Crossroads discussion

We used to have fun with this. I will present a few short blurbs about books and then wait a day to reveal In the mean time you can let me know which one(s) you are interested in.

1. "The detection is nominal, and the mystery takes a back seat to the comic bedlam that reigns throughout. But readers who have never before encountered sentences like 'He knew he must get his foreskin back' will cheer Archie's debut and hope for more."

2. "A single mom confronts the possibility that her troubled 4-year-old is the reincarnated spirit of a murdered child."

3. "When Ronald Checker hops into the back of Terry "Juice" Lawson's taxi late one night in Edinburgh, on the eve of Hurricane Bawbag, Terry finds himself entangled in various webs of love, lust, money, and violence."

4. "A talented amateur sleuth takes on a locked-room murder in this golden age whodunit."

5. ""This is a tortured novel and yet a redemptive one. It isn't a happily-ever-after story, but Blank casts a ray of hope that a good life can be lived after terrible tragedy."

6. "A deeply humane demonstration of wringing art from catastrophe.
A portrait of the small Polish town of Wlodawa during World War II, this collection of linked short stories is both moving and unsettling."

7. "Three grieving men’s odysseys fitfully interconnect in this latest meditation on loss, faith, and belonging."

Booknblues wrote: "We used to have fun with this. I will present a few short blurbs about books and then wait a day to reveal In the mean time you can let me know which one(s) you are interested in."

3 and 5 are the two that might pique my interest. 3 sounds a bit like that Tom Cruise movie from a few years back, Collateral.

Denizen wrote: "3 and 5 are the two that might pique my interest. "

3. A Decent Ride


5. Casualties

Here are all the books.
1.The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish

2The Forgetting Time


3. A Decent Ride


4. Murder of a Lady


5. Casualties


6.In the Land of Armadillos: Stories

7. The High Mountains of Portugal

Well, the two I thought might interest me did not interest me at all. The Forgetting Time is one I might watch. I have yet to read The Life of Pi so will read that before Martel's new book unless everyone starts saying the new one is better.

Denizen wrote: "The Forgetting Time is one I might watch. I have yet to read The Life of Pi so will read that before Martel's new book"

I thought The Forgetting Time sounded really interesting.

Life of Pi is not for everybody, but I know you love animals and like magical realism so it might appeal to you. I loved it. It is one of my favorites of all time. I want to read his new one.

My last comment wasn't clear. I'll watch to see if I see good feedback on The Forgetting Time before I add it to the TBR - currently being rated 3.8 on GR. Sometimes just a couple 2 star reviews can adversely affect a new book's overall rating.

Maybe I'll make Life of Pi my "own but have never read" choice for a group challenge.

Booknblues wrote: "Denizen wrote: "The Forgetting Time is one I might watch. I have yet to read The Life of Pi so will read that before Martel's new book"

I thought The Forgetting Time sounded really interesting.

L..."
Life of Pi is also one of my all time faves, and the only one I have also loved the film, and when I was ill, the audio..

Lesley wrote: "the only one I have also loved the film, ."

I've never seen the film. We used to watch quite a few movies at home, but we have stopped doing that in recent years.

1. sharp debut follows a defiantly self-destructive young woman—powerfully intelligent and profoundly lost—as she grapples with identity, spirituality, and purpose.

2.Amid the violent labor struggles of early-20th-century America, the wealthy son of a prominent San Francisco family immerses himself in theater and politics and obsesses over the distinction (or lack thereof) between performance and "real" life.

3. Although possibly too abstract for children and too fey for some adults, this fervent, idiosyncratic fable is undeniable evidence of a richly lyrical imagination..." a richly imagined tale full of enchanting characters whom readers will love."

4. legendary Brazilian writer Beatriz Yagoda has inexplicably climbed into an almond tree with a cigar and a suitcase and has not been seen since. Upon receiving the news—is she aware, an unfamiliar emailer wants to know, that her author has been missing for five days?—translator Emma Neufeld puts her life in Pittsburgh on hold and hops a flight to Rio de Janeiro to join the search, much to the chagrin of her sweetly dull boyfriend.

