JoeB1934's Wandering Through Books - Posting my Reading Journal for 2024

I have been posting over the years a description of my process for finding and reading books. This has been focused on analytical techniques and I'm sure quite laborious to follow and somewhat confusing.

For various reasons I decided to develop more of a direct reading journal that simply talks about what books I have read in 2024. Not every book, but mostly those that I found to be memorable enough to write my personal reactions to.

I could simply have produced a list with appropriate touchstones and my star ratings for those books but that seemed to me not very informative to anyone who might consider reading some of these books.

This thread will reproduce for each memorable book the cover image and exactly what I said about each book as I finished reading it. Please note that these are NOT reviews worthy of communicating full details on the book. Instead, they are my personal thoughts and my emotional responses to the books.

It will take me a while to copy and paste messages from my other threads so it will develop over the next few days.

Just to provide you a roadmap for this journey my next post will provide a display of the 20 books that will be the backbone of this trip.

When I finish this work, you will be able to see how my reading progressed through 2024, up to 04/01. Almost like rest stops on a road trip.

Bear with me as I move messages around.

These book covers are roughly in the order that I read them, and in the order they will be described.

There is an exception to this rule, because the first 3 books were actually read late in 2023 and I need to figure out how to re-order my posts. They are at the end of the current messages.

I also need to give those of you that haven't followed other of my threads I need to give a broad view of the type of books I prefer.

My reading preferences are:
1) Literary Mysteries
2) Literary Fiction of any genre content
3) Non-Fiction about archaeology, anthropology and generally the evolution of the earth and inhabitants.

It is also important to note that these messages were, by-and-large just copied out of ongoing threads, so you might find comments in them that seem out of place in this thread. Just ignore those incongruities. Obviously, the dates on each message are not accurate.

Also, I have included messages that are not in included in my most favorite books list when they were significant DNF books that affected my reading journey.

If On a Winter's Night by Italo Calvino is an example of such a book.

My most recent read isn't technically a literary mystery, but it is an excellent mystery book from Sweden.


This is about an 89-year-old woman who is intent upon living her life the way she wants to do it. In order to achieve her plans, she doesn't let an occasional murder get in the way. Technically she is a serial-killer, I suppose, but each one arises when someone crosses her by being a 'bad' person who is interrupting her plans, or causing harm to a friend. A societal vigilante of sorts.

She is very creative about accomplishing each murder in a way that the suspicion of her is diverted by her adroit use of her age and sex. Ultimately, she avoids ever being caught and at the end of the book she is living where she wants to be and helping out others who have been short-changed in some way by life.

This is not a thriller, or a classical mystery where you wonder who did-it. Instead, it is a study of the mental processes and thinking of someone simply trying to do what they perceive to be in the best interest of herself and others.

It is a solid 4-star for me. And she is my age!

Early in the year I had planned to read a number of books that seemed to be excellent literary mysteries. I didn't understand that several of these books were of the postmodern style. I blundered into this book not realizing how I would take it. I have included the write-up to show how I ended up on a track that ended up with a DNF

I 'finished reading' If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino and I will now try to describe my reaction to the book.

(If you happen upon this post while I am writing it, please bear with me as I am finding it difficult to convey my sense of the book)

Before I produce my thoughts, I need to apologize to those of you, like Jim53 who actually have read completely and can explain this postmodern book.

First, as is my wont, I produce part of the publisher's blurb on this book.

"The real Calvino intersperses 10 different pastiches—stories of menace, spies, mystery, premonition—with explorations of how and why we choose to read, make meanings, and get our bearings or fail to. Meanwhile the Reader and Ludmilla try to reach, and read, each other. If on a Winter's Night is dazzling, vertiginous, and deeply romantic. "What makes lovemaking and reading resemble each other most is that within both of them times and spaces open, different from measurable time and space."

In essence, as I demonstrated by my>31 JoeB1934: JoeB1934:: this book was written for readers, like you and me, via two readers in the story called at various times 'Reader' and 'Other Reader' as well as real name for the Other Reader as Ludmilla.

The 10 different pastiches mentioned is a key to the book as the two readers are always involved in reading a series of 10 different books, none of which are complete, but their search leads to the next unfinished book.

A reviewer on Goodreads has an ironic way of describing the presence of these books.

"Kinga
481 reviews
2,346 followers

Follow
March 4, 2012
I say this is what happened:
Italo Calvino was suffering from a writer's block. He would start a novel, get it to its first curve and abandon it before the resolution. A few months later he would start another with a similar result. Finally, his publishers got impatient because it had been years since the last novel and they said:
'Italo, get your shit together! We need a new book. Now!'
Italo panicked and did the only thing he could think of. He glued all his failed attempts together and delivered it to the publisher
'Here it is. My new novel'.
'Er.. Italo, but those are just beginning of some 10 different books...'
'Yeah. I know. Don't you get it? It's postmodernism!!'
'Ok...'
'You know, I am playing with the concept of the author. It is basically all about the reader now. The author has become obsolete. It is the reader that creates the work and the author is not even necessary!'
'Ah.. I see... Do we still need to pay you then?'
'Yah. Will mail you the invoice.'

I have read most of the reviews on here and I agree with all of them, with the bad ones and the good ones all the same. If you think this is contradictive and not possible, think again. And one word for you: deconstructionism.
There is no doubt that Calvino is (was) one hell of a writer and he plays with his poor readers like a cat plays with a mouse. This book was an absolute trip and really gets you dizzy. It might or might not be a coincidence that a day after finishing it I caught some weird bug that made me throw up for two days straight./

Within each of the books there are countless characters and interactions among them that I simply couldn't cope with beyond the overall direction of the two readers who formed a romantic connection which culminated at the end of the book.

Calvino clearly was writing to readers like us with a lot to say. The first chapter has about 8 pages where he provides an interesting discourse on all the steps we go through on choosing a book to read. For example, near the end Calvino says:

"You turn the book over in your hands, you scan the sentences on the back of the jacket, generic phrases that don’t say a great deal. So much the better, there is no message that indiscreetly outshouts the message that the book itself must communicate directly, that you must extract from the book, however much or little it may be. Of course, this circling of the book, too, this reading around it before reading inside it, is a part of the pleasure in a new book, but like all preliminary pleasures, it has its optimal duration if you want it to serve as a thrust toward the more substantial pleasure of the consummation of the act, namely the reading of the book.

Calvino, Italo. If On A Winter's Night A Traveler (pp. 8-9). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

One conclusion I came to after this book is that I will approach with caution any postmodernism book. I haven't been aware of this issue in my prior reading, or in the books on my Wishlist. I used Tag Mirror to determine that I have about 50 books in my library which have this attribute. In the near future I plan to investigate what my reaction was to those books that I have read.

The publisher blurb:
Muriel Spark

6,190 ratings869 reviews
A circle of elderly people in 1950's London are regularly phoned by a stranger who says only 'Remember, you must die,' before hanging up.
Dame Lettie Colston is the first of her circle to receive these anonymous calls, and she does not wish to be reminded. Nor do her friends and family - though they are constantly looking out for signs of decline in others and change their wills on a weekly basis.

As the caller's activities become more widespread, soon a witch-hunt is in full cry, exposing past and present duplicities, self-deception, and blackmail. Nobody is above suspicion. Only a few, blessed with a sense of humour and the gift of faith, can guess at the caller's identity.

Genres: Fiction Classics Mystery Novels British Literature Literary-Fiction Literature

This is a stressless read and it kept my attention to the end. I enjoyed it immensely and a solid 4-stars.
.

My most recent read, which I found very interesting up to, and including the last page. The publisher's blurb is as follow:

"The lives of three strangers interconnect in unforeseen ways and with unexpected consequences in acclaimed author Dan Chaon's gripping, brilliantly written new novel.

Longing to get on with his life, Miles Cheshire nevertheless can't stop searching for his troubled twin brother, Hayden, who has been missing for ten years. Hayden has covered his tracks skillfully, moving stealthily from place to place, managing along the way to hold down various jobs and seem, to the people he meets, entirely normal. But some version of the truth is always concealed.

A few days after graduating from high school, Lucy Lattimore sneaks away from the small town of Pompey, Ohio, with her charismatic former history teacher. They arrive in Nebraska, in the middle of nowhere, at a long-deserted motel next to a dried-up reservoir, to figure out the next move on their path to a new life. But soon Lucy begins to feel quietly uneasy.

My whole life is a lie, thinks Ryan Schuyler, who has recently learned some shocking news. In response, he walks off the Northwestern University campus, hops on a bus, and breaks loose from his existence, which suddenly seems abstract and tenuous. Presumed dead, Ryan decides to remake himself through unconventional and precarious means.

Await Your Reply is a literary masterwork with the momentum of a thriller, an unforgettable novel in which pasts are invented and reinvented and the future is both seductively uncharted and perilously unmoored."

This is commonly identified as a book about identity theft, which I consider when a person specifically becomes identified as another person. That is not what I found this book to be about. It is about three individuals who redefine themselves because of internal and external forces. These redefinitions cause them to "forget" who they were to such a degree that they can't even 'remember' who they were previously.

These three individuals become connected by a fourth individual, the twin brother Hayden, who actually does lead a life of deliberate identity theft. As one reviewer noted you can think of Hayden as "Tom Ripley alive and unburdened in the modern world"

To summarize better than I can do is the following statement from Scott Rhee on Goodreads:

"Of course, even the end leaves more questions than it answers, but Chaon isn't setting out to answer all the questions. Human behavior and motivations are too messy and complicated to figure out. Sometimes, we all do and say things for reasons that are unclear even to ourselves. In the end, a police report or a detective's findings may figure out the who, what, and how, but the why is oftentimes forever a mystery."

This statement is exactly why I prefer to have a book contain a bit of a mystery.

The publisher's description of the book is:

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien

20,135 ratings2,299 reviews

The Third Policeman is Flann O'Brien's brilliantly dark comic novel about the nature of time, death, and existence. Told by a narrator who has committed a botched robbery and brutal murder, the novel follows him and his adventures in a two-dimensional police station where, through the theories of the scientist/philosopher de Selby, he is introduced to "Atomic Theory" and its relation to bicycles, the existence of eternity (which turns out to be just down the road), and de Selby's view that the earth is not round but "sausage-shaped." With the help of his newly found soul named "Joe," he grapples with the riddles and contradictions that three eccentric policeman present to him.
The last of O'Brien's novels to be published, The Third Policeman joins O'Brien's other fiction (At Swim-Two-Birds, The Poor Mouth, The Hard Life, The Best of Myles, The Dalkey Archive) to ensure his place, along with James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, as one of Ireland's great comic geniuses.

My go to for a descriptive more detailed is from my friend bnielsen review

"England, ca 1940
An excellent introduction to de Selby and his philosophy. Or something.
Our nameless protagonist, NN, along with his somewhat dubious comrade John Divney, kills an old man, Mathers, in order to get his moneybox. Before the killing, NN probably has a name, but subsequently he has no memory of it. NN buries the body and in the meantime Divney hides the money. He says. NN and Divney don't trust each other, so for a long time NN makes sure to be close to Divney so he can't run away with the money. Or use them on the girl Pegeen Meers. But one day, Divney thinks it's safe to retrieve the money, and he tells NN that the money is hidden in Mathers' home under a loose floorboard. They follow there and NN enters the house. He finds the floorboard, but gets a shock when he touches the money box. He discovers that Mathers is sitting in a chair looking at him, and he can no longer feel the box. He leads a long conversation with Mathers, helped by his soul Joe, whom he discovers at the beginning of the conversation. Mathers tells how at birth you get a small transparent dress in a color that matches the color of the wind on the day. Every year you get a new dress in a slightly darker color and when it is close to turning completely black, you die. The policemen are Chief Constable Pluck, MacCruiskeen and Fox. And they seem to have everything under control, so NN thinks of asking them where the box can be found. But it's getting late, so he goes upstairs to Mathers' house and sleeps first.
Next he heads to the police station and on the way meets another man, Martin Finnucane, who turns out to be a robber, armed with a large dagger and intent on killing NN. However, it turns out that they both have wooden legs, and the robber immediately befriends NN and promises to crack open the belly of anyone who threatens NN. At the police station, as expected, he meets Detective Pluck, Officer MacCruiskeen, and a man, Michael Gilhaney. The third policeman, Fox, is extremely rarely seen. The conversation is constantly turned by Pluck to bicycles, high saddles, wooden rims and pedal buckles. Pluck is unique at locating stolen bikes, which is because he steals them himself and hides them around. Pluck also says that the atomic theory is at work here in the parish.
When they get back to the police station, there is a deputy commissioner O'Corky and NN realizes that the officers have already found him guilty and are looking forward to "stretching" him, i.e. hanging him from a scaffold. However, he can't be fixed in the meantime, because Pluck uses the cell to store his bike. According to atomic theory, you will mix atoms between hammer and steel rod if you hit the rod hard and repeatedly with the hammer. Similarly, a bicycle and a cyclist will be mixed with time. Everything is made by Omnium and the chief constable has also found an elevator that goes to eternity. It's a bit of a pinch. NN sends a message to his one-legged friend and a small group of seven one-legged people come to free him. However, the officers have been notified of the herd of Fox, so NN is taken up to the scaffold to enjoy the view. He apparently flees and takes Pluck's bike with him. He meets Officer Fox, who turns out to have Mathers' face, yet is kind to him. Fox tells NN that the box contains over a hundred grams of omnium, and NN begins to imagine a life of hustle and bustle. He takes the bike and is soon at Courahan's house. Inside the tavern, he meets Pointéen Meers, as John DivnEy is dating, but she's gotten much older. So is Divney, and he panics to see NN and collapses.
His view is that Mathers' house blew up 16 years ago, killing NN. Incredulous but confused, NN walks away from the house. Long after, he reaches a house, a police station. Here he is decorated by John Divney and they are greeted by a police officer: Is it a bicycle?

His final statement says a lot

Insane story. Related to Groundhog Day, Ubik and Sjak No. 3, because reality is not to be trusted. Very entertaining Irish word game. Maybe hell is other people and that it all repeats itself?
Bnielsen • Nov 23, 2021

Personally, the surreal dimensions were fine by me. The thought that eternity is just around the corner is actually true from my perspective as when I die my molecules continue in the universe as before.

The value to me for the book was the language as it pertained to the Irish. Creation of new words and and the totally enthralling flow of descriptive words was so enjoyable and fun. Some reviewers didn't think there were many laughs in the book and that overall, the theme was dark. I certainly didn't see it that way.

The Final Solution by Michael Chabon

This is the first Michael Chabon book I have read, and I feel bad about taking this long to discover his work.

Major Tags: Sherlock Holmes, Holocaust, WWII, Literature, Mystery, Literary-Fiction, Historical-Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Historical-Fiction, Literary-Mystery, Crime-Fiction

I am so lacking in knowledge about Chabon that it wasn't until reading this book that I found out that he incorporates the Sherlockian basis for this book. The key character in the story is an "old, retired detective" who keeps bees. The detective uses Sherlock like thinking to arrive at the essence of the 'mystery'.
What is less obvious is the inferred references through symbolisms WWII and the Holocaust. The book title actually provides the first clue to a major direction for the book.

I was most struck by Chabon's use of language. This book is very short, but his use of language communicates so well to tell the story in a manner that leaves me in awe.

The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis

I have been wanting to 'read' this book for a while now and yesterday/evening I listened to it completely. I wasn't surprised at my interest in the story of a clever peasant Arnaud du Tilh, who had almost persuaded the judges that he was in truth, Martin Guerre when, on a summer’s day in 1560, a man swaggered into the court on a wooden leg, denounced Arnaud, and reestablished his claim to the identity, property, and wife of Martin Guerre.

What was astounding to me was the historical scholarship of Natalie Zemon Davis and the quality of narration by Sarah Mould-Christensen, who spoke so authentically in details of 16th century happenings. These details about peasant life, local property practices and evolving legal approaches all came from scholarship research and not speculation.

Insight into the legal practices and analysis that led judges in their seemingly honest effort to determine the truth of Arnaud du Tilh's claims was especially revealing. A major factor in the process was that du Tilh possessed a prodigious memory and native intuition that could astound the judges and fool locals. The wife of Martin Guerre accepted his fraud and lived with him for 3 years.

Even though du Tilh was executed, in some ways he was a 'hero' in the eyes of some 16th century scholarship because of his talents.

On labfs39 there is an interesting discussion about female authors that are not being recognized. This caused me to retrieve from my earlier library two such authors that have written books that I still remember to this day. They are non-fiction books involving study of early humans.



I have taken from Goodreads the essence of these two books. My main takeaway from both is that the authors focused on the people and tried to tell us how these early humans were so much like us.

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Time Song: Searching for Doggerland

Julia Blackburn
3.84
427 ratings94 reviews
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE AND THE HESSELL-TILTMAN PRIZE

A journey told through stories and songs into Doggerland, the ancient region that once joined the east coast of England to Holland

Time Song tells of the creation, the existence and the loss of a country now called Doggerland , a huge and fertile area that once connected the entire east coast of England with mainland Europe, until it was finally submerged by rising sea levels around 5000 BC.

Julia Blackburn mixes fragments from her own life with a series of eighteen 'songs' and all sorts of stories about the places and the people she meets in her quest to get closer to an understanding of this vanished land. She sees the footprints of early humans fossilised in the soft mud of an estuary alongside the scattered pockmarks made by rain falling eight thousand years ago. She visits a cave where the remnants of a Neanderthal meal have turned to stone. In Denmark she sits beside Tollund Man who, despite having lain in a peat bog since the start of the Bronze Age, seems to be about to wake from a dream...

'This book is a wonder' Adam Nicolson, Spectator

'A clairvoyant and poetic conversation with the past' Antony Gormley

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Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art

Rebecca Wragg Sykes
4.02
2,859 ratings513 reviews
Since their discovery more than 160 years ago, Neanderthals have metamorphosed from the losers of the human family tree to A-list hominins.

In Kindred, Rebecca Wragg Sykes uses her experience at the cutting-edge of Palaeolithic research to share our new understanding of Neanderthals, shoving aside clichés of rag-clad brutes in an icy wasteland. She reveals them to be curious, clever connoisseurs of their world, technologically inventive and ecologically adaptable. Above all, they were successful survivors for more than 300,000 years, during times of massive climatic upheaval.

At a time when our species has never faced greater threats, we’re obsessed with what makes us special. But, much of what defines us was also in Neanderthals, and their DNA is still inside us. Planning, co-operation, altruism, craftsmanship, aesthetic sense, imagination... perhaps even a desire for transcendence beyond mortality.

It is only by understanding them, that we can truly understand ourselves.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Before I discuss this outstanding book, I need to talk about how I arrived at this book this year. About 3 years ago as I was converging on my love of literary mysteries, I began to find this book on several rankings of the best literary mysteries.

So, naturally I obtained a copy and began to read it, only to be disappointed with my experience. I ignored the idea of reading it until this time. Why is it now a most memorable book for me?

The answer is: I have changed as a reader. Back then I had progressed from reading British police procedurals to broader literary mysteries, but not much into science fiction, fantasy and horror books. Over the last few years I have ‘graduated’ to include almost every sub-genre possible, even to include magical realism. Even with these new interests I still have to temper how far I want to go into some of these newer books.

When I created my approach for 2024 this book continued to top my lists so I have now finished it and am in awe of the works by Jasper Fforde.

I have always been author-centric because, while I can see how most plots can be developed, I have zero comprehension about how any author can create the dialog for several hundred pages of discourse on events, people and the physical environment.

Fforde with this book has blown up my misconception that a plot is all that easy to develop.

As jim53 stated “It's a real genre-blender in that it has elements of mystery, fantasy/science fiction, and satire”.

Even these terms do not show the real depth of the innovation by Fforde. For example, I found discussion of portals into physical manuscripts that involved people entering the world described in the manuscript/book and interacting with the characters in the book.

