tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49581749712221761012024-03-07T04:53:43.266-05:00Enough to ReadMy musings on books which I've read and am reading.krinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.comBlogger605125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-90506595004718743592021-07-26T12:00:00.000-04:002023-05-15T12:00:32.109-04:00Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty<p><b>First sentence</b>:</p><p>"Sound struggled to make its way through the thick synth-amneo fluid."</p><p><b>Description</b>:</p><p>It's not common to wake up in a cloning vat streaked with drying blood.</p><p>Maria Arena has been cloned before. But never like this. Usually when she awakens in a new body, her first memory is of how she died. This time, she has no idea. Her memories are incomplete.</p><p>And Maria isn't the only one to have died recently. . ." -- <i>from the back cover</i></p><p><b>My thoughts</b>:</p><p>I enjoyed this book about space travel, clones, memories, and what makes someone themselves. If one has memories of other selves which one is the real one? How do you know if you did something you didn't want to do? I've listened to Mur's podcasts for many years, especially<i> I should be writing</i>. although I'm not a writer myself. I learned a lot about writing and achieving goals and I look forward to more from this author to read and enjoy.</p><p>Date read: 7/24/2021<br />Genre: SF<br />Rating: 3*/5</p><p>ISBN-10: <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">0316389684 </span><br />ISBN-13: 9780316389686<br />Publisher: Orbit<br />Year: 2017<br /># of pages: 361<br />Binding: Trade Paperback<br /><a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/17904003/workdetails/240491044">LibraryThing</a> page</p>krinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-19769712257160236532021-04-30T11:13:00.000-04:002023-05-15T11:13:50.241-04:00Blink: the power of thinking without thinking by Malcolm Gladwell<p> <b>First sentence</b>:</p><p>"In September of 1983, an art dealer by the name of Gianfranco Becchina approached the J. Paul Getty Museum in California."</p><p><b>Description</b>:</p><p>"Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology to reveal that the difference between good decision-making and bad has less to do with how much information we process than with our ability to focus on a few particular details. Gladwell shows how we can all be better decision makers -- in our homes, in our offices, and in everyday life." -- from the back cover</p><p><b>My thoughts</b>:</p><p>Fascinating book about how we observe the world - often without conscious thought and how it's important to step back and understand what's happening. </p><p>Date read: 4/29/2021<br />Genre: Nonfiction<br />Rating: 3*/5 = good</p><p>ISBN-10: <span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">0316010669</span><br />ISBN-13: 9780316010665<br />Publisher: Little, Brown and Company: Back Bay Books<br />Year: 2005; 2007 (this edition)<br /># of pages: 276<br />Binding: Trade Paperback<br /><a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/1976/workdetails/240488530">LibraryThing</a> page</p><p><br /></p>krinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-54241452442299760502020-11-18T12:24:00.001-05:002023-05-15T12:38:29.327-04:00Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens<p> <b>First sentence</b>:</p><p><i>"Marsh is not swamp."</i></p><p><b>Description</b>:</p><p>"For years, rumors of the 'Marsh Girl' have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl.</p><p>But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life--until the unthinkable happens.</p><p>Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Karen Russell, <i>Where the Crawdad Sings</i> is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps." -- <i>from the inside flap</i></p><p><b>My thoughts</b>:</p><p>I liked this book about Kya, a girl, and later a young woman, who survives on her own in the marsh and amongst the people in town. The writing was very descriptive and the story drew me in.</p><p>Date read: 11/17/2020<br />Genre: Fiction<br />Rating 3*/5 = good</p><p>ISBN-10: <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">0735219095 </span><br />ISBN-13: 9780735219090<br />Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Books<br />Year: 2018<br /># of pages: 368<br />Binding: Hardcover<br /><a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/21599568/workdetails/240491954">LibraryThing</a> page:</p>krinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-90726796942039034902020-05-17T11:02:00.004-04:002023-05-15T10:53:05.813-04:00Foop! by Chris Genoa<p><b> </b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51pbLlLW3jL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="488" height="200" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51pbLlLW3jL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="122" /></a></b></div><b><br />First sentence:</b><p></p><p><i>"I've always thought that the existence of Abraham Lincoln provided conclusive visual evidence that humans are descended from apes."</i></p><p><b>Description:</b></p><p>"There are strange happenings going on at Dactyl, Inc., the world's first and only time travel tourism company. So strange that Joe, a tour guide, is promoted to the new position of Chief of Probes. His first probe: find out who's been traveling back in time and torturing his boss in rather disturbing ways.</p><p>Joe finds himself catapulted from his dull life into a surreal journey where a blind hog-tying monkey is one of the sanest creatures he meets. Traveling through a past where the only thing that changes the present is death, while dealing with the fabric of space-time slowly unraveling. Joe stumbles into the middle of events that threaten both the Earth's future and past." -- <i>from the back cover</i></p><p><b>My thoughts:</b></p><p>I enjoyed this weird and sometime confusing book about time travel, talking monkeys and tourism. I liked Joe's attempts to make sense of what's happening and his trying to figure out why two men, whom he calls Boogedy and Nibbles, keep appearing everywhere he goes.</p><p>Date read: 5/15/2020<br />Genre: Fiction<br />Rating: 3*/5</p><p>ISBN-10: 0972959890<br />ISBN-13: 9780972959896<br />Publisher: Eraserhead Press<br />Year: 2005<br /># of pages: 293<br /><a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/47498/summary/11726366">LibraryThing </a>page</p>krinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-23284050978662843452019-08-23T13:09:00.001-04:002023-07-17T16:28:02.367-04:00Fledgling by Octavia Butler<b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookshopapocalypse.com/cdn/shop/products/fledgling-1sq_580x.jpg?v=1666133502" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="580" height="200" src="https://bookshopapocalypse.com/cdn/shop/products/fledgling-1sq_580x.jpg?v=1666133502" width="200" /></a></div><br />First sentence:</b><br />
<br /><i>
"I awoke to darkness"<br /></i>
<br /><b>
Description:</b><br />
<br />
