torontoc's ROOTS on 2014

DiscussieROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes

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torontoc's ROOTS on 2014

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1torontoc
jan 2, 2014, 9:35 am


1. Prague by Arthur Phillips- I enjoy reading this author as his works are always different. From historical fiction to contemporary stories, Phillips creates new and intriguing plots every time. This novel is about four American (and one Canadian) ex-patriots who are living in Budapest in 1990. The communist government is gone and westerners are flooding into Eastern European cities looking for new opportunities to make money. The title of this book is ironic as the characters wistfully believe that Prague is the best place to be and they are not there. Although the reader follows Emily, an assistant at the U.S. Embassy, Mark, a postdoctoral student writing on nostagia, Charles, a businessman and Scott, a teacher,we focus on John,a journalist and the estranged brother of Scott. John is hopelessly obsessed with Emily, but gets involved with Nicky, an angry artist. The reader follows the five through nightclubs, business dealings and contact with Hungarians who have suffered at the hands of the Nazis and later communists. Imre's story haunts the book as Phillips includes in his prose a history of Hungarian political involvement. A good read.

2cyderry
jan 2, 2014, 10:12 pm

Welcome back! Do you have a goal this year?

3rainpebble
jan 4, 2014, 1:18 am

Happy New Year 'tonto' and good luck with your challenge.

4torontoc
jan 11, 2014, 8:38 am

Thank you!
I do have a goal of 30 books from the TBR towers.

Here is number 2.

2. New York Diaries 1609-2009 edited by Teresa Carpenter This is the kind of book that is a good gift- that is how I got it. I really liked the organization-the editor took excerpts from the writings of many known and unknown people who lived in New York from 1609 to 2009. The entries were collected by the day of the year so the reader would see the account from a ship in 1609 on Sept 1 and then read about an entry from 1884. Some diaries were solemn and some were frivolous.They covered the revolutionary war in 1776, ( with some entries by George Washington) to the 1950's and Broadway shows and to heartbreaking accounts of Sept 11, 2001. I really enjoyed this read and i might look for the published diaries of some of the people published here.

5Merryann
jan 12, 2014, 11:51 pm

What an interesting sounding book! Congratulations on finishing your second ROOT of the year!

6torontoc
jan 17, 2014, 10:18 am

3. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler. This is a reread for Darryl's Canadian Lit challenge in 75 Books Read Group. I wanted to see how this novel stood the test of time for me. I think that it did. The main character , Duddy is a driven young man who wants to make money and buy land. He is inspired by his grandfather's wish. The reader follows Duddy from his rough childhood to his dubious triumph. Duddy is crude, unscrupulous and cruel. His older brother, Lennie is the one who is following the dream of his father and uncle. Lennie is studying to be a doctor while Duddy scrambles to make a living.Duddy uses everyone he comes in contact with from his girlfriend Yvette to his hapless new friend, Virgil. Richler gives a devastating description of Montreal Jewish society during the early 1950's. He writes about the very poor and the richer groups who had made money. He also looks at the anti-semitism prevalent during that time- he spares no group in Montreal society. in his novel. Richler's description of a bar mitzvah film made by Duddy and his mostly drunk film director is a great sendup and is hilarious. The character of the Boy Wonder mirrors the "mythical great man" that Richler uses in his later books. ( see the film made of Barney's Version). I went back to the great biography written about Richler by Charles Foran to look at the author's background. Richler was born into an Orthodox Jewish family. His mother and father eventually separated. The rejection of his religious background and the self made man are themes in this book. Richler does present Duddy's Jewish Montreal in an uncomplimentary way ( and that is a mild way of describing how he viewed his city). That is ironic to me as Montreal was known to have a very rich Jewish culture - more so than Toronto. Montreal had many Jewish writers, poets and institutions like the Jewish Public Library. Richler used his own background and ideas to create characters and places that will return in his later books. i actually want to reread more of his early work.