I don’t know how to expand these descriptions, but I found a somewhat hilarious description, but quite accurate of events in the following GR review:

✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans)
2,407 reviews7,645 followers
Follow
October 4, 2021
➽ And the moral of this rerereread is: one of the most creatively original worlds ever created + delicious literary references galore + being meringued (don't ask) + most heavenly Brit humor/wit/sarcasm combo + bookworms farting apostrophes and ampersands, and belching out capitalisations (I told you not to ask) + a super extra cool, clever as fish kick ass heroine who's a war veteran and dares to be over 35 (the nerve!) + Shakespearean shenanigans + pet dodos + unnotified SpaceTime Flexations + one of the mostest awesomest villainous villains ever (and accompanying odious yet art-loving fiendish compatriots) + Jane Eyre and Rochester and St John Rivers, oh my! + I could be here all day listing all the somewhat very scrumptiously scrumptious details that make this book so bloody shrimping scrumptious but I'll settle for a celebratory dance instead.

What in the world is she talking about? Here is the blurb:

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

3.89
132,153 ratings11,412 reviews

Great Britain circa 1985: time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. Baconians are trying to convince the world that Francis Bacon really wrote Shakespeare, there are riots between the Surrealists and Impressionists, and thousands of men are named John Milton, an homage to the real Milton and a very confusing situation for the police. Amidst all this, Acheron Hades, Third Most Wanted Man In the World, steals the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and kills a minor character, who then disappears from every volume of the novel ever printed! But that's just a prelude . . .

Hades' real target is the beloved Jane Eyre, and it's not long before he plucks her from the pages of Bronte's novel. Enter Thursday Next. She's the Special Operative's renowned literary detective, and she drives a Porsche. With the help of her uncle Mycroft's Prose Portal, Thursday enters the novel to rescue Jane Eyre from this heinous act of literary homicide. It's tricky business, all these interlopers running about Thornfield, and deceptions run rampant as their paths cross with Jane, Rochester, and Miss Fairfax. Can Thursday save Jane Eyre and Bronte's masterpiece? And what of the Crimean War? Will it ever end? And what about those annoying black holes that pop up now and again, sucking things into time-space voids . . .

Suspenseful and outlandish, absorbing and fun, The Eyre Affair is a caper unlike any other and an introduction to the imagination of a most distinctive writer and his singular fictional universe.

This is truly a plot that I can’t ever imagine anyone creating, but it is genuinely genre-bending.

Suite Francaise by Irène Némirovsky

There are many reviews of this book so I will talk about my personal reaction to the book. I want to start with an essential statement made in the blurb for the book:

”Suite Française is a singularly piercing evocation—at once subtle and severe, deeply compassionate, and fiercely ironic—of life and death in occupied France, and a brilliant, profoundly moving work of art.”

I would expand on that statement by adding that it is truly a literary masterpiece. I have spoken recently about how the ability of an author to detail events and actions in the most incredibly minute specificity continues to place me in awe. This book provides that to a maximum.

I couldn’t see that there was a single sentence that failed to bring emotion and value to the portrayal.

It is useful for you to know that I am not, and never have been a history buff. This book provides historical details that I imagine are very important to historians. I can't address those historical facts.

I can address that the most important ingredient for me in any book is the depth of portrayal of individuals within the context of the story. This book takes a singular event, the invasion of France by the German army and focuses on the detailed impact on French individuals from all segments of society.

I found the variety of individuals so precisely detailed that I could almost visualize their personalities. Class structures certainly became very defined for me.

Despite these specific individual details, they remained anonymous to me. As a historical revelation it was educational to me in the first story ‘Storm’ but I attached more specifically to the people in part two ‘Dolce’.

Some reviewers attach a higher rating to ‘Storm’, but to me I could identify more emotionally to those in ‘Dolce’. This was especially true for the star-crossed non-lovers involving Lucille and Bruno, the German soldier.

I’m not sure exactly why, but the scenario where Bruno plays a piano composition for Lucille really stuck with me. Music plays with emotions in a powerful way and it did so in this scenario. The resultant conversation between the two brought up important thinking about war, peace and the consequences for everyone during non-war intervals.

Their relationship is never resolved during the book so you will be left with a lot of uncertainly at the conclusion. Isn't that the way life is?

We will never know if the author Irène Némirovsky planned to resolve some issues in later volumes. The tragedy is her death along with millions of others terminated the five book plan for this sequence.

Maybe reading some of her other books would provide more insight into what she planned, but this one as it stands is a masterpiece.

The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster

My recent reading has tended more toward Literary, rather than Mystery, so I decide to read this book, which ranks very high on the ranking of Literary Mysteries.

For those unfamiliar with this book here is a minimal setup:

"The remarkable, acclaimed series of interconnected detective novels – from the author of 4 3 2 1: A Novel

The New York Review of Books has called Paul Auster’s work “one of the most distinctive niches in contemporary literature.” Moving at the breathless pace of a thriller, this uniquely stylized triology of detective novels begins with City of Glass, in which Quinn, a mystery writer, receives an ominous phone call in the middle of the night. He’s drawn into the streets of New York, onto an elusive case that’s more puzzling and more deeply-layered than anything he might have written himself. In Ghosts, Blue, a mentee of Brown, is hired by White to spy on Black from a window on Orange Street. Once Blue starts stalking Black, he finds his subject on a similar mission, as well. In The Locked Room, Fanshawe has disappeared, leaving behind his wife and baby and nothing but a cache of novels, plays, and poems."

I have mentioned before that Literary Mysteries are, to a great degree not genre specific. This means that when I start a new book I have to decide if I appreciate what the author is trying to achieve. This is how I approached part one of the trilogy, City of Glass.

As I read into the City of Glass, I became disappointed with the whole setup. The best thing I can say is that it was very 'challenging'.

I decided to go to a number of extensive reviews on GR. You know the kind that produces an abstract of the whole book, with commentary. I found the usual range of highly enthusiastic readers. There are 4352 reviews there and I found enough insight for myself to realize that this book would continue to be challenging for me.

I have mentioned before that I am always looking for the likelihood of an emotional attachment for me with any of the characters in the book. This book promised none of that for me and no revelatory insight into the nature of humankind.

So, I DNF and went searching for a book more worthwhile with my time.

Somebody's Fool by Richard Russo

I chose this book because I rated it as being a literary mystery genre. It is truly an excellent literary book, but not a mystery.

GR Details: 5,400 ratings 675 reviews Rating 4.28

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls returns to North Bath, in upstate New York, and to the characters that captured the hearts and imaginations of millions of readers in his beloved best sellers Nobody's Fool} and Everybody's Fool.

The story revolves around a small group of characters that Russo had created in several earlier books. These characters are more fully drawn-out in this volume with excellent descriptive, emotional and psychological dimensions. My problem was that I never connected up with the characters even though they purportedly lived in a small town like I did.

The further I got into the book the more I became bored with the story. Some of this probably because the main characters were all adults in the 25-55 years of age and they were all involved in what I call 'shenanigans' because of my age.

I did come away with one thought that will stick with me.

The principal character is a middle-aged professor trying to teach college age kids compositional skills. In one class he asked the students this question.

"What is the difference between knowing about something and knowing something?

The answer was illuminated by a black student with two small children trying to cope with life and all her complexities. Individuals, like me can know something about the difficulties being a struggling black person, but that person is the only one who knows what it is like for herself.

The professor then went on to describe two of his own children, one in London on a Fulbright scholarship and one feeling that they are hopelessly a failure.

He told the students that the difference was not in their intelligence, but in their own expectations, which were shaped in childhood.

In spite of learning something about life I will put this book in my DNF group since I am not pleased to have read it.

While continuing to refine my list of candidate books to read in 2024 I have continued to read books that I have had on hold for weeks. This is one of the ones that I am reading.


Weyward by Emilia Hart
Since many of you might not have been aware of this book, which I found to be excellent, I am bringing in the GR blurb.

115,012 ratings 14,474 reviews 4.10 Rating
Goodreads Choice AwardWinner for Best Historical Fiction (2023), Winner for Best Debut Novel (2023)

I am a Weyward, and wild inside.

2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.

1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.

1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family's grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Magical Realism, Historical, Witches, Audiobook, Adult, Magic, Paranormal

This book is multi-generational, which some readers are avoiding, but I found the integration of multi-centuries in this case worth the effort. The way the author moves with the three women over the time I found to be difficult to keep track of but necessary to link the women.

The key descriptive provided by the blurb that drew me to the book, was:

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.

The resilience of the women was what you would wish for, as the men in the stories are the usual abusive, domineering, representatives of the male dominated culture. This resilience didn't come without a price however.

I haven't read many stories about witches, especially ones that have the POV of the so-called witches. I came away with the utmost sympathy for their actual attributes and an understanding that these women were endowed with 'special' capabilities in healing techniques.

What was a surprise were the paranormal and magical relationships to the natural world. These relationships, mostly with birds and insects, were fundamental to the women achieving their survivor. I won't say how this happened, read the book.

I need to add that this maternal bloodline that goes from 1619 to 2019 never brings in any fathers. Maybe this is a precursor for the time when science has made fathers unnecessary to procreation.

>10 JoeB1934: According to my DNA analysis on 23 And Me, 2% of my DNA is Neanderthal.

BTW there is another LT group - I’ve forgotten its name, that is currently talking about pre-history period books. You post on Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art would fit in well there. Maybe some else knows the name of the group I’m thinking about?

Just to add to the discussion of female vs male future development I decided to see what AI has to say about motherhood. This what came out:

The motherhood of the first humans holds immense significance in our evolutionary history. Let’s explore why:

(1) Evolutionary Milestone: The emergence of Homo sapiens (modern humans) from their early hominid predecessors occurred between 200,000 and 300,000 years ago. During this transition, the role of mothers became pivotal. They nurtured and cared for their offspring, ensuring their survival and passing on genetic traits.

(2) Language and Social Bonds: Around 50,000 years ago, Homo sapiens developed the capacity for language. Mothers played a crucial role in transmitting knowledge, culture, and social norms to their children. Language allowed for complex communication, cooperation, and the formation of social bonds within communities .

(3) Mitochondrial Eve: Genetic studies reveal that all living humans share a common maternal ancestor known as “Mitochondrial Eve.” She lived approximately 200,000 years ago and is the source of our mitochondrial DNA. This lineage traces back through generations of mothers, highlighting their essential role in human ancestry.

(4) Child Rearing and Adaptation: Early human mothers faced challenges such as food scarcity, environmental changes, and competition. Their ability to care for offspring, adapt to new environments, and pass down survival skills was critical. Mothers who successfully raised healthy children contributed to the survival and evolution of our species .

(5) Social Learning and Culture: Mothers played a central role in teaching practical skills, cultural practices, and social norms. They passed down knowledge about hunting, gathering, tool-making, and rituals. This social learning shaped early human societies and allowed for collective adaptation

(6) Brain Development: The demands of motherhood likely influenced the evolution of our large brain size. Caring for infants with extended dependency periods required cognitive abilities like empathy, problem-solving, and emotional bonding. These traits contributed to our species’ survival and success

In summary, the motherhood of early humans was pivotal for survival, knowledge transmission, and the development of social bonds. It laid the foundation for our species’ remarkable journey across continents and shaped the course of human history 12

To top it off the X chromosome has 3 times the genes of the Y chromosome.

I read current research into the ever-expanding story of the various lineages of pre-homo sapiens and item (3) above has always interested me a lot. In many ways that conclusion is why I continue to hope for an evolutionary development which could temper the male domination in many cultures.

I myself have traits coming from my Scottish mother and my Slovenian father, and both of them contributed to who I am. I can't imagine losing any of the traits, but I could be 'better' with some of them.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov


There are an incredible number of reviews of this book that I do not intend to amplify. One of the best is by dchaikin at http://www.librarything.com/topic/138560#3445496

Just to take a slightly different approach I used the Bing AI app Copilot to see what they say about the book. That was to ask if this book qualifies as a literary mystery. The response was this statement:

The Master and Margarita is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov that can be considered a literary mystery. It is a novel that combines elements of political satire, dark comedy, magical realism, Christian theology, and philosophy into a unique whole. It is a novel that wrestles with profound and eternal problems of good and evil, and that blasts open “official truths” with the force of a carnival out of control.

The novel juxtaposes two planes of action—one set in Moscow in the 1930s and the other in Jerusalem at the time of Christ. The three central characters of the contemporary plot are the Devil, disguised as one Professor Woland; the “Master,” a repressed novelist; and Margarita, who, though married to a bureaucrat, loves the Master. The Master, a Christ symbol, burns his manuscript and goes willingly into a psychiatric ward when critics attack his work. Margarita sells her soul to the Devil and becomes a witch in order to obtain the Master’s release. A parallel plot presents the action of the Master’s destroyed novel, the condemnation of Yeshua (Jesus) in Jerusalem.

The novel uses elements of mystery, such as secrets, disappearances, and mysteries, to create a suspenseful and captivating narrative. The novel also raises questions about the meaning of freedom, resistance, and humanity in the face of oppression and violence. The novel is not a conventional mystery or thriller, but rather a literary work that challenges the reader to think critically and creatively.

The Master and Margarita is considered a 20th-century masterpiece and a classic of world literature. It has influenced many writers and artists, such as Salman Rushdie, the Rolling Stones, and Woody Allen. It is a novel that can be read and enjoyed on many levels, from the humorous and fantastical to the philosophical and allegorical.

Now, as to my reaction to reading this masterpiece.

I have read a few masterpieces in the past where I would use words like 'challenging', or 'difficult'. With this novel the words that come to mind are 'fun', and 'captivating'.

After reading the Forward by Boris Fishman and the Introduction by Richard Pevear in the eBook edition I was almost frightened to continue, for fear that I wouldn't understand the real authors intent. Fortunately for me I forged ahead to discover a captivating fantasy with memorable plot twists. Some of which were laugh out loud funny.

The chapter titled Flight was so fantastic as Margarita flew across, and beyond the city wreaking havoc and images that seemed drawn out of a sci-fi blockbuster.

Speaking of audio, the first introduction to this book came about when I stumbled across a 2-hour recording of a stage production of part of the book. I can't say for sure because I was so perplexed that I returned the book to the library and checked out the eBook I read. I have put the audio back on hold so I can now find out and have a hope of understanding the production.

I certainly never will understand what the author was saying about the Russian system, but the book was still one of the best books I have ever read. The details of conversations and scene setting by the author were so visually impressive that I could imagine being in the scenes.

Somewhat of a paradox is that one of the best books I have read this year is not a mystery, but its literary content is very impressive to me. This book is not getting a lot of mentions in LT but on GR there is a lot with stats as follows Rating 4.15 and 5,493 ratings with 722 reviews.



The Museum of Failures is the title of a novel by Thrity Umrigar, a bestselling author of Indian origin.


I obtained the following synopsis by using AI:

"The Museum of Failures is the title of a novel by Thrity Umrigar, a bestselling author of Indian origin. The novel tells the story of Remy Wadia, a man who returns to Bombay from the United States to adopt a baby and to reconcile with his dying mother. He discovers an old photograph that reveals shocking family secrets and forces him to reevaluate his childhood and his parents’ choices. The novel is a story of forgiveness, healing, and empathy between a mother and son. The novel uses Bombay as a backdrop for the characters’ lives, but it does not imply that the city is a failure or a museum of failures. Rather, it explores the personal and historical failures that shape the characters and their relationships."

This is an excellent summary of the story, but it fails to capture a very important aspect for me.

The main character, who is a continuous presence in the story, is an immigrant from India to the U.S.

We learn through the story as it unfolds that he is in no-man's land where he is an outsider in the U.S. and India also. He went to the US with high hopes for what the US will be like. He marries an American and is very successful in business. The political upheaval in the US, along with racism is very disappointing to him.

When he returns to India after 3 years he has the same high school friends who he relates to, but he also registers that they have grown in their own directions. He is now somewhat of an outsider to them.

We, in essence, live in his brain throughout the story and this includes his emotions, regrets and thoughts as well as actions. The author Thrity Umrigar being of Indian origin has insight into this life as a member of two different cultures. The period in this book is mostly about life in India with its cultural issues.

Besides this immigrant/nonimmigrant dimension the final fact about the book is that is the individuals. The novel is a story of forgiveness, healing, and empathy between a mother and son.

I also need to mention that this book doesn't reflect on the class structure of India, or their strong religious differences. The religious factor comes into play as modern young people deal with realities today. The main character is from an obviously very wealthy family, but he has friends who are not as wealthy.

A very significant fact about him is his very high educational background and that he speaks English better than most Americans.

In retrospect I didn't emphasize how outstanding the writing is in this book, at least by my criteria. One event in Remy's life in America when he was a student at Ohio State majoring in creative writing, as a poet, comes to mind.

He went to a student party and at this party he met Kathy, who was to become his wife. Remy describes in detail the emotions, fears, uncertainty that occur when he first meets her. It was so detailed, as I said before the reader is living in his mind, that it was like I attended the party with him. It was so honest a portrayal that I lived the event.

Throughout the book the language is so effective that you don't need to speculate about what was happening, or why.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov


When I earlier talked about my reaction to reading this book, I also mentioned that I had checked out an audio version of the book. I have now reclaimed a copy so I could determine if it made more sense to me having read a eBook.

This book is a 2-hour recording by the Chicago Theatre on the Air. The production has a very long list of actors playing the major roles in the book. Interestingly enough there is a female actor playing Yeshua, the presumed Jesus.

Having read the book I could now understand what the play was all about, and I could recognize plot sections from the book. The negative for me is that the conversations, which went as in print, were too fast for my brain to process them.

My conclusion is that it is mandatory for anyone to have read the book to have any gain from this production. What I would really like is being in the audience for a stage production, or even better an opera based on the book.

I found the AI description of this book as follows:

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell can be considered a literary mystery. It is a novel that tells the story of three generations of women in a Scottish family, and the secrets and lies that bind them together. The novel revolves around the discovery of Euphemia “Esme” Lennox, who has been locked away in a psychiatric hospital for over 60 years, and her great-niece Iris Lockhart, who is contacted by the hospital to take care of her. Iris, who knows nothing about Esme, tries to find out the truth about her past and why she was abandoned by her family. The novel alternates between Esme’s childhood in colonial India and 1930s Edinburgh, and Iris’s present-day life as a shop owner and an affair partner.

                   My Scottish Heritage

This book had a significant impact on me because of my background, which I inherited from my mother, whose extended family left the green of Scotland to come to the desert of Wyoming looking for work in the early 1900's.

They were all working class from Stonehouse, a small village near Glasgow, instead of upper class from Edenborough. There were quite a number of Scottish immigrants living in our Rock Springs, Wyoming community and I learned a lot about the Scottish behavior from them. In many ways I could understand how some of the family dynamics in the book could occur.

In the 1970's we went to Stonehouse to visit relatives still living near there. Naturally we looked up and found the house my mother had lived in and went inside as the house was unoccupied. Making inquiries about the house we learned "the house was inherited by 2 sisters, and they couldn't agree what to do with the house, so it has remained unoccupied for a long time".

                   Now Back to the Book

I want to thank the members of what I call the 'literary' group of members who I follow for their thinking of me as a likely reader for this book. I am quite sure that they didn't think 'this is a literary mystery' and Joe would like it. They just know my reading preferences and which books would be of interest to me. It is also very interesting that almost every member that I follow has acquired this book.

From my perspective this book is a nearly flawless model of what I am looking for when I say I prefer to read literary mysteries.

My feelings about this book.

I was truly horrified by what society did to unwed mothers in Victorian times and well before that, I am sure.

High on my list of behavior that makes my blood boil I place abuse of children, treatment of females, and racism. This story has pretty much all of that. Parents, siblings, physicians, welfare institutions all conspire to torture and mistreat a young girl who doesn't even know how babies are made!