"Shori is a mystery. Found alone in the woods, she appears to be a little black girl with traumatic amnesia and near-fatal wounds. But Shori is a fifty-three-year-old vampire with a ravenous hunger for blood, the lost child of an ancient species of near-immortals who live in dark symbiosis with humanity. Genetically modified to be able to walk in daylight, Shori now becomes the target of a vast plot to destroy her and her kind. And in the final apocalyptic battle, her survival will depend on whether all humans are bigots--or all bigots are human." -- <i>from the back cover</i><br />
<br /><b>
My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />This is a very compelling book. I liked how Shori learns about herself and her place in her world.<br /><div><br /></div><div>
Date read: August 22, 2019<br />
Genre: Fiction<br />
Rating: 3*/5 = good<br />
<br />
ISBN-10:<br />
ISBN-13: 9780446696166<br />
Publisher: Grand Central<br />
Year: 2005<br />
# of pages: 310<br />
Binding:Trade Paperback<br /><a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/1094471/book/244450575">LibraryThing</a> page<br />
<br /></div>krinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-15220741341220678502017-01-17T14:22:00.000-05:002017-01-17T14:22:02.547-05:00New year, new formatIt's 2017, and I am way behind on sharing my thoughts about the books I read in 2015 and 2016. And then, there are the books I've read so far this year! So, I decided to change the format. Sometimes I'll just list what I read, linking the title to the LibraryThing.com page, and will indicate my rating, and sometimes I'll share my thoughts about books that stood out to me.krinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-7738520938707257072016-10-25T14:29:00.000-04:002017-03-29T14:35:05.786-04:00Deathbringer by Bryan Smith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0843956771.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0843956771.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>First sentence:</b><br />
<br />
"Hannah Starke watched a fly make its slow way up the length of her slim, tanned leg."<br />
<br />
<b>Description:</b><br />
<br />
"Hannah Starke was the first to die. And the first to come back. In the small town of Dandridge they all come back. The buried claw their way out of their graves. The recently killed get up and kill. As the dead attack the living, the number of the dead continues to grow. And the odds against the living get worse and worse.<br />
<br />
In the middle of it all stands a dark, shadowy figure, a stranger in town with an unspeakable goal. If he is successful, death will rule Dandridge and the terror will continue to spread until all hope is lost. Who can defeat an army of the living dead? Who can stand face-to-face against the . . .DEATHBRINGER" -- <i>from the back cover</i><br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />
I don't read much in the zombie genre so I wasn't sure if I would like this book, but I did. I think what made this book a little different was that the zombies retained some of their memories and were aware of what they had become.<br />
<br />
<br />
Date read: 10/24/2016<br />
Rating: 3*/5 = good<br />
Genre: Horror<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: 0843956771<br />
ISBN-13:<br />
Publisher: Leisure Books<br />
Year: 2006<br />
# of pages: 342<br />
Binding: Mass Market Paperback<br />
LibraryThing page:krinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-25953576422734694602016-10-02T15:53:00.000-04:002017-12-19T15:54:14.929-05:00Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0670037605.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="142" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0670037605.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>First sentence:</b><br />
<br />
<i>"For sixty-five days, the </i>Mayflower<i> had blundered her way through storms and headwinds, her bottom a shaggy pelt of seaweed and barnacles, her leaky decks spewing salt water onto her passengers' devoted heads."</i><br />
<br />
<b>Description:</b><br />
<br />
"How did America begin?<br />
<br />
That simple question launches acclaimed author Nathaniel Philbrick on an extraordinary journey to understand the truth behind our most sacred national myth: the voyage of the <i>Mayflower</i> and the settlement of Plymouth Colony. As Philbrick reveals in this electrifying new history of the Pilgrims, the story of Plymouth Colony was a fifty-five year epic that began in peril and ended in war. New England erupted into a bloody conflict that nearly wiped out the English colonists and natives alike/ These events shaped the existing communities and the country that would grow from them." -- <i>from the back cover</i><br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts</b>:<br />
<br />
I learned a lot from this book concerning early interactions between Europeans and the various tribes in New England. For example, I didn't know, before reading the book, that Plymouth was a separate colony from the Massachusetts Bay colony to the north. I also learned that a big part of the reasons for the wars between the settlers and the natives was desire for power and for land.<br />
<br />
Date read: 10/1/2016<br />
Rating: 3*/5 = good<br />
Genre: History<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: 0143111973<br />
ISBN-13: 9780143111979<br />
Publisher: Penguin Books<br />
Year: 2006<br />
# of pages: 463<br />
Binding: Trade Paperback<br />
<a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/806107/book/11727825">LibraryThing </a>pagekrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-30838637543620202342016-06-02T17:35:00.000-04:002020-09-01T12:31:31.176-04:00The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo<b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0061122416.01._SX180_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="180" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0061122416.01._SX180_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div><br />First sentence:<br /></b>
<br /><i>
"The alchemist picked up a book that someone in the caravan had brought."<br /></i>
<br /><b>
Description:<br /></b>
<br />
Paulo Coehlo's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasure found within. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is an eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts." -- <i>from the inside flap</i><br />
<br /><b>
My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />I liked this book, especially Santiago's outlook on life as he adapts to new circumstances.<br />
<br />
Date read: 6/1/2016 [approx.]<br />Genre: Fiction<br />
Rating: 3*/5 = good<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: 006112416<br />
ISBN-13: 9780061122415<br />
Publisher: HarperOne<br />
Year: 1988<br />
