The History Book Club discussion

Nancy Burns, this is your thread for 2017. I have included the link to the required format thread and an example. If you had a 2016 thread - it is archived - but you can still add books to it for the last few days of December.

Please follow the standard required format below - I hope you enjoy your reading in 2017. Here is also a link for assistance with the required guidelines:

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Our Required Format:

JANUARY

1. by Winston S. Churchill
Finish date: January 2017
Genre: (whatever genre the book happens to be)
Rating: A
Review: You can add text from a review you have written but no links to any review elsewhere even goodreads. And that is about it. Just make sure to number consecutively and just add the months.

IMPORTANT - THE REVIEW SHOULD BE SHORT AND SWEET - THERE ARE NO LINKS OF ANY KIND IN THE BODY OF THE REVIEW ALLOWED. NONE. DO NOT REFER TO ANY OTHER BOOK IN YOUR BRIEF REVIEW. THE ONLY BOOK CITED IN YOUR REVIEW IS THE ONE YOU ARE REVIEWING - NO OTHERS. ALL LINKS TO OTHER THREADS OR REVIEWS ARE DELETED IMMEDIATELY - THERE WILL BE NO WARNING. WE CONSIDER THIS SELF PROMOTION AND IT IS NOT ALLOWED AND IS IN VIOLATION OF OUR RULES AND GUIDELINES.

Good beginning Nancy - thanks for the quick edit

You are getting the hang of it

Thank you Nancy

I think I'll take a look at that one, Nancy. Thanks for the review.

Thank you

Very good Nancy

Hi Nancy! I am here to provide a little assistance with your format and citations. This is in regards to message 17 above.

First, you will want to be sure to have 1 space between the period after the number, and the citation itself.

Regarding the citation ... though it's best to have an image of the book cover, when it isn't available, then you would instead state "(no image)" followed by the link to the book. Then you would follow on the same line with "by" and then the photo of the author, and finally the link to the author. If there were no photo for the author, you would simply have the link, followed by "(no photo)".

You would use (no image) in the case of a book, and (no photo) in the case of an author. And it makes it all clear if there is 1 space between all of these elements!

So in the case of your citation in message 17, it would look as follows:

8. (no image) Silent Engine by Julian Garner (no photo)

Please try to update your citation as I've described, by selecting the small "edit" link at the bottom right of your message 17 post. I do hope this helps!

Admin (T) - Health - Medicine - Science
Betty

Very good Nancy - thank you for your cooperation in getting the format and the citation correct

Hello Nancy,

My apologies! I was focusing on your citations, and overlooked another item which needs mentioning.

If you compare your review of book 3 with book 4, you'll see what I mean. Starting with book 4, you began to repeat the title of the book in bold, just following the word "review:". There is no need to add all that extra work! You have already cited the book above your review. So please remove the bolded book titles following the word "review:" for books 4-10. Simply select the small "edit" link at the bottom right of each post.

Here's an example for book 10:

by Barbara W. Tuchman
Finish date: 26 January 2017
Genre: history
Rating: B
Review: Classic non-fiction written in 'page-turner' style.
Finally I know what the Hundred Years War was all about!

And bravo for reading so many books in January!

Betty
Admin (T) - Health - Medicine - Science

I added it to my tbr list, thanks!

Nancy wrote: "11. by Glenn Greenwald
Finish date: 28 January 2..."

In case you missed it a documentary was also made starring Greenwald too. It's good, not as the book but good.
Here's the trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiGwA...

MARCH

1. by Charles Dickens
Finish date: 25 March 2017
Genre: fiction
Rating: A
Review: I avoided this book for many years but that was a big mistake. It is one of Dickens' best novels filled with realism, humor and characters with quirks and dialects.

2. by Tara Prescott
Finish date: 18 March 2017
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: A
Review: Insightful essays on Neil Gaiman's writing. My favorite one was by M. Miller. It was polished. and personal. Gaiman's famous speech Make Good Art is the backbone of this essay.

3. by Robert K. Massie
Finish date: 14 March 2017
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: C
Review: Well researched but I was overwhelmed with too many superficial details. I would have preferred a more in depth glimpse into Catherine's soul and not her wardrobe.