7torontoc
jan 20, 2014, 9:33 am

4. Rouse up O Young Men of the New Age! by Kenzaburo Oe. I really don't remember who recommended this book to me- either a LT member or someone on Bookmooch. While I was reading this very interesting story, I was reminded why I am on these web sites. i would have never found this author and book on my own. Oe writes about a famous Japanese author who has a severely disabled son of about 19 years old. The fictional author has been reading the poems of William Blake and links them in this account to events from his past.Each chapter in the book is based on a poem or fragment written by Blake. He and his family confront the many problems of living with a young man who has limitations and some wonderful gifts of musicality. Several poems and the meanings have direct connections in the writer's mind with how he deals with his son. The reader learns about the writer's family, his own father and his writings. In fact although the book is a novel, Kenzaburo Oe really does have a severely disabled son and some of the incidents written about in the book did happen to his family. There is a very good afterword by the translator, John Nathan.
A really good read!

8ipsoivan
jan 22, 2014, 9:15 pm

I am adding that to my wishlist! Sounds wonderful.

9connie53
jan 23, 2014, 12:46 pm

Well now, I'm really embarrassed! I'did not even welcome you, Ceryl!

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome

10kaylaraeintheway
jan 23, 2014, 3:36 pm

>9 connie53: Ok, that is just the cutest little dancing happy face!

11connie53
jan 23, 2014, 3:43 pm

Is she not gorgeous??

12Merryann
jan 24, 2014, 12:37 am

Adorable little happy face, and a very good place to put her, with all of this reading torontoc is doing!

13rabbitprincess
jan 24, 2014, 5:22 pm

Great review of Duddy Kravitz! I read that one in high school but should probably reread it sometime.

14torontoc
feb 4, 2014, 8:51 am

thank you!
5. Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen. What a treat to read this funny satire of politics and development in Florida. Hiaasen uses Florida as his subject in many of his books. The characters are wierd and propel this adventure to a satisfying conclusion. Twilly Spree who sets the story moving forward, is a wealthy young man with anger management problems. When he spots Palmer Stout littering on the highway , Twilly avenges this act with a dog-napping and eventually a relationship with Palmer's wife Desie. Palmer is a powerful lobbyist involved with the bribes that will turn a small island into a concrete jungle of condos. The developer, Robert Clapley employs a particular loathsome thug ,Mr. Gash who take pleasure in torturing those who oppose Clapley's projects. Add to this mix, a renegade former governor of Florida, a large docile rhinoceros who turns rogue and of course the Labrador dog with two names. This novel was funny and unfortunately, some of the bribery described probably takes place in many places in North America. A fun read on a too cold series of days.

15Caramellunacy
feb 4, 2014, 11:06 am

"a large docile rhinoceros who turns rogue" - I may have to pick this up because of that phrase alone!

16torontoc
feb 4, 2014, 4:59 pm

the rhino enters the plot near the end of the story

17Tess_W
feb 23, 2014, 2:28 pm

Sick Puppy sounds really good!

18Merryann
feb 26, 2014, 2:07 am

Oh, yes. It's quite amusing to open a thread and have it go right to the screen where all you see is 'the rhino enters the plot near the end of the story' and 'Sick Puppy sounds really good'.

If THAT doesn't make one curious, I don't know what would!

19torontoc
mrt 23, 2014, 5:58 pm

6. Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple I reread this book for my book club- it is still amusing, well written and a satire on politiically correct everything - school, support groups, TED talks, Microsoft culture and more. This time I liked what isn't said- how the marriage of Elgie and Bernadette will survive or what the relationship of Bee to her parents will evolve. Great book and fun

20VivienneR
mrt 25, 2014, 11:41 am

>19 torontoc: I've heard so many good things about Where'd You Go, Bernadette and I was delighted to find it recently at a booksale. Glad to hear it is just as good on a second reading.

21cyderry
mrt 27, 2014, 12:12 am

Bernadette is the book my Book Club chose for April. Glad to hear that it's good.

22cyderry
mei 3, 2014, 11:02 am

Book Club thought Bernadette was great but our biggest laugh was that one of the ladies got a book titled iBernadette, it's Me and couldn't understand why the rest of us were raving about the book because the one she had was horrible.

23connie53
mei 3, 2014, 2:38 pm

That's a weird mistake! No wonder you were all laughing.

24torontoc
jun 13, 2014, 4:43 pm

7. The Exile Book of Yiddish Women Writers edited by Frieda Johles Forman This is a reread of this collection of short stories translated from the Yiddish to English by a group of translators. I reread it because my book club is hosting one of the translators at our meeting. The idea of saving the literary work of writers who used a language that is not accessible to a wider audience is a worthy assignment. This volume is the second book that has been produced. The writing of previously unknown writers is now available to a new group of readers.