There isn't any graphic violence in the story but there is psychological mistreatment which is disguised as 'this is best for you'. The saddest part of the story are the countless numbers of events where if any person in authority had listened to pleas from Esme to listen to her and to explain what the problem was this could have been stopped.

The author does an excellent job of writing about Esme, and Iris who is a descendent of the family. Additionally, there are details about Iris and her own issues coping with not knowing anything about Esme, who's existence had been totally denied by everyone she knew. How she coped with piecing together the Esme story is very interesting.

It is very important to say that in the end I felt that a proper closing of the tragedy did occur.

A final note that ties this story to my Scottish heritage is part of my mother's story. She was born in 1907, just after the Victorian period. Her family migration to the US came when she was 15, accompanied by her mother with a new husband because the father had died.

A short time later her mother died in childbirth, leaving my mother without a parent and not friends of the new stepfather. My mother and the rest of the extended family of uncles and a younger sister set up a household where my mother was responsible for all chores involved with feeding and supporting those who were employed working in the coal mines.

Four years later my mother became pregnant by another young Scottish immigrant. All of the local Scottish community knew about this and somehow proposed that she marries the young man with the agreement that she could divorce him if she didn't love him. This is what she did, and I have a half-brother that she raised together with my father who married her a couple of years later. The community made sure that she had someone to babysit her baby while she worked. The main one was a French speaking woman.

Of course, as a child I didn't know any details other than my brother had a different last name and father. As I got into teenage years I learned some of this.

My Slovenian father, who gave me the love of archaeology, paleontology, geology and things analytical gave up his flying the plane he owned back in the early 1930's is a whole other story. Unfortunately, he didn't give me his tall, dark and handsome looks.

This is also an outstanding book that, due to circumstances beyond my control, I have 'read' twice this year. The first time was just before I broke my hip and book reading was out for a while. In fact, I even 'forgot' I had read it and it came on to my latest list of books to read.

I put the book on hold and it came to me rather rapidly so I started to read it and on the opening pages I thought I had read the book before. I searched my reading records thinking it had been in 2023, only to find it in the August-September 2024 period.

Another sign of my memory failures, I guess. But, I remembered the plot rapidly and how much I loved the book.



As I am doing for every book I read I use AI to see what type of book it is.

“Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro is a novel that defies easy classification, as it intertwines elements of dystopia, science fiction, and coming-of-age storytelling. While it does contain mystery elements, particularly in the way the story gradually reveals the true nature of the characters’ existence, it is not a literary mystery in the traditional sense. The book is more accurately described as a work of speculative fiction that raises profound questions about humanity, identity, and ethics.

This is a very precise definition of what the book is about for me. The key statement is the one that says "the story gradually reveals the true nature of the characters’ existence."

The story is truly about individuals attending what seems to be a special school of some quality and distinction. I won't spoil the book if you haven't read it, but I can say that it was about 75% through the book that it finally got through to me what was happening to these 'students'.

All I want to say is that it involves, as AI put it " a work of speculative fiction that raises profound questions about humanity, identity, and ethics.

This book is truly memorable to me and it has made me ponder even more 'where is technology and human nature taking us?'

Key Tags: Literary Fiction, Mystery, Race with an Average Rating 4.34 for 1843 ratings on GR


From AI:

Those We Thought We Knew by David Joy is categorized as a literary mystery. It’s a novel that delves into the dark underbelly of a small North Carolina community, unraveling the deep and unspoken secrets that stretch back for generations. The story follows Toya Gardner, a young Black artist, as she returns to her ancestral home to complete her graduate thesis and encounters a still-standing Confederate monument, setting her sights on something bigger. Meanwhile, the discovery of a high-ranking member of the Klan and a notebook filled with local names threatens to turn the mountain on end. The book is described as an urgent unraveling of community evils and asks poignant questions about identity and belief when faced with monstrous truths

I finished the book today and I still have the same feelings I obtained upon starting the book. Now I have to talk about my reactions to the book. I don't know what award will be given to this book in 2024, but it certainly deserves 5-stars.

It is true that there is a mystery contained in this book, but don't be confused by the crimes in the story. The crimes are there because they provide the author a mechanism for delving into the mysteries within this people and the community.

The title actually tells us how to identify the mystery, which is discovering true details about 'Those We Thought We Knew'. the best description of the mystery comes from the AI statement above:

"The book is described as an urgent unraveling of community evils and asks poignant questions about identity and belief when faced with monstrous truths."

I am in awe over the characterizations the author David Joy is able to develop for every individual in this community, from the black family at the heart of the story all the way to the white nationalists who are the 'bad' guys.

We learn about everyone along the racism scale by meticulous details in every conversation by anyone in the story. The net effect for me was to place me as a silent bystander to the conversations. I could truly feel the anguish, fear, and the sorrow over loss as I listened to the dialog.

The discourse leads to revelations about the role of racism in the thinking of pretty much everyone. The thinking has been developed over centuries and maintained by ancestral connections.

As a white person of course, I can't ever truly appreciate how a black person feels in a given situation, but the author describes everyone in minute details that are so observant that I felt like I can appreciate what is being described.

In terms of the non-extreme white individuals, I could see how their responses were equally believable. Some of these conversations led me to a better understanding about how subtle racism can be found in many individuals, including myself.

I should also tell you that you shouldn't expect to perfectly anticipate who the person is that was most of a shock to me.

One unexpected ingredient in the story is the importance of 'art' as portrayed by Toya Gardner who is the cornerstone of the story. She has come back to this small town to work on an art degree, and she is in the process of working on what sounds like an incredible sculpture representing her ancestry.

At this moment I am still trying to describe my personal reactions and I might well come up with more of 'I should have said that' in upcoming days.

Sure enough, early this morning I realized that I hadn't emphasized that the key players in this drama are those who are determined to protect their personal influence and power at all costs and that the majority of people can be convinced that they should assist them.

I had a couple of hours after finishing the David Joy book so, for a change of pace I went to an audio of Moon Tiger. A Booker prize winner and highly recommended by my literary friends.

AI tells me:

“Moon Tiger” by Penelope Lively is a Booker Prize-winning novel that has been widely praised for its intricate narrative structure and the depth of its characters. The story is told from the perspective of Claudia Hampton, a dying historian, who reflects on her life and her passionate love affair with a British tank commander during World War II.

The novel is renowned for its complex portrayal of time and memory, often circling back on itself much like the mosquito-repelling coil it’s named after. It challenges traditional storytelling by shifting between different points of view and time periods, creating a rich tapestry of human experience. Lively’s prose is evocative and thought-provoking, leaving a lasting impression on the reader123.

Critics have lauded “Moon Tiger” for its ferociously complicated yet fantastically readable nature, highlighting Lively’s ability to weave various narrative threads into a cohesive and compelling story. It’s a book that manages to be both intellectually stimulating and emotionally resonant, exploring themes of history, love, loss, and the subjective nature of memory"

Sounds like a sure winner, so what went wrong for me?

The first couple of chapters came across to me as a narcissist that I was listening to with non-stop switching of thoughts, memories of others and her own rapidly evolving emotions. Of course, that is precisely what AI tells me the book has been written to do.

These are the attributes that I dislike the most in an occasional person I have met in my life. The speed of the dialogue leaves me in the dust, and I tune out.

I moved ahead to a few chapters in the audio to see how this conversation was going and saw that I still wasn't up for the mental work I would need to put into the story.

I turned it off and my mind went back to Those We Thought We Knew. I enjoyed being a companion to those people so much more.

Upon further reflection I recognize that one key difference is that Those We Thought We Knew is about a cause that I feel very strongly about. Racism within our country is what I worry about the most as I enter declining years.

Meanwhile Moon Tiger is about a life that I have never been a part of, and it is about a personality that I don't admire.

>12 JoeB1934: I'm delighted that you enjoyed this so much. As I've said before, it's one of my very favorites. I love a lot of the background details: how seriously Brits in this world take literature, the Toast Marketing Board, the bad guys, Goliath Corp., etc. The best part, to me, which had me sitting in my chair laughing till I was gasping for breath, was the idea that the original Jane Eyre ended with her going off with St. John, and that it was Thursday's intervention that changed the story to the one we know .

I just finished last night a book that I really enjoyed. Not 5-stars, but a solid 4-stars.



. Key Tags: Literature, Literary-Fiction, Historical-Fiction, Family, Romance, Relationships, Coming-of-Age, Racism
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford With an Average Rating 4.04 for 299,655 ratings on GR


From AI:
“Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” is a historical novel by Jamie Ford, which tells a poignant story of love and loss set against the backdrop of World War II. The narrative unfolds through two timelines, one during the 1940s and the other in the 1980s, focusing on the relationship between Henry Lee, a Chinese American boy, and Keiko Okabe, a Japanese American girl.

1940s Timeline: Henry and Keiko meet at an all-white school in Seattle during the war. Despite the racial prejudice of the time and his father’s anti-Japanese sentiments, Henry befriends Keiko. They bond over their shared love of jazz music and navigate the challenges of a society marred by war and racism. As the U.S. government begins the internment of Japanese Americans, Keiko and her family are sent to an internment camp, and Henry promises to keep her family’s photo albums safe.

1980s Timeline: Decades later, Henry, now a widower with a son, comes across items that belonged to Keiko’s family, which stirs up old memories and emotions. The story explores Henry’s reflections on his past, the impact of his relationship with Keiko, and the enduring effects of the choices made during those tumultuous times.

The novel is a testament to the enduring power of first love and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity and societal pressures. It’s a touching tale that captures the essence of the era and the complexities of cultural identity and loyalty.

I was drawn to this story because of the historical events in treatments of Japanese heritage residents of the US during WWII. Many of whom considered themselves Americans because they were born in the US. Meanwhile Chinese residents of the US were considered allies of the US since they had been at war with Japan for centuries. This created a very dynamic set of interactions among all three categories of residents, made more complex because of those of all nationalities about where were they born.

In 1885, long before my childhood in Rock Springs, Wyoming there had taken place what is called the Chinese riots (massacre) which killed many Chinese immigrants because they were thought to have stolen mining jobs from 'Americans'. This town is actually known for the diversity of immigrants with a documented 56 different nationalities. Somehow the challenge of racial integration and behavior has always been important for me.

For me this story is outstanding because the central characters are really children whose lives are controlled by the various ethnic categories. This coming-of-age story goes from pre-teen to mature adults and from early WWII into the 1980s.

By focusing on the relationship of two children and their respective communities it was possible to translate the facts of the situation into a story that kept my interest all the way to its conclusion.

The portrayal of the differences between a Chinese family and the Japanese family was dramatic. Henry's father was so tied up with the ancient Chinese Japanese history that Henry struggled with his desire to be friends with a Japanese girl, which his father opposed violently. The ultimate result of Henry's father on the complete outcome was undetectable until we have all of the pieces integrated by the author.

We aren't totally familiar with how the girl, Keiko dealt with the loss of contact with Henry for many decades. Meanwhile Henry matures in his treatment of the separation from Keiko when her family is sent to an internment camp. He develops numerous strategies for dealing with the separation and ultimately decides that he needed to 'let her go' and move on with his own life with marriage to a Chinese girl at the end of WWII.

It is in the 1980's timeline that we see how Henry has maintained his love for Keiko without ruining his relationship with his wife, who has died with cancer, and his children. It isn't until the end of the book that we finally understand what had happened in the intervening years.

I commend Jamie Ford for writing a totally believable scenario about a complex environment that transcends a recounting of historical facts by focusing on these two 'children' and how history worked out in their lives.

The AI synopsis presented at the beginning of this posting is so well developed that I can't actually say anything more enlightening than that.

I finally finished my journey into the literary mystery book titled The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens. This journey was accomplished by reading that book in eBook format as a prelude to the book THE D CASE or The Truth About The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Carlo And Lucentini Fruttero, Franco Lucentini, Gregory Dowling (Translator)



Using Copilot I obtained the synopsis of the Dickens book as follows:

“The Mystery of Edwin Drood” is the final novel by Charles Dickens, which remained unfinished due to his death in 1870. The story is set in the fictional town of Cloisterham and revolves around the disappearance of young Edwin Drood. Here’s a comprehensive summary:

Characters and Setting:

• John Jasper: Edwin’s uncle, a choirmaster and opium addict, secretly in love with Rosa Bud.
• Edwin Drood: An orphan and apprentice engineer, engaged to Rosa Bud due to his father’s will.
• Rosa Bud: Edwin’s fiancée, who feels no love for him and is frightened by Jasper’s obsession with her.
• Neville and Helena Landless: Siblings from Ceylon, with Neville developing feelings for Rosa and a rivalry with Edwin.

Plot Overview:

The fathers of Edwin and Rosa, who were close friends, arranged for their children to be married. However, Edwin and Rosa are not in love and decide to call off the engagement. Meanwhile, Jasper’s hidden infatuation with Rosa and his opium addiction lead to erratic behavior. Neville Landless, who is attracted to Rosa, clashes with Edwin, causing tension.

Jasper befriends Durdles, a stonemason, and learns about the cathedral’s tombs. During a night visit, Jasper steals a key from Durdles, but its purpose remains unknown. As the story progresses, Jasper’s jealousy and obsession intensify, especially after deducing Rosa’s affection for Neville.

Mystery and Speculation:

Edwin Drood mysteriously disappears, leading to speculation about his fate. The novel explores themes of jealousy, secrecy, and prejudice within the small community. Dickens had published only six of the twelve planned parts, leaving the mystery unresolved. Theories about the conclusion abound, with some suspecting Jasper of foul play.

Literary Significance:

Despite its incomplete status, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” is notable for its gothic elements and being Dickens’ only true mystery story. It has inspired various adaptations and continuations by other authors, attempting to provide a resolution to the enigmatic plot12.
For more detailed analysis and character studies, you might want to explore academic resources or literary critiques dedicated to Dickens’ work.

Also using Copilot I obtained the synopsis of The D Case as follows:

“The D Case” or “The Truth About The Mystery Of Edwin Drood” is a unique literary work that combines a novel form with a critique of Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.” Authored by Italian writers Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini, it was first published in Italy in 1989.

The book is structured in a postmodern style, alternating between chapters of Dickens’ original text and the authors’ narrative. The story is set against the backdrop of a convention organized by wealthy Japanese patrons who aim to complete unfinished works of art. During this seminar, the chapters of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” are read aloud to the attendees.

In the intervening chapters, Fruttero and Lucentini introduce various famous literary detectives, such as C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot. Each detective presents their theories and discusses potential clues to how Dickens’ tale might have ended. This approach allows the authors to explore the mystery from multiple perspectives, offering a blend of literary scholarship and detective genre tropes.

The book’s conclusion does not provide a definitive answer to the original story’s ending. Instead, it presents a satirical and academic examination of the text, making it both accessible and scholarly. The novel is known for its humor and offbeat satire, as it delves into the intricacies of literary analysis while also paying homage to the detective genre.

“The D Case” has been appreciated for its innovative approach to literary critique and its engaging narrative that invites readers to ponder the possibilities of an unfinished classic. It’s a celebration of storytelling, detective work, and the enduring legacy of Charles Dickens

                WHAT DID I LEARN FROM THIS JOURNEY?

---

Just to steal from the synopsis above "The book’s conclusion does not provide a definitive answer to the original story’s ending. Instead, it presents a satirical and academic examination of the text, making it both accessible and scholarly. The novel is known for its humor and offbeat satire, as it delves into the intricacies of literary analysis while also paying homage to the detective genre.

I would emphasize that I didn't think of this as an "homage to the detective genre". To me it was more satire about the gymnastics that book detectives go through on speculations about who and how the solution to the mystery happened. Sporadically through the book there was built four different proposed solutions. Thesis A, B, C and D with various combinations of individuals and events pointing at possibilities.

It must be noted that there wasn't ANY data to support any solutions. All this was speculation. We readers of mysteries learn early on that the writer of the book has total control in setting up 'suspects' and final solutions. That is why I am not a who-done it speculator.

What did Dickens actually have in mind when he was at the point the book abruptly ended? There was mention in the D Case about so-called friends that he was supposed to have told his planned solution, but they were also speculative.

The most interesting thing I learned in The D Case was that, supposedly Dickens was envious of The Moonstone which was the first mystery written by Wilkie Collins And that the Dickens book was an effort to top The Moonstone. So, I used Copilot to see if this was a valid idea.

There is a documented instance where Charles Dickens expressed criticism towards Wilkie Collins’ “The Moonstone.” At a low point in their relationship, Dickens wrote to his sub-editor Wills that "The construction is wearisome beyond endurance, and there is a vein of obstinate conceit in it that makes enemies of readers"1. This comment suggests that Dickens had some reservations about the novel’s structure and Collins’ approach. However, it’s important to note that Dickens and Collins had a long-standing friendship and professional relationship, with Dickens publishing many of Collins’ works in his magazine, “All the Year Round.” The nature of any envy or jealousy is not well-documented beyond such critiques and would be speculative.

                THIS IS ALL I LEARNED

---

I also learned that my academic training, which is non-existent, in Shakespear, literature, literary criticisms and so forth undoubtedly caused me to miss much of the subtle humor.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

First published in 1952 and immediately hailed as a masterpiece, Invisible Man is one of those rare novels that have changed the shape of American literature. For not only does Ralph Ellison's nightmare journey across the racial divide tell unparalleled truths about the nature of bigotry and its effects on the minds of both victims and perpetrators, it gives us an entirely new model of what a novel can be.

With an introduction like this I was all set for a major read for myself. After struggling along for about 20% of the audio I reluctantly dropped the book.

I am wholeheartedly aligned with the racial divide subject of the book, but I had to work incredibly hard to continue. For the most mundane of reasons: I have always had difficulty with personal interactions with people that talk at a high velocity. It seems at my age the issue is even greater.

Why not move from audio to Kindle, you ask. My desire to listen is always tied to the emotional content and vernacular of the story, which I find to be difficult for me to acquire in a hard copy.

I can say that if you haven't read this book it is a masterpiece as described and should be high on the list for anyone interested in the subject.

In reviewing my books read during 2023 I realized that I haven't reported on one of my Most Memorable Books of 2023: Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

I did previously discuss a movie adaptation of the book, but I subsequently did obtain a Kindle version of the complete book. The book resolved many questions that carried over from the movie and it was even more rewarding.

For those unfamiliar with this book the publisher blurb is as follows:

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

It was a cloudless summer day in the year nineteen hundred.

Everyone at Appleyard College for Young Ladies agreed it was just right for a picnic at Hanging Rock. After lunch, a group of three of the girls climbed into the blaze of the afternoon sun, pressing on through the scrub into the shadows of Hanging Rock. Further, higher, till at last they disappeared.

They never returned.

Whether Picnic at Hanging Rock is fact or fiction the reader must decide for themselves.

Genres: Classics Fiction Mystery Historical Fiction Australia Horror Historical

This story is a classic of the literary mystery category. At the end a reader truly does not know what transpired.

The story is that the author actually submitted a final chapter which contained some revelations as to what events occurred. The editor convinced her to omit that final chapter. The author had her lawyer submit the final chapter for publication upon her death.

In that final chapter the girls were to have disappeared into a time warp through a crack in the rock. Apparently, such a concept was unacceptable to the original publisher.

This somewhat futuristic dimension actually clarified in my mind minor events beyond the girls' disappearance.

But today I started reading the book Broken Light by Joanne Harris and even though I am only into the first 6% of the book it will go on my Memorable Books of 2023. You might remember that my criteria for such a book is: "I really need to tell somebody about this book."
and I am doing that today.

I discovered this author in 2023 and placed that book on my memorable list as well as a new favorite author. I now plan to read more of her books.

The publisher blurb about the book in Goodreads is as follows:

Broken Light

Joanne Harris
3.92
1,571 ratings238 reviews
Bernie Moon is feeling invisible. She's given her life to other people - her husband, her son, her mother, her friends (not that she has any of them left). At 16, she was full of promise and power. Now, facing 50, she's a fading light.

