Readers and Reading discussion

Please post your books from September here......opinions about books always appreciated!

I only had one book completed in September, but it was one of the best I've had for awhile.
Larson, Erik—In the Garden of Beasts—read by Stephen Hoye; finished 9/29/11. Audio; non-fiction; rating 10. Story of Chicago professor William E. Dodd who was appointed first American ambassador to Hitler’s Germany who tried in vain to warn of the evil of Hitler’s reign.

Shirley wrote: "I only had one book completed in September, but it was one of the best I've had for awhile.
Larson, Erik—In the Garden of Beasts—read by Stephen Hoye; finished 9/29/11. Audio; non-fiction; ratin..."

I spent 3 dreadful weeks slogging through Cutting For Stone. It was a choice for my book club. There are like 600 people who give it 5 stars. There are about 25 people who give it one star. I am so there and agreed with all the snarky remarks. It also made me realize that after 10 years and 3 book clubs I am so done!
On vacation I read 512 pages in 4 days of Penny Vincenzi's Forbidden Places. A rotten title for a great book about 3 woman in England from 1938 to 1948 and how the war changed their lives and ways of thinking. Now I am reading book one of her trilogy about a publishing family from 1900 to 1953. So my cuppa! Another stupid,romancy title,No Angel.

What I Read in September 2011

4857. the Sound of Wings The Life of Amelia Earhart, by Mary S. Lovell (read 4 Sep 2011) This is a 1978 biography of Amelia Earhart, which, when I saw it was written by Mary Lovell, whose biography of Beryl Markham (the first woman to fly solo west across the Atlantic) I much appreciated when I read it 9 Aug 1999, I decided to read it. I well remember when Amelia Earhart's plane went down in July 1937. This book tells well the story of Earhart's life. I can only conclude she was not a good pilot and took unnecessary chances. The book also tells the story of her husband, George Putnam (of the publishing family), who was a character and did a lot to make Amelia famous. The book is a bit heavy on telling more of Putnam's life after 1937 than one wants to know, but the book is fully researched and its account of the theories of what became of Amelia is fascinating, though it seems clear she was not in the hands of the Japanese, but simply drowned at sea.

4858. The Burning of Moscow 1812, by Daria Olivier translated from the French by Michael Heron (read 7 Sep 2011) This is a 1966 book by a French author who concludes the burning of Moscow after Napoleon entered it in September 1812 was done by the Russian. This makes sense, since the burning was a great disadvantage to Napoleon. The book tells how Napoleon stayed in Moscow, despite being advised by wise Frenchmen to leave. It was a big mistake by Napoleon, leading to his greatest defeat at Waterloo. The story is well told by this book and I found myself wishing Napoleon had listened to the good advice he was getting. While Napoleon was an aggressor and I am ambivalent about him--did I wish he had left sooner because my great-great-grandfather and his brother were in his Army? (The brother was in the Russian campaign, and stories of his heroism there have descended to his relatives living today.)

4859. The Island Within, by Ludwig Lewisohn (read 10 Sep 2011) This novel was published in 1928 and the Modern Library edition came out in 1940. It is a passionate book decrying Jews not cherishing their Jewishness. It is fiction, and tells of a Jewish family in Germany, one son of which comes to New York and he fathers a son, Arthur, who drifts from his observant parents and marries a Protestant. He and other Jews he knows have all kinds of trouble and Arthur becomes a psychiatrist and finds the troubles are due to not being observant Jews. I much appreciated the books by Chaim Potok (The Chosen, read 7 Jan 2001; The Promise, read 9 Jan 2001, and My Name is Asher Lev (read 26 July 2004) which breathed fidelity to Jewish beliefs--this book seems to say even if one doesn't believe Jews should still be observant because they will be mentally healthy whereas non-observance leads to disaster for Jews. The book is thought-provoking but ends up with an account of horror in 1096 when Crusader mobs wreaked evil on Jews--the pertinency of that not being readily apparent to me. Lewisohn's parents became Christians and Ludwig, born in 1882 in Europe, came to South Carolina at a young age, was an active Methodist till he ran into discrimination against Jews, and then became an opponent of Jews assimilating.