# of pages: 167<br />
Binding: Trade Paperback<br /><a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/1391550/summary/188871651">LibraryThing </a>pagekrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-76168324353323305902015-10-16T10:04:00.000-04:002017-03-31T12:01:03.311-04:00Plainsong by Kent Haruf<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0375705856.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="2" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0375705856.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>First sentence:</b><br />
<br />
<i>Here was this man Tom Guthrie in Holt standing at the back window in the kitchen of his house smoking cigarettes and looking out over the back lot where the sun was just coming up.</i><br />
<br />
<b>Description:</b><br />
<br />
"Ambitious, but never seeming so, Kent Haruf reveals a whole community as he interweaves the stories of a pregnant high school girl, a lonely teacher, a pair of boys abandoned by their mother, and a couple of crusty bachelor farmers. From simple elements, Haruf achieves a novel of wisdom and grace--a narrative that builds in strength and feeling until, as in a choral chant, the voices in the book surround, transport, and lift the reader off the ground." -- from the back cover<br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />
A quiet and beautiful book! Haruf's description of place and characters drew me in to discover a family of friends.<br />
<br />
Date read: 10/16/2015<br />
<br />
Series: Plainsong, #1<br />
Rating: 3*/5 = good<br />
Genre: Fiction<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: 0375705856<br />
ISBN-13: 9780375705854<br />
Publisher: Vintage<br />
Year: 1999<br />
# of pages: 301<br />
Binding: Paperback<br />
<a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/18099/book/11726661">LibraryThing</a> pagekrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-53259757553385257532015-09-30T14:29:00.000-04:002017-12-11T14:56:40.892-05:00Books I read in September 2015: Dust: Thin Air; Girl in the Dark<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/055359107X.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/055359107X.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
20. <i>Dust </i>by Elizabeth Bear<br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />
This is an interesting book of characters on an aging space ship. At times, I would forget that the world of "angels" and gardens were in outer space and the characters of Rien and Perceval kept my interest as they make their way through the ship. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, <i>Chill</i>.<br />
<br />
Date read: 9/10/2015<br />
Series: Jacob's Ladder, #1<br />
Rating: 3*/5 = good<br />
Genre: SF<br />
<a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/3323408/summary/30728131">LibraryThing</a> page <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0451461630.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0451461630.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
21. <i>Thin Air</i> by Rachel Caine<br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />
I liked this book featuring Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin who faces the daunting task of saving the world while putting together her memories.<br />
<br />
Date read: 9/18/2015<br />
Series: Weather Warden, #6<br />
Rating: 3*/5 = good<br />
Genre: Urban Fantasy<br />
<a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/1982743/summary/136491820">LibraryThing</a> page<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0385539606.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="208" data-original-width="142" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0385539606.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
22. <i>Girl in the Dark</i> by Anna Lyndsey<br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts</b>:<br />
<br />
This is a fascinating book about a woman coping with a mysterious ailment leaving her in the dark for most of the day. I liked how she described her condition, her relationships, and how she sometimes was able to tolerate very low levels of light.<br />
<br />
Date read: 9/30/2015<br />
Rating: 3*/5 = good<br />
Genre: Memoir<br />
<a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/15407428/book/119000255">LibraryThing </a>pagekrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-3643155838382906982015-08-26T15:18:00.000-04:002019-05-08T10:26:17.115-04:00Firestorm by Rachel Caine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0451461045.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="138" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0451461045.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>First sentence:</b><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>"I was thinking that the Wardens needed a new motto."</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Description:</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Rogue Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin is racing to New York to warn her former colleagues of the impending apocalypse. An ancient agreement between the Djinn and the Wardens has been broken, and the furious Djinn, slaves to the wardens for millennia, have broken free of mortal control.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
With more than half the Wardens unaccounted for in the wake of the Djinn uprising, Joanne realizes that the natural disasters they've combated for so long were merely symptoms of restless Mother Nature fidgeting in her sleep. Now's she's waking up--and she is <i>angry</i>..." -- <i>from the back cover</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>My thoughts:</b></div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 15.4px;">I enjoyed this entry in the Weather Warden series. I liked how Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin worked to alert her colleagues of the dangerous collapse in the Warden-Djinn relations. I look forward to reading the next book, </span><i style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;">Thin Air</i><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 15.4px;">.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 15.4px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
Date read: 8/25/2015</div>
<div>
Book #: 23</div>
<div>
Series: Weather Warden, #5</div>
<div>
Rating: 3*/5 = good</div>
<div>
Genre: Urban Fantasy</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
ISBN-10: 0451461045</div>
<div>
ISBN-13: 9780451461049</div>
<div>
Publisher: ROC</div>
<div>
Year:2006</div>
<div>
# of pages: 292</div>
<div>
Binding: Mass Market Paperback</div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/1492456/summary/121063565">LibraryThing </a>page</div>
krinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-14680306963058020172015-08-24T15:12:00.000-04:002019-05-08T10:16:49.213-04:00Mermaid: A Memoir of Resilience by Eileen Cronin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0393350746.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="1" data-original-height="213" data-original-width="142" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0393350746.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>First sentence:</b><br />
<br />