But when a young woman is killed in her local area, it sparks childhood memories of a talent she used to have, one long since hidden.

She said she'd never use it again.

She knows it could destroy not only her, but everyone around her.

Bernie Moon is no longer invisible, but is everyone else ready for what she's about to become?

On the surface this book is about a female issue, which I certainly don't have any experience with. I was captured by the first page in the story and I can hardly stop the audio because it is so well written, and it contains so much more then menopause.

The tags for the book on GR are: Fiction Magical Realism Mystery Thriller Contemporary Fantasy Crime Literary Fiction Audiobook Urban Fantasy

If you can accept magical realism this book delivers for me.

The description below is all I could find that I made in an earlier posting. The commenting I was doing at that time was quite different than now in 2024.
I could write a new set of comments but I want to show what I was saying back then

I just finished two more wonderful books. I wonder if I will be able to find books which held my interest so strongly.

The Solace of Open Spaces is such an evocative picture of my youth in Wyoming. I personally didn't have personal experiences with sheepherders and cattlemen as she writes about, but I lived around them and had to deal with the environmental challenges she writes about.

The postings above bring together as best I can my book reading journey through 04/01/2024.

There are a number of side trips I could include, especially comments by other members who followed along as I produced other 2024 threads. I am sorry that I didn't include those and I apologize to them for not including their comments.

Comments/questions of any variety are welcome, and I will reply to such as they come through in this thread.

The book I am reading now is The Hunter by Tana French and my posting will be the next one I present

It occurs to me that in completion of next stops on this journay it would be useful to display the books that are currently on hold to read soon.



I don't know yet when I will read these as reading time isn't large right now and hold times quite long for some.

Hi Joe, I've placed a star here and look forward to following along.

The site that is mentioned in >16 kjuliff: is the Reading Through Time Group. We are a group of historical fiction readers that work on both a quarterly theme and a monthly challenge. The first quarter of 2024 was themed on prehistoric history and the next quarter (April - June) is Ancient/Biblical times. The monthly challenges are set by different members, for example April's challenge is to read a book that features a character with disabilities. May is going to be International Labour Day so work related or themed books will fit. If you wish to check this out, here is a link: https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/8853/Reading-Through-Time

>35 DeltaQueen50: Thanks. I’m a member of that group but it’s not the one I’m trying to find. The one I’m looking for has pre-history as its current theme.

Hi Joe, you've been finding some great reading. I'll be following along.

>34 JoeB1934: Of the covers you’ve posted the one I’ve both read and highly recommend is The Best Minds. I reviewed it last year I think. It’s a striking book and though non-fiction it reads like a story. I think you’d like it Joe.

Am enjoying reading about the books you like in this thread.

Thanks for letting me know about your new thread. I have read several of the authors and a few of the same books. I like your genres and will be checking back here for more ideas!! And your write-ups are fun and interesting. My hubby would love that you threw in some AI writeups. ; )

I like the idea for your new thread, Joe. This will be easier to follow for folks who aren't as interested in the data analysis (which I find interesting, by the way). It was fun revisiting your book writeups for the year.

>34 JoeB1934: I'm enjoying your reorganised thread. Looking forward especially to your comments on Tana French's The Hunter as I just read it myself.

Inspirational to see this all laid out. Great thread, Joe.

I just finished the latest book by Tana French, titled The Hunter and I decided that it is very important for you to understand how I think about her books.

Simply stated, her books are at the pinnacle for me when I am searching for a book to read.

I struggled with what words I could say, and certain phrases kept me awake. The problem is my skills with words and language are far short of what she deserves to have said about her.

I then went to Copilot, the AI tool from Microsoft and asked it the following question.

      Why do I Like Tana French Books so Much?

---

Tana French’s writing style significantly contributes to the atmospheric richness of her novels. Let’s explore how:

Use of Imagery and Setting Details:

French masterfully employs figurative language, including idioms, metaphors, and similes, to evoke powerful sensory experiences.
Her descriptions help readers vividly picture scenes, from the scent of odors to the movement of characters around them.

By immersing readers in sensory details, she creates an atmospheric tension that draws them deeper into the narrative.

Richly Developed Characters:

French’s characters are meticulously crafted, with complex inner lives and emotional depth.
Their thoughts, motivations, and interactions contribute to the overall atmosphere of the story.

Readers feel connected to these characters, enhancing their engagement with the novel.

Psychological Depth and Morally Complex Themes:

French delves into the psychology of her characters, exploring their fears, desires, and vulnerabilities.
She tackles morally complex issues, adding layers of depth to the narrative.

This psychological depth contributes to the overall atmosphere, making the story more thought-provoking.

Suspense and Anticipation:

French’s pacing keeps readers on edge, creating anticipation for the consequences of each action.
Whether it’s a detective’s investigation or a character’s personal choices, the suspense builds throughout the novel.
The atmospheric tension heightens as readers wonder what lies ahead.

In summary, Tana French’s expressive and persuasive writing style immerses readers in her fictional worlds, making her novels a captivating experience that lingers long after the last page.

Aren't you pleased with this summary of her writing? I know I am, as each of these highlighted sections contain the words I was struggling to produce.

If you too like this style of writing take a serious look at all of her books and you will be as excited as I have been over the years.

In my next post I will discuss The Hunter and how that book carried on her tradition with me.

>43 JoeB1934: interesting review Joe. I can get it on audio but I’m not keen on the narrator’s voice. Were you happy with the narration?

>44 kjuliff: At the beginning of the audio I was a bit underwhelmed, I haven't gone through prior Tana French narrators, but I think I should. As I went through to the finish, I became more accepting mostly because I thought he did an excellent job of handling the various characters and the Irish dialog.

>45 JoeB1934: OK. So it seems it’s worth persevering then. I borrowed it from the Talking Books library (no hold times there) - the the same narrator as with the Audible one, and had trouble getting interested, but your review has encouraged me to try again.

>46 kjuliff: I have been thinking about this narrator issue and have concluded that the quality of writing, as described by the Tana French description overwhelms who the narrator is by far. When I am listening to the emotions and consequences for the characters, I am oblivious to the narrator's contribution.

>47 JoeB1934: That’s what makes a good narrator. The listener should be oblivious as you say. Too overnight now actors are narrating with some, not all over-emoting.

After my synopsis of the Tana French oeuvre It is time to discuss her latest book.




. Key Tags: Mystery, Crime-Fiction, Thriller, Family
The Hunter by Tana French With an Average Rating 4.23 For 9,862 Ratings on GR


The Story

The Hunter by Tana French is a crime novel set in the small mountain town of Ardnakelty in Ireland. The story revolves around Trey, a teenager living with her mother and younger siblings. Their lives are disrupted when Trey’s long-absent father, Johnny Reddy, returns to town with a get-rich-quick scheme that promises to make everyone wealthy.

The novel also features Cal Hooper, a retired Chicago police officer, and his partner Lena, who have been caring for Trey in Johnny’s absence. They are concerned about the impact Johnny’s return and his plans will have on her. Trey, harboring resentment towards the townspeople for the death of her older brother Brendan, is initially willing to participate in her father’s scheme.

The narrative is tense and atmospheric, with a slow burn that builds to a dramatic conclusion. The novel is the second book in the Cal Hooper series but can be read as a standalone story.

Relevant Background

The series of books written by Tana French are NOT a traditional series of books about a police officer that brings the 'bad guy' to justice. Any individual book of hers can contain such a situation but the link from book to book is how she chooses a relatively minor character from a book and makes the life of that person the central character in the next book. This plot choice is maintained all the way from book 1 In The Woods through book 6 The Trespasser.

She broke to a new character in book 7 The Witch Elm, and again in book 8 The Searcher, when Cal Hooper in Ireland was introduced.

The key to understanding her books is to remind yourself that French emphasizes the Use of Imagery and Setting Details and Richly Developed Characters by immersing readers in sensory details, she creates an atmospheric tension that draws them deeper into the narrative.

It takes time in each book to create these ingredients and, as was mentioned above there is of necessity a "slow burn" in reading a book of hers.

If you want fast paced action don't read these books. Think of these books as a train ride where you watch as the landscape changes until you reach the surprising destination.

My Thoughts are as Follows

I enjoyed this book as her previous because of her Richly Developed Characters of the small rural Irish community and all of the participants in the story as outlined above.

It was very useful to me to learn about the members of this Irish community as I can imagine how such a community could exist in my ancestral Scottish village. The role of centuries of prior occupancy was brought forward to today when technology affects all their lives. Meanwhile those ancient biases and internal conflicts are still resident.

The 'mystery' at the heart of the story was very believable. Each of the key characters were portrayed down to and including the psychological ingredients driving every person in the story. The 'star' of this story was the teenager undergoing many of the coming-of-age behaviors one can expect. The final conclusion was totally a surprise to me, but French made it to be the most rational ending.

When I look back on all of the French books, I have read I think of The Hunter as a solid performance by the author and well worth the time for me.

However, if you haven't read any books by French I strongly advise you to start at In The Woods. Each of her books can be read standalone but her style of writing seems to me to be enhanced by reading them in sequence.

>49 JoeB1934: Interesting review Joe. I liked Tania French’s The Woods, but others I’ve read of hers have had unbelievable plots which are a turn-off for me. She does write well, but I need to be taken in by the plot.

I appreciated your Copilot synopsis of Tanya French (and showed it to my Hubby who uses Chatbot), but I really enjoyed your personal thoughts on the book itself. I have read In the Woods and gave it 4 stars. Guess I should read another one!

>51 Berly: I would suggest reading the Dublin Murder Squad books (1-6). You might find some of the plots somewhat unbelievable like kjuliff does, but I enjoyes them all.

I use Copilot because I have a windows machine and when I am into LT Copilot is down on the lower right corner of the screen. I can bring it up as a panel on the right side of the screen and I can ask anything. When it retrieves what I want I can do a copy and paste directly into my open chat message I am writing.

Having finished The Hunter I spent some time evaluating my current list of holds. This resulted in the following set of books.

I was scanning my books on hold for my next read and was impressed to try a new author to me. This led me to O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker. I was especially drawn to this book because of my Scottish heritage.



About the author

Elspeth Barker was a novelist and journalist. She was educated in Scotland and at Oxford.

Barker's novel O Caledonia won four awards and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize. She has reviewed extensively and written features for the Independent on Sunday, Guardian, Sunday Times, Observer, LRB, TLS, Harpers & Queen, Scotland on Sunday, Country Living, Vogue, etc. She edited the anthology Loss for Dent/Orion in 1997.

Her first husband was the poet George Barker by whom she had five children, including the novelist Raffaella Barker. In 2007 she married the writer Bill Troop.

The blurb for this book is:

In the tradition of Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, a darkly humorous modern classic of Scottish literature about a doomed adolescent growing up in the mid-20th century—featuring a new introduction by Maggie O’Farrell, award-winning author of Hamnet.

Janet lies murdered beneath the castle stairs, attired in her mother’s black lace wedding dress, lamented only by her pet jackdaw…

​Author Elspeth Barker masterfully evokes the harsh climate of Scotland in this atmospheric gothic tale that has been compared to the works of the Brontës, Edgar Allan Poe, and Edward Gorey. Immersed in a world of isolation and loneliness, Barker’s ill-fated young heroine Janet turns to literature, nature, and her Aunt Lila, who offers brief flashes of respite in an otherwise foreboding life. People, birds, and beasts move through the background in a tale that is as rich and atmospheric as it is witty and mordant. The family’s motto—Moriens sed Invictus (Dying but Unconquered)—is a well-suited epitaph for wild and courageous Janet, whose fierce determination to remain steadfastly herself makes her one of the most unforgettable protagonists in contemporary literature.

GENRES: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Gothic, Scotland, Horror, Classics, Literary Fiction, Coming Of Age, Historical Mystery

      I Was Hooked by the Maggie O Farrell Opening Introduction

---

“O Caledonia” is a modern Scottish classic by Elspeth Barker, and it has recently been reintroduced to readers. The novel opens with a striking scene: the lifeless body of sixteen-year-old Janet lies beneath the stained-glass window of her Highland home, dressed in her mother’s black lace evening dress. The circumstances surrounding her death are murky, and there is no shortage of suspects. Janet was not a popular child, and her family hastily buries her, eager to forget her existence. The sole mourner is Janet’s jackdaw, who searches for her unceasingly.

But “O Caledonia” is not a typical whodunit. Elspeth Barker weaves a different kind of tale—one that delves into Janet’s life, from birth to early death. The novel explores sibling bonds, parental intolerance, the challenges of adolescence, and the solace found in books. Set against the backdrop of prickly tweed coats, grimly strict nannies, irritatingly perfect younger sisters, eccentric household pets, and enormous freezing castles, the story captures the essence of Highland life.

Barker’s writing is exquisite, filled with evocative imagery and subtle word choices. The novel resurfacing in bookshops has been met with unadulterated glee among those who know its brilliance. “O Caledonia” is a rare literary phoenix—one that deserves to be celebrated and shared. It’s a book I’ve proselytized about, gifted to friends, and read aloud to creative writing students to showcase its impeccable craftsmanship. Elspeth Barker, born in Edinburgh in 1940, grew up in the neo-Gothic Drumtochty Castle in Aberdeenshire. Her upbringing mirrors aspects of Janet’s life in the novel, making “O Caledonia” a captivating exploration of adolescence, family dynamics, and the Scottish landscape.

The highlighted paragraph perfectly describes my literary mystery reading objectives.

. Key Tags: Literature, Mystery, Literary-Fiction, Historical-Fiction, Relationships, Scotland, Coming-of-Age, Scottish-Literature, Mystery, Crime-Fiction, Thriller, Family
O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker With an Average Rating 3.99 For 6,388 Ratings on GR


Using Copliot the Synopsis Is:

Janet’s Isolation and Loneliness:

Janet’s life is one of isolation and loneliness. She turns to literature, nature, and her Aunt Lila for brief moments of respite.
The harsh climate of Scotland serves as a backdrop, evoking a sense of foreboding.

Atmospheric Gothic Tale:

Elspeth Barker masterfully evokes the gothic atmosphere, drawing comparisons to the works of the Brontës, Edgar Allan Poe, and Edward Gorey.
The castle, the wild landscape, and the eerie surroundings contribute to the novel’s rich and haunting ambiance.

Janet’s Unforgettable Character:

Janet’s fierce determination to remain steadfastly herself makes her one of the most unforgettable protagonists in contemporary literature.
Her family motto, “Moriens sed Invictus” (Dying but Unconquered), encapsulates her wild and courageous spirit.

Award-Winning Novel:

“O Caledonia” won four literary awards and was shortlisted for the Whitbread first novel prize.
Elspeth Barker’s brilliant writing captures the essence of adolescence, reputation, and the mystical moodiness of desire and impulse.
In this hidden gem, Barker weaves a tale that transcends time and place, leaving readers haunted by Janet’s tragic fate and the atmospheric world she inhabits.

      How Did I React To The Story?

---

Have you ever witnessed an upcoming accident that you observed was about to happen to someone else? One time I was driving to my job, and I saw ahead of me an automobile careening on the road ahead. I saw the car flying through the air and rolling over before coming to rest on its roof.

Reading this book was in some ways a literary replica to me. From the first page I knew that Janet would end up dead, but as I read on the sense of foreboding slowly, but surely increased. As mentioned in the synopsis above, Janet had a life of isolation and loneliness which we followed through year by year ending in the finale we knew was inevitable.

Even though the setting for the story is mid 20th century the author definitely invokes images of a gothic atmosphere. Occasionally. more current situations in life break the gothic analogy. But the tone stuck with me.

A major part of my interest was the Scottish location and other related aspects. The language was so familiar to me because my mother came from Scotland, along with other family members. As a young person I didn't even realize that my mother had such a distinctive brogue.

When I introduced my parents to friends in college, they all said they really enjoyed hearing my mother talk. I was somewhat shocked to hear that. The narrator in this book did an outstanding job of reflecting that Scottish atmosphere.

Enough about my reactions to this book! As I reviewed my reaction to the book in my mind, I kept going back to the Introduction by Maggie O Farrell. What can I say that hasn't been said with so much more authority than I can muster.

So, I searched for a way to bring to you that introduction in a way so much more impactful than I did earlier. I found on Lithub.com the complete introduction.

https://lithub.com/maggie-ofarrell-on-elspeth-barkers-modern-scottish-classic-o-...

Please do yourself a favor and go to that link.

As a final endorsement by Maggie O Farrell consider the following extract from that Introduction

"I once decided to become friends with someone on the sole basis that she named O Caledonia as her favorite book; I’m happy to report that it was a decision I’ve never had cause to regret. When I taught creative writing, I would read aloud the opening chapters to my students and I would constantly break off to say, “Are you hearing this? Do you see how good that image/word choice/sentence construction is? Do you?”

On one level, it’s possible to read O Caledonia as autobiographical fiction: the strict upbringing in a windy castle, the fiercely bright and non-conformist heroine who finds love and companionship only in the animal kingdom. But this would be a reductive take on a skillful and brilliant novel because O Caledonia is a book that at once plays with and defies genre. To give it that most vague and limiting of categories—the coming-of-age novel—is to miss its point and to underestimate the ingenuity and droll subversion Barker is employing here.

I am simply unable to add ANY meaningful comments about this book beyond what Maggie O Farrell says so magnificently in her introduction.

I listened to an audio from Simon and Schuster that was so perfect that I can't imagine reading a print copy of the book. As I listened to the last 20 minutes, or so of the audio I felt my chest tightening with stress/tension about the end to the story. Be prepared for those last moments if you listen to it.

In 2023 I created a list of what I called the Memorable Books of 2023 by use of a single statement about the book "I really need to tell someone about this book".

I am enthusiastic about this book certainly to at least the same degree now.

Overall, I must say that this literary masterpiece is a very SAD story.

Book holds finally come up and I have started my next book already.




. Key Tags: Nonfiction, Memoir, Psychology, T rue Crime, Biography, Mental Health, Biography, Memoir, Mental Illness, Crime
The Best Minds by Jonathan Rosen With an Average Rating 4.19 For 13967 Ratings on GR


Acclaimed author Jonathan Rosen’s haunting investigation of the forces that led his closest childhood friend, Michael Laudor, from the heights of brilliant promise to the forensic psychiatric hospital where he has lived since killing the woman he loved. A story about friendship, love, and the price of self-delusion, The Best Minds explores the ways in which we understand—and fail to understand—mental illness.

>58 JoeB1934: Oh, that’s a terrific book though very sad. I think you will like this one Joe. It’s very well written. My review of it is here.

Given the book I just finished and my new book I thought it would be timely to update my Books on Hold for the direction I am heading.

I started another book to give me relief from many hours reading a given story. This one is a powerful one.



. Key Tags: Literature,Mystery,Literary-Fiction,Indigenous,Suspense,Crime-Fiction,Historical-Fiction,Family,Romance,Relationships,Racism,LGBTQ+
The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage With an Average Rating 4.19 For 13967 Ratings on GR


First published in 1967, Thomas Savage's western novel about two brothers now includes an afterword by Annie Proulx.

Phil and George are brothers, more than partners, joint owners of the biggest ranch in their Montana valley. Phil is the bright one, George the plodder. Phil is tall and angular; George is stocky and silent. Phil is a brilliant chess player, a voracious reader, an eloquent storyteller; George learns slowly, and devotes himself to the business.

Phil is a vicious sadist, with a seething contempt for weakness to match his thirst for dominance; George has a gentle, loving soul. They sleep in the room they shared as boys, and so it has been for forty years. When George unexpectedly marries a young widow and brings her to live at the ranch, Phil begins a relentless campaign to destroy his brother's new wife. But he reckons without an unlikely protector.

From its visceral first paragraph to its devastating twist of an ending, The Power of the Dog will hold you in its grip.