5.Doctors and other medical experts hasten to prepare a young man's organs for transplant and reckon with the need to be both compassionate and precise in a hurry

6. "A transcendent, breathless exploration of the darkest depths of loneliness and the unbreakable human spirit."
In her fiction debut, ....writes of a woman lost in the wild and the woman who tries to save her, alternating chapters between their two compelling voices.

Booknblues wrote: "3. Although possibly too abstract for children and too fey for some adults, this fervent, idiosyncratic fable is undeniable evidence of a richly lyrical imagination..."

6."A transcendent, breathless exploration of the darkest depths of loneliness and the unbreakable human spirit."

3 and 6 catch my interest - and I will certainly look into 4. Definitely a quirky intro.

Denizen wrote: "3 and 6 catch my interest - and I will certainly look into 4. Definitely a quirky intro."

3. The Life of Elves

This is by the same author as The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

4. Ways to Disappear


6.Breaking Wild


I want to read all of those.

Booknblues wrote: "Denizen wrote: "3 and 6 catch my interest - and I will certainly look into 4. Definitely a quirky intro."
I too have put the above 3 on my TBR list, now up to 53...

Lesley wrote: "I too have put the above 3 on my TBR list, now up to 53..."
Glad to be of service. YOu will probably read them before the rest of us and we are counting on you. :)

Booknblues wrote: "Lesley wrote: "I too have put the above 3 on my TBR list, now up to 53..."
Glad to be of service. YOu will probably read them before the rest of us and we are counting on you. :)"

I put the last two on the TBR. The Barbery is getting less than 3 stars so will wait on it. I wonder if the poor ratings are from people who loved The Elegance of the Hedgehog and are disappointed by how different this books seems to be.

Here are all the books:

1.Wreck and Order


2. The Daredevils: A Novel


3. The Life of Elves


4. Ways to Disappear


5. The Heart


6. Breaking Wild

Denizen wrote: "Booknblues wrote: "Lesley wrote: "I too have put the above 3 on my TBR list, now up to 53..."
Glad to be of service. YOu will probably read them before the rest of us and we are counting on you. :..."

I haven't got the space to order yet, but because so many others are arriving, I am being even fussier, and sad to say, only read 50 pages, and then the last 10..Time is too short to plod on, with the backlog of good ones, waiting.

Should be able to order, next week...

Check out the reviews for the first one, Wreck and Order - some seriously bad writing. A definite pass on that one!

Denizen wrote: "Booknblues wrote: "Lesley wrote: "I too have put the above 3 on my TBR list, now up to 53..."
Glad to be of service. YOu will probably read them before the rest of us and we are counting on you. :..."

Booknblues wrote: "Lesley wrote: "I too have put the above 3 on my TBR list, now up to 53..."
Glad to be of service. YOu will probably read them before the rest of us and we are counting on you. :)"

None of the 3 were in the catalogue, so have requested them for purchase.. Let's see how long it takes..

Goodreads has a give away for Ways to Disappear

Denizen wrote: "Goodreads has a give away for Ways to Disappear"
Thanks, I've entered it.

1. With the same lyrical prose, eye for detail, and breath-stopping ability to unfold delicate layers of characterization and theme with skillfully paced revelations [used in the author's previous novels], the author presents a fictionalized World War II story based on a true tragedy. In alternating narratives, four different teens grapple with the bitter cold, the ever-present danger of falling bombs, and their own dark secrets. There's Joana, a pretty and empathetic Lithuanian nurse who harbors a heavy guilt; Florian, a mysterious young man struggling to hide his true identity; Amelia, a pregnant Polish girl; and Alfred, a sociopathic Nazi sailor with an inferiority complex

2."The author regards the characters in her keenly wrought love story—for all their flaws and fragility—with insight, sensitivity, and a compassion that proves contagious."
In the author's exquisite second novel, two Dublin young people—poet and student Catherine and aspiring art photographer James—tumble into a friendship that, though its lines shift and blur, ultimately helps bring their identities into focus."

3."Forced to labor on an Ivory Coast cacao plantation, Amadou risks everything for freedom.

