What are you reading the week of February 8, 2020?

I decided to just focus on one book rather than bouncing back and forth between two. I'm about halfway through Propaganda and Persuasion. The first half is mostly a brief history of the historical uses of propaganda, followed by a history of the research on propaganda, persuasion and the formation of "attitudes" or beliefs. It's all interesting stuff, but the book could use some summary tables covering the plethora of models proposed for how people fix and change their beliefs.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Walnut Tree by Charles Todd

(a Bess Crawford Mystery/England & France, WWI/nursing corps)

I've picked up The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa.

I'm 431/707 pages into The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly. I love getting lost in this book.

I also finished The Grandest Ride by Tom Brownold this morning. Next month my sisters and I are taking our first Sister Trip and riding the mules in Grand Canyon! After over a year of planning it's starting to seem real. Hopefully it doesn't snow...

I'm about 40 pages from the end of The Bronx Zoo, Sparky Lyle's entertaining day-to-day memoir of the New York Yankees' fabled, contentious 1978 season.

Still reading Nevernight, Fire & Blood, and Broken Glass.

Jane and Prudence
Barbara Pym
3/5 stars
Jane and Prudence are friends. Jane is the wife of a clergyman and they have just moved to a new parish. While Jane is adjusting to her new parish, Prudence, a single woman who works for a living is encouraged by Jane to settle down and perhaps marry. She is introduced to Fabian, a neighbor who has issues of his own but there is another man that Pru is attracted to. Written in 1953 but it has some surprisingly modern thoughts on relationships. Not my favorite book but it was an interesting and fast read.

>1 fredbacon: Thank you for getting us started, Fred.

I'm still having trouble reading....one of those slumps. I did read Patricia Cornwell's first novel, Post Mortem, for about the fifth time. Mostly I'm reading little selections from Lonely Planet Morocco as I'm spending two weeks there at the end of May/beginning of June.

>8 ahef1963: I hate those slumps, yay for comfort reads, and I loathe you inexpressibly for your Moroccan bacchanal.

Finished The Man in the Brown Suit. Though there are shadows hinting at a darker reality, overall it's a lighthearted and enjoyable romp.

Then I read J.R.R. Tolkien's Mr. Bliss narrated by Sir Derek Jacobi. With a reading time of just under forty-five minutes, I'm not sure if it's a long short story or a short novelette. In any case, I found it thoroughly charming and delightful. Can't think why I never read it before.

This afternoon I picked up Frank Sheed's translation of The Confessions of St. Augustine, the 1993 revised edition. I read The Confessions in college, though not, it seems to me, Sheed's translation, and was particularly interested in the last three books. It will be interesting to read it again after all these years.

After supper I returned to a book I started several weeks ago, The Identity Man by Andrew Klavan. It's a thriller. As you can see, I'm pretty restless.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

The Irish Girl: A Novel (Deverill Chronicles trilogy Book 1) by Santa Montefiore
https://www.librarything.com/work/17902284/book/178675298

(Kitty, Celia, Bridie/Ireland in early 1900s/Castle Deverill/folklore)

Honolulu – Alan Brennert
3.5***

From the book jacket: The rich, unforgettable story of a young "picture bride" who journeys to Hawai'i in 1914 in search of a better life. Instead of the affluent young husband and chance at an education that she has been promised, she is quickly married off to a poor, embittered laborer who takes his frustrations out on his new wife. Renaming herself Jin, she makes her own way in this strange land, finding both opportunity and prejudice. With the help of three of her fellow picture brides, Jin prospers along with her adopted city, now growing from a small territorial capital into the great multicultural city it is today.

My reactions:
I loved Brennert’s Molokai’i and wanted to love this one as well. My husband actually read the book a few years ago and thought it was good, but I just had never gotten around to it. A long travel journey prompted me to bring it along and I was glad that I did.

Regret / Jin is a marvelous character. She starts out a shy, subservient girl and grows throughout the novel into a strong woman. Yes, she still fills the traditional role of wife and mother, but she refuses to be held down by societal expectations. She finds a way to succeed and thrive, while still upholding the traditional ways she finds so hard to discard.

I’ve visited Hawaii several times and could picture many of the settings depicted in the novel, despite the vast differences in today’s Honolulu from that of 1914. I was fascinated by the history lesson and the glimpse into life during that time period. I also really appreciated the author’s note at the end, where he comments on the “real-life” May Thompson and how W. Sommerset Maugham used her life experiences in one of his novels.