4. by Vasily Grossman
Finish date: 13 March 2017
Genre: fiction
Rating: C
Review: This book is considered one of the best novels of the 20th century. I was disappointed: panoramic in scope, vivid social realism but weak writing. This is an ambitious book with scores of characters and too many narratives. The book overwhelmed this reader.

APRIL

5. by Marguerite Duras
Finish date: 4 April 2017
Genre: fiction
Rating: B
Review: There is no action in this story yet I read every word with pleasure. The author concentrates on the thoughts, fears, desires of four middle age friends enjoying their yearly monotonous vacation in Italy. Tensions rise to a climax.

6. by Kevin J. Madigan (no photo)
Finish date: 5 April 2017
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: B
Review: This book gives the reader a well-informed and carefully balanced picture of Medieval Christianity. I would recommend it without reservations. It will inform an reader interested in this subject matter. Caveat: the book is long and the title is somewhat misleading. It is mentioned as 'A New History' but I felt it repeated the basics about the Middle Ages.

7. by Michel Eltchaninoff (no photo)
Finish date: 7 April 2017
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: B
Review: The author does an excellent job explaining the 4 pillars of Front National in France: land, people, myth, life. Marine Le Pen has morphed the FN into a movement that is adapted to the 21st century. This was a very helpful book during the French elections in April 2017. I learned to how Le Pen speaks in code to her followers.

8. by Kjell Westö
Finish date: 12 April 2017
Genre: crime ficton
Rating: C
Review: I am not a CF fan so my rating will always be C. I read this genre for pure entertainment, a change of pace. This book was shortlisted for best Scandinavian Crime Novel 2017, the Petrona Award. It did not win.

9. by Marguerite Duras
Finish date: 14 April 2017
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: D
Review: This is a collection of columns written by the author over the course of years. I could only manage 40 selections out of 116. Many were interviews with quirky characters found on the street or in cafés. The author's style is fluent but she says absolutely nothing worth remembering. I was very disappointed and would not recommend this book at all!

10. by Gustave Geffroy (no photo)
Finish date: 23 April 2017
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: C
Review: The book is about the public's reactions (art critics, salons) to Monet's impressionist paintings. 50% of the book is commentary, 50% reproductions. If you are looking for a book about the man Monet....this is not the book to read. Look elsewhere....

MAY

11. by James Baldwin
Finish date: 15 May 2017
Genre: semi-autobiographical novel
Rating: A
Review: Book is divided into 3 parts: early family life, flashback to people from the past, the conversion. My favorite section was 'Elizabeth's Prayer, it was beautifully written. Baldwin's stream-of-consciousness technique 'conversion' was powerfully symbolic. This was the author's first book and it is considered a modern classic. Each family member falls into temptation but the theme of redemption gives them and the reader hope. The book is rated nr 39 on Modern Library's list of top 100 novels of 20th century.

12. by Plato
Finish date: 17 May 2017
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: A
Review: This is one of the books that changed the world. It demands much from the reader. The book is divided into 10 chapters and it took me at least 3 hours per chapter to read, think and reflect about concepts as justice, democracy and philosophy. One of the author's most important claims is: "only philosophers have knowledge, the rest have opinions." Caveat: the book is exhausting but enlightening!

13. by Joël Pommerat
Finish date: January 2017
Genre: play
Rating: A
Review: This play is the winner of the Molières 2016 (French Tony Award for drama). Plot: the first days after French Revolution and 'le peuple' are trying to establish Assemblée Nationale. The playwright has written snappy, concise dialogue that will keep you reading. Pommerat grabs the reader with an edgy tone so you forget you are witnessing an historical event. Discussions are frenetic and heated. Sometimes you have to duck the French mud-slinging. Bravo!

14. by J.R.R. Tolkien
Finish date: 21 May 2017
Genre: fantasy
Rating: C
Review: I am not a fantasy fan so all of the author's books get a C rating from me. I read this book as a favor to a friend. She at least wanted me to know what the book was about. Of all the characters I only enjoy the wise Gandalf. If I have to sum up the book it would be good vs evil in many different forms (Shelob, Gollum, Sauron, Ringwaiths, Nazgûl etc...)