I have been very indulgent lately- reading books that have just come out and not trying to shave down my very big "TBR " tower.

25melody12345
jun 13, 2014, 5:01 pm

yes

26Tess_W
jun 14, 2014, 1:45 pm

Sounds absolutely lovely and worthy of a re-read! I like the word indulgent, especially when it comes to reading. Reading is more fun when indulgent.

27torontoc
jun 27, 2014, 9:34 am

8. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson. I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I started to read this book. It was initially on the booklist for my book club- we hire a very good reviewer and this was her recommendation. For the first time, the reviewer emailed my group and changed the book. I gather that the other groups who were reading the book had objections to the details on kidnapping and torture. I read it and had different impressions from the beginning to the end. in the first chapters, I thought that the grinding poverty of life in North Korea was really the subject. Then the story of Pak Jun Do takes on a more surrealistic vision with humour mixed with terrible deeds. In fact, the narrative started to remind me of the satiric work of Christopher Moore Jun Do's work runs from kidnapping Japanese citizens to recording radio signals and eventually a stint in a prison camp. He makes a trip to a Texas ranch as part of an official North korean visit and later ends up impersonating a vicious public official. The characters give the reader for all the bizarre plot twists, into the lives of a very regulated society.Highly recommended but painful to read.

yes- indulgent is the way to read!

28torontoc
jun 30, 2014, 10:10 am

9. The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut. This is one of those narratives where the narrator is somewhat creepy. Frank is a doctor working at a remote hospital in a " former homeland of South Africa" to quote the book's introduction. This hospital is really a sham as there are usually no patients and anyone with a serious illness is sent to a better equipped place in another town. Minimally managed and with the building parts literally stolen away, the hospital doesn't seem to have a reason for being there. In fact the physical setting seems to mirror the four doctors and their reasons for staying. Frank is a loner but finds his solitude broken when a young doctor, Laurence is assigned to the place for a year. Laurence is also a cipher- cheerful and optimistic but somewhat careless in his actions. Frank is a forced friend but resentful of Laurence and his ideas. The plot becomes more tense and there is a sense of the sinister unknown when the reader encounters the newly arrived soldiers in a formerly deserted town as well the mysterious Brigadier and cruel Colonel. The end is a little puzzling. The prose is eloquent and the characters well described. An interesting read.

29torontoc
jul 1, 2014, 8:25 pm

10. Benediction by Kent Haruf As I was reading this book, I thought that it reminded me of something else- soap operas? But no, I thought of the play by Thornton Wilder called Our Town. I believe that this author was after the same effect. An elderly man in a very small town is dying and the reader learns of his past and conflicts. His wife is holding out and his daughter comes back from Denver to help care for him. The son, Frank is estranged from the family and never does learn of his father's illness. The stories of a new preacher and his family and their problems and two ladies-mother and daughter- who are friends in town are revealed as the we read of flash backs that show the backgrounds of all the characters. The style reminds of a drama although I think that Our Town did the same in a much better way- in fact I think that I want to reread it. So, a story about everyday drama in the lives of not very remarkable people is told well. However, I liked this book with reservations.

30Merryann
jul 10, 2014, 10:43 pm

Wow, what's the chances of reading two books in a row, by different writers, with different character and different stories, but both guys named Frank? Doesn't that make you want to read a Hardy Boys book next? :)

31torontoc
jul 25, 2014, 8:55 am

ah no- no Hardy boys!

11. Angel of Vengeance The Girl Who shot the Governor of St. Petersburg and Sparked the Age of Assassination by Ana Siljak I have been reading this work for a while. The author does more than just write about the life of Vera Zasulich- a Russian woman who did shoot General Trepov in 1878. Siljak sets the scene for the development of unrest in Russia by tracing the writers and would be revolutionary groups and individuals who were trying the change Russia. She develops the theory that Vera Zasulich's motives and expectations of her possible fate after she completes her mission would inspire future actions by later revolutionary groups. In fact the idea of dying for the cause is a tactic that the world has witnessed in our times. A very interesting read.

