The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles

First sentence:

"He awoke, opened his eyes."

Description:

The Sheltering Sky 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.

A story about three Americans travelers adrift in the cities and deserts of North Africa after World War II, The Sheltering Sky explores the limits of humanity when it touches the unfathomable emptiness and impassive cruelty of the desert." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

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.

Date read:  6/23/2015
Book #: 12
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 006083482X
ISBN-13: 9780060834821
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 1949 (original); 2000 (this edition)
# of pages: 313
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

First sentence:

"The village headman, a man about fifty.."

Description:

"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." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this book about young Chinese men who learn about life and love during China's Cultural Revolution.

Date read: 6/10/2015
Book #: 11
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3*/5 = good

ISBN-10: 0385722206
ISBN-13: 9780385722209
Publisher: Anchor
Year: 2002
# of pages: 184
Binding: Trade Paperback
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May 2015: Sea of Glory; The Last Hot Time; Gray Mountain

8. Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 by Nathaniel Philbrick

My thoughts:

I liked this book about the U.S. Exploring Expedition. Philbrick's prose nicely details both the discoveries and the people involved.

Date read: 5/15/2015
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: History
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9.  The Last Hot Time by John M. Ford

My thoughts:

I liked this fantasy of a man who crosses worlds to become a doctor for otherworldly characters.

Date read:  5/21/2015
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fantasy
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10. Gray Mountain by John Grisham

My thoughts:

I liked this book about a lawyer who enters a new world and discovers she can make a difference in people's lives.

Date read: 5/27/2015
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction
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Murder at the National Gallery of Art by Margaret Truman

First sentence:

"Who was Mattia Preti anyway?"


Description:

"What happens when a world-class art expert wants not only to exhibit a long-lost painting by Caravaggio but also to own it?

Margaret Truman takes us into a heady exciting world of genius with this story of a senior curator at the nation's famed National Gallery of Art who plans a brilliant exhibition around the masterpiece. He also begins to make a more personal and daring plan. His masterly scheme promises prestige, fame, a small fortune, plus a number of artful deceptions and a disappearing act that will rival the story of the painting itself.

But circumstances intervene in the form of a demanding son, a more demanding and ambitious mistress, an unscrupulous collector, persons suddenly dead, and the fact that Annabel Reed-Smith is asked by her ex-college roommate, now the vice president's wife, to keep an eye on things at the Gallery and the coming exhibition." -- from Amazon.com

My thoughts:

I like this mystery set in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and in Italy.  There were a lot of twists that kept me guessing throughout the book.

Date read: 4/11/2015
Book #:7
Series: Capitol Crimes, #13
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0449219380
ISBN-13: 978-0449219386
Publisher: Fawcett
Year: 1997
# of pages: 386
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth

First sentence:

"Nonnatus House was both a convent and the working base for the nursing and midwifery services of the Sisters of St Raymund Nonnatus."

Description:

When twenty-two-year-old Jennifer Worth, from a comfortable middle-class upbringing, went to work as a midwife in the direst section of postwar London, she not only delivered hundreds of babies and touched many lives, she also became the neighborhood's most vivid chronicler. Woven into the ongoing tales of her life in the East End are the true stories of the people Worth met who grew up in the dreaded workhouse, a Dickensian institution that limped on into the middle of the twentieth century.

Orphaned brother and sister Peggy and Frank lived in the workhouse until Frank got free and returned to rescue his sister. Bubbly Jane's spirit was broken by the cruelty of the workhouse master until she found kindness and romance years later at Nonnatus House. Mr. Collett, a Boer War veteran, lost his family in the two world wars and died in the workhouse.

Though these are stories of unimaginable hardship, what shines through each is the resilience of the human spirit and the strength, courage, and humor of people determined to build a future for themselves against the odds. This is an enduring work of literary nonfiction, at once a warmhearted coming-of-age story and a startling look at people's lives in the poorest section of postwar London." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked the second book in the Midwife Trilogy series. I especially liked how Jennifer learned to look past the conditions to engage with the people directly. I'm looking forward to reading the third book, Farewell to the East End.

Date read: 4/3/2015
Book #: 6
Series: Call the Midwife #2
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Memoir/History

ISBN-10: 0062270044
ISBN-13: 9780062270047
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2005
# of pages: 293
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Mr. Darwin's Shooter by Roger McDonald

First sentence:

"The day was hot and dusty with scattered leaves of poplars lining a towpath."

Description:

"In this richly detailed novel based on the life of Syms Covington, Charles Darwin's hard-working shipboard assistant and later his house-servant, Roger McDonald shines a light on a man forgotten by history, capturing the breathtaking excitement of the historic voyage of the Beagle and brilliantly illuminating the scientific, religious, and social controversies that exploded around Darwin's watershed theories.

As "Darwin's shooter," Covington collected and preserved invaluable specimens; as the scientist's clerk in London, was he the first man to grasp the full import of their research--the seeds of Darwin's theory of natural selection? Twenty years later, Covington awaits his copy of The Origin of Species with mixed emotions. Embittered by Darwin's failure to acknowledge him, he is also profoundly troubled by his own role in the discoveries that subverted sacred doctrines and shook the Victorian worldview to its very foundation." -- Amazon.com
 
My thoughts:

I liked this account of Syms Covington, an English sailor, who became Darwin's assistant during the voyage of the Beagle. Through his writing, McDonald illustrates well the times and beliefs of mid-18th century England and Australia.

Date read: 3/26/2015
Book #: 5
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Historical Fiction

ISBN-10: 0802143563
ISBN-13: 9780802143563
Publisher: Grove Press
Year: 2008
# of pages: 364
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth

First sentence:

"Nonnatus House was situated in the heart of the London Docklands."

Description:

"At the age of twenty-two, Jennifer Worth leaves her comfortable home to move into a convent and become a midwife in postwar London's East End slums. The colorful characters she meets while delivering babies...from the plucky warmhearted nuns with whom she lives, to the woman with twenty-four children, to the prostitutes and dockers of the city's seedier side...illuminate a fascinating time in history." -- LibraryThing.com member description

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this memoir about working as a midwife in the East End of London in the 1950s. Worth's description of the people she met and worked with brought the period to life. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse.

Date read: 3/15/2015
Book # 4
Series: Midwife Trilogy, #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Memoir/History

ISBN-10: 0143123254
ISBN-13: 9780143123255
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 2012
# of pages: 352
Binding: Trade Paperback
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