<i>"Along the oceanfront at dusk, my friends drag me past the fern bars and wet T-shirt contests to catch up to the aerobic pulse from the disco ahead ,which we call 'flashback' because-his flashing lights leave you with a psychedelic impression of dancing dots when you come back onto the street."</i><br />
<br />
<b>Description:</b><br />
<br />
"At the age of three, Eileen Cronin first realized that only she did not have leg. Her boisterous Catholic family accepted her situation as 'God's Will,' treating her no differently than her ten siblings as she 'squiddled' through their 1960s Cincinnati home. But starting school, even wearing prosthetics, Cronin had to brave bullying and embarrassing questions. Thanks to her older brother's coaching, she handled a classmate's playground taunts with a smack from her lunchbox. As a teen, thrilled when boys asked her out, she was confused about what sexuality meant for her. She felt most comfortable and happiest relaxing and skinny dipping with her girlfriends, imaging herself ' an elusive mermaid.' The cause of her disability remained taboo, however, even as she looked toward the future and the possibility of her own family.<br />
<br />
In later years, as her mother battled mental illness and denied having taken the drug thalidomide--known--to cause birth defects--Cronin felt apart from her family. After the death of a lose brother, she turned to alcohol. Eventually, however, she found the strength to set out on her own, volunteering at hospitals, and earning a PhD in clinical psychology.<br />
<br />
Reflecting with humor and grace on her youth, search for love, and quest for answers, Cronin spins a shimmering story of self discovery and transformation." -- <i>from the inside flap</i><br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 15.4px;">I liked this book about growing up strong despite having missing limbs due to thalidomide. Cronin doesn't let anything get in her way and her determination to live her life fully is an inspiration.</span><br />
<br />
Date read: 8/23/2015<br />
Book #:22<br />
Rating: 3*/5 = good<br />
Genre: Memoir<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: 0393089010<br />
ISBN-13: 9780393089011<br />
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.<br />
Year: 2014<br />
# of pages: 334<br />
Binding: Hardcover<br />
<a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/14186538/summary/118615342">LibraryThing</a> pagekrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-62015373355150771322015-08-22T10:44:00.000-04:002019-05-08T10:11:26.432-04:00I was Amelia Earhardt by Jane Mendelsohn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0679776362.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="1" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="142" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0679776362.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">First sentence:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The sky is flesh."</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Description:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"I<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">n this brilliantly imagined novel, Amelia Earhart tells us what happened after she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared off the coast of New Guinea one glorious, windy day in 1937. And she tells us about herself.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">There is her love affair with flying ("The sky is flesh") . . . .</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">There are her memories of the past: her childhood desire to become a heroine ("Heroines did what they wanted") . . . her marriage to G.P. Putnam, who promoted her to fame, but was willing to gamble her life so that the book she was writing about her round-the-world flight would sell out before Christmas.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">There is the flight itself -- day after magnificent or perilous or exhilarating or terrifying day ("Noonan once said any fool could have seen I was risking my life but not living it").</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">And there is, miraculously, an island ("We named it Heaven, as a kind of joke").</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">And, most important, there is Noonan . . ." -- <i>from the publisher</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>My thoughts:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This was an interesting book of the possible life of Amelia Earhart after she disappeared flying over the Pacific Ocean.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Date read: 8/21/2015</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Book #: 21</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Genre: Fiction</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Rating: 3*/5 = good</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">ISBN-10: 0679776362</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">ISBN-13: 9780679776369</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Publisher: Vintage </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Year: 1997</span><br />
Binding: Trade Paperback<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/68948/summary/6265247">LibraryThing</a> page</span>krinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-60229268471468111242015-08-15T13:51:00.000-04:002018-11-21T10:14:03.154-05:00Windfall by Rachel Caine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0749079290.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="138" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0749079290.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>First sentence:</b><br />
<br />
<i>"It doesn't take much to destroy the world as humans know it."</i><br />
<br />
<b>Description</b>:<br />
<br />
"Leaving Las Vegas seemed like a great idea to Joanne Baldwin. But there is no escaping her past -- and there is no time to recharge. The former Weather Warden's powers are at an all-time low just as the clouds of war are gathering -- and the biggest storm since Atlantis's destruction is heading for landfall.<br />
<br />
Joanne is exhausted. When not donning a rain mac and camping it up for the camera as a TV weather girl, she has to contend with a vengeful cop on her tail, her newly divorced sister moving in and getting caught in the middle of a supernatural civil war. Worst of all, her boyfriend in a bottle can't stop draining her powers and is fast morphing from the Djinn of her dreams to the Ifrit of her nightmares.<br />
<br />
As the agreement between the Wardens and the Djinn starts to self-destruct, Joanne finds herself forced to choose between saving her lover, saving her Warden abilities. . .and saving humanity." -- <i>from the back cover</i><br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;">I enjoyed this book featuring Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin as she negotiates her work and life among the Wardens and the Djinn. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, </span><i style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;">Firestorm</i><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;">.</span><br />