15. by Honoré de Balzac
Finish date: 24 May 2017
Genre: historical fiction
Rating: A
Review: Balzac uses the guerilla warfare during the French civil war 'La Chouannerie' (1794-1800) as the backdrop of the novel. The book was instructive, sweeping in scope, filled with intrigue and also passionate tête-a-tête between lovers. I could not stop reading the first book of Balzac's La Comédie Humaine. I forgot time and place!

16. by Wallace Stegner
Finish date: 29 May 2017
Genre: fiction
Rating: D
Review: This book is nr 82 on Modern Library's list of top 100 novels of the 20th century. I beg to differ. I found the book lacking depth, with obvious and transparent narratives and it badly needed an editor. (too long) Many readers love this book and I keep asking myself: "What am I missing?"

Bentley wrote: "Message 23 citation is not the standard. You have to look with the following title and then you have to look under Other editions for the book covers but they are there.

Should look like this:

[b..."

You are wonderful!

My dogs think so and you. (lol)

JUNE

17. by Euripides
Finish date: 02 June 2017
Genre: play
Rating: A
Review: Like many Greek tragedies this play focuses on betrayal and revenge. It is considered on of the 10 plays to read that are essential for any education. Medea is a woman without a home, family, husband. She is desperate and pushed over the edge (murder children). It is an iconic role for women in the theater. I would have loved to have seen Diana Rigg in her Tony Award winning Broadway version of the play in 1994.

18. by Vladimir Nabokov
Finish date: 06 June 2017
Genre: fiction
Rating: A
Review: This was one of the most bizarre books I have ever read. I can only give you some general details and let you discover it for yourself. Setting: Wordsmith College, log cabin in Cedran, Utana, satire about college's academic environment, 2 narrators, 3 major characters, 3 plotlines and structure: forward, poem, commentary, index. And every part of the book reveals secrets....if you are clever enough to find them! I was dazzled by the labyrinths of Nabokov's mind. I perservered and finished the book. That alone was an achievement!

19. by William Faulkner
Finish date: 09 June 2017
Genre: fiction
Rating: A
Review: What to do with a dead body? That is the theme of the book! Be prepared to enjoy the 10 day journey from Yoknapatawpha County, a small fictional town in Mississippi, to Jefferson with a coffin in tow. 15 narrators, 59 interior monologues, 3rd pers all-knowing narrator and not everyone is reliable! I was amazed by Faukner's skills: each child is a product of the South and each of their names has a deeper meaning. My advice? Read this book asap!

20. by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Finish date: 12 June 2017
Genre: fiction
Rating: C
Review: This book grabs the reader with the first sentence:
” I am a spy, a sleeper, a spook, a man of two faces.”
The theme of being divided into two halves (..two faces) was weaved into the text: "better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven."
The narrator’s tragic flaw is in the title:
He would be better off if he saw things from one side,
but he didn’t. He saw it from both sides
ch 14: “you’re too sympathetic, the General said….”
Writing was at times very original. But all in all I was disappointed. I expected more from the Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction 2016.

21. by E.L. Doctorow
Finish date: 18 June 2017
Genre: fiction
Rating: C
Review: Ragtime was a very easy and entertaining book to read. Style: the use of short sentences and ever changing scenes.
Action: keeps moving to a ‘ragtime beat’.
Motif: photograph (motion pictures or paper silhouettes). Motif repeated several times: Photo of Evelyn in newspapers as first American sex goddess! (ch 11). Photo of Comm. Peary trying to capture the North Pole. (ch 10). Silhouette portraits tossed in trash by dejected lover…only to be salvaged by his young nephew. (ch 14)
The photo’s have a deeper meaning that goes beyond the literal object. In a photograph people leave a portion of themselves,…a residue of light and shadow. (chapter 15). Doctorow is doing the same…only his medium is ‘words’ not celluloid.
Last thoughts: I cannot understand why this is on the Modern Library's list of top 100 novels. The book was good….not great.