32torontoc
jul 26, 2014, 11:08 am

12. Old School by Tobias Wolff I hadn't read anything by Wolff for a few years- I was reminded by the novel what a good writer he is! The language and structure of the work are indeed masterful. Wolff recreates the world of a elite boys school in 1960. The narrator has won a scholarship to the school and relates his literary history there. He becomes part of a group that manages the school magazine and vies for the privilege of a private meeting with a famous writer. The school has a history of asking famous writers and poets to visit the school, read submissions by the students and choose one for this important meeting. Wolff uses Robert Frost and Ayn Rand and later Ernest Hemingway as writers who will visit the school. Wolff writes about a world where writing matters and the style of writers influence the leading students in the school. As well, the deceptions that both the narrator and later the teachers practice to hide background and actions lead to a betrayal that changes their lives. A beautiful book and worth reading.

33Merryann
jul 27, 2014, 11:15 pm

>32 torontoc:, Sounds interesting. :)

34torontoc
jul 30, 2014, 7:02 pm

13. Caught by Lisa Moore This novel is very unlike the previous works by Moore. It is a story of a journey taken by the main character David Slaney. He has escaped from jail and is travelling across Canada to meet up with his friend Hearn. Hearn and Slaney had been captured after they tried to bring in a boat full of drugs from Columbia. Hearn had jumped bail and had been hiding for four years. Slaney had been sentenced to jail and escaped after serving these same four years. Both Hearn and Slaney didn't know that they were being tracked by the police. The story follows Slaney as he tried to connect with an old girlfriend and later encounters some strange characters as he helps steer a new boat filled with drugs to Canada. Well told and a good read.

35torontoc
aug 16, 2014, 10:53 am

14. Baldwin Street by Alvin Rakoff. The author used to live in Toronto ( he has been a director and writer in England for many years) and this book is really not a novel but a series of short stories or vignettes. Rakoff uses the same families to structure the incidents and personalities that he writes about -they all live on Baldwin Street in Kensington Market in Toronto. The reader certainly learns about the poverty and hardships that these Jewish immigrants faced in the first part of the 20th century.Many struggled to maintain small grocery or fruit stores and were always in debt. The stories of the children -growing up and making a better life for themselves -and their parents who had dramatic and some times tragic histories take the reader through a mini- history of Kensington Market in Toronto. Rakoff used a mix of real and fictional names in his work. I also thought that some if not many of the stories were based on real incidents that the author may have witnessed. I enjoyed this book and think that it gives life to the history of Kensington Market.

36ipsoivan
Bewerkt: aug 17, 2014, 7:44 am

>34 torontoc: I'm a fellow Torontoite, and I can't believe I've missed this book! Has it been splashed around, and I just wasn't looking?? This sounds like something I would really like.

37torontoc
aug 17, 2014, 2:36 pm

Hmm- it was republished- I got my copy at a meeting of the Kensington Market Historical Society this year. It should be in the libraries.

15. I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb. I got this book as a gift. The story of the young girl who was targeted and shot by the Taliban for speaking out for the education of girls is well known. Still, it is a rare event for a sixteen year old to write ( with the help of a journalist) a memoir. The story is interesting as the book outlines not only the story about Malala's family ( and specifically her father) but also the history of the strife in the Swat Valley of Pakistan. I learned about the rivalries of the different religious groups and the role of the army. Malala and her father are heroic in their championship of schooling for girls in Pakistan. The story is one that should be told.

38torontoc
aug 17, 2014, 5:08 pm

16. The Sweet Girl by Annabel Lyon Lyon writes about the daughter of Aristotle-Pythias. Pythias has been taught to read and is interested in anatomy. She has read her father's books and is probably his most learned pupil. The author follows the family as they leave Athens after the death of Alexander the Great and return to the Macedonian town of Chalcis. Pythias finds that her life turns upside down after the death of her father. She should be married to her cousin Nicanor but he has been in the army and no one knows where he is. The author gives us a survivor who makes hard choices as she is no longer a privileged member of a wealth family.
An interesting imagining of the life of Aristotle's daughter but the plot and characters are not as good as those in her previous novel The Golden Mean. The author does give us a very modern woman who makes untraditional choices.

