Better Than Starbucks discussion

If you feel the urge, discuss your books here.

I have an odd relationship with the writer Lawrence Block some of his books, especially his older stuff, I really enjoy, but I just finished a sex and violence book called Getting Off. It was basically snuff porn, or at least what I would imagine snuff porn would be like. Its not a category I would seek out.

I had just finished The Girl with the Long Green Heart, which was a fun little romp with a con or two and a tricky murder, so I thought I would give another old block a listen. This one wasn't near as old, or near as good. Or at least, not near as much to my taste.

anybody else read either Lawrence Block, another one of his weird ones I read a while back was Random Walk, it was almost as strange. But, along with the Girl with a Long Green Heart, I really enjoyed When the Old Gin Mill Closes.

Anthony wrote: "I have an odd relationship with the writer Lawrence Block some of his books, especially his older stuff, I really enjoy, but I just finished a sex and violence book called Getting Off. It was basic..."

No, I haven't ready anything by him.

Random Walk is another of his weird serial killer stories. The odd thing, in both books, in very different ways, the books kinda have happy endings, but endings that don't come from justice. Not sure where his head was for either book. I almost recommend them for the experience, but they are creepy.

I finished Alan Pizzarelli's The Canary Funeral for the second time on New Year's Day. It was even better than I remembered. A collection of haiku written about life as experienced in Newark, New Jersey, it is bloody foreign and fantastic.

I have set myself the challenge of reading at least 52 good poetry books this year. I love minimalism of any kind, therefore I will go along that track.

Wonder who that was...

Oh -- that was a reply to Message 5. Does it not show up under Message 5?

This is going to take some getting used to. The topics are going to stay mixed up?? And this is a good thing?

Anyway, I thought I'd read Lawrence Block, which was apparently rather stupid of me, because a stroll through his titles didn't turn up anything I recognized. Silly me.

Am I finally started The Emperor of Ocean Park, which has been on the TBR for ages, long enough that I bought a used copy when I found it at a book sale, had time to forget about it, and bought another one. I'm reading it for a project, and since I have two copies I can leave it behind in Sweden when I go home, and get that weight out of my suitcase. Win-win!

Mary Ellen,

Lawrence Block wrote three main groups of books. he started out writing lesbian murder porn under a female pen name, if i remember correctly. Then he started writing the thing i like the best, his old fashioned hard boiled mysteries, and then he does the silly ones, which are quite popular, the Bernie somebody series. it isnt bad, but it makes Elmore Leonard a writer of great depth.

i would start with, and maybe end with "when the old gin mill closes"

I am reading Nadine Gordimer's The Burgher's Daughter.

It is confusing, hope I have posted on the correct thread.

Glad to see you Mary Ellen.

England, England by Julian Barnes
★

****note that I am not a fan of satire as a rule, even though I understand it, so this greatly affects my rating and dislike of this novel***

England, England contains a novel within a novel. Enclosed within the story of Martha Cochrane, is the satirical story of the development of England, England, a historical theme park thought of and spearheaded by Sir Jack Pitman. Throughout this book play with the idea of memory and history, what it is and isn’t, how people perceive it, and of course there is plenty of humour; some of it I even laughed at, particularly earlier on.

However, even if I liked satire, some of this—and note that my use of this term is not a judgement on people who like this book, since my parents and extended family will read and enjoy books like this—I found parts of this book was rather crass. Bear in mind that I cover my eyes for violence, etc on screen, too, much to the amusement of my teens and husband.

This is my first read by Julian Barnes, and if satire and/or the use of certain words I prefer not to read in print (lest they come out of my mouth in heated moments, which has been known to happen from time to time), then I suspect he’s not the author for me. However, if you are not bothered by these things, like satire and/or Julian Barnes, by all means try this novel; it is evident he knows how to write.

Well, you put me off! i read Sense of an Ending and almost liked it.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Sense-Endin...

i have to say i had no idea it was considered a physiological thriller.....

Just finished A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary An absolute must read. Five stars.

Thanks Ruth

Anthony wrote: "Well, you put me off! i read Sense of an Ending and almost liked it.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Sense-Endin...

i have to say i had no idea it was considered a physiologica..."

I liked the book too. The end really made me think about the whole story in detail. But a 'physiological thriller ' ! No, not in my thinking either.

Jayati wrote: "Anthony wrote: "Well, you put me off! i read Sense of an Ending and almost liked it.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Sense-Endin...

i have to say i had no idea it was considere..."