<br />
Date read: 8/14/2015<br />
Book #: 20<br />
Series: Weather Warden, #4<br />
Genre: Urban Fantasy<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: 0749079290<br />
ISBN-13: 9780749079291<br />
Publisher: Roc<br />
Year: 2005<br />
# of pages: 496<br />
Binding: Mass Market Paperback<br />
<a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/91318/details/11728425">LibraryThing </a>pagekrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-4688152411264813242015-08-13T10:06:00.000-04:002018-11-21T10:08:14.836-05:00Tell by Frances Itani<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0802123368.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="213" data-original-width="142" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0802123368.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>First sentence:</b><br />
<br />
<i>"Zel glances around the room: oak floor, oak desk, wooden cabinet, two windows that look down over city streets three storeys below."</i><br />
<br />
<b>Description:</b><br />
<br />
From internationally bestselling author Frances Itani comes Tell, the breathtaking follow-up to Itani's award-winning debut Deafening, which launched the story of Grania, deaf from the age of five, and her sister, Tress, who helped to create their secret language.<br />
<br />
Now it's 1919, only months after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles and the end of the Great War, and the men and women of Desoronto struggle to recover from wounds of the past. Attempting to adjust to the trauma that has overwhelmed her husband and altered their marriage, Tress seeks advice from her Aunt Maggie. But Maggie and her husband, Am, who cares for the town clock tower, have sorrows of their own, heartbreaks that lie unacknowledged between them.<br />
<br />
While Am's unease increases, Maggie finds joy in her friendship with Zell, an eccentric widow who runs the local boarding house, and in the choral society started by a musician who has arrived in town from an unspoken part of war-torn Europe. Am seeks out Kenan, and the two offer each other comfort, often sitting together in silence. Meanwhile, Maggie reconnects with the music of her past, rediscovering a part of herself that had long ago been set aside. As the decade draws to a close and the lives of these characters become more entwined, each must decide what to share and what to hide, and how their actions will lead them in the future.<br />
<br />
Written with Itani's signature power and grace, Tell is both a deeply moving story about the burdens of the past, and a beautifully rendered reminder of how the secrets we bury to protect ourselves can also be the cause of our undoing. This is a stunning achievement from one of our finest writers." -- <i>from the inside flap</i><br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;">I enjoyed this sequel to Itani's book </span><i style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;">Deafening</i><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;">. Taking place after World War 1, the book brings to front the struggles of families dealing with men home from Europe with wounds, physical and mental.</span><br />
<br />
Date read: 8/12/2015<br />
Book #: 19<br />
Rating: 3*/5 = good<br />
Genre: Historical Fiction<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: 0802123368<br />
ISBN-13: 9780802123367<br />
Publisher: HarperCollins<br />
Year: 2014<br />
# of pages: 318<br />
Binding: Trade Paperback<br />
<a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/91318/details/11728425">LibraryThing</a> pagekrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-65746526978976732042015-08-12T15:11:00.000-04:002018-11-21T09:54:54.806-05:00The Care and Management of Lies by Jacqueline Winspear<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0062220519.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="142" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0062220519.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>First sentence:</b><br />
<br />
<i>"The country was in the early weeks of a summer that would become memorable for its warmth, and despite worries farther afield, there was a sense of being cocooned in Englishness."</i><br />
<br />
<b>Description:</b><br />
<br />
"By July 1914, the ties between Kezia Marchant and Thea Brissenden, friends since girlhood, have become strained--by Thea's passionate embrace of women's suffrage, and by the imminent marriage of Kezia to Thea's brother, Tom, who runs the family farm. When Kezia and Tom wed just a month before war is declared between Britain and Germany, Thea's gift to Kezia is a book on household management--a veiled criticism of the bride's prosaic life to come. Yet when Tom enlists to fight for his country and Thea is drawn reluctantly onto the battlefield, the farm becomes Kezia's responsibility. Each must find a way to endure the ensuing cataclysm and turmoil.<br />
<br />
As Tom marches to the front lines, and Kezia battles to keep her ordered life from unraveling, they hide their despair in letters and cards filled with stories woven to bring comfort. Even Tom's fellow soldiers in the trenches enter and find solace in the dream world of Kezia's mouth-watering, albeit imaginary meals. But will well-intended lies and self-deception be of use when they come face to face with the enemy?<br />
<br />
The Care and Management of Lies paints a poignant picture of love and friendship strained by the pain of separation and the brutal chaos of battle. Ultimately, it raises profound questions about conflict, belief, and love that echo in our own time." -- <i>from the inside flap</i><br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 15.4px;">This was a good book about World War I, describing conditions both on the battlefield and at home.</span><br />
<br />
Date read: 8/11/2015<br />
Book #: 18<br />
Rating: 3*/5<br />
Genre: Historical Fiction<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: 0062220500<br />
ISBN-13: 9780062220509<br />
Publisher: HarperCollins<br />
Year: 2014<br />
# of pages: 319<br />
Binding: Hardcover<br />
<a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/14349938/book/120673547">LibraryThing</a> pagekrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-66425875927117744682015-08-06T14:36:00.000-04:002018-11-21T09:51:31.375-05:00Memory Book by Howard Engel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/418l3rNt7iL._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Memory Book by Howard Engel" border="0" data-original-height="212" data-original-width="142" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/418l3rNt7iL._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" title="Memory Book by Howard Engel" /></a></div>
<b>First sentence:</b><br />
<br />
<i>"The train was putting on speed."</i><br />
<br />
<b>Description:</b><br />