4860. My Reading Life, by Pat Conroy (read 13 Sep 2011) This is a 2010 book, some of which is very good but it does not give too much on his reading but a lot on his writing life. This is the 9th book by Conroy I have read. He has an exuberant chapter on Tolstoy's War and Peace (I have never remembered being excited by it, but Conroy says he read it three times, and maybe if I read it three times I would be moreimpressed by it than I was when I read it backin 1955) and a chapter on Gone With the Wind and a good chapter on Thomas Wolfe, and a paean on James Dickey. The book has a good section on how he writes--he fully recognizes he has to be exuberant and consciously seeks such exuberance. He acknowledges his fiction is based on his life with exuberance added--and though his father is dead insists he truly hates him, but idealizes his mother.

4861. Scenes of Clerical Life I (The Sad Fortunes of the Rev. Amos Barton [and]; Mr. Gilfil's Love-Story) by George Eliot (read 14 Sep 2011) This volume has the first two stories of Eliot's first work of fiction, Scenes of Clerical Life. The first story is of a curate who is not very effective as a minister. One Contessa moves into his home even though he has a wife and six kids and cannot afford her sponging off him, but puts up with it till a good denouement. The ending is highly poignant. The second story, Mr. Gilfil's Love Story, is a highly dramatic story of Caterina, an Italian girl living on an English manor who falls in love with the heir to the estate--who is to marry a "more suitable" woman--to Caterina's fury. It is a well told story and hits its highlight a few chapters before the end. I could not help but remember how I was struck by Eliot's The Mill on the Floss, when I read it 11 Apr 1965. These stories are Eliot's first fiction, but her mastery is already evident in them.

4862. Scenes of Clerical Life II (Janet's Repentance) [and] The Lifted Veil, by George Eliot (read 17 Sep 2011) This book contains the third and final story of Scenes of Clerical Life, Janet's Repentence,. It has some dramatic scenes--Janet is married to Richard, a brutal lawyer, who puts her out of the house on a cold night in her nightgown--but the story is suffused with a kind of saccharine piety, and Mr. Tryon is all goodness and saves Janet--who has a weakness for drink--after her husband dies. It is treacly and does not compare with the first two stories. This volume also includes a 60-page story written in 1859, The Lifted Veil, which is a weird story of a guy who foresees he will marry and come to hate his brother's fiancee.. His brother dies, he does marry the fiancee, and they grow to hate each other, as foreseen. It is rather well-done and maybe owes something to Edgar Allan Poe. I have now read, as I have long wanted to, all of George Eliot's major fiction:
733. Adam Bede, by George Eliot (read 20 May 1963)
800. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (read 11 Apr 1965)
801. Middlemarch by George Eliot (28 Apr 1965)
802. Silas Marner by George Eliot (read 1 May 1965)
1362. Romola, by George Eliot (read 25 Oct 1975)
2319. Felix Holt by George Eliot (read 25 Aug 1990)
3079. Daniel Deronda, by George Eliot (read 27 May 1998)
4861. Scenes of Clerical Life I (The Sad Fortunes of the Rev. Amos Barton [and]; Mr. Gilfil's Love-Story) by George Eliot (read 14 Sep 2011)
Of these eight books, I was most affected and impressed by The Mill on the Floss. I do take a certain satisfaction in finally completing reading all Eliot's major fiction, which took me almost 50 years to do.


4863. The Next Pope 2011, by Anura Guruge (read 20 Sep 2011) This is revised edition of the author's earlier book which I read 1 Mar 2010. He gives a revised list of the ten cardinals he deems most likely to be the next pope. No. 1 is a Canadian. The book is packed with information, including a review of most papal elections over the past 1200 years, including a quite detailed review of the conclaves of the 20th and 21st centuries. . There is also a fascinating discussion of the names Popes have had: there have been 81 names used by Popes, and 36 have been used more than once--leaving 45 that have been used only once.

4864. Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., by John C. Jeffries, Jr. (read 27 Sep 2011) This is a really excellent biography of the named Supreme Court Justice, who was born Sep 19, 1907, in Suffolk, VA. attended Washington & Lee college and law school, practiced law in Richmond, Va., with great success , was president of the ABA. and in 1971 was selected to be Supreme Court justice. He was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 99 to 1 and took his seat in Jan 1972. The book does a great job telling of the big issues Powell dealt with: public school desegregation, abortion (he was for it, but Jeffries shows how flawed the Blackmun opinion was), the Nixon tapes, capital punishment (he supported it but after he left the Court he said he should not have), Bakke, and sodomy. This book is so well written and deals with such super-interesting things that the seven days spent reading it (563 pages of text, 80 pages of notes, and an 18 page bibliography) were a sheer pleasure. One of the most interesting books I have read this year--a complete joy to read.