39connie53
aug 20, 2014, 3:10 pm

Just passing and waving HI!!

40torontoc
aug 20, 2014, 4:31 pm

Thanks!

41torontoc
aug 31, 2014, 10:35 am

17. Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat. I read this memoir because I went to a talk by the author-a very engaging woman. Marina Nemat's story is horrific- a young girl who is imprisoned for life because she rebelled in high school in Iran. Nemat leads a walkout in her class as the ill-equipped teacher does not teach the subject but spouts the Islamic party line. Many young people who participated in marches against the regime in Iran were tortured, put in prison and executed or given long prison sentences. What makes Nemat's story is different as how her guard, Ali, saves her life , then asks Marina to marry him. Marina is really not given a choice- if she does not convert to Islam and marry, then her parents and former boyfriends will be harmed. The account of the marriage, life in prison, Ali's assassination and the help given to Marina by Ali's parents makes for a bizarre story. However, Marina is a survivor and does immigrate to Canada where she eventually writes about her life. This is a very interesting memoir with themes of seemingly harmless actions provoking terrible consequences and the mix of good and evil in some people.

42torontoc
sep 1, 2014, 9:24 am

18. After Tehran A Life Reclaimed by Marina Nemat. The author continues her story after she and her family immigrate to Canada. She details her life in Toronto and how she eventually decides that she has to tell her story of imprisonment in jail in Iran. Nemat lives the life of a housewife, taking care of her children and working part time as a waitress. When she enrols in writing classes , the author finds mentors who encourage her. Marina Nemat finds a publisher for her book and the success of her work is chronicled in this memoir. I think that the book answers a lot of questions that reader may have after reading her book Prisoner of Tehran. Nemat also writes about encounters with some of the people who she knew in Iran. This memoir does tend to be a little rambling and not as tightly constructed as her first book.
I'll wait until the Sept progress thread is set to report this book.

43avanders
sep 2, 2014, 11:33 am

Very interesting! Have you read Reading Lolita in Tehran? Obviously very different from what you've read by Nemat, but interesting to add to the viewpoint of what it's like living in Tehran, even just to read books...

44torontoc
sep 3, 2014, 11:12 pm

Yes , I did. Great book!

19. Berlin Stories by Robert Walser These stories or very brief prose pieces were mainly translated by Susan Bernofsky. I found that this very slim volume of prose pieces was supposed to describe life in Berlin around 1907-14. There were a few stories that did invoke the sense of the city. I thought that most of the descriptions could have been used for any city-they didn't have the feeling or mood of this particular city-Berlin. Walser, a Swiss writer lived in Berlin for a short period of time and did have contacts with the theatrical world through his brother. I wasn't moved by this collection and have found other books that gave me a better sense of Berlin society.

45torontoc
sep 4, 2014, 4:53 pm

20. Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes. I have not been reading poetry for a number of years. It is just one of those things- an enthusiasm that has not been with me for a while. I just picked up this volume out of curiosity. After reading these highly charges poems about Hughes relationship with his first wife-Sylvia Plath, I had to research their very public and dramatic history. Hughes published this intimate memoir of poems about Plath in 1998-the year that he died. The themes describe Plath's demons, her feelings about her father, her suicide and the life that Hughes and Plath led in the US and England. They are very powerful and certainly sweep the reader through the rocky history of their life together.

46torontoc
sep 20, 2014, 7:19 am

21 Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salmon Rushdie
Rushdie wrote this book as a present to his son, I believe.( correct me if I am wrong) It is a lovely story about a young man, Haroun and how he tries to help his father- a famous story teller who has lost his stories. Haroun travels to a world on a second moon where there is a country with constant day-Gup and one of darkness- Chup. He meets mechanical beings and a very strange group who have to rescue a princess and save the Sea of Stories from being polluted and destroyed. Great story for the 8 to 10 year age group. If they are reading the Wizard of Oz series , this is right for them.

47avanders
sep 21, 2014, 1:49 pm

Sounds really cool!

48Tess_W
sep 21, 2014, 3:03 pm

I've sent for the "book." However, evidently that story was one of several within a storybook he wrote?

