to me, they lived and breathed and laughed and cried and I with them. I was into the swing through history and was captivated by the family thread. I recommend . ___________________________________________________
The Mothers by Brit Bennett was THE book of controversy from 2016 so I must suggest it for any book club. A book that pivots on a personal abortion but that issue is not the driving theme. Would you agree? __________________________________________________
Finally, I checked into hot reads from a few years back and found this: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Go ahead and laugh at my review (here) because I titled it Station Ten and a Half. Two years later, I appreciate the book more. I really can’t account how or why. Perhaps I should reread. Here’s a scary thought! I should reread all the books I have ever announced publicly that I want to reread!!!! LOL. Great quote I grabbed for my 5 slice of pie review: “No one had any idea, it turned out. None of the older Symphony members knew much about science, which was frankly maddening given how much time these people had had to look things up on the Internet before the world ended.” (I just might reread it to see if it mentions pie.) __________________________________________________
Have you read any of these? Which would you recommend as a book club read? Which would you most like to read? I will share which was chosen by the club as soon as I hear…
Thoughts by Frank Delaney, Paladin Grafton Books 1987, 191 pages
Challenge: I traveled to Dublin for Spring Break! I brought this along…
Genre: Nonfiction/Literary Analysis/Travel
Type/Source: Tradeback/Sent from a friend
MOTIVATION for READING: Let’s back up to when I first had this book in my hands. It was January 2011 when I signed up for the “Jousting with Joyce” readalong. I never finished Ulysses and I have no record of what page/episode I stopped on.
So anyway, dear friend Jeanne sent me THIS book out of the blue back in 2011 and I have been treasuring it ever since, thinking “Some day, I will conquer Ulysses“. Rather, I was able to make a trip to Dublin happen instead.
Now I am even more eager to read it (Ulysses), to be honest.
Portrait of the Author as an Old Man; from Bailey’s Pub, remodeled.
WHAT’s it ABOUT: Delaney chats with obvious affection for Joyce and his tale of Ulysses. He organizes his ‘Odyssey’ by the same structure as Joyce does in Ulysses and walks the reader through the story and what it might mean, then and now. This not a step by step walking tour of Dublin. It’s subtle – and it is also 30 years old so many things have changed from 1904 (year the book is set) and 1922 (year Ulysses was published) and 1987.
FYI, Ulysses follows two characters, Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus – not always together, on walkabout through Dublin, basically. Joyce has stated that his book is a blueprint with which to rebuild Dublin if need be. Ready?
A sample of Delany’s words with Joyce’s:
Sandymount Strand, ineluctable as sin, sweeps wide and grey and beige, stippled with gulls and aeroplanes and lighthouses and ships and lone Dedalus-walkers. “Signature of all things I am here to read, seaspawn and seawrack the nearing tide, that rusty book.” Most of the thoughts in Stephen’s mind as he walked along Sandymount Strand were triggered by that ineluctable modality of the visible.
So for the ‘now’ of 2017, many signs and plaques identify Joyce’s locations and landmarks — these are not mentioned in Delaney’s book. Perhaps a map of these IS published by the James Joyce museum which I did not visit. I really let my wanderings and Joyce connections happen rather than seek them out. It was a vacation with the Husband who though sympathetic and/or amused, he did not share my enthusiasm. “He indulged me occasionally” would be the best way to put it. So, it was happenstance and sudden delights, when I found a Joyce marker.
Book pages with little (useless!) map and photos with backdrop of similar photo from a blog post…
WHAT’s GOOD: Photos from turn of the century (late 1800s – early 1900s and some 1987.) Opportunity to consider how Dublin has changed in 30 years and 100+. But the best of the book is the author’s delight in talking about and sharing anecdotes and explanations of what Joyce was attempting with Ulysses.
Another paragraph of Delaney praise for what Joyce attempted in Ulysses:
“The Oxen of the Sun episode is the most difficult to read in Ulysses. All Joyce’s linguistic interests are on exhibition and he gives a foretaste of what was to come in Finnegans Wake. That it exhausted him is certain: in several communications with friends, he referred to “the Oxen of the bloody, bleeding Sun” and he admitted freely that the control of all the ideas, the mathematical nine-part divisions, the embryonic development and the endless parodies were almost as much as he could master. He managed brilliantly.
What’s NOT so good: Of course, I wanted better maps… LOL.
I failed this book as I do most travel books. Tedious to look at when I can’t relate, and too late for visits once I can. I admit, one of our favorite pub visits was to Bruxelles because it was around during Joyce times and is in a photo of Delaney’s book. I didn’t get any pics of our Guinness nor Irish Whiskey while there, unfortunately.
As typical, I now flip through Delaney’s guide and only want to go back to Dublin and see it all again, find the past anew.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I am more willing to attack Ulysses some day. I do feel that it will require patience and a light touch – not taking it too seriously.
“Joyce said once, not without sadness, to Nora: “The pity is the public will demand and find a moral in my book, or worse, they may take it in some serious way, and on the honor of a gentleman, there is not one serious single line in it.”
I am keeping this book as a guide when I do tackle Ulysses because of the same structure and the explanations, motivations, and landmarks in words.
by Hilary Mantel, Macmillan Audio 2009, 24 hours 14 minutes
Lots to discuss and very readable.
by Jesmyn Ward – National Book Award winner; destined to be a classic.
5. 
Born a Crime. I’m recommending it all over the place. It’s just fascinating, funny and heartbreaking, and delivered perfectly on audio. I very much 
. ___________________________________________________
by Brit Bennett was THE book of controversy from 2016 so I must 
by Emily St. John Mandel. 