22. by John Lahr
Finish date: 21 June 2017
Genre: biography
Rating: A
Review: I was deeply impressed by the life of Tennessee Williams. The book is meticulously researched and lifts the veil about one of the most brilliant dramatists of his century, a writer whose plays reshaped the American theater.
The book was 2014 National Book Award Finalist non-fiction.
Of all the characters he created I think
Alma in the play I have cited below is the best representation of the playwright. Once Alma casts off her parents and the rectory, the serenity she finds is not the peace of heaven but the bliss of pickups and pills. (pg 99). This is similar to the life of the playwright.
Which quote had a lasting effect of me in the play cited below?

“The prescription number is 96814” she says in the finale.
I think of it as the telephone number of God!”

by Tennessee Williams

23. by Ronald C. White Jr. (no photo)
Finish date: 23 June 2017
Genre: biography
Rating: A
Review: The author presents the US general in three dimensions: husband – military strategic genius – pragmatic president.
Why is General Grant considered one of great Civil War generals?

He was always calm and decisive.
He molded army and navy forces into one team.
He listened and asked questions.
He did not micromanage (trusted commanders).
He seldom engaged in criticism after a battle.
He avoid unnecessary insult to brave soldiers at Appomattox.
Whenever playing defense
……Grant always planned to go on offense, plan B.

When I finished this book
…and read about Grant’s final campaign (death)
I felt I lost a friend.
This was the most moving biography I’ve read in a long time.
Personally, 1-3 were the best parts (youth, West Point, Civil War).
Parts 4-6 (Reconstruction, 18th Pres, World tour).
What a great general Grant was...
…. he won the Civil War and impressed us with his humility.
#MustRead

Moving up on my TBR

Glad to hear you were so impressed with it. if I ever get to it, at least I know I will enjoy it.

OCTOBER

24. by Tom Murphy(no photo)
Finish date: 30 October 2017
Genre: play
Rating: A
Review: What was T. Murphy's biggest challenge?
How to represent the action of more than 100 years ago so as to
…engage audiences in the present time of theater.
What was Murphy’s goal?
Murphy wanted to voice through the actors the general effect of famines on the poor. The neighborhood ties loosen of dissolve.Theft becomes endemic. Resistance changes into apathy. The feeling of a ‘group’ is shattered. General information to get you started....
Style: Brechtian history
the Brechtian style that relies on the audience’s reflective detachment…rather than emotional involvement.
Structure: 12 scenes (not divided into acts)
Timeline: 1846 (Autumn) – 1847 (Spring)
Setting: village of Glanconor
space is ‘charged’ with historical trauma.
Conclusion: Tom Murphy does not seek the limelight...but his plays are 'beacons' of insight into the Irish psyche.
He is considered to be the greatest living Irish playwright.

25. by E.B. White
Finish date: 30 October 2017
Genre: essays
Rating: B
Review: Part one: ‘The Farm’ was the best part of the book. These 11 stories are filled with…nostalgia, humor about barnyard animalsand the ups and downs of a hobby farmer in Downeast Maine. E. B. White said the years on his farm in Maine were the happiest. Part 2: I literally fell asleep listening to ‘The Planet’
Part 3: ‘The City' ( NYC) at least kept me awake, barely.
I didn’t feel that these were White’s best essays.
Part 5: The section on ‘Memories’ was delightful.
This section is filled with enchanting and funny essays:
— White’s trip to Alaska 1923 on the steamer Buford
— nostalgic stories about his beloved sail boat in Maine
— his longing for better train travel in Maine.

26. by Paul Bowles
Finish date: 30 October 2017
Genre: fiction
Rating: C
Review: This book felt like homework…a real chore.
But that should not diminish its merit. I was just not up to the task
to probing into the psychedelic inner world of Bowles.
It’s also fairly well known that he took drugs and the effect on his writing is palpable.
It glimmers with existential energy. This book should be on the Modern Libary's List of top 100 novels…but you should be #InTheMood….to read it!

27. by Ellen Pao(no photo)
Finish date: 30 October 2017
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: C
Review: Pao’s argument has merit, gender discrimination must be addressed. In this case reading the book was better than listening to the audio version.
The narrator's voice and tone are too casual and were filled with cliches that irritated this listener. Her last chapter contained her solutions but felt they…the advocacy group: Project Include. I was not impressed with this book...but because it deals
with an important issue…I gave it an average score.