49torontoc
okt 11, 2014, 11:16 am

Hmm- no- it was one novel- although sort of a story with in a story.
22.The Dinner a novel by Herman Koch I found this account almost hypnotic in the mood created by the unstable narrator. The surface structure is that of a dinner attended by Paul and his wife Claire with Paul's brother Serge and his wife Babette. However, there are more sinister themes present as Paul reveals his background and the horrible thing that his son and his nephew( Serge's son) did a few weeks earlier. The restaurant is very pretentious and the courses of food and this groups reactions lead to some very uncomfortable exchanges. The plot is shocking as both sets of parents have different ideas on how to protect their sons. The ending - you will have to read the book. This novel was a very suspenseful read.

50Tess_W
okt 12, 2014, 7:46 am

Hi, Doc! Our book group read The Dinner last year and it was hyped as a moral dilemma. In my world, there was no dilemma. That being said, I found the story predictable and blah! But I'm glad you enjoyed it!

51torontoc
okt 13, 2014, 8:18 am

23. Mr. Mani by A.B. Yehoshua I have had this book on my "to be read pile" for a while. Yehoshua is one of those authors who is not afraid to work with different formats for his novels. I loved The Liberated Bride and this story is so different and fascinating. The author tells the stories of many generations of the Mani family who lived in Jerusalem and Greece. They are not all saints- in fact some make bad decisions and some are heroic. Their story is told by a number of characters who have had interactions with one of the Mani family. The stories are told but the reader only hears one half of the exchange. The stories start in 1983 and work back in time to 1848. In 1983 a young woman tells her mother about her visit to Judge Gavriel Mani- the father of her boyfriend. In 1944 ,a German soldier tells his grandmother about his encounter with the Mani family when he was hiding in Crete. In 1899, a young doctor tells his father about the unfortunate dealings with Dr. Moshe Mani in Switzerland and Jerusalem and his sister Linka's infatuation. and finally, in 1848 Abraham Mani tells a dying Rabbi about the death of his son Yosef Mani and the birth of his grandson in Jerusalem. The mood of the narrators was almost feverish as they told their stories. The city of Jerusalem was not presented in a romantic way at all- in fact it was presented as small and provincial in many of the narrations. The structure and stories were very interesting!

24. A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong This slim volume presents a history and definition of myth. Armstrong leads the reader through a brief history of early civilizations that the myths that guided them as well as a description of early religions. She ends by providing an account of some contemporary literature and an argument for the worth of myth in today's society. A good read.

52avanders
okt 14, 2014, 12:19 pm

>49 torontoc: Yay! Glad to hear your thoughts on that one -- bought the book and looking forward to reading it!

53torontoc
okt 31, 2014, 11:28 pm

25. C by Tom McCarthy( touchstones not working well tonight) I must admit that the author creates a dazzling description of science, anthropology, calculation, mathematics and history. Did I like this story about the life of Serge Carrafax? I am not sure. Certainly the descriptions of life in pre World War One England, the Great War, life in a prisoner of war camp, London in the twenties, and finally the role of Britain in Egypt are fascinating. I thought that one of the most interesting characters ( spoiler alert) was Sophie , Serge's older sister and she was done away with early in the novel. Again, this novel has a very unsatisfactory ending. ( not my first vote for authors who can't end a story well and take an easy way out but up there in the finals) I admire the prose but found that the information got in the way of the essential story. Interesting work in some ways.

54torontoc
nov 12, 2014, 1:32 pm

26. Irma Voth by Miriam Toews I pulled this book out of my book pile because of the impending Giller Prize. I really liked Toews current book All My Puny Sorrows and it was a strong contender for the Giller. ( didn't happen-Us Conductors won- which I liked , too) I have mixed feelings about this novel. Irma Voth is a nineteen year Mennonite living in Mexico with her family. She impulsively married a young man who then promptly deserted her. Her father disowned Irma but let her live in a house near his property. Irma seems to be make bad decisions as she takes a job as a translator for an avant-garde film director . The film is about Mennonites although the events surrounding the making of this movie take on a tragic-comic vein. Irma eventually escapes from her surroundings and takes her younger sisters with her. In a way, she is both courageous and crazy. The reader learns about the terrible action of Irma's father and Irma's role as well. I liked the writing of the ending better than some of the earlier work-Irma seemed too impulsive without thinking about consequences- a theme that did resonate at the end.