>61 JoeB1934: You might enjoy the movie “The Power of the Dog”. It’s very well done, directed by Jane campion. It’s currently on Netflix.

>60 JoeB1934: I look forward to reading your thoughts on these books. A few favorites are Lonesome Dove, The Heart's Invisible Furies and The Power of the Dog.

>61 JoeB1934: If you are interested, the Vintage edition has an essay at the end by Annie Proulx...she makes the connection between Savage's life and his work. The movie was good, but it is hard to do justice to such a powerful and complex story in 2 hours.

>43 JoeB1934: Tana French is a favorite of mine and I enjoyed her Dublin Murder Squad series. I haven't delved into AI, but I do like this particular description of Tana French's writing, I think it describes her style perfectly.

>23 JoeB1934: Good review, added to my list of TBR. Thanks.

. Key Tags: Nonfiction, Memoir, Psychology, Biography, True Crime, Mental Health, Audiobook, Biography Memoir, Mental Illness, Crime
The Best Minds by Jonathan Rosen With an Average Rating 4.11 For 7,356 Ratings on GR


The Best Minds is a poignant and gripping memoir by Jonathan Rosen. It delves into an American tragedy, exploring themes of friendship, madness, and the unforeseen consequences of good intentions.

Summary:

When the Rosens moved to New Rochelle in 1973, Jonathan Rosen and Michael Laudor became inseparable childhood friends. Both children of college professors, they were keen competitors and seemed destined for success. Michael blazed through college, graduating summa cum laude and landing a top consulting job. But beneath the surface, all was not well. One day, Jonathan received a call: Michael had suffered a serious psychotic break and was in a locked psychiatric ward. Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, Michael’s life took a tragic turn. Despite his struggles, he traded his halfway house for Yale Law School and even sold a memoir with film rights. But then, in the grip of an unshakeable paranoid fantasy, he committed a horrifying act.

---

For an outstanding review of this book I urge you to go to the kjuliff review at
https://www.librarything.com/topic/356213#8350603

That review has a tremendous amount more information than I could ever produce and your decision to read this outstanding book will be derived from there.

     My Personal Observations

This book is really a biography & memoir, which is not my favorite genre. I tend to become anxious for the story to move on more rapidly to details that I am anticipating.

The first 100 pages, or so were very compelling in setting the story up and essential. From these pages the author was revealed to be an incredibly precise and literary author with all the capacity to keep me absorbed in this human tragedy of a mind that had enormous potential but was destroyed by schizophrenia.

The author interweaves details about his relationship with Michael, his own academic journey, and the medical understanding of schizophrenia. From my standpoint I did feel that there was more time spent on these details than I would have preferred.

I did learn a lot more about the role of schizophrenia in the medical and political world, but even so I don't actually understand much about schizophrenia's treatments, causes, or other important factors in the disease.

Similarly, the details about what Michael was going through was, by necessity limited by the behavior of Michael due to schizophrenia.

This is a classic case of what I learned as an employer dealing with an employee's problems. "The problem gets in the way of solving the problem."

Please don't take my comments as being negative about this book, as I am very pleased with having read it and my reactions should be taken as idiosyncratic to me.

>67 JoeB1934: I’m glad you enjoyed Great Minds Joe. I had thought you would, though it is not one of your usual genres. I liked your comments. And thank you for the positive mention of my review. Your review though stands on its own.

. Key Tags: Literature, Mystery, Literary-Fiction, Indigenous, Suspense, Crime-Fiction, Historical-Fiction, Family, Romance, Relationships, Speculative-Fiction, Racism, LGBTQ+
The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage and Annie Proulx With an Average Rating 4.19 For 13,992 Ratings on GR


First published in 1967, Thomas Savage's western novel about two brothers now includes an afterword by Annie Proulx.

Phil and George are brothers, more than partners, joint owners of the biggest ranch in their Montana valley. Phil is the bright one, George the plodder. Phil is tall and angular; George is stocky and silent. Phil is a brilliant chess player, a voracious reader, an eloquent storyteller; George learns slowly, and devotes himself to the business.

Phil is a vicious sadist, with a seething contempt for weakness to match his thirst for dominance; George has a gentle, loving soul. They sleep in the room they shared as boys, and so it has been for forty years. When George unexpectedly marries a young widow and brings her to live at the ranch, Phil begins a relentless campaign to destroy his brother's new wife. But he reckons without an unlikely protector.

From its visceral first paragraph to its devastating twist of an ending, The Power of the Dog will hold you in its grip.

---

After I read this book I went to GR to see how they summarized the book. One of the first reviews I saw was so interesting to me. It was posted on April 8, 2019 by Robin who has 511 reviews and 3,086 followers.

Robin Said:

"I wonder how extraordinary writers fade into obscurity. I pondered this the whole time I was reading this 1967 novel, and asked myself a few pertinent questions such as: Why isn't Thomas Savage a name that easily rolls off the tongue of many a book lover? Why isn't his name the answer to a Jeopardy question? Why isn't "Thomas-Savage-ian" an adjective?

Maybe it's because we decided that it was no longer fashionable to read slow burning, ruthless stories.

Nah, we said, forget about it. We're not into writers who are ahead of their time.

We don't need no western settings. Nor do we need to read the father of Brokeback Mountain. No sirree.

Psychological tension that just about strangles you with its looming dread and doom just doesn't do it for us anymore.

Satisfying endings are just so last-mid-century."

One could call this review sardonic but notice certain key phrases in these few sentences actually describe the book quite well.

(1) slow burning, ruthless stories
(2) writers who are ahead of their time.
(3) western settings
(4) the father of Brokeback Mountain
(5) Psychological tension that just about strangles you
(6) Satisfying endings

Annie Proulx the acclaimed author of Brokeback Mountain, contributed an afterword to this book. In her insightful commentary, she described the book as “gripping and powerful”. She also considers this book to be Thomas's most outstanding book and has numerous other comments which magnify the quality of the book.

It is interesting to note that The Power of the Dog was published in 1967 and Brokeback Mountain was published 30 years later in 1997.

---

      My Personal Observations

I'm actually not sure how I came across this book as a candidate to read. I don't tend to read 'westerns' and I certainly had no idea that it was a precursor to Brokeback Mountain, which I had heard about, but never watched.

When I started the book the first sentence I heard was "Phil always did the castrating". This was followed by a description of how Phil was an expert at this function and that he relished in it.

I have never been around any castrations, but I was aware of the process, and revolted by the idea that a person could have this attitude. Of course, it is a common process but somehow repugnant at the same time.

I hadn't read any descriptions of the plot, but I was struck quite rapidly that this was going to be a book about 'real' people and a situation taken from actual lives.

The Power of the Dog was a real page-turner for me. Not because there was a dramatic event always happening. Instead, as Robin said, it is slow burning with psychological tension that just about strangles you.

The more I think about this book the more I conclude that the key words are Toxic Masculinity.

The western ranching community is not critical to the story. Any small town with a predominately male employment could suffice. I grew up in such a community, which wasn't predominately ranching. I did enjoy the descriptions in the book and related to those details.

Four of the five central characters, not named Phil, in the story were recognizable to me. While each of them had personalities which were somewhat limiting to them I would venture a guess that most of us could recognize such aspects in themselves, or friends.

Just to review:

Plot Summary:

In 1925 Montana, the wealthy ranch owner brothers Phil and George Burbank meet widow and inn owner Rose Gordon during a cattle drive. The gentle-mannered George is quickly taken with Rose, while the volatile Phil, much influenced by his late mentor “Bronco” Henry, mocks Rose’s son Peter for his lisp and effeminate manner. George and Rose soon marry. Charismatic rancher Phil Burbank inspires fear and awe in those around him.

I haven't watched the movie about this book, but one reviewer stated.

The film subverts Western genre conventions and challenges traditional notions of masculinity, leaving viewers with questions and a sense of discomfort. It explores complex relationships, hidden secrets, and the impact of ego on destruction.

The thing about Phil isn't that he is a bully, but that he is impressively smart, talented, and very perceptive about how to subtly destroy another person. Such as driving Rose to alcoholism simply by not talking to her, but by looking at her.

I certainly have never been aware of anyone I knew about that had such toxic masculinity.

I don't want to tell you how this story ends, but Robin said:

Satisfying endings are just so last-mid-century.

I do plan to watch the movie of this book now that I have read it.

The afterword by Annie Proulx is extremely valuable as she explains in detail the background of Thomas Savage. You will find it to be very supportive of his work.

It turns out that the character named Phil in the book is modeled after his actual brother. Savage had an intense dislike of him and really wanted him 'killed', which he did in the book. There are a lot of details in the afterword about the Savage family and their position in Montana ranching. Very fascinating and the reason why I always thought the book was about 'real' people.

>69 JoeB1934: interesting review Joe. Did you think about seeing the film version I mentioned earlier? It’s a good film. You can get the information about it here.

>70 kjuliff: Yes I am planning it.

>71 JoeB1934: I don’t normally watch Westerns but I enjoyed that movie. It’s directed by world-renowned New Zealand’s Jane Campion.

My updated Books on Hold

>73 JoeB1934: For what it’s worth I give a thumbs up to The Hours , but only if you’ve already read Mrs Daloway. And I give the thumbs down on The Nightinggale , unless you plan to read it on an airplane 😉

>74 kjuliff: I've added Mrs Daloway to my holds so I can read it first

>75 JoeB1934: Good idea, I thing The Hours wouldn’t make a lot of sense without it.

>7 JoeB1934: I don't know if you, or many others use the Recommendation display which show when I go to the book page for The Hours. Here is that for me with green checks for the books I have read, or plan to read.

Mrs Dalloway is first on the display. Many others that I could also read are there also. I especially noted Possession, which is one of my all-time favorite books.
I hope your eyes are good enough to see these covers. I could produce a list of the books if that would be useful.

Also, I am curious about this display for the books you have read.

. Key Tags: Literature, Mystery, Literary-Fiction, Indigenous, Suspense, Crime-Fiction, Historical-Fiction, Family, Romance, Relationships, Speculative-Fiction, Racism, LGBTQ+
The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage and Annie Proulx With an Average Rating 4.19 For 13,992 Ratings on GR


A postscript on this book after I finished watching the award-winning movie.

The movie certainly was faithful to the book and very enjoyable to watch. Since I had read the book, I knew what was supposed to occur. Thus, I had far less anxiety building as the movie progressed.

One major advantage to the movie was the 'clarification' about the relationship between Phil and Buck Henry. Another for me was the role of Peter in Phil's death.
I had in my mind both situations and the movie substantially clarified them for me.

As to, should I have watched the movie first, my conclusion is definitely not.

>78 JoeB1934: Glad you enjoyed the movie, Joe.

My next book to read is:



The Art of Mystery by Maud Casey

Everyone that has seen my prior threads knows that I am always looking for books of literary and mystery elements. They also know that, to me the mysteries I look for are NOT limited to crime stories. The key is for a story to have an element of uncertainty about something, almost anything, that keeps me moving through the book. Unfortunately to many people the mystery genre does imply crime.

Recently I learned about this book and thought it might shed some light on such stories. It does that, but in ways that I had difficulty following. Consider the Copilot summary of the book.

“The Art of Mystery: The Search for Questions” by Maud Casey delves into the enigmatic allure of literary fiction. Rather than focusing on plot or descriptive language, Casey explores how great writers create bewilderment and uncertainty—taking readers to the land of “Un.” Through compelling examples, she reveals how mystery can seduce, conquer, and transform characters, environments, and private worlds. This slim but astute volume invites readers to explore uncharted, frozen, and mysterious waters in their reading journey.

This summary is still somewhat opaque to me so I went to Kirkus Reviews.


Not whodunit, but why and how it works.

Ask a professional how great fiction is created, and you will usually receive an answer about the importance of a good plot, descriptive language, and writing “what you know about.” Casey (English/Univ. of Maryland; The Man Who Walked Away, 2014, etc.) goes for something deeper: how do great writers create that alluring kind of bewilderment that makes literary fiction unique? “Mystery in fiction,” she writes, “means taking the reader to that land of Un—uncertainty, unfathomability, unknowing. It’s Kafka’s axe to the frozen seas of our souls. In other words, it will—and it should—mess you up.” Using a variety of compelling examples, the author shows the myriad ways mystery can seduce and conquer. Writers like Isaac Babel create a structure of innocence where readers, along with his young protagonists, reach an epiphany. Mystery can make characters come alive as we learn a character’s secrets; perhaps even more so when we don’t. As the writer Paul Yoon tells Casey, just knowing that one of his characters has an undisclosed secret may be a way of knowing him “more deeply, having caught a glimpse into something so very private.” Mystery can also pull us deep into the lives of terrible people—e.g., the protagonist of J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians—or ones, such as Merricat in Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in a Castle, whom we’d best avoid. These writers know how to normalize the most brutal or absurd private worlds. There is also imagery—whether it’s poor Hulga’s wooden leg in Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People” or the multiplicity of windows in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”—that can transform the very environment of the story itself.

For Casey, the search is the thing, whether as a writer or reader.

Books by Maud Casey

City of Incurable Woman
The Man Who Walked Away
Genealogy


Even though some of her details were difficult for me to follow, I do believe that she has hit on the issue about mystery that I have been searching for.

I contemplated reading one of the books highlighted in this book, but abandoned the idea when I learned about horror dimensions in the book. If interested, you could take a look at:

The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns. Rating 3.90 with 2,330 readers and Genres: Fiction,
Classics, Gothic, British Literature, Horror, Literary Fiction, Magical Realism, Novels, 20th Century, Female Authors

And in parallel this one:


The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

>77 JoeB1934: I’ve read about 60% of these and like quite a few. The only one that I would describe as a favorite is Beloved, but it’s very disturbing. The Lines of Beauty is well written but it’s about gay love so I didn’t identify. Julian Barnes is one of my favorite writers but I wouldn’t pick either of those for you(or me). I didn’t appreciate The English Patient but believe it’s excellent. I think it just wasn’t for me at the time. Same with A God of Small Things . The Master is brilliant but a heavy read. I read but can’t remember The Stone Diaries. dchaikin loves White Teeth but I can never get into it. I loved Possession but you’ve read it. And anything by Ian Mcewan is worth reading.

>81 JoeB1934: Thanks for those comments. The fact that you have read about 60% of those books is very significant. When I look at this display for an author I am unfamiliar with there is one thing I look for.

The number of books I have read and if there are quite a few I believe that I would probably like this new book.

I am only about 6% into The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne and I can already see why this book has an avg rating of 4.51 on GR. It is a long audio listen at 21 hours but absolutely engrossing.

All of your recent reading intrigues me. Great reviews and summaries.

My evolving list of books on my holds list.

>85 janoorani24: I had you in mind as I was reading O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker

>87 JoeB1934: Oooh, coming of age in Scotland, with birds, and books! I just ordered it. Thanks!

>88 janoorani24: O Caledonia is really fun (though also dark). But mostly fun.

>31 JoeB1934: All of these look amazing. Especially The Solace of Open Spaces. I'm going to find a copy. Thank you!

I have decided once again to modify my basic structure of this thread.

The main difference will be that as I decide to read a book, I will present details on the book as I have been doing after finishing a book, followed by the Copilot synopsis of the book.

My personal reaction to the book is what I have been including as I finished a book. These reactions occupy an inordinate amount of time and I'm not sure that the product of the effort is very valuable to anyone. In my new structure those personal reactions will not be presented unless there is in my mind an importance to them.

My next three postings will be for books I have open and reading in pieces depending on my mood. They will be with my new format.

. Key Tags: Historical Fiction, Fiction, LGBT,Ireland,Historical,Literary Fiction,Audiobook,Contemporary,Queer,Irish Literature

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne With an Average Rating 4.51 For 163,450 Ratings on GR

The Heart’s Invisible Furies” by John Boyne is a captivating historical fiction novel that spans several decades in Ireland. The story revolves around Cyril Avery, who grapples with his identity, sexuality, and the complexities of life. Born out of wedlock and adopted by an eccentric Dublin couple, Cyril embarks on a journey to discover himself, his country, and the redemptive power of the human spirit. Through his eyes, we witness Ireland’s transformation from the 1940s to the present day. Boyne’s writing will make you both laugh and cry as you follow Cyril’s remarkable life"

. Key Tags: Historical Fiction,Fiction,Magical Realism,Fantasy,Historical,World War II,Holocaust,War

The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman With an Average Rating 4.19 For 33,477 Ratings on GR

In “The World That We Knew” (2019), master storyteller and lyric stylist Alice Hoffman explores the difficult history of Nazi Germany and the struggle of oppressed Jewish people for dignity in the face of the Holocaust’s brutality and inhumanity. A work of historical fiction, the novel chronicles the heroic adventures of three courageous Jewish girls in occupied France. Hoffman freely mingles the hard realities of war with stunning, elegant touches of magic and the supernatural. This fusion sustains a tender and inspirational environment of possibility that celebrates the triumph of love and compassion against the grim tyranny of fascism, violence, religious intolerance, and hate. The novel received the 2020 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, an international humanitarian award recognizing works that promote peace and understanding across cultures and viewpoints

. 📖❤️

I am experimenting with a replacement of the cover display listing my current books on hold. The following listing SHOULD lead to touchstones for titles and authors, but for some reason some of the touchstones lead to nonsense books. Please use the title and author combinations to do your analysis.

Producing the list this way allows me to provide two measures that are important to me. The first one is the Average Rating for all members in LT, I realize this measure is somewhat suspect, especially for new books but I have found over the years that any book that gets a rating of 3.7+ and has tags which indicate a genre I like then I most likely will like that book. Books with rating of 4+ are preferred.

I have a set of 35 sub-genre like tags that I look for in a book. Not all of these tags are needed on a book, but more the merrier for me. Two tags that are very important are literary fiction and mystery. I rarely read a book which isn't literary fiction, but mystery can come and go.

I don't know enough to produce columns in html so the 2 numbers at the end of each book are the Avg Rating and the number of sub-genre tags I associate with that book.

                My Newest Books On Hold List

Title                  Author                  Avg Rating                  Number of Tags

A Refiner’s Fire: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery Donna Leon 4.2 35
First Frost: A Longmire Mystery Craig Johnson 4.2 29
None of This Is True: A Novel Lisa Jewell 3.9 27
A Long Long Way Sebastian Barry 4.1 26
James: A Novel Percival Everett 4.3 23
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay Michael Chabon 4.2 22
Indian Horse Richard Wagamese 4.3 21
Mississippi Blood: The Natchez Burning Trilogy (Penn Cage, 6) Greg Iles 4.4 20
The Wishing Game: A Novel Meg Shaffer 4 18
The Nickel Boys: A Novel Colson Whitehead 4.3 17
A Man Called Ove: A Novel Fredrik Backman 4.3 16
The Game of Kings (Lymond Chronicles, 1) Dorothy Dunnett 4.3 16
Cutting for Stone Abraham Verghese 4.3 16
Beartown: A Novel (Beartown Series) Fredrik Backman 4.2 16
The Bird Hotel: A Novel Joyce Maynard 4.1 16
North Woods: A Novel Daniel Mason 4.2 12
The Women: A Novel Kristin Hannah 4.4 11
The Nightingale: A Novel Kristin Hannah 4.3 11
Road Ends Mary Lawson 4.2 11
So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men Claire Keegan 4.2 11
Table For Two Amor Towles 4.4 10
Wandering Stars: A novel Tommy Orange 3.9 9
The Hours Michael Cunningham 3.9 9
Mrs. Dalloway Virginia Woolf 3.9 9
Cathedral Raymond Carver 4.2 7
Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, 3) Larry McMurtry 4.5 6
How to Say Babylon: A Memoir Safiya Sinclair 4.3 4
Flight of the Wild Swan Melissa Pritchard 4.5 3
Martyr!: A novel Kaveh Akbar 4 3

You can ignore my previous post as I fell back to the concept that some members might want to know how I choose books to place on hold. If you simply want to see a list of books I am interested in for your own consideration here is my traditional cover display.