Fifteen-year-old Amadou left his family farm with his little brother, Seydou, searching for a season of work to help their family survive during a drought. Two long years later, the boys are still at the cacao camp where they have been taken and made to work “all day, week after week, season after season, never getting paid.” Amadou, Seydou, and the other boys at the camp must harvest a high quota of cacao pods each day or face severe beatings."

4. "Cold War complexities and personal tensions drive a British secret agent into a desperate corner.

Berlin, 1963. Acting “on instinct,” British agent Joe Wilderness shoots German Marte Mayerling, who’s slipped up behind him. As she lingers near death, Wilderness’ handler, Alec Burne-Jones, steps in to protect him, but it’s a debt of gratitude with restrictive strings. "

5. "arly on we meet Floria Tosca, a 15-year-old peasant girl from the Venetian countryside. She's gifted with a beautiful voice, which is noticed in 1789 by a bishop who hears her singing in her local parish choir. He invites her to Venice—promising her parents she will be safely housed in a convent when she’s not soloing in the cathedral. But soon a nobleman, Prince Belgioioso d’Este, persuades her that only an operatic career would fully exploit her gifts"

6. "arly on we meet Floria Tosca, a 15-year-old peasant girl from the Venetian countryside. She's gifted with a beautiful voice, which is noticed in 1789 by a bishop who hears her singing in her local parish choir. He invites her to Venice—promising her parents she will be safely housed in a convent when she’s not soloing in the cathedral. But soon a nobleman, Prince Belgioioso d’Este, persuades her that only an operatic career would fully exploit her gifts"

7. ""A weighty tale that keeps the reader intrigued and entranced despite an uneven ending."
Two women, both touched by tragedy, find themselves bonding over cocaine, betrayal, loneliness, and cheese."

1 sounds almost too good to be true, "...lyrical prose, eye for detail, and breath-stopping ability to unfold delicate layers of characterization and theme." What more could a reader ask for?

3 also sounds interesting. I generally enjoy books set in Africa.

I'm interested in 1 and 3 too.

1. Salt to the Sea and it has a really cool cover...the drawback it was written for children from 12 to 17. It sounds so much in my wheelhouse that I might read it anyway.

2. The Bitter Side of Sweet
And yet another one for young readers. I have been hearing about the issue with cacao growers using children in their harvesting recently. I found a list somewhere of companies who use chocolate harvested by children.

Booknblues wrote: "1. Salt to the Sea and it has a really cool cover...the drawback it was written for children from 12 to 17. It sounds so much in my wheelhouse th..."

If you read it and recommend it, I'll read it, too. As a rule, I'm not a fan of YA, but then there is that stellar exception like The Book Thief.

The Bitter Side of Sweet is getting strong reviews but I'm wondering if it is also YA?

Denizen wrote: "
The Bitter Side of Sweet is getting strong reviews but I'm wondering if it is also YA? "

It is YA. Both are and both sound good. I'd be willing to give either a try.

Booknblues wrote: "1. With the same lyrical prose, eye for detail, and breath-stopping ability to unfold delicate layers of characterization and theme with skillfully paced revelations [used in the author's previous ..."

Full disclosure:

1. [book:Salt to the Sea|25614492]

2. Tender

3. The Bitter Side of Sweet

4. The Unfortunate Englishman: A Joe Wilderness Novel

5-7 to be disclosed later.

5. Scarpia

6.Mrs. Houdini

7. A Well-Made Bed

Tender looks interesting. GR tells me I have 4 friends with it on their TBR so I'll probably wait for one of them to review/rate it before I add it.

Should have known better than to look at this thread.

Added the one about the children picking cacao.

Megalion wrote: "Should have known better than to look at this thread.

Added the one about the children picking cacao."

Welcome aboard, Megalion.

I really want to read this one as well.

That cover reminds me of this one which I've already requested my library to add on Overdrive.


Homegoing

I've been on a crazy long binge now of non white American books. It's been fun really. Right now I've got a bunch going so I'm in India, Hong Kong, Finland, and I think two in UK but one involves non western European characters.