55torontoc
nov 14, 2014, 5:11 pm

27. The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud- I reread this novel in order to do a book report for my book club. The story still resonates- the intent of the narrator- unstable or not? I found that this read through gave me time to look at the real sources- Alice Neel, Checkov, and more.

56avanders
nov 14, 2014, 7:14 pm

ooh, I have this one on my shelves... sounds intriguing...

57torontoc
nov 15, 2014, 1:30 pm

It was good for a second read through.

28. The New Yorker Book of the Teacher Cartoons. Sometimes when I am sick ( terrible cold) I just read what is nearby. My brother was putting in a new plug for me for my modem and I came across this very funny book of cartoons. The subject- dear to my heart- students, teachers and parents. So while I am in the midst of reading Burnt Shadows and enjoying the writing, this book ( a gift) hit the spot as I was having chicken soup and tea.

58torontoc
Bewerkt: nov 18, 2014, 8:29 am

29. Granta 102: The New Nature Writing. I used to love reading the latest issue of Granta. I learned about new authors to follow and issues that were interesting. Times have changed. I can now follow blogs and reviews that give me the same information and faster of course. Every once and a while I go back to Granta. Now this issue is from my TBR pile and is from 2008. Today the title would probably be The Environment" as oppose to the New Nature Writing. I liked some of the articles and memoirs by Jonathan Raban ( on the area surrounding Seattle) and Matthew Power on the south Bronx. Some of the other articles .. not so much. I think that today we look at the effect of human habits on the environment through a different lens. Still- an interesting compilation but not as directed as we would do today.

59torontoc
nov 18, 2014, 8:29 am

30. The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud. This novel was part of two controversies in 2010. It won the Giller Prize but there were rumours that one of the jurors acted improperly- securing a contract for the novelist with her agent during the judging process. The second scandal was that the publisher was a very small press that refused to work with a larger company so that the book would be accessible to more readers. The winning of the Giller Prize usually means a rise in buying and recognition for the author. The press finally did work with another larger company and the book became widely available. As for the book- I admired the writing and the plot but it was not as wonderful to me as one of the other books on the shortlist Annabel. Skibsrud writes about a young woman and her relationship with her father, a veteran of the Vietnam war. The story is set in a small town on the St. Lawrence Seaway area in Ontario. I think that it helps to know that many small towns and homes were moved or abandoned in order to build a larger waterway in the 1950's. There are references to this event in the story. So-the novel is well written but not as memorable as other novels that I have read from the 2010 shortlist- I particularly liked two volumes of short stories that were on that 2010 list.

60rabbitprincess
nov 18, 2014, 5:48 pm

Wow, I didn't know about/remember the first controversy. That would be serious indeed. I do remember the printing issue though. My mum put the book on her Christmas list when it won, and it took forever to find a copy.

61torontoc
dec 10, 2014, 6:59 pm

31. Charles Dickens A Life by Claire Tomalin Claire Tomalin had written an account of the life and relationship of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens that I read after seeing the film based on this book. In 2011, Tomalin wrote about the man himself, Charles Dickens I liked this biography of Dickens. His background, with a problematic father who was always in debt and his own responsibility as a young boy working in a " blacking factory" certainly shaped Dickens life. His rise in life and writing ability as well as his selection of themes that reflect some of his own history produced some of the most important fiction of his time. Tomalin integrates descriptions of the literature into the very crowded and busy life of Dickens. The reader learns about his friendships and business dealings as well as his family life. Dickens married young and produced a family of 10. He eventually separated from his wife Catherine after treating her very badly. Dickens sent his boys to boarding school and then out of the country to Australia and India. Only one youngest son, Henry went to Cambridge and did well. The daughters went to live with Dickens and seemed to be treated better than the sons. Dickens also began a secret relationship with Nelly Ternan. The account of his life, traveling from London to his country home and then to the places where Nelly lived as well as touring was exhausting. I found reading the other book that Tomalin wrote about the Nelly Ternan affair certainly helped make a complete picture of Dickens.

62connie53
dec 17, 2014, 1:02 pm

It seems you have passed your goal! Congrats!

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

63MissWatson
dec 18, 2014, 4:53 am

Yes, congratulations on surpassing your goal!

64avanders
dec 22, 2014, 10:35 am