4865. Principle Over Party The Farmers' Alliance and Populism in South Dakota, 1880-1900, by R. Alton Lee (read 28 Sep 2011) This is a 2011 book by a history professor at the University of South Dakopta. It covers the political history of South Dakota during the period named with concentration on the Populists. The Populists only elected one governor, Andrew Lee, elected in 1896 and re-elected in 1898. This book, except for a dry first chapter, is quite a good book and the politics of South Dakota during this time is full of interest. The Populist Party was not very successful but many of their ideas led to what progressive Republicans (back in the days when there were such) did in South Dakota in the early 20th century

I had a "light" reading month, both in number and kinds of books. I know I read one more book that I liked but for the life of me, cannot remember its title.

Look here for my measly four September books:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...

Schmerguls wrote: "What I Read in September 2011

4857. the Sound of Wings The Life of Amelia Earhart, by Mary S. Lovell (read 4 Sep 2011) This is a 1978 biography of Amelia Earhart, which, when I saw it was wri..."
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I enjoyed reading your post, Schmerguls.

In March of this year I read,


Sterling Point Books: Amelia Earhart: Flying Solo~John Burke.

It was a short quick read, but gave me all the info I wanted.

You mentioned Beryl Markham. Her book
West with the Night~Beryl Markham is quite good.

I read 8 books in September. I am now only 1 book away from my 2008 total of 77 books. That was my all time number of books read in one year. I know that it's quality and not quantity that is important, yet it still is fun to top my personal best.

The Solitude of Prime Numbers~Paolo Giordano
Fiction
This book is beautifully written. The story is a quiet tale of desperation, love and loneliness of two people that will never fit in with society. It's quite moving and one that I think will stay with the reader a long time.
My favorite line was "Choices are made in brief seconds and paid for in the time that remains."
I rated the novel 4/5

This is amazingly the 27 year old authors debut novel. It's won Italy's most prestigious award, the Premio Strega. Oh, and he just happens to be gorgeous and a physicist, too !

The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty~Simon Baron-Cohen
Non-fiction
The author is a Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Cambridge and the cousin of the actor/comedian Sasha Baron-Cohen.

The aim of the book is to stimulate discussion on the causes of "evil" by moving the debate into the scientific arena. He focuses on a brain-based theory of human cruelty. At the heart of his thesis is empathy.
I found the book to be very thought provoking.
Rate 4/5

A House in Sicily~~Daphne Phelps
Nonfiction
rate: 3 minus./5
It's memoir about a British woman who inherited a large villa called Casa Cuseni in Sicily after WWII. It's an interesting look at Sicily and the people who lived there at the time. The little vignettes she tells of the famous and local people are somewhat interesting. Though I never really felt like I got to know anyone really well.

The City of Falling Angels~~John Berendt
Non fiction
rate 3/5
I found the book on the whole enjoyable. Though parts were a bit too inside baseball if you know what I mean.

The book on one level is about the fire at the Fenice opera company. However, the bulk of the book is the author introducing the reader to a variety of people that he meets in Venice.

One such person was the poet Mario Stefani. This was such a sad and poignant section.

One of my favorite quotes from the book was something from Stefani. "Loneliness is not being alone; it's loving others to no avail."

Another quote that caught my eye was,
"Telling the truth is the most anti-conformist act I know. Hypocrisy is the constitutional basis and foundation of society.

All in all, a well written book.

Death at La Fenice~~Donna Leon
Fiction
This literate mystery is set in Venice, Italy.
It's the first in the Commissario Guido Brunetti series. I would categorize this novel as a cerebral mystery. It's not a page turner or gore fest. What it is, is subtle and well done. You'll want to read this one while sipping wine and listening to Verdi in the background.
Rate 3/5

Every Day in Tuscany: Seasons of an Italian LifeFrances Mayes
Nonfictin
This book reads like the pretentious, self centered, ramblings of a diary or blog. The author is clearly in love with her own poetic style of writing.

There is way too much about the food they ate and not nearly enough on the people of Italy. I had no feeling for the place or the people of Tuscany from reading this book.