Thanks!

Anthony wrote: "re http://www.amazon.com/The-Sense-Endin...

i have to say i had no idea it was considered a physiologica..."

Ooh -- new genre!!

I need to re-read this one. I finished it confused, and it's been waiting for a re-read ever since. (Or is that sense?) (And I wonder whether you meant psychological thriller? Or whether you were making a joke I didn't get?)

I started England, England ..." ages ago, and dropped it pretty quickly. When I have time I'll try again. Nothing particularly bad, just something better came along -- oh, I am fickle--fickle, I say...

IS THERE NO WAY TO READ A DISCUSSION IN ORDER WITHOUT OTHER COMMENTS INTRUDING????

Yes, I'm shouting. Sorry. Frustrated!

Still on The Emperor of Ocean Park. Man, if I had my way, it'd be about 15% shorter. Got my red pen right here. Polished verbiage is good if it's there to some kind of effect or artistry, but just to keep the pace slow isn't reason enough, particularly in a (dare I say it?) physiological thriller -- Up, I think your term has stuck! Maybe I'll use it for psychological thrillers without much psychology. Or much thrill.

Thank goodness that the protagonist sees red--literally. When he's angry, a red curtain falls around the subject of his anger, but he masters himself, and rarely allows his anger to show. Without this feature, he would be a doormat. A featureless doormat. Psychological? He is by his own admission unable to handle female anger, and just fades away from it, letting the women have their way. His father bullied him. Everybody at his job seems to have more power than he does, and they're pretty much all aligned against him, but he just goes placidly along. He does say that he's scared of the bad guy, but we don't see or feel that fear, other than that he stays close to his child, to protect him--that's it. And so the pages plod forward...and everybody asks him (*no* spoilers, do not worry) about what 'arrangements' his father made for after his death, and he doesn't know what they mean, but thinks it may relate to an earlier professional humiliation, but **it does not even cross his mind** even to do as much as looking through his father's files for clues.

Pfui. Slow, dragging text. Ineffectual protagonist. I've started skimming the long pages that describe minor characters or events--just tell me whodunit so I can read the next book, dammit!!

I have learned something of the affluent black American's view of the world and of white liberals, which is extremely interesting (though when the character says what white liberals think, I can tell him, being a white liberal myself, that he's not always reading our minds correctly--but that's a small point, when I have so much to learn about what's going on in the minds of some of the people of, to use his term, the darker nation).

mef wrote: "Anthony wrote: "re http://www.amazon.com/The-Sense-Endin...

i have to say i had no idea it was considered a physiologica..."

Ooh -- new genre!!

I need to re-read this o..."
Cute, typo:)

mef wrote: "IS THERE NO WAY TO READ A DISCUSSION IN ORDER WITHOUT OTHER COMMENTS INTRUDING????

Yes, I'm shouting. Sorry. Frustrated!"

Shout on! Actually, I remover in the primitive days of shelfari that sort of thing. Maybe we can get some help here. They need Amanda!!!!!

Anthony wrote: "mef wrote: "IS THERE NO WAY TO READ A DISCUSSION IN ORDER WITHOUT OTHER COMMENTS INTRUDING????

Yes, I'm shouting. Sorry. Frustrated!"

Shout on! Actually, I remover in the primitive days of shelfa..."

Do shout as it's annoying!

remover? omg, i meant remember!!!!

This is like some strange artificially structured party, in which everyone stands around the edges of the room and to speak to someone, you shout into the middle of the room and hope the people interested in the topic will here you and shout back, although of course all the other conversations are being tossed into the same space.

This is 2015. Goodreads is an Amazon product. And they don't have threaded conversations?

(Up, I know you're doing your best under trying circumstances, and in fact you probably ought not to do your best but ought to be in your favourite chair with a good book and a glass of something of high proof close to hand. So please don't take this as personal criticism! It ain't.)

But honestly, I'm not going to try to discuss books this way.

mef wrote: "This is like some strange artificially structured party, in which everyone stands around the edges of the room and to speak to someone, you shout into the middle of the room and hope the people int..."

not a problem, i hope in a few days to get sail right side up, then we can swing a lantern or two

mef wrote: "This is like some strange artificially structured party, in which everyone stands around the edges of the room and to speak to someone, you shout into the middle of the room and hope the people int..."
Apparently they did a survey on Goodreads after they purchased it, and most GR users, who are used to this antiquated system, preferred it.