I have concluded that the most valuable comments I get on this thread are from members that can comment +/- about any of the books on this list. Those comments can help me avoid losers and concentrate on winners.

>23 JoeB1934: I was interested in your comments on this boook and decided to find out more about the writer. I found an interesting interview with David Joy with the owner of The Poison Pen Bookstore. You can watch it on YouTube
here

>97 kjuliff: Thank you so much Kate for your work on this book. I think it is a book that has my highest regard this year. The interview is fantastic and shows that I have been negligent in not obtaining his other books. Listening to the David Joy talk about his process is so powerful in my understanding of him and Appalachia.

>96 JoeB1934: The newest book by Craig Johnson caught my eye, and I'm adding it to my list. This prompted me to check my list of Longmire books and I realized that I haven't added a bunch of his later novels to my library, and that I even have a couple I haven't read yet. So I am adding the first of these, Depth of Winter to my list of books to try to read this year. It's on my Kindle along with Next to Last Stand, and I'll need to get a copy of Land of Wolves, since it is between Depth of Winter and Next to Last Stand.

As always, your lists really help me in choosing books to read.

>98 JoeB1934: Youre very welcome Joe. Thanks for putting me on to that writer. I often enjoy reading about writers that are new to me, and the interview with the Poison Pen Bookstore was very interesting. Loved David Joy’s accent!

I have been 'encouraged' by several members to provide more personal thoughts about the books I read within my new book selection process.

My Display for the 3 books currently being read by me provides, I hope, sufficient details for any other member to determine if a book is of interest to themselves.

I am not a quality reviewer and I do not believe that if I say a book is 4 stars it is possible for anyone else to use that as a measure for their interest. Those displays I presented for the 3 books show the avg rating by all GR readers of the book, as well as the genre-like tags that drew me to the book.

It is obvious that those displays can be augmented by personal reactions to the books. Not a provision of more qualities of the book, but what about the book struck a chord with me.

So, as I finish each book, I will produce a post-reading addendum that provides my reactions to the book. These reactions probably will be different from others but at least you will hear from me.

.

>8 JoeB1934: read several of him but my all time fav is the amazing
adventures of Kavalier and Clay fabulous reading, about the beginning of WWII and how comics started up at the same time.

>12 JoeB1934: the historical facts in that book are pretty on target, she being an eye witness. Ive read several of them including a biography, Id start tho with her short stories, I think they give a good picture of tha author

oh and a question - are these all books youve read recently? if yes then wow! Im impressed

>104 cindydavid4: They are all read in 2024. I don't know if you noticed my display of books on hold, but Kavalier and Clay is on my target list.

>105 JoeB1934: I’m a little confused. Which cover display shows the list of books you’ve read this year?

>106 kjuliff: Thank you for that question as I now realize that I haven't updated my single books read in 2024 since April 7!!

At that time the display at >2 JoeB1934: was correct. Tomorrow, I will update it to be for books read in 2024 by May 1.

      My Postreading Comments About The Heart's Invisible Furies

---

Just to set the stage for my comments now that I have finished a book that I consider a masterpiece review this synopsis:

The Heart’s Invisible Furies” by John Boyne is a captivating historical fiction novel that spans several decades in Ireland. The story revolves around Cyril Avery, who grapples with his identity, sexuality, and the complexities of life. Born out of wedlock and adopted by an eccentric Dublin couple, Cyril embarks on a journey to discover himself, his country, and the redemptive power of the human spirit. Through his eyes, we witness Ireland’s transformation from the 1940s to the present day. Boyne’s writing will make you both laugh and cry as you follow Cyril’s remarkable life"

If you haven't yet read this book, please do so before reading my comments which follow as I consider them a spoiler which would possibly temper your reading of the book. The writing is spectacular, and a key is the humor as was mentioned above "Boyne’s writing will make you both laugh and cry as you follow Cyril’s remarkable life"

From my perspective this story, in essence, details the life trajectory of Cyril as he grapples with his sexuality from his birth as a gay boy through all the twists and turns of his life.

As I was reading the story i couldn't avoid reactions based on my life as it relates to Cyril.

A bit of background first. I was born to a working-class family which never displayed any racial prejudice, let alone homophobia.

My first encounter with the subject at all was when I observed some of the more 'mature' boys and how they treated one unfortunate classmate. It never became violent, but more teasing. It wasn't a big subject in the community.

After my year when I was a freshman in college there was a very popular young man that committed suicide and the rumor was that it involved homosexual behavior.

My engineering class included Doug, a married man with 3 children and a wife. He became a very close friend of mine, and he helped me find a job in Denver five years after graduation.

About 5 years after that I was at work when my wife called me to tell me that Doug had committed suicide. I was absolutely devastated and naturally wanted to learn why this occurred. I knew that he had been having some problems at work, but not serious ones. (it brings tears to me as I write the statement)

Before the funeral happened another friend of his basically said that Doug had struggled with his sexuality since his youth in Canada.

My response was, oh that can't be true! I later learned that in fact it was true,

For the first time in my life, I began to recognize how traumatic this issue can be for someone who, because of societal pressures deals with the issue all alone.

Since that time, I have had employees who were gay, and a number of close friends that 'rumor' has it are gay.

I have never had a conversation with any of these individuals and, to this day I have never self-recognized them as being gay. In other words, I have no capacity for being 'gaydar', if that is a real word,

What have I been up to from my college age to my current age, a period of 70 years?

I recognized around when I was 30 that sexuality IS to a great degree a born-with trait. I am intensely offended with so-called religious organizations that object to this concept on biblical terms. It has become to me a racism aspect. If you are born black you can't deny that fact. But if you are born with a sexuality issue you must deal with this alone, other than individuals you encounter that share this dimension of your life.

I remember during the 1960's when I think I actually did help 2 teachers from a strict religious sponsored high school. At the time I was chairman of the governing body and 2 members brought up that 2 female teachers were lesbians. I couldn't challenge the church policy against them, so I challenged the 2 men to provide us with evidence. They declined and so the teachers survived.

This church of which I am not a member any longer also had a strict anti-evolution policy. This was something that I had spent a lot of time studying and I couldn't accept their policy. So, I left the church.

Meanwhile one of the 2 teachers mentioned above responded to a program I sponsored on the subject, and she and her partner made a life changing decision for themselves. She and her partner who are now married are the only openly gay individuals I have as friends.

Could I have done more to support my gay friends? I don't believe they want a confidant on this subject, but am I wrong?

The Heart's Invisible Furies provides us with a 'blow-by-blow' of the life of such an individual from the earliest age likely. In that sense it provides details that I have never had with conversations with my gay friends.

I wasn't especially surprised with much of the behavior of Cyril, as I certainly learned some things about life in the last 70 years.

As was mentioned before Boyne’s made me laugh and cry. The humor in the book is so important. Not in a joke way, but the revelation of thoughts that are incongruous, but so relevant in the way our minds work.

You might believe that I was depressed by this book, but that simply isn't true. The in dominatable spirit of Cyril and the resident humor kept me engrossed. Cyril ended up life with a fairly acceptable situation even though his only true love was murdered by homophobic individuals.

He came to the realization that it was very important to distinguish the difference between love and desire.

The saddest part of the story for me was the parting of ways late in life between Cyril and Julian, his first infatuation at 7 years old. As their relationship dissolved Julian was supremely angry with Cyril for not telling him the truth much earlier in life. Julian said, if he had admitted the truth, he would have totally accepted the truth and helped Cyril cope with life.

Of course, as a white man and in my circles this racism doesn't touch me, or my life. However, I worry about my gay friends that I can't really discuss any of this with. They do recognize that my family is very welcoming and supportive of them without any discussions.

In the final analysis what can anyone of us do for our gay friends. Giving them a safe place and supporting LGBTQ+ rights in any forum that we have access to.

PLEASE Read this book.

                Books Read 2024 thru 5-01

I'm sorry if I missed it, but I'm curious about your thoughts on The Eyre Affair (which I really liked), and Memento Mori.

I'm glad you are going to keep adding your personal thoughts about your reading. That is what I am interested in. I don't care so much about what a professional reviewer thought, or some random person on Good Reads. I like to know what my book buddies think and feel about a book, even if its just a couple of sentences.

>111 labfs39: In that case you should consider >108 JoeB1934: which is about as personal as I can imagine. I posted that after your current post.

>110 janoorani24: The answer to your question about The Eyre Affair can be found at >11 JoeB1934:. I have a VERY brief discussion about Memento Mori at >5 JoeB1934: It emphasizes the author in the cover picture.

>113 JoeB1934: Thank you!

Also, your review at >108 JoeB1934: is outstanding!

>11 JoeB1934: The best review of this delicious book I've read! I'm so glad you liked it! It's one of my favorites.

>5 JoeB1934: Another great review for Memento Mori. I had only given it 3.5 stars, but I could reconsider. I should re-read it.

>116 janoorani24: I don't think spending time on a re-read of this book is essential in my mind. Your 3.5 rating is right in line with the avg rating across all readers of the book.

>112 JoeB1934: Thanks for steering me back to your review of The Heart's Invisible Furies. You have convinced me to give Boyne another go. I was turned off by The Boy in Striped Pajamas and have steered clear of him since. Your review makes me want to read this book, and that is the value to me of personal reviews. The synopsis wasn't enough to entice me, but such a strong emotional response from a book friend is. My own idiosyncrasy perhaps, but thanks nonetheless.

      My Postreading Comments About The World That We Knew

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The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman With an Average Rating 4.19 For 33,477 Ratings on GR

In “The World That We Knew” (2019), master storyteller and lyric stylist Alice Hoffman explores the difficult history of Nazi Germany and the struggle of oppressed Jewish people for dignity in the face of the Holocaust’s brutality and inhumanity. A work of historical fiction, the novel chronicles the heroic adventures of three courageous Jewish girls in occupied France. Hoffman freely mingles the hard realities of war with stunning, elegant touches of magic and the supernatural. This fusion sustains a tender and inspirational environment of possibility that celebrates the triumph of love and compassion against the grim tyranny of fascism, violence, religious intolerance, and hate. The novel received the 2020 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, an international humanitarian award recognizing works that promote peace and understanding across cultures and viewpoints

. 📖❤️

The bottom line is that I didn't finish reading this book in spite of the high quality of the story.

The best words would be that I re-shelved the book as I am currently not in the mood for another Nazi occupation story. I have read others of that theme and want to move on to other themes of interest.

>118 labfs39: Yes I too was turned off because of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas but am still not sure of Boyne - as to why he picks his subject matter. It might be my cynicism but I’m not convinced of his sincerity.

- edited for typos

>122 JoeB1934: As someone who studied history, I have been taught to read critically and to question bias, which leaks over into all my reading. So I do tend to question the author's motives. Perhaps too much, lol!

For me, ratings on GoodReads do not sway me at all. In fact, I sometimes thing that the more popular something is, the less likely I will like it. :-) Call me curmudgeonly, I guess.

>123 labfs39: >122 JoeB1934: I’m a fellow camudgeon then Lisa. The average ratings are meaningless even on LT if the number surveyed is small. But especially on GR which gives an idea of popularity rather than literary merit or historical accuracy.

I see John Boyle has a follow-up to The Boy in Striped Pajamas, All the Broken Places which has also received negative reviews. These reviews focus on the book’s handling of the Holocaust, and on many of its characters being presented as complicit.

Accuracy is important in novels purporting to be about actual events and prevailing attitudes of times and places. Many people continue to hold views of the Holocaust based on popular novels which give a false, even a romanticized view of the tragedy. This is how myths are made.

>125 JoeB1934: I simply can't imagine the effect it would have on me if I had to determine if the author has an ulterior motive

And that is A-OK, Joe. Everyone reads for different reasons. I was trying to explain that for me, with my background, knowing an author's biases is important. I'm glad that his books struck a cord with you.

I have always suspected that the skepticism about GR on LT is a bit of US vs. THEM

I was a member of GoodReads many years ago, and I have since found reasons to check the site for information that was lacking in LT, so I do have some familiarity. I found it superficial, but it's a huge place, so it may be that I didn't find my "peeps". More importantly, LT has a vastly superior cataloging interface, and as a former librarian and cataloger, that was important to me. Finally, I dislike that GoodReads is owned by Amazon, which has access to all the data. Tim continues to own the majority share of LibraryThing, although AbeBooks (owned by Amazon) purchased 40%, and his mission is to serve readers and libraries. TinyCat is an amazing resource for small libraries, and I used it when creating the catalog for Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum. So my preference for LT cannot be boiled down to US vs THEM. I have many reasons for my preference, and it's not out of ignorance. I have a long relationship with LT (since 2008) and great admiration for Tim, with whom I interacted when I was one of the first librarians to use TinyCat.

So that's my story with GR and LT. I don't try to convince anyone else that GR is not a good place for them, everyone has their own preferences. But I do take umbrage at the idea that my preference is a cliquish US vs THEM one.

I don't find the Holocaust reference being helpful.

I'm not sure what exactly you mean by this. I thought Kate's point was spot-on. Perhaps we should let that one lie.

I look forward to your review of Long Long Way. I have been meaning to try Sebastian Barry, as I think I would like his books.

>125 JoeB1934: Joe, I don’t understand your “us versus them” comment re GR and LT. The two platforms broadly serve two different audiences, though there is some overlap. But because they serve different audiences doesn’t imply competition. People can join both, or prefer either over the other.

I was a member of GR for a while before I found LT, but it just wasn’t for me and I rarely looked at it. It’s the same with the LA Times - if a book is well-reviewed there it’s very likely I won’t like it, though not impossible. It’s a matter of taste, and the books that I find well-reviewed on LT are more likely to be ones I like.

I don’t understand your Holocaust comment. BTW I haven’t read the The Boy in Striped Pajamas and never will. I find the very title insulting and feel very strongly to the extent that I wouldn’t allow such a book in my house. That being the case I could not take seriously any book written by that writer.

I do want to stress that I don’t think people need to have degrees to write book reviews. I never studied English Literature - my degrees have been in psychology and computer science. Anyone can write a review. There’s no strict format, and your opinion is as good as the next person’s. You shouldn’t say that you can’t write reviews as you can. I have all your threads starred and do enjoy your posts.

— Edited due to typos.

I am embarrassed by several responses I made to kjuliff and labfs39 about their comments related to the author John Boyne and I have deleted them from this thread. Such inputs about the books I read are welcome and I shouldn't feel the need to defend the book, or the author, or my methodology in choosing to read the book.

My apologies to them and it will not happen again.

No worries, Joe, and thanks for reaching out to me. I'm glad we were able to talk it through. On to the next book!

Some of my holds are becoming available so I have adjusted my list of 'about to read' books.

>130 JoeB1934: This looks like a very interesting set of books. I am looking forward to your comments especially on The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I read it some years back and really liked it, but several members of my book club did not like it at all.

While finishing A Long Long Way my hold for Mrs Galloway came up.




. Key Tags: Classics, Fiction, Literature, Novels, Feminism, British Literature, Literary Fiction, 20th Century, English Literature
Mrs Galloway by Virginia Woolf With an Average Rating 3.79 For 308,009 Ratings on GR


The Blurb is:

Heralded as Virginia Woolf's greatest novel, this is a vivid portrait of a single day in a woman's life. When we meet her, Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway is preoccupied with the last-minute details of party preparation while in her mind she is something much more than a perfect society hostess. As she readies her house, she is flooded with remembrances of faraway times. And, met with the realities of the present, Clarissa reexamines the choices that brought her there, hesitantly looking ahead to the unfamiliar work of growing old.

I have just finished a story about WW I and focusing on the Irish participation in that war through the experiences of a lowly recruit. This book was on the Man Booker Prize shortlist for 2005.

I became a fan of the author Sebastian Barry while reading Old God's Time in 2023. He is a poet as well as a fiction author and the poetry capabilities shine through in all of his fiction.




. Key Tags: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Ireland, War, Irish Literature, World War I, Historical, Literary Fiction, Novels, Literature

A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry With an Average Rating 4.13 For 8,006 Ratings on GR


The Copilot synopsis is:

“A Long Long Way” by Sebastian Barry is a poignant novel set during the First World War. The story follows the young protagonist, Willie Dunne, who leaves Dublin to fight voluntarily for the Allies as a member of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. As he faces the horrors of war, he leaves behind his prospective bride, Gretta, and his policeman father. The novel beautifully evokes both the camaraderie and humor of Willie’s regiment and the cruelty and sadness of war. It also explores the divided loyalties felt by many Irish soldiers during this tumultuous time

I am at a total loss with the words to convey to you the impact of this book. I decided to provide a glimpse of what others have said about the book.

      The Guardian

Review Title: “Hear the bleak ballad of Willie Dunne”
Summary: Laura Barber follows Sebastian Barry into no-man’s-land in A Long Long Way, his poetic and tragic evocation of the Great War.
Key Points:
The novel beautifully evokes the intimate brutality of life in the trenches, from the stench of raw terror to the sensation of walking on a “foul carpet of crushed dead.”
Barry’s writing reflects Willie Dunne’s faltering understanding of the war, using vivid similes and poetic descriptions.
The novel explores the complexities of Irish soldiers caught between nationalism and loyalty to the English.

      Kirkus Reviews

Summary: Barry’s prequel to Annie Dunne turns to WWI for the story of a young Dublin soldier who loses love, crown, country, and family in the war-torn desolation.
Key Points:
The novel is flawless, honest, humane, and moving.
It delves into the heart of war, politics, and human emotion.

      LitLovers

Summary: One of the many truths revealed in this story is the way in which the relentless violence of war is fueled by simple motivations.
Key Points:
Barry embodies political issues in the hearts of his characters, with all the ambivalence and emotion of the human heart.
The novel combines historical context with deeply personal experiences.

      My Personal Comments

The combination of these three reviews includes thoughts I wish I could have come up with and they stand in my place.
I listened to audio of this book and strongly advise doing so because of the most intimate of thoughts. The Irish spirit is fully developed with these words.

I can't imagine a print edition of this book coming close to the emotions it raised in myself in the short final chapter.

When I reflect upon the book there were a couple of aspects that weren't mentioned in the official reviews included above. Not totally surprising as these aspects were:

1) The intimate and frequent presence of simple musical ballads, hymns and phrases from songs obviously important to their normal lives. After all these were Irish boys/men.
2) The importance of books/reading in their frequent periods of 'doing nothing'. A prime example was the hand-me-down copy of the Dostoyevsky book The Idiot. This book, along with other literary authors came when a British soldier happened to join the platoon. Soldiers lined up to get a chance to read most anything but The Idiot seemed to strike a chord with them.

      My Postreading Comments About The Phoenix Crown




. Key Tags: Historical Fiction,Fiction,Mystery,Historical,Audiobook,Mystery Thriller,Historical Mystery

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang With an Average Rating 3.86 For 10,753 Ratings on GR

“The Phoenix Crown” presents a riveting tale that weaves the destinies of four formidable women. Two of them are the protagonists: Gemma, a soprano with a voice as striking as her determination to reignite her faltering career, and Suling, an embroideress from Chinatown with the resolve to free herself from a world that imprisons her. Their lives intersect when they are drawn into the orbit of Henry Thornton, a charming railroad magnate whose extraordinary collection of Chinese antiques includes the fabled Phoenix Crown, a legendary relic of Beijing’s fallen Summer Palace. However, their lives are thrown into turmoil when a devastating earthquake rips San Francisco apart, and Thornton disappears, leaving behind a mystery reaching further than anyone could have imagined. The story unfolds from the chaos of the San Francisco earthquake to the glittering palaces of Versailles, where Gemma and Suling embark on one last desperate quest for justice."

I have read several books by Kate Quinn and they were all 4+ stars so I was very anxious to get this new book. I have read just a short section of the book and nothing is clicking for me. Is this me, or the book?