I quickly became bored as the author droned on and on about the artist Luca Signorelli. She managed to make it all quite dull.

When she started to write about her precious grandson, I would have quit reading if I wasn't so near the end.

Also someone who clearly is well off complaining about their investment portfolio didn't sit well with me.
I rated the book a 2 minus /5

Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us~~Robert D. Hare
Nonfiction
Rate 3 plus /5
Fascinating, informative and a quick read. The author developed the Psychopathy Checklist which is used worldwide. The book however was published in 1993 so the material may be dated with the advances of MRI's and such. Still, I think it's a valuable read. The author lists a dozen symptoms of a psychopath and then explains each one in depth with examples from real life psychopaths. At the end he gives advice for people who are dealing with people like this in their lives. The author notes, at least at the time of publication, there is no effective treatment for people with this condition.

Room~~Emma Donoghue
Fiction
Rate 3/5
I read this novel for my f2f book group. I found the voice of the 5 year old narrator to be off putting. And this made it hard for me to connect with the book. Parts of it were interesting. Though if it weren't a F2F group read, I would have quit. The majority in my book group found it interesting.

Because of last months group read of The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America I went on a psychopath reading binge. I still have a book or two waiting for me at the library on this topic. I find the study of psychology fascinating.

I also continued on my latest kick of books set in Italy.

All in all an interesting reading month for me.

Shirley wrote: "I only had one book completed in September, but it was one of the best I've had for awhile.
Larson, Erik—In the Garden of Beasts—read by Stephen Hoye; finished 9/29/11. Audio; non-fiction; ratin..."
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Shirley at GoodReads Book Nook Cafe http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...
we just read Larson's other book,

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America

I found the section on the Chicago fair too detailed for my taste. I did find the parts on the serial killer interesting.

Though to be honest I wasn't impressed with Larson's writing style. It was too dry. Though some say his writing is better in the book you read.

Had a good quality month.

Here are my September reads:

Top Reads

Galveston
Nic Pizzolatto
A very assured debut crime novel that was nominated for an Edgar for best first. From the first disc I was drawn into the dark and violent world of Roy Cady. Listened to the audio version read by Michael Kramer whose gravelly style was a perfect match for the story.

The Most Dangerous Thing
Laura Lippman
Another good read from one of my favorite authors. I had a bit of a slow start with this book because of time issues but once I was able to just sit and read the chapters flew by. At first I wondered about the narrative voice in a few sections but it ended up working well within the story and the characters were well developed and realistic.

Good Reads

The Yard Dog: A Mystery
Sheldon Russell
Set in Oklahoma during World War 2 this book, the first in a series, had a great sense of time and place. I also liked the lead character, Hook Runyon, a railway detective who could not join the war effort because he only has one arm. The plot and writing were a bit uneven though but overall an enjoyable read.

Badasses: The Legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden's Oakland Raiders
Peter Richmond
The author takes the reader back to the seventies when the Oakland Raiders were always among the best teams in the NFL while definitely having the most fun. Truly a unique collection of athletes, ownership, and coaching staff that will never be replicated.

Body Double
Tess Gerritsen
One of the better books in this series. I enjoyed learning more about Dr. Isles and thought the plot was twisty enough to keep me engaged to the end. Listened to the audio version which was read by Kathe Mazur.

House Rules
Mike Lawson
An enjoyable audio thriller. I really like the characters in this series (especially House Speaker John Mahoney) and the plot seemed fairly plausible for this type of book. Listened to the audio version read by Joe Barrett.

Bossypants
Tina Fey
A fun, breezy listen with a number of laughs. I was not all that familiar with Fey's work (except for the Palin impersonations) but may now try out her show 30 Rock. Tina Fey performed the audio version with great gusto and really made it entertaining.

The Sound of Thunder
Wilbur Smith
While not quite as good as the preceding book, When the Lion Feeds, lots of action, adventure, and larger than life characters made this an entertaining page turner.

Sandi, I am about to reserve the fourth Wilbur Smith Courtney novel.

Did you know this info below? I had no idea....

The Courtney series can be split into three parts, each part following a particular era of the Courtney family.