<br />
"Private detective Benny Cooperman becomes his own client in a most puzzling investigation. Benny awakes in the hospital recovering from a serious blow to the head, with a condition called <i>alexia sine agraphia</i>; in layman's terms, he can write but he cannot read. And his memory has been affected too; although he can quote lines from his high-school production of <i>Twelfth Night</i>, he finds himself brushing his teeth with his shaving cream. Even his girlfriend's name, Anna Abraham, eludes him.<br />
<br />
But when Benny realizes that he was found unconscious beside a dead woman, he figures he must have been close to solving a case. With Anna working as a field agent, and two cops reluctantly sharing their discoveries, Benny pieces together the events that led to a murder -- and his own injuries." -- <i>from the back cover</i><br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 15.4px;">I enjoyed this mystery featuring Benny Cooperman. I picked this book to read after Engel's memoir, </span><i style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;">The Man Who Forgot How to Read</i><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 15.4px;">, as the main character also developed the same condition, albeit under different circumstances (head injury (Cooperman) vs stroke (Engel)). I liked how Engel had Cooperman not just struggle with reading and memory but also try to figure out why he was attacked and who did it. I look forward to reading other books in this series.</span><br />
<br />
Date read: 8/5/2015<br />
Book #: 17<br />
Series: Benny Cooperman, #11<br />
Rating: 3*/5 = good<br />
Genre: Mystery<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: 0786717173<br />
ISBN-13: 9780786717170<br />
Publisher: Caroll & Graf<br />
Year: 2006<br />
# of pages: 236<br />
Binding: Trade Paperback<br />
LibraryThing pagekrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-61361592069450859962015-07-25T14:43:00.000-04:002018-11-21T09:50:54.701-05:00The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0061966908.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="142" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0061966908.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>First sentence:</b><br />
<br />
<i>"How this story begins. . ."</i><br />
<br />
<b>Description:</b><br />
<br />
"For her graduation from high school in 1920, Frankie Pratt receives a scrapbook and her father's old Corona typewriter. Despite Frankie's dreams of becoming a writer, she must forgo a college scholarship to help her widowed mother. But when a mysterious Captain James seeps her off her feet, her mother finds a way to protect Frankie from the less-than-noble intentions of her unsuitable beau.<br />
<br />
Through a kaleidoscopic array of vintage postcards, letters, magazine ads, ticket stubs, catalog pages, fabric spreads, menus, and more, we meet and follow Frankie on her journey in search of success and love. Once at Vassar, Frankie crosses paths with intellectuals and writers, among them 'Vincent' (alumna Edna St. Vincent Millay), who encourages Frankie to move to Greenwich Village and pursue her writing. When heartbreak finds her in New York, she sets off for Paris aboard the S.S. <i>Mauritania</i>, where she keeps company with two exiled Russian princes and a 'spinster adventuress' who is paying her way across the Atlantic with her unused trousseau. In Paris, Frankie takes a garret apartment above Shakespeare & Company, the hub of expat life, only to have a certain ne'er-do-well captain from her past reappear. But when a family crisis compels Frankie to return to her small New England hometown, she finds exactly what she had been looking for all along.<br />
<br />
Author of the <i>New York Times</i> Notable Book <i>Jackie by Josie</i>, Carolyn Preston pulls from her extraordinary collection of vintage ephemera to create the first-ever scrapbook novel, transporting us back to the vibrant, burgeoning bohemian culture of the 1920s and introducing us to an unforgettable heroine, the spirited, ambitious, and lovely Frankie Pratt." -- <i>from the inside flap.</i><br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts</b><br />
<br />
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I especially loved the use of images of vintage memorabilia to supplement the text such as maps, ticket stubs and advertisements.<br />
<br />
Date read: 7/23/2015<br />
Book #: 16<br />
Rating: 4*/5 = great<br />
Genre: Historical Fiction<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: 006196690?<br />
ISBN-13: 9780061966903<br />
Publisher: Ecco<br />
Year: 2011<br />
# of pages: 228<br />
Binding: Hardcover<br />
LibraryThing pagekrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-1837312330574152252015-07-24T15:00:00.000-04:002018-11-21T09:48:22.255-05:00The Man Who Forgot How to Read by Howard Engel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/P/031238209X.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/P/031238209X.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>First sentence</b>:<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"My name is Howard Engel."</i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Description</b>:<br />
<br />
"One hot midsummer morning, novelist Howard Engel picked up his newspaper from his front step and discovered he could make no sense of it. The letters had mysteriously jumbled themselves into something that looked like Cyrillic one moment and Korean the next. While he slept, Engel ahd experienced a stroke and now suffered from a rare condition called alexia sine agraphia, meaning that while he could still write, he could no longer read.<br />
<br />
Over the next several weeks in hospital and in rehabilitation, Engel discovered that much more was affected than his ability to read. His memory failed him, and even the names of old friends escaped his tongue. At first geography eluded him: he would know that two streets met somewhere in the city, but he couldn't imagine where. Apples and grapefruit now looked the same. When he returned home, he ahd trouble remembering where things went and would routinely find cans of tuna in the dishwasher and jars of pencils in the freezer.<br />
<br />
Despite his disabilities, Engel prepared to face his dilemma. He contacted renowned neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks for advice and visited him in New York City, forging a lasting friendship. He bravely learned to read again. And in the face of tremendous obstacles, he triumphed in writing a new novel.<br />
<br />
An absorbing and uplifting story, filled with sly wit and candid insights, <i>The Man Who Forgot How to Read </i>will appeal to anyone fascinated by the mysteries of the mind, on and off the page." -- <i>from the inside flap</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />
A few years ago, I saw a cartoon from WNYC's <i>Radiolab</i> about Harold Engel, a Canadian mystery novelist, who had a stroke and developed the rare condition <i>alexia sine agraphia</i>.