Interesting. Several of us have written to Jeff@amazon.com about nested discussion posts. Maybe eventually this site will advance to the 21st century

I've belonged to an online book group for over 20 years. We're now here on GR, but used several different formats before that. In our last few places before GR, we had the option of nested discussion posts. After a while we decided to ignore it and here's why.

To continue with the party metaphor, nested discussions was like the party as a whole decided to discuss something, but immediately broke up into dozens of groups of two or three people and if you wanted to keep up with what was going on you had to dash about from one to the other, with some groups diverging into discussions that had nothing to do with the subject at hand.

We were, and still are, a group that values keeping on track in our discussions. Un-nested talk is the way to do it.

Ruth wrote: "I've belonged to an online book group for over 20 years. We're now here on GR, but used several different formats before that. In our last few places before GR, we had the option of nested discussi..."

We did have a form of nested replies at Shelfari, though, but nicer than some of the other nested reply type conversations, and we could all take part in them. Perhaps other ones don't work as well for that.

Just started The Confessions of Nat Turner

I finished reading All the Light you can not see by Anthony Doerr. Dont know where to post my review Will figure out soon. I really liked the book, so 4 stars from me.

Apparently if you put the book link your review will show there. I'm going to try I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

Karin wrote: "Apparently if you put the book link your review will show there. I'm going to try I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban"

Thanks Karin. Have not written it yet. Would try posting as suggested.

I am reading Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads by Paul Theroux. . I believe I have read every travel book he has written. Instead of an exotic locale like Southern Africa, here he takes the reader through states like South Carolina, Alabama, etc.

Jerry-Book, i take you have long ago read william least heat moon's blue highways?

I am now reading Red Sorghum by Mo Yan.

Jayati wrote: "Karin wrote: "Apparently if you put the book link your review will show there. I'm going to try I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban"

Thanks..."

Apparently, this does't work, so here's the review:

I Am Malala by Malala Yousaifzai
★★★

There is no question that both before and after she was shot, Malala Yousafzai was a courageous young girl who stood up for what she believed, allowed to do this by her supportive family. This book centres on Malala's life with her family and in her quest not only to become educated herself, but that all girls be educated. Much like Susan B. Anthony, she grew up in a home where the value and opinions of women was valued above society; in this case in a society that, under the fear of the rising terrorism my the Taliban, was moving back in a direction where women would have no value other than as the property of the men controlling their lives.

The story told is generally known, so I won't sum it up here. I was greatly disappointed by the quality of writing; Malala, based on her speaking abilities and grades, is obviously a bright young girl when this was happening. Urdi is her first language, and naturally when this book was being written she was still fairly new in the English speaking world. It's one thing to study English in your home country, but it's an entirely different kettle of fish to suddenly find yourself surrounded by it and to work on becoming fluent while recovering from severe injuries. However, she didn't write it alone. Speeches and books aren't written the exact same way. I felt the writing could have lived more, shown more of the depth of Malala. It was helpful that she was showing that she has normal fears and weaknesses common to youth and even adults, but I never felt it, just read the words about it. Even for a young adult novel I felt we were only scratching the surface and the book felt almost pedantic at times.

This is rather sad, because this story is one of many important stories that join together in a chorus calling for help for women in girls throughout the world. It helps open up a window into what it's like living through a terrorist war, but the writing missed the mark time after time.

I hope that someday as Malala matures, she will write something on her own, perhaps, that will help us understand better. Not everyone is a writer, of course, but I think in this case she was just too young when this was written to write it.

Anthony wrote: "Jerry-Book, i take you have long ago read william least heat moon's blue highways?"
Yes, Anthony, I read "Blue Highways" many moons ago. I guess reading travel books has been a habit of mind.

Jerry-Book wrote: "Anthony wrote: "Jerry-Book, i take you have long ago read william least heat moon's blue highways?"
Yes, Anthony, I read "Blue Highways" many moons ago. I guess reading travel books has been a habi..."

i love brysons books, and i guess you could call Berendt a travel writer, as you could Frances Mayes with her under the tuscan sun. then there is river horse, which i liked less than blue highways, and steinbecks travels with charlie that i liked almost less than anything else i have ever read.
i have tried my hand a few times at fantasy travel writing, but my argon book doesnt seem to want to finish itself

La’s Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall Smith
★★★★

La (Lavender) goes to Oxford with no intention of being married before her late 20s, but ends up romanced, in love, married and then abandoned by her husband. Her inlaws, displeased with their son’s actions, kind and honest people, give her their summer cottage as a home and promise to take care of her after the divorce. She is living there when World War II breaks out. At that time she volunteers to help, and so ends up with two jobs. The official one is to help an arthritic farmer take care of his chickens and collect the eggs. The second one is to organize and conduct an orchestra which can only rehearse once per month.