I made a point of reading a number of reviews on the book and found the usual pluses and minuses. I could see that there is somewhat of a let down by some of her fans, while others are positive about the book.

I fully recognize that most of the members of LT seem to place little stock in book ratings, but I view them very important to me. One statistic that is important is the percentage of readers of a book that give it a 5-star rating.

For example, a favorite book of mine by Kate Quinn is The Rose Code. It garners 55 % of readers assigning 5 stars to the book. Meanwhile, for The Phoenix Crown that measure is 22%.

I don't decide strictly by that stat, I read what readers are saying about their reasons for the stars and also for readers that give a book 3 stars, or lower.

For this book the lower ratings were quite revealing to me as some of their issues related to my concerns and the higher ratings seemed to be more about how well they liked her earlier books.

So I discontinued reading the book. A DNF

>133 JoeB1934: I'm glad you enjoyed A Long Long Way, I've added it to my wishlist. For ages now I've been meaning to read Sebastian Barry.

>134 JoeB1934: Do you keep track of the books you DNF? I should start a tag in my library for them. I do have a tag "bookmark stuck" for books that I hope to return to one day, but don't have a tag for those I don't intend to revisit.

>133 JoeB1934: Glad you liked A Long Long Way . I’ve borrowed it from NYPL and hope to finish His Bloody Project before it comes due. I’ve read most of Sebastian Barry and am glad to find this one which I’d missed.

      Currently reading


Mrs. Dalloway by Virgian Woolf

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

>135 labfs39: No I don't keep track of my DNF's. I have enough to do keeping track of books I read.

I just proved to myself that I previously showed a list of books read in 2024 and it had books missing. Here is a corrected display

                Books Read 2024 thru 5-01

      Comments on Three Outstanding Books I chose to DNF


Mrs. Dalloway by Virgian Woolf

This is a classic and considered an outstanding novel by Virginia Woolf.

I read about 20% of the book and enjoyed the writing immensely. As I was continuing the book I determined that I simply didn't care how the story would end. Certainly, a lifestyle I would never participate in, but I just didn't feel any attachment to the individuals, in spite of the amazing writing.


None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

I have loved previous books by Lisa Jewell but mentally I couldn't handle the stress of this thriller. I have never enjoyed true thrillers, as suspense is more my thing. Again, as the stress built up I decided life is too short for this and returned the book to the DPL.


Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

For this book it wasn't the stress that caused me to do a DNF. Again, this is a fantastically written book that strikes exactly at my almost obsessive anger about the treatment of Native American indigenous peoples. I have a lifelong interest in the peopling of the Americas and have read quite extensively on the subject. At this time reading this book would be like throwing gasoline on an already raging fire in my brain.

There are many readers waiting for the book at the DPL so I returned it. Maybe I will be in better condition next year to read it.

My lack of success with the three books I couldn't finish has pushed me to re-evaluate the books I have on hold in Libby. Every one of those books are excellent candidates, but the question is 'Can I read them now?'.

Have to spend some time 'thinking'.

In some ways I have been snared by books mentioned as good reads by others whose threads I follow. In some of those mentions I catch a glimpse of promise for me, and they end up on my burgeoning TBR list. My current list has about 700 books, many of which came from other members.

Life would be somewhat simpler if I just read from 1001 books to read before you die, or nothing but books by a famous author, or current prize winner books, but that simply isn't who I am.

I just looked at my current list of Books on Hold with Libby and I was totally shocked that NONE of them are literary mysteries! In my wandering around I have ignored the books that drive me to read, which are literary mysteries.

      Three Books I am Reading



The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

The Weight of Ink is the interwoven tale of two women of remarkable Ester Velasquez, an emigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plague hits the city; and Helen Watt, an ailing historian with a love of Jewish history. When Helen is summoned by a former student to view a cache of newly discovered seventeenth-century Jewish documents, she enlists the help of Aaron Levy, an American graduate student as impatient as he is charming, and embarks on one last to determine the identity of the documents' scribe, the elusive "Aleph." Electrifying and ambitious, The Weight of Ink is about women separated by centuries—and the choices and sacrifices they must make in order to reconcile the life of the heart and mind.

The Women by Kristen Hannah

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over- whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.


Flight of the Wild Swan by Melissa Pritchard

A majestic novel of Florence Nightingale, whose courage, self-confidence, and resilience transformed nursing and the role of women in medicine

Sweeping yet intimate, Flight of the Wild Swan tells the story of Florence Nightingale, a brilliant, trailblazing woman whose humanity has been obscured beneath the iconic weight of legend. From adolescence, Nightingale was determined to fulfill her life’s calling to serve the sick and suffering. Overcoming Victorian hierarchies, familial expectations, patriarchal resistance, and her own illness, she used her hard-won acclaim as a battlefield nurse to bring the profession out of its shadowy, disreputable status and elevate nursing to a skilled practice and compassionate art.

In lush, lyrical detail, Melissa Pritchard reveals Nightingale as a rebel who wouldn’t relent—one whose extraordinary life offers a grand lesson in inspired will.


It wasn't by choice that two of these books are about nurses and their place in our history. They simply came to my attention by my semi-random process.

What isn't random is that all three books are about women of great strength and courage, which I look for.

>142 JoeB1934: All of these books sound very interesting, Joe!

I continue to reconsider which books interest me the most and have a current list of what I call Books on Hold. The display is in an order which reflects their literary mystery strength to me.

Just to provide a measure of the list, 28 of the books can be classified as literary mysteries. 11 are not literary mysteries, but literary fiction books. This ratio is about the same as most of my book reading.

I really enjoyed The Weight of Ink (other than the weight of the book, which was considerable).

Your reading speed far outstrips mine, Joe! btw, I'm glad The D. Case doesn't seem to have been a total loss. (I'm still reading it, at a very leisurely pace.)

Also, not sure if it was here or another thread of yours this came up, but re: replies, for my part I lurk more than I post, since there is usually little overlap with what I read, and I'm also not very good at gauging who welcomes and who doesn't discussion. Assuming there are others who feel similarly, I wouldn't read too much into perceived lack of/quantity of responses.

>144 JoeB1934: Mary Lawson is a favorite, I loved Road Ends, her writing reminds me of Kent Haruf, the best way I know to describe their writing is spare, if that makes any sense. Donna Leon's Brunetti mystery series is a go to when I need something familiar to read. I love the family dynamics as much as the mysteries. Looking forward to your thoughts on these two authors.

>147 almin: That is terrific news about Mary Lawson as I consider Kent Haruf as very close to my most favorite author. As to Donna Leon she is also a very much a favorite author.

>144 JoeB1934: I've been following your posts for a while but haven't really participated much in the group. It seems we have some similarities in reading preferences. I liked Cutting For Stone but had mixed emotions about The Nightingale. There are others on your list I've considered reading, including The Weight of Ink which I own.

>149 Ann_R: Thank you for checking in. Comments like yours are really appreciated by me as they help me to confirm that my wandering around isn't resulting in poor book choices. I enjoy hearing about books that touched a reader emotionally as formal reviews aren't nearly as useful to me.

I shall look at some of your books as I will most likely see books there that would also appeal to me.

For anyone interested in Historical Mysteries the latest monthly news from Tim has an outstanding list of 233 ranked historical mysteries. I have read 63 of them, and I intend to pick up more reads from that list.

>142 JoeB1934: I can hardly wait to see what you think of these once you have finished. The Weight of Ink looks very good.

Also want to point out that one book on your list, while primarily being historical fiction, is also a literary mystery, since the story is all about discovering who accused the main protagonist of treason and had him sentenced to the galleys. You already know it's one of my favorite books of all time, The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett.

>153 janoorani24: Yes, you are correct, and I am very interested in that book. I obtained it in CD form and its length means I have to open up some serious time to read it.

>152 janoorani24: I have been reading all 3 of those books in sections and all of them are very memorable by my standards. My first review will be for The Women which I just finished today.

      My Postreading Comments About The Women

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. Key Tags: Literary-Fiction, War, Mystery, Historical-Fiction, Family, Romance, Relationships, Women's-Fiction, Coming-of-Age

The Women by Kristin Hannah With an Average Rating 4.67 For 332,849 Ratings on GR


For those of you that haven't been aware of this book I provide the blurb from the publisher:

An intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over- whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

Faced with the task of reviewing this book I resorted to searching for more official professional reviews by industry reviewers, as follows.

Kirkus Reviews:

A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.

The novel focuses on the experiences of young women who served in Vietnam.

The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read.

The transformation of the protagonist, Frances “Frankie” McGrath, from a virginal, uptight nurse to a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world is captivating.
While some secondary characters lack depth, the overall plot is impressive and engrossing, even if the ending is somewhat predictable.

Book Marks:

Kristin Hannah takes up the Vietnam epic and re-centers the story on the experience of women.

The chaotic miseries of the combat zone are vividly portrayed, immersing the reader in the wartime setting.

The novel effectively deploys visceral details to convey the harsh realities faced by those serving in Vietnam.

The Bibliofile:

Kristin Hannah continues her strong record of telling compelling and intimate historical dramas about women.

In “The Women”, she focuses on a nurse serving in Vietnam, providing an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time.
The novel explores themes of heroism, sacrifice, and resilience in the face of war.

These 'professional' reviews left me completely disappointed as to how I saw this story. To read those reviews you most likely wouldn't recognize the impact of the Vietnam War on all dimensions of US society. So, I decided to put out how I read the story and my relationship to this war and wars in general.

How I See This Book

The publisher's blurb and the Kirkus reviews quite accurately describe Frankie's experience's from entering the army as a novice nurse with marginal understanding of what she had signed up for. She was driven to join up in honor of a brother who she was close to that died early in the Vietnam War. She and he were driven by the family history of 'Heroes' as promulgated by their father. As much as anything her desire was to be a family hero that would please her father.

The blurb states "As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over- whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost. But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam."

This return to America staggered Frankie as she quickly found that her father was ashamed of her and, not only didn't consider her a hero, but he had told all friends and neighbors she was "studying in Europe" while she had been away. This condemnation of her lasted years until they were standing together in front of the Vietnam War Memorial near the end of the book!

During the years after returning to the US Frankie went through very serious periods of drug and alcohol dependency, PTSD, loss of a baby fathered by a man that deeply loved her, but she didn't return that love. Her only other intimate partner was a truly deceptive officer that cheated her though repeated lies which I will leave up to you to discover when you read the book.

The Kirkus review states "the overall plot is impressive and engrossing, even if the ending is somewhat predictable"

My answer to that is, 'Predictable by Who?'. Yes, there are several events romanticized, but if we consider this whole story as symbolic for thousands of returning military, I was not offended by them.

Of the same importance to the war are the displays of how women were treated by all of society even when they were key to the war. There are only 8 women mentioned on the memorial as being killed during the war, but almost all of the men there were attended to by women nurses.

After the war when Frankie attempted to join groups of soldiers talking about their experiences she was excluded because the soldiers didn't think she qualified as a veteran of combat!

To my view this book places a spotlight on the awakening of the citizens, the military and the government which changed the US forever.

Now we all know about how many brave men and women died or were damaged forever by lies from the military and the government. How inadequate understanding of other nations feel about their own purpose in life can lead us to going to war for total lack of that understanding.

I really can't clarify these conclusions better than you can get from reading this book.

Instead, I will discuss how I personally evolved my thinking about war.

Where Was I and What was I Doing During This Period

After serious consideration I decided to discuss how I personally was affected by the Vietnam War, the Cold War with the USSR, and the US management of the defense of the US. I'm somewhat hesitant to reveal my story, but I hope that it might shed some light on the process by which I was affected my whole professional life.

By this time of my professional life, I was fully aware of the Vietnam War and what seemed to be a carnage for both sides in the conflict. I was somewhat skeptical of the so-called domino theory which included communism taking over all countries in SE Asia.

I have never been a member of the military, but I have associated with countless ranking officers all the way up to the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, the military industrial defense complex and several parts of the Intelligence community meant to serve the US defense.

I was a VERY minor player in this community, but I used analytical tools to help certain groups to try to manage US defense circumstances.

This story is more about starting as a conscientious objector that became involved in such a massive war fighting industry.

I received a deferment from the draft in 1952 by enrolling in college for a degree in engineering. Otherwise, I would undoubtedly have had to come to grips exactly how I felt about the war. I was very familiar with guns as we were a hunting & fishing outdoor family. Several uncles and my brother had been involved in WWII.

Part of that family was my Scottish mother who had become a member of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, and I was baptized into the church as a teenager.

Part of their doctrine was a position as a conscientious objector, who would request to be assigned to the medical arms of the military. This means that if I had joined the military in 1952, I would have become a member of the type of group that Frankie in the novel belonged to.

At that age I hadn't ever given the issue much thought. Was I actually a self-determined conscientious objector, or simply indoctrinated to be one?

Off I went to college and 4 years later I was employed at General Electric in a special 3-year advanced engineering training program. Part of that employment required me to obtain a Secret security clearance. This required a complete background check with contacts made to our neighbors and family members to decide if I was a trustworthy person. I did get that clearance, of course.

Another part of the process was for me actually to register for the draft, with a current deferment due to my job. It was finally time for me to decide if I would declare with a conscientious objector designation. By that time, I had thought about the issue somewhat, but not conclusively.

On one hand I knew that if my family was confronted by a threat, I wouldn't hesitate to defend them with a gun, if necessary. However, the notion of how bad war was as well as my religious background allowed me to declare as a conscientious objector who would serve in the medical services as a middle ground. So that is how I registered.

My work experiences with General Electric brought out in me my innate interest in what can be called systems analysis. This is where applied mathematics and simple big picture thinking is part of solving problems for any business. At GE I spent a whole year solving what they called example real-world engineering problems which weekly required production of a report which succinctly provided so-called theoretical management with the solution.

I worked for a number of years at General Electric but in 1960 I moved to Martin Marrietta Corp in Denver because I wanted to get back to the Rocky Mountains. Both of these companies are major players in the defense industry. My involvement was more applying analytics to the business rather than any war fighting studies.

My professional life came to a major junction when the Vice-president of Martin Marrietta in Denver came to our Systems Analysis research group of engineers and mathematicians with a request to advise him on the business prospects for their major line of business, the Titan ICBM missiles which would be used to defend the US in any attack by the USSR.

This was all part of the defense posture called MAD, or mutually assured destruction which was believed to be the only deterrent to any nation that would attack the US.

Our approach to answering this business question was to analyze how the Secretary of Defense would approach their evaluation of which systems would be the most cost-effective in defending the US against, in essence a WWIII.

Our analysis rather convincingly indicated that the main choice for the Secretary of Defense didn't include more expenditures for the Titan system which was the main source of income for MMC.

We arrived at this conclusion by creating a war gaming model of the US and USSR intercontinental weapons using the best information the US possessed about the USSR systems.

The main conclusion of the calculations was that both of the countries, and in fact the whole world would be destroyed if such a conflict ever occurred. In other words, the MAD doctrine was the only conclusion we could come to.

A second conclusion was that the US couldn't make any difference to the outcome by purchasing more Titan ICBMs.

One problem with the MAD doctrine was the assumption that leaders in both countries would behave in a rational manner.

I had learned over the years that every conventional war I ever read about was totally dominated by irrational military strategies and government mis calculations. I had already become totally disgusted, for example at the military strategy in WWI. What a catastrophic and brutal killing of men.

With this as a baseline for my emotions the only direction I could go was for intelligence which gave the military analysts maximum clarity on what any opponent might take. That doesn't guarantee success, but I would hope for the best.

I could see by this time that being a conscientious objector was NOT who I was. I now wanted to do what I could to avoid wars, or at least help them be well conducted.

This internal exercise got the attention of defense and intelligence analysts, and we began to converse with them about the model and how to use it more widely.

Ultimately my team obtained development contracts with several government agencies who thought the basic concepts for this initial exercise had promise.

As years went by, I focused on support with the intelligence community but never on intelligence collection. My involvement involves analysis of intelligence coming from open sources and economic analyses.

This all ended in 2000 when I retired. In describing myself I am strongly pro-women and anti-war without any activism for either dimension.

As a side note you might remember the Cuban Missile Crisis.

During this intense 13-day confrontation in October 1962, the U.S. and the Soviet Union faced off over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, which was just 90 miles from U.S. shores.

The crisis escalated when American U-2 spy planes photographed Soviet SS-4 medium-range ballistic missiles being assembled for deployment in Cuba.

This was a real test of the MAD doctrine being faced by both countries. Fortunately, rational behavior did prevail.

Maybe I was being foolish, but I was convinced that in the circumstance it would prevail.

. Key Tags: Historical-Fiction, Family, Romance, Relationships Flight of the Wild Swan by Melissa Pritchard With an Average Rating 4.3 For 117 Ratings on GR


The Copilot Synopsis

Flight of the Wild Swan is a majestic novel by Melissa Pritchard that tells the captivating story of Florence Nightingale. This brilliant and trailblazing woman’s humanity has often been overshadowed by the iconic weight of legend. From her adolescence, Nightingale was resolute in fulfilling her life’s calling: to serve the sick and suffering.

Despite Victorian hierarchies, familial expectations, patriarchal resistance, and her own illness, Florence Nightingale used her acclaim as a battlefield nurse to elevate nursing from a shadowy, disreputable status to a skilled practice and compassionate art. Melissa Pritchard’s lush and lyrical prose reveals Nightingale as an unyielding rebel—one whose extraordinary life offers a grand lesson in inspired will.

The novel beautifully explores themes of courage, self-confidence, and resilience, transforming nursing and redefining the role of women in medicine. Through Florence Nightingale’s remarkable journey, readers witness the power of determination and compassion in the face of adversity.

      My Postreading Comments About Flight of the Wild Swan

I was very impressed with this book which I was reading in parallel with The Women since both books involve women nurses as involved in wartime.

The book was written as fiction as if told by Florence Nightingale. I certainly wondered how such minute details could be imagined by the author.

These fears were alleviated by part of a review from bookbrowse.com which stated that the author relied on Nightingale's copious letters and journals and other documentary evidence. Since I was totally ignorant of her story, I determined to understand her history. This led me to a Copilot summary of her background and her biography.

Florence Nightingale, born on May 12, 1820, in Florence, Italy, was a remarkable British nurse, statistician, and social reformer. Her contributions to modern nursing and healthcare are profound. Let’s explore her life and impact:

Early Life and Education:

Florence Nightingale was the second of two daughters born to William Edward and Frances Nightingale during an extended European honeymoon.
Her father, William Edward, took a keen interest in her education, guiding her through history, philosophy, and literature.

The Crimean War and Nursing Revolution:

In late 1854, Nightingale received a letter from Secretary of War Sidney Herbert, asking her to organize a corps of nurses to tend to the sick and fallen soldiers in the Crimean War.

She quickly assembled a team of 34 nurses from various religious orders and sailed with them to the Crimea just a few days later.
Nightingale’s tireless efforts in the wards, providing personal care to wounded soldiers, established her image as the “Lady with the Lamp.”
She significantly reduced death rates by improving hygiene and living standards, revolutionizing nursing practices.

Statistical Innovations:

Beyond nursing, Nightingale was a pioneer statistician.

During her time in the Crimea, she developed pioneering statistical methods to convince others that widespread reform was vital.
Her work emphasized the importance of data-driven decision-making in healthcare and public health.

Legacy and Impact:

Nightingale’s dedication to formalizing nursing education led her to establish the first scientifically based nursing school—the Nightingale School of Nursing at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London (opened in 1860).

She also played a crucial role in setting up training for midwives and nurses in workhouse infirmaries.

In 1907, she became the first woman awarded the Order of Merit.

International Nurses Day, observed annually on May 12, commemorates her birth and celebrates the vital role of nurses in healthcare1.
Florence Nightingale’s legacy continues to inspire nurses and healthcare professionals worldwide. Her unwavering commitment to compassionate care and evidence-based practice remains a beacon for generations to come.