He became unable to read, though he could still write. This was a
fascinating book about the Engel's ability to adapt and to find new ways
to read.<br />
<br />
Date read: 7/23/2015<br />
Book #: 15<br />
Rating: 3*/5 = good<br />
Genre: Memoir<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: 031238209X<br />
ISBN-13: 9780312382094<br />
Publisher: St Martin's Press<br />
Year: 2007<br />
# of pages: 147<br />
Binding: Hardcover<br />
<a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/3398647/book/135133355">LibraryThing</a> pagekrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-90930691482456891532015-07-07T12:26:00.000-04:002018-11-19T12:27:42.531-05:00Deafening by Frances Itani<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEitPTF_Y2HB3DD3vH4eMufktwTqJ9Abo5GUusprBkDX5zP7N0-PZf_R8FOe8Bk5-rRuRDCpUlAGYQ3jpJH02979Al7lXqlkVTbK0gegN1xBd74chFQodK-a1KiKqi6dsnKMXrMHnySWX1JvjxP9ap4rdKNNMRiRIti1vo8_qNFLnpUBwYtxLODYNXOVbmnJ664=s0-d" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEitPTF_Y2HB3DD3vH4eMufktwTqJ9Abo5GUusprBkDX5zP7N0-PZf_R8FOe8Bk5-rRuRDCpUlAGYQ3jpJH02979Al7lXqlkVTbK0gegN1xBd74chFQodK-a1KiKqi6dsnKMXrMHnySWX1JvjxP9ap4rdKNNMRiRIti1vo8_qNFLnpUBwYtxLODYNXOVbmnJ664=s0-d" /></a></div>
<b>First sentences:</b><br />
<br />
<i>"1902.</i><br />
<i>'Your name,' Mama says. 'This is the important word. If you can say your name, you can tell the world who you are.'"</i><br />
<br />
<b>Description:</b><br />
<br />
Elegantly written and profoundly moving, Frances Itani's debut novel, Deafening, is a tale of virtuosity and power, set on the eve of the Great War and spanning two continents and the life and loves of a young deaf woman in Canada named Grania O'Neill.<br />
<br />
At the age of Five, Grania -- the daughter of hardworking Irish hoteliers in smalltown Ontario-- emerges from a bout of scarlet fever profoundly deaf and is suddenly sealed off from the world that was just beginning to open for her. Her guilt-plagued mother cannot accept her daughter's deafness. Grania's saving grace is her grandmother Mamo, who tries to teach Grania to read and speak again. Grania's older sister, Tress, is a beloved ally as well -- obliging when Grania begs her to shout words into her ear canals and forging a rope to keep the sisters connected from their separate beds at night when Grania fears the terrible vulnerability that darkness brings. When it becomes clear that she can no longer thrive in the world of the hearing, her family sends her to live at the Ontario School for the Deaf in Belleville, where, protected from the often-unforgiving hearing world outside, she learns sign language and speech.<br />
<br />
After graduation Grania stays on to work the school, and it is there that she meets Jim Lloyd, a hearing man. In wonderment the two begin to create a new emotional vocabulary that encompasses both sound and silence. But just two weeks after their wedding, Jim must leave home to serve as a stretcher bearer on the blood-soaked battlefields of Flanders. During this long war of attrition, Jim and Grania's letters back and forth -- both real and imagined -- attempt to sustain their young love in a world as brutal as it is beautiful.<br />
<br />
Frances Itani's depiction of a world where sound exists only in the margins is a singular feat in literary fiction, a place difficult to leave and even harder to forget. A magnificent tale of love and war, Deafening is finally an ode to language -- how it can console, imprison, and liberate, and how it alone can bridge vast chasms of geography and experience." -- <i>from the inside flap</i><br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;">This is a very moving and thought-provoking book about deafness and the importance of listening in many different ways during the years up to and including the first World War. I know I really like a book when I wish I could meet the characters in real life, and I would love to meet Grania and Lloyd.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
Book #: 14<br />
Date read: 7/6/2015<br />
Rating: 4*/5 = great<br />
Genre: Historical Fiction<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: 0871139022<br />
ISBN-13:<br />
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press<br />
Year: 2003<br />
# of pages: 378<br />
Binding: Hardcover<br />
LibraryThing pagekrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-29974334245331227052015-07-02T12:09:00.000-04:002018-11-19T12:17:34.145-05:00Ghost Train to New Orleans by Mur Lafferty<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhqhDj8n8K7zrog09Rdvc40FmBkvbF4vYVBYtz1D6EnEF8DvKb_udMyHAVQG1eW-yTE7uJjIdI3qBmWOn6h_VCvmSGwRLJxU8Izg9h-CUGON4zDQ0zagb7hX8rRNtA9ABTzeRmO5gVyWF-HGSCQllpIJY1ocRVxdlwgFvLAmZo4dzXXPfjWNRgm2L27gAx_E7o" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="213" data-original-width="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhqhDj8n8K7zrog09Rdvc40FmBkvbF4vYVBYtz1D6EnEF8DvKb_udMyHAVQG1eW-yTE7uJjIdI3qBmWOn6h_VCvmSGwRLJxU8Izg9h-CUGON4zDQ0zagb7hX8rRNtA9ABTzeRmO5gVyWF-HGSCQllpIJY1ocRVxdlwgFvLAmZo4dzXXPfjWNRgm2L27gAx_E7o" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>First sentence:</b><br />
<br />
<i>"Zoë Norris would have rather had a root canal than conduct this interview for a new writer."</i><br />
<br />
<b>Description:</b><br />
<br />
"Zoë Norris writes travel guides for the undead. And she's good at it too -- her newfound ability to talk to cities seems to help. After the success of The Shambling Guide to New York City, Zoe and her team are sent to New Orleans to write the sequel.<br />
<br />
Work isn't all that brings Zoë to the Big Easy. The only person who can save her boyfriend from zombism is rumored to live in the city's swamps, but Zoë's out of her element in the wilderness. With her supernatural colleagues waiting to see her fail, and rumors of a new threat hunting citytalkers, can Zoë stay alive along enough to finish her next book?" -- from the back cover<br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />
I enjoyed this sequel to <i>The Shambling Guide to New York City</i>. I especially liked the Ghost Train with the ghost train robbers on horses galloping along beside it!<br />
<br />
Date read: 7/1/2015<br />
Book #: 13<br />
Series: Shambling Guide, #2<br />
Rating: 3*/5 = good<br />
Genre: Urban Fantasy<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">0316221147</span><br />
ISBN-13: 9780316221146<br />
Publisher: Orbit<br />
Year: 2014<br />
# of pages: 320<br />
Binding: Trade Paperback<br />
<a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/13883383/details/120317838">LibraryThing</a> page<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0316221171.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0316221171.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>First sentence:</b><br />
<br />
<i>"The bookstore was sandwiched between a dry cleaner's and a shifty-looking accounting office."</i><br />
<br />
<b>Description</b>:<br />
<br />
"Because of the disaster that was her last job, Zoe is searching for a
fresh start as a travel book editor in the tourist-centric New York
City. After stumbling across a seemingly perfect position though, Zoe is
blocked at every turn because of the one thing she can't take off her
resume --- human.<br />
<br />
Not to be put off by anything -- especially not
her blood drinking boss or death goddess coworker -- Zoe delves deep
into the monster world. But her job turns deadly when the careful
balance between human and monsters starts to crumble -- with Zoe right
in the middle." -- <i>from the back cover</i><br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />
I enjoyed this travel guide to the hidden areas of New York City that
monsters need to know about. After reading it, I don't think about
places like the Statue of Liberty or the subway quite the same way!. I look forward to reading the next book, <i>Ghost Train to New Orleans</i>. <br />
<br />
Date read: 6/24/2015<br />
Book #: 13<br />
Series: Shambling Guides, #1<br />
Rating: 4*/5 = great<br />
Genre: Urban Fantasy<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: 0316221171 <br />
ISBN-13: 9780316221177<br />
Publisher: Orbit<br />
Year: 2013<br />
# of pages: 339<br />
Binding: Trade Papeback<br />
<a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/13370573/summary/135091966">LibraryThing</a> pagekrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-82442626879676933262015-06-24T13:41:00.000-04:002017-04-06T14:58:32.248-04:00The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/006083482X.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="2" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/006083482X.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>First sentence:</b><br />
<br />
<i>"He awoke, opened his eyes."</i><br />
<br />
<b>Description:</b><br />
<br />
<i>The Sheltering Sky</i> is a trade mark of twentieth century literature. In this intensely fascinating story, Paul Bowles examines the ways in which Americans' incomprehension of alien cultures leads to the ultimate destruction of these cultures.<br />
<br />
A story about three Americans travelers adrift in the cities and deserts of North Africa after World War II, <i>The Sheltering Sky</i> explores the limits of humanity when it touches the unfathomable emptiness and impassive cruelty of the desert." -- <i>from the inside flap</i><br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts:</b> <br />
<br />
I found this a compelling book about relationships in a harsh environment. I liked the characters' interaction with each other and the world they're in.<br />
<br />
Date read: 6/23/2015<br />
Book #: 12<br />
Rating: 3*/5 = good<br />
Genre: Fiction<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: 006083482X<br />
ISBN-13: 9780060834821<br />
Publisher: HarperCollins<br />
Year: 1949 (original); 2000 (this edition)<br />
# of pages: 313<br />
Binding: Trade Paperback<br />
<a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/70629/book/118615793">LibraryThing</a> pagekrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4958174971222176101.post-86565499953018023462015-06-11T10:32:00.000-04:002017-04-06T14:56:57.601-04:00Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0385722206.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/0385722206.01._SX142_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>First sentence:</b><br />
<br />
<i>"The village headman, a man about fifty.."</i><br />
<br />
<b>Description:</b><br />
<br />
"In this enchanting tale about the magic of reading and the wonder of romantic awakening, two hapless city boys are exiled to a remote mountain village for reeducation during China's infamous Cultural Revolution. There they meet the daughter of the local tailor and discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation. As they flirt with the seamstress and secretly devour these banned works, they find transit from their grim surroundings to worlds they never imagined." -- <i>from the back cover</i><br />
<br />
<b>My thoughts:</b><br />
<br />
I liked this book about young Chinese men who learn about life and love during China's Cultural Revolution.<br />
<br />
Date read: 6/10/2015<br />
Book #: 11<br />
Genre: Fiction<br />
Rating: 3*/5 = good<br />
<br />
ISBN-10: 0385722206<br />
ISBN-13: 9780385722209<br />
Publisher: Anchor<br />
Year: 2002<br />
# of pages: 184<br />
Binding: Trade Paperback<br />
<a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/2354/book/111082094">LibraryThing</a> page krinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565828579449366250noreply@blogger.com0