28. by Marion Meade
Finish date: 30 October 2017
Genre:< biography
Rating: A
Review:It is sad that so many talented writers were plagued by alcoholism. Marguiete Duras, Dashiell Hammett, Dylan Thomas, Shirley Jackson F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, John Cheever, Raymond Carver and Eugene O’ Neill. I can now add Dorothy Parker to this list.
She was an alcoholic writer and this book reveals
the terrible price creativity can exert.
Eye-opening biography that prepares me to read Parker’s writing.
Favorite quote from Ms. Parker:
“If you can get through the twilight, you’ll live through the night.” (pg 400) #MustRead

29. by H.W. Brands
Finish date: 30 October 2017
Genre: history
Rating: A
Review: Listening to the tensions and political decisions as a response to the invasion of North Korea into South Korea sends chills down my spine. Truman was pragmatic and not prone to erratic statements.
North Korea was trouble in 1950 and is still trouble in 2017.
Timeline: 25 June 1950 - May 3 1951 – 21 June 1951
Climax: President Truman removed General MacArthur from his command on 11 April 1951.
Reading this book is addictive…learning more about Korean War.
I knew nothing about the Korean War. This book was the best place to start!
#MustRead 5 parts, 68 chapters, 416 pages
#MustListen< audio book is excellent! (15 hrs 22min)

30. by Ruth Franklin
Finish date: 30 October 2017
Genre: biography
Rating: A
Review: I’ve never read Shirley Jackson….now I have to.
She wrote short stories and novels despite this endless torrent of criticism from her mother and the marriage from hell. Shirley Jackson suffered from mental issues yet she was a voice of many women in the late 1940’s and 1950′ s. Jackson's life was filled with riting deadlines, 4 children born between 1942 – 1951, a chaotic household and the need for a drink to take the edge off life...was her only way to relax. All these were noticeable signs of trouble yet to come. Jackson believed her role as a writer was to draw back the curtain…on the darkness within the human psyche.” ( pg 488)
I did not want this book to end.
It’s that good.

31. by Julie Koh
Finish date: 30 October 2017
Genre: short stories
Rating: C
Review: The short story is flexible and more open to experiment.
I found the stories in Julie Koh's collection...
Creative? Yes.
Challenging? Yes
Biting satire? Yes
But Koh's freewheeling, playfulness involving
form and subject matter....
I just prefer a more traditional short story with
clever metaphors....and a message that
touches my funnybone or heart.

32. by Jane Harper
Finish date: 30 October 2017
Genre: crime fiction
Rating: A+++
Review:< Almost everyone has something to hide in The Dry,
Jane Harper’s book is a Australian-set humdinger of a debut.
Gripping CF novel that kept me guessing 'who dunnit?'
Winner of @the_CWA Gold Dagger Award 2017

33. by Thea Astley
Finish date: 30 October 2017
Genre:Rating: A+++
Review:
Keith: desperate need for a father’s firm hand
Bernard: finally becomes emotionally engaged with son…while the boy is unconscious in hospital….he is almost too late.
Iris: ‘one-liner’s, her smart-arsed cracks relieved the tension in the marriage…but not for long.
Poor Iris….her adultery had not been a success. Husband Bernard did not care and the other one (Gerald) was not tortured.
Favorite quote made by Iris:
“Let someone, anyone, love me, she prayed, burning the toast.”
Thea Astley is in top-form with her ….social satire about Condamine Australia!

34. by Levison Wood(no photo
Finish date: 31 October 2017
Genre: non-fiction, travel
Rating: B
Review:The book is not what I expected. This was my own fault. The title is clear Walking the Nile and I envisaged a trip on The Nile with more attention to the river itself. I found chapters 10-17 to be the best. The writing came imbued with Wood’s doubts, his emotions. Day 271 of a ninth month journey I felt skin shivers…when I read Levinson Wood finally plunged into the foaming surf of the the Mediterranean. Europe felt close and, with it, home.
Well-done, Levinson, bravo!
#GoodFeelingBook