The Courtney novels are a series of thirteen novels published between 1964 and 2009 by Wilbur Smith. They chronicle the lives of the Courtney family, from the 1660s through until 1987. The novels can be split into three parts; the original trilogy of novels follow the twins Sean and Garrick Courtney from the 1860s until 1925. The second part is five books which follows Centaine de Thiry Courtney, her sons and grandchildren between 1917 and 1987. The third part, the most recently written, follows the Courtney family from the 1660s through until 1918, focusing on successive generations of the family.

So this is the "real" sequence:

Birds of Prey 1660s
Monsoon 1690s
Blue Horizon 1730s
When the Lion Feeds 1860s-1890s
Triumph of the Sun 1880s
The Sound of Thunder 1899-1906
Assegai 1906-1918
The Burning Shore 1917-1920
A Sparrow Falls 1918-1925
Power of the Sword 1931-1948
Rage 1950s and 1960s
Golden Fox 1969-1979
A Time To Die 1987

Sandi, have you spent time in Oklahoma?

Alias Reader wrote: "I read 8 books in September. I am now only 1 book away from my 2008 total of 77 books. That was my all time number of books read in one year. I know that it's quality and not quantity that is imp..."

Nice month Alias. I will have to look for The Solitude of Prime Numbers since you rated it so highly. I have also enjoyed the first two books in the Commissario Guido Brunetti series.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Sandi, I am about to reserve the fourth Wilbur Smith Courtney novel.

Did you know this info below? I had no idea....

The Courtney series can be split into three parts, each part following a part..."

Thanks for the info JoAnn. I did not realize there were three earlier books in the series either. I guess I will just read them in publication order since that how I have started.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Sandi, have you spent time in Oklahoma?"

No, I have never been to Oklahoma.

September Reads

House Rules - Rachel Sontag. Sontag grew up in a home with an overly critical, emotionally abusive father, plus a mother who was so passive she never did anything about anything, all of which makes for a painful but fascinating read. There was no great satisfying "aha" moment in this book except that Sontag did learn to accept what she could not change and she did remove her father from her life. B

A Thousand Lives - Julia Scheeres. A well-researched book about Jim Jones and the tragedy he wrought at Jonestown. I hadn't realize how often he had spoken about mass suicide/murder in the past but apparently it was something he'd had in mind for decades before he made it happen. This book also made me understand how truly trapped and helpless the people were in Guyana, especially sad since so many of them moved there with such idealistic hopes and dreams. A-

Losing Mum and Pup - Christopher Buckley. The son of William and Patricia Buckley writes about dealing with his parents' failing health and eventual deaths with a mixture of compassion and humor that made me laugh out loud and cry real tears, sometimes on the same page. His parents were not your typical next door neighbors, but the situations and emotions he writes about are the same ones that we've all dealt with, or will in the future. A-

Close Your Eyes - Amanda Eyre Ward. I know for a fact that I read every word in this book but I don't remember much about it now. I think it was about a woman whose father was accused of killing her mother and how her friendship with a wacky off-beat school friend helped her find out the truth about what really happened. Or maybe not. I think I liked it, but I honestly don't remember much about it.

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake - Jenny Wingfield. This book was a very pleasant surprise......I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. The story is about the Lake family living in rural Arkansas during the 1950's, complete with all the wacky characters and wacky character names you'd expect from that time and place. But these characters also had heart and seemed genuine to me. There's plenty of drama and some troubling cruelty, but I truly enjoyed this book and I was really sorry to see it end. A-

Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and the Marriage of the Century. Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger. I absolutely loved this book. Of course I remember knowing about the scandal that surrounded the Burton-Taylor marriage, but this is the story of what it was like being inside that marriage. The authors had access to letters and journals that Burton kept which were incredibly passionate and touching. They pointed out the difference between the "Liz and Dick" from the gossip magazines and "Elizabeth and Richard" the two real people. And even though I knew how the story was going to end, there were times during the book when I was really hoping they would be able to work things out. In the end their addictions were what ended their marriage and, in Burton's case, his life. Tragic and passionate and fascinating. Did I mention that I absolutely loved this book. A




House Rules

A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown

Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir

Close Your Eyes

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake

Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century

Connie, I have liked all of Christopher Buckley's outrageous books. He is so funny.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Connie, I have liked all of Christopher Buckley's outrageous books. He is so funny."

I'm definitely going to read him again!

Connie, I absolutely loved Furious Love as much as you did!