This is a stand-alone, historical fiction novel by McCall Smith, and one I tend to like better than I think I will during parts of it where I might not be happy with what he’s doing with La’s life or something else. There is something endearing about La and the other characters in this novel, which, although the bulk of it is during WW II, spans a good thirty years or so. I think that one of the reviews on the back or the novel that has a sentence that fits, “A fresh and unforgettable story about the power of human kindness.” From the Booklist starred review, and, as the reviewer from The Scotsman wrote, “An excellent re-creation of a woman of her time.”

Dog On It by Spencer Quinn
★★★

Chet and Bernie are Private Investigators, or at least Bernie is, and Chet is the K-Nine school failure who almost passed but for one small glitch, and this is the first book in the Chet and Bernie Mysteries. Bernie is hired to find a missing girl who was missing, found and then missing again. We meet Suzie Sanchez, a reporter doing a story, who sticks around once the story is done, and it turns out this was for the best, for everyone concerned. As Chet and Bernie do their work, Chet has some adventures on his own, although not of his own choosing.

This is the second book I’ve read in this series; I first read the seventh book when my youngest teen gave it to me for Christmas. How could I not read a book from my son who worked so hard to find a gift he’d thought I’d like, even though he doesn’t really know my reading tastes, and who I would like to see read more. I have to say that I liked the seventh one a bit better, and laughed out loud. It may well be because the writing improves over time. It might also be the nature of the mystery; as a mother it’s harder to laugh in a book where it’s a missing teen at stake. It could be that it’s one of those “funny the first time but then the novelty wears off” for me type series as well. The only way I’ll know for sure is if I read one more.

If you like cozy mysteries, dogs and humour, then this is a series for you. Three stars means I liked it, but then I am not a big reader of mysteries (I read a few) and rarely read a book with a dog as the protagonist.

Oh, I have found a great new author, well new to me! It's well crafted, has music totally woven into it and it's fiction. Twelve Bar Blues. It's gritty, real and so if I really like a book like that, I always feel there is something great about it. I'm not sure why I haven't heard of this author before.

Interesting. will give him a look-see

Red Sorghum by Mo Yan
This novel is the first work of Nobel winner Mo Yan that I have read. It is set in the North-eastern part of China when that area was under the occupation of the Japanese. It is a memoir of the trials and tribulations of the writer’s own family during those years. The story revolves around his grandfather and his grandmother. His granddad started life as a labourer but through some intelligent manoeuvrings and also ruthlessness ended up being a small time bandit and eventually a commander of the guerrilla army that fought for the liberation of their village and the surrounding areas. I have read many war novels but the description of atrocities committed by the Japanese on the hapless villagers is gruesome and hard to read at times. The book meanders around the sorghum fields that surround the village and even in the midst of the most horrifying incidents; the description of natural beauty of the area somehow manages to bring a sense of calmness to the story. I must add that this novel becomes repetitive after a while and somehow lacks cohesiveness. The switch from one time frame to another is jarring. Also the relentless description of war and atrocities became difficult to read and assimilate. The love story or rather the romantic story of his grandparents made some interesting reading. I also found that some of the marriage customs in China of those days were quite similar to those in my country. The biggest drawback of this novel is the ending. It moved from the 40’s to 1974! I expected it to be a family saga but nothing much was revealed about the writer’s father and his life or his own. It all seemed disjointed. I was really quite disappointed by this book. Had to struggle to finish it and it was an uphill task. So I would rate it with only two stars.

Jayati wrote: "Red Sorghum by Mo Yan
This novel is the first work of Nobel winner Mo Yan that I have read. It is set in the North-eastern part of China when that area was under the occupation of the Japanese. It..."
As I said on Shelfari this gives me a reason to remove a book from my must read list. Time is going to remove most of them anyway! But then I find your comment on how the descriptions of the landscape bring a sense of calmness to even the most horrifying incidents and find myself intrigued...

Along with my paper book reads, I'm listening to All the Light We Cannot See - so far, so excellent!