I finished The Bronx Zoo, Sparky Lyle's entertaining memoir of life on the Yankees during the fabled 1978 season, during which the Yanks came back from around 14 games out to catch the Boston Red Sox for their division title and go on to win the World Series. It was lots of fun to revisit this season, which, as a Yankees fan, I remember well. I wish Lyle hadn't had so many gripes to include in his narrative, but still, the book was a fun and fascinating ride back in time.

I'm reading an ARC of Sorry For Your Trouble, Richard Ford's new short story collection. I have to say that I'm a little disappointed so far, which is sad given that he is one of my favorite writers.

Last night I began reading Andrew Yang's Smart people should build things: how to restore our culture of achievement, build a path for entrepreneurs, and create new jobs in america. As a college student studying technology, it is incredibly motivating to read about the many economic and social benefits that come when many new graduates take on the risk of starting a business instead of working a traditional corporate job after graduation.

Late last night I picked up The Flight of the Falcon by Daphne du Morier, which promises to be an excellent read. No surprise there.

The Memory Police wasn't a successful read.

After finishing The Bronx Zoo by Sparky Lyle, it was time for another round of between books . . .

* “The Working Press Reports F.D.R.’s Death” from A Treasury of Great Reporting: "Literature Under Pressure" from the Sixteenth Century to Our Own Time edited by Louis L. Snyder
* “Cure, Don’t Prosecute” by Peter T. White from Magazine Digest - August 1949 edited by Murray Simmons
* “On Sawing Wood” from Leaves in the Wind by Alpha of the Plow (a.k.a. A. G. Gardiner)
* “Texas is the Enemy” from The Union Reader edited by Richard B. Harwell
* “Passage to Puerto Eden” from Tierra del Fuego by Francisco Coloane
* “Pochahontas and What Befell Her” by J. Pennington from The Mentor, November, 1924 edited by W. D. Moffat

I've now started a re-read of The Hamlet, the first novel of William Faulkner's "Snopes Family" trilogy, as the beginning of my relatively quick read through of all three books. I never have read the second or third.

Mobituaries I enjoy listening to Mo Rocca noticed this book at the local indie. A little concerned that it would be filled with awful puns and more humor than history, but this is really good. Learning quite a bit about people who made history, and their stories. The stories are quick reads, and perfect as a pick me up book to come back to. My only complaint is that his obits are not long enoug, and leave our lots of details I wanted to know. But thats what the internet is for.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

American Dirt (Oprah's Book Club): A Novel
by Jeanine Cummins

I finished Grant. It was a slog at 960 meaty pages but I was rewarded for my effort and time by a fascinating and thorough book capturing the brilliance and flaws of the man and the times.

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know
Malcolm Gladwell
5/5 stars
I am a big fan of Malcolm Gladwell and this book did not disappoint me. Gladwell discusses the differences in how people communicate and what can go wrong when our communication styles don’t match. I thought the chapter on the arrest of Sandra Bland quite disheartening and definitely a case of miscommunication.

Enjoying this OverDrive Kindle non-fiction eBook Alexa can read to me ~

Mindfulness for Chocolate Lovers: A Lighthearted Way to Stress Less and Savor More Each Day
by Diane R. Gehart

>1 fredbacon: When I was in HS took a class called Sementics and Logic, using HI Hayakawas Language in Thought and Action His political views and statements aside, it was an excellent book to learn from, about propoganda, about how language is used in adversting, politics, research to twist manipulate and deceive. Had a fantastic teacher. Never forgotten it and wish all school taught it. Our world would be a better place if it were, I think

edit - apparently it was first published in 1939 it has been revised and updated in 1991 to include impact of tv. would ilke to read that..

Veiled in Smoke by Jocelyn Green
Her new novel and the 1st in a new series about old Chicago.

>26 princessgarnet: That sounds interesting!

Finished The Bookshop. A quick look at the petty vindictiveness of a small village.

Finished reading the novel Breakfast At Tiffany's by author Truman Capote.

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The new thread is up over here.

>27 JulieLill:
I lived in the metro Chicago area for a year during high school. My parents and I frequently went there on weekends. In 2009 and '13, I went to the American Library Assoc. (ALA) Annual Conference in Chicago. It was great to revisit. Having been to the city enhanced my reading pleasure of the novel.

>31 princessgarnet: I live in Illinois not far from the city. There is a ton of stuff to do there.