Did you catch that phrase "data-driven decision-making in healthcare and public health"? A woman I can really honor! These thoughts were echoed many times in the book with statements about mathematics being God's language.

I was astounded at the descriptions of the reaction to women nurses during the Crimean War by senior officers. The reaction in was replicated in many ways during the Vietnam War 100 years later.

This is a historical book which isn't normally my preference if it doesn't include a mystery to keep my interest up. In this case the whole book is a mystery as I just couldn't wait as Florence worked way through her life.

A major part of her journey was to overcome discouragement from her family which refused to accept her dreams as reasonable for a woman. Her sister was especially a major opponent of hers. This opposition delayed by many years her meeting what she felt was an instruction and obligation directed by God to her as a person.

I appreciate your personal comments based on your having read The Women.

>156 JoeB1934: Amazing history, Joe! Thank you for telling it. Sometime I-ll share my story of being a woman in the military. In the meantime, if you haven’t read it, I highly recommend The March of Folly by Barbara Tuchman. Her chapter on the Vietnam War is inciteful and scathing.

I just created a new group post using a New Yorker article by Kathryn Schulz about the importance of suspense in life and in literature. She says so well thoughts I have had about suspense in literature but could never credibly say.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/361060#n8544776

I have decided to take a fresh look at my TBR list of books and to determine which ones are of a priority for me to read in the remainder of 2024. As part of this process, I created partitions of the TBR into three sub groups.

My first partition, of course are books that I classify as literary mysteries. Not all mystery authors quite meet being labeled as literary writers, but I still enjoy some of them. My second partition I call Non Literary Mysteries. To my mind they all produce literary books without quite being labelled as such.

The third partition is books which generally are categorized as literary fiction, without officially containing a mystery tag.

For me the essential ingredient in any book I read is the presence of 'Suspense' as described by Kathryn Schulz and I am quick to drop any book I start if that ingredient is lacking.

The following display presents my TBR as they are partitioned by me.



With such a large TBR quantity I could easily find, say 75 books to read in any of the 3 partitions. So, why don't I just choose 75 books from my stated preference of literary mysteries?

The answer lies in the process I used to build the TBR list over the last year. I started 2024 with a list of books which I had come across during 2023 that seemed interesting to me. Since it is rare that anyone actually describes a book as a literary mystery I simply read about the plot and concluded it sounded interesting to me.

Maybe the book was mentioned by a fellow LT member that had a 4+ rating. Or maybe the sub-genre was one I am interested in, e.g., books-about-books, or magical realism. I especially look at any new books by one of my favorite authors, or by an author who has been listed as a literary mystery author.

However a book gets on to my TBR I use the Tag Mirror facility to create a list of a book's tags from my preferred list of 35 genre-like tags. It isn't necessary that a book contains a large number of my preferred tags, but I have found that I end up linking a book that contains a number of them.

A second important factor that I use will offend many of the other members on LT. This factor is the average rating for the book across all members who have rated the book. My preference is for books that have an average rating of 3.7+, with a real focus on 4+.

I fully realize that there are very incredible books that have a rating of 3.4, or 3.5. I have read some of them, but over the years my favorites come in at 3.7+ and I have to have some method to remove the majority of the 762 TBR.

I used the average rating and the presence of my favorite tag-genres to isolate about 75 books across the spectrum of my partitions. I didn't allocate each of the partitions in the same proportion as the full TBR, The end of that process produced 73 books which I am putting on my Wishlist.

      My Current Wishlist as of May 25, 2024

The next display presents my current Wishlist with the books listed by descending order of the quantity of their possession of my favorite tags. For example, the top book is Starling House by Alix E. Harrow has 28 of my favorite tags.

Every book in this list has an average rating of 4+. I also need to mention that some of the books at/near the bottom are so new, or not even published yet that there aren't enough tags to count. However, they are favorite authors of mine and i never pass up books by those authors

The display that has been part of this posting has been replaced by one more preferable to me. That new display will be posted soon.

I realize that the prior list hasn't much value to anyone but myself.

Also, the order of the list is NOT the order I will read. I maintain another collection which I call Holds in Libby which is a better indicator of my current book targets.

This is just one reader's process for focusing on individual books in a large TBR. It appeals to me as a way to bring to the top books that have the highest likelihood of rewarding my reading time.

The list is not at all unique as I could come up with maybe another dozen list of books which would also be interesting to me. A number of the books on this list will be dropped because of the mood I am in when I start the book, or the failure of the plot to grab my interest.

This is all so interesting. I will continue to enjoy following your reading journey.

Apeirogon, Cutting for Stone, and Project Hail Mary were all 4 or 4.5 star reads for me, but are not ones I would have recommended for you. I look forward to your impressions when you get to them.

>165 labfs39: The one on the list that is a 'flyer' is Project Hail Mary which I only chose as a look-see because another member I follow also had it. Worth a starting look with a very high rating.

The other 2 have passed my test even though marginally. Again, in those cases several members I follow have them also, like you. As you know I won't hesitate to drop any book that doesn't meet my mood.

      My Current Literary Mystery Wishlist as of May 28, 2024

      My Current Literary Fiction Wishlist as of May 28, 2024

I apologize for some of these covers being difficult to obtain tile/author. If you prefer a simple listing, I will be happy to produce one

      Where Do I Go From Here?

I should note that these two displays are for about 100 books rather than the 73 in my previous Wishlist. I decided to cast my net a bit further in a search which started from the beginning with a bit more disciplined criterion.

While these candidates are all excellent choices, I need to winnow the list down some more. This winnowing will provide me with more specific analyses for the mood I am in, or a plot which especially appeals to me, or to avoid a plot which is like a book I recently read.

How do I do the winnowing?

I start with the Collection I am interested in. For example, the collection named TOP100 L-M, for literary mysteries.

I order the books in that collection by the average rating in descending order. For a book of interest, I open that book page in a new tab.

In this new book display page I look at:

1) The average book rating
2) The Personal Interest Tags I have associated with the book via my use of the Tag Mirror for the book
3) The display of all tags placed on the book by other members, including numbers.
4) The complete LibraryThing Recommendations list of other books which have been recommended as being similar to this book page.

As an example of this process consider the book This is Happiness by Niall Williams which is in the L-M collection.

1) Average Rating 4.41
2) Personal Tags: Literature, Literary-Fiction, Thriller, Crime-Fiction, Historical-Fiction, Family, Romance, Relationships, Aging, Art, Coming-of-Age, Religion
3) Scanning the tags placed by other readers match the ones the Tag Mirror produced.
4) The complete LibraryThing Recommendations lists 36 books as being similar. The incredible thing is that 31 of the 36 books are check marked as being read by me.

Clearly this is a winner of a book for me. I could start to read the book and be disappointed but the odds of that aren't very high.

I have found this process works well for me, but there can be complications.

One complication is that LT might not have many, or minimal readers of the book and it appears that VERY FEW LT members actually create tags for their books. In this case, for example there were 562 LT readers and only 11 members described the book as literary fiction. The maximum tag count I could find was Coming-of-Age with 24 readers assigning that value.

I can obtain improved numbers from Goodreads where for this book they have 14,856 readers. They have an average rating of 4.22, 60 members that assign it as literary fiction, and 48 members that assign a coming-of-age. It appears that GR readers are even worse about tagging books.

Nevertheless, even though it is more difficult I can go to GR when they have more data on a book.

In spite of these complications, I can make very informed decisions by using Average Rating and the LibraryThing Recommendations to great advantage.

      Current Books on Hold



These are residuals from past creation. Still all good books for me to consider. Reading The Weight of Ink and it is a fantastic book.

I'm glad you're enjoying The Weight of Ink. If it hadn't been the choice of my book club a few years ago, I would have never read it.

. Key Tags:Literature, Mystery, Literary-Fiction, Literary-Mystery, Historical-Fiction, Family, Relationships, Aging, Books-about-Books
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish With an Average Rating 4.15 For 37,033 Ratings on GR


A Copilot Synopsis

“The Weight of Ink” is a historical novel by the Jewish American author Rachel Kadish. Published in 2017, it won the Jewish National Book Award in the Book Club category. Let’s delve into the captivating tale:

Plot Summary:

The novel begins in England in November 2000. Helen Watt, a British historian specializing in 17th-century Jewish history, receives a call about historical papers uncovered during house renovations in Richmond (part of modern London).
Helen enlists the help of Aaron Levy, an American graduate student, to review the documents. They discover letters written by HaCoen Mendes, a notable rabbi and scholar.

Mendes, a Portuguese Jew who fled to Amsterdam, had a young woman as his scribe. Ester, the scribe, had access to Mendes’s philosophical and religious scholarship.

As Helen and Aaron race to uncover Ester’s story, they grapple with their own secrets and regrets.

The novel alternates between the 21st and 17th centuries, exploring themes of resilience, agency, and forbidden love.

Themes:

The novel delves into history, religion, gender, and identity.

It portrays the challenges faced by women and Jews during the 1660s and the difficulties modern-day historians encounter in interpreting historical documents.
“The Weight of Ink” weaves together the lives of two remarkable women separated by centuries—a tale of heart, mind, and hidden histories.

      My Postreading Comments About The Weight of Ink

I find this book to be a masterful Literary Mystery involving history, mysterious documents, misuse of the potential that women can offer society and profound thoughts about who, or what is 'God'.

What I can't do is to write a traditional review of the book, so you will have to consult the several hundred reviews available in LT or GR. What I can do is to tell you my reaction to reading the book as a person who is not Jewish, but who can be educated by this story about the history of the Jewish people.

A few observations:

This book is a very slow read, while being a powerful 'page turner'. This ironic attribute exists because the author is incredibly economical in her statements.
Profound, or erudite statements force you to stop and think about what was said by a character, which slows you down while wanting to know more.

While I am not Jewish, I was raised by a mother that brought me into the Seventh-Day Adventist denomination as a teenager. As such the Sabbath was very important to her, and certain activities were not allowed for me. Fortunately, my Father who wasn't a church member provided outdoor activities he wanted me to be part of and I learned a lot about archaeology and geology from him that are more of my 'religion' than anything else.

Broadly speaking the Jewish traditions and culture were highly regarded by members of the SDA church. They were not the enemy and certainly admired.

I learned in this book more about the trauma and risks being Jewish in the 1600's. The Holocaust was incredibly difficult to understand and personally horrifying but, in many ways, it seems like it is a capstone on the way the Jewish people had been treated for centuries.

One of the most important things I learned in this book is that no matter the culture there will always be divisions in that culture which divide along philosophical lines. Some time it is a battle of power, freedoms for certain people, or behaviors which are not allowed.

The single point that struck me was the realization that a central question most everyone confronts sooner, or later is one about God, or a Supreme Being. Is this entity material, and is it interventionist into human events, or a bystander?

Ester addresses this critical issue in very profound ways.

The prevalence of sentences which cause the reader to pause and think about their implications made me come to the realization that listening in audio wasn't the best for this book. At about half-way through I switched to the eBook format so I could do pausing at my pace.

An excellent way to see numerous of those pausing statements is to read the following review by JennyArch

https://www.librarything.com/work/19033483/reviews/152218646

This review contains many quotes that made an impact on me, and I think they best represent the impact of the book simply by reading them.

Thank you very much JennyArch

A very important reason I love the review by JennyArch is the prevalent use of quotes from the book. Those quotes really magnify my reaction to the book. I am handicapped in using quotes because I most often am listening to audio and, while I notice them it is very difficult to retrieve the words.

Even though I focused on events and issues that were memorable to me, I need to emphasize that this book would be 5 stars for me even if the characters and events were about a different oppressed people, or even from contemporary life.

The author, Rachel Kadish treated characters in the story with the utmost care even when events weren't dependent upon their Jewishness. Father & son relationships were faithfully displayed, as were father & daughter. In many ways, the relationship issues could be related to in current society. Romance, sexuality and expectations about women's roles and career choices are with us today.

Or, as the synopsis says "The novel delves into history, religion, gender, and identity." so that even if the religion was different there will still be history, gender and identity issues to cope with.

My personal failure is that an important subject of interest to me is the nature of God. Ester addresses this numerous times as it seemed to be her strongest philosophical challenge. At the end of the book, she seems to have taken an explanation which worked for her. I really didn't comprehend the concept and let it pass. If any other readers have relevant thoughts they obtained I certainly would appreciate hearing them.

Personally, the horrific events in humanity, evolution and the age of the earth issues have led me to believe that if there is a god it is non-interventional. Does this become atheism, or what?

            About GOD

I have more thoughts about the portrait of God since I wrote above. Why does it matter to me? I don't believe in an afterlife, but I am curious.
Since Ester is a fictional character what she believed has to be a reflection of Jewish thoughts about the subject at that time.

At the end of the book a proposition is made that God IS Nature, and, I think, God is something called Desire. Not desire as I think of it but maybe the impulse to be alive, which seems to exist in all 'living' parts of nature.

When reading about evolution I have been struck by how after geological events wiped out almost all of nature the few remaining 'living' things begin the evolutionary development again to ever more complex things. Is God, that impulse to live and grow what seems to be endowed in every 'living' thing?

            MY THOUGHTS ABOUT REVIEWS

I really struggled with production of a review for The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish. The post that you see isn't one that I find very satisfying to me, as I went to bed last night.

In my judgement the review by JennyArch was all that any reviewer could hope to achieve. My struggles had to do with describing my personal emotions to the book. What could I say about a book that I think should be on the list of 1001 Books to read before you die?

Like MANY events in my life when I go to bed with a problem on my mind I awakened with, not necessarily a solution, but a personal revelation.

In this case I woke up with the thought that reviewing a book is akin to reviewing a famous painting.

For example, how does an art critic describe The Scream by Edvard Munch. So, I looked up a summary of the painting, as follows:

1. Existential Anguish:
Primal Emotions: The painting evokes primal feelings of anxiety, despair, and existential dread. The central figure, with its elongated face and open mouth, seems to scream out in agony.
Universal Experience: We can all relate to moments when life feels overwhelming, and Munch’s portrayal captures this universal experience.
2. Symbolism and Expressionism:
Symbolic Elements: The swirling sky, blood-red hues, and skeletal figures contribute to the painting’s symbolism. The bridge in the background represents the transition between life and death.
Expressionist Style: Munch’s use of bold colors, distorted forms, and emotional intensity aligns with the Expressionist movement.
3. Context and Biography:
Edvard Munch: Born in Norway in 1863, Munch faced personal tragedies, including the loss of family members to tuberculosis. His experiences deeply influenced his art.
Frieze of Life: “The Scream” is part of Munch’s larger series called the Frieze of Life, which explores themes of love, anxiety, and mortality.
4. Enduring Impact:
Cultural Icon: The painting has transcended art circles and become a cultural icon. Its influence extends to literature, film, and even emojis.
Parodies and Homages: While parodies abound, they also underscore the painting’s enduring impact.
In summary, “The Scream” is more than a visual composition; it’s a visceral cry that echoes across time, inviting us to confront our deepest fears and emotions.

Of course, such a critic doesn't describe how he/she personally reacted to the painting. The critic does describe 'Primal Emotions' as obtained by countless viewers of the painting.

Most publisher's blurbs, or the synopsis as I use to describe a book are to a great degree analogous to what the art critic produces. What can't really be done is to tell the reader how they should react. We all know that every reader of a book has a unique reaction to a book. That is why you see star ratings on many books that range from DNF to 5-stars.

I have found from experience that it is best for me to read a synopsis but avoid reading detailed reviews. When I am struggling to obtain my emotional reaction to a book, I then go to read more about what other readers have to say.

There are several excellent reviewers that I follow on LT. The produce very detailed reviews that can open my eyes to an author I should consider.

On several occasions other reviewers wrote about a book I had already read and frequently their reaction to the book was different than mine. This doesn't disturb me, as it simply confirms that each reader needs the freedom of their own reactions.

I never spend much time wondering 'what did the author mean by that?'. I realize that the author spent an incredible amount of effort to create a story and I owe the author the effort on my part to take the words as written and decide what the statement means to me.

At this moment I feel more comfortable in writing short reviews of a book that concentrates on the story details without anguishing over how to describe my personal reactions to the book. Some of those reactions should probably remain with me anyhow.

The analogy between book reviews and art reviews has some appeal to me. When I go to a museum, or art gallery with my family there is a repeatable reaction I observe.

Each of us goes at our own pace and we meet at the end to discuss what each of us thought. I usually have one, or a few paintings that I say I wouldn't mind going back to see more of. Others in the group will highlight their favorites.

I don't even try to explain my reasons why, but I do try to broadly explain some key feature to myself. Often there is a jog to some aspect of my life, or to a design pattern to the painting.

For example, I hadn't ever heard about mid-century modern furniture or objects but the instant I saw anything of that nature I emotionally responded to it.

A second example occurred in a trip to the artist center in Taos, NM when I was about 30 years old. Wandering around led me into a Modern Art gallery where we were immediately drawn to abstract art pieces by their non-figurative designs.

I had never had any art history classes, or even knew much about art at all. But those pieces struck me so much that we spent way more money than we could afford at the time. I still have that first painting in my office, and I retain the same emotions when I look at it.

We became very good friends with the artist couple that had moved to Taos from New York and, again spent way more than we could afford over the next 30 years. The artists were Louis Ribak and Beatrice Mandelman, who were contemporaries of numerous abstractionists and are of some renown.

We talked over the years with the artists about what they saw in their own paintings and usually there was an emotion behind the paintings. The painting I fell in love with was from their trip to the Aegean and it had that title. It was of the water and conveyed movement to me. Impossible for me to describe, but there it was.

On the other hand, on the same trip we became collectors of a totally different art.

These were black and white etchings by Gene Kloss, another well-known artist.

Her pieces were totally realistic scenes of Native Americans and the desert scenes in New Mexico. In those pieces my emotions were tied to my interest in archaeology and the abstract landscape I grew up in.

When I go into a show of her pieces, I am immediately drawn to those that are somewhat minimalist in nature and very like mid-century concepts.

I have gone on to appreciate other well-known art pieces, including figurative ones like The Scream. But I can't verbalize my emotions there other than a few key highlights.

So maybe that is all I can do with book reviews.

A message to Ridgewaygirl and ann_r, the two of you have commented about The Weight of Ink and I am especially interested in what you have to say about the book.

>175 JoeB1934: There's a ton of research behind The Weight of Ink, but that research is well incorporated into the novel. And the role of women of that time and place was so well done -- it didn't feel like Ester was a modern woman dressed in old timey clothes at all. That's what I remember about my reaction to the book when I read it, along with thinking about some of the ideas raised for some time after finishing it.

. Key TAGS: Literary Mystery, Literature, Literary-Fiction, Crime-Fiction, Historical-Fiction, Family, Relationships, Fantasy, Psychological-Mystery, Magical-Realism, Racism, Native-Americans, LGBTQ+

North Woods by Daniel Mason With an Average Rating 4.16 For 36,236 Ratings on GR



I strongly advise that you read this book before reading my commentary in the next posts as doing so will give you the best rewards.

I hadn't read any reviews and it worked out extremely well for me.

The Copilot synopsis of this book is so good that I decided to make it a new Post

Overview:

Author: Daniel Mason, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, has received positive acclaim for his literary work.
Book Recognition: North Woods was named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ choice and included in multiple Best Book of the Year lists.

Genre: The novel falls into the categories of Historical Literary Fiction and Contemporary Literary Fiction.

Setting: The story unfolds against the backdrop of a fictional region in western Massachusetts known as the north woods.
Themes: The novel explores themes such as Paradise Lost, The Narrative Puzzle, and The Land as Silent Witness.

Plot Summary:

The events span from the mid-1600s to the present day.

The narrative revolves around different characters who inhabit the same location over generations.

The novel employs limited third-person narration, often from the perspective of the principal character living there during a specific era.
Some segments are presented through first-person narration in the form of letters or memoranda.

Key stories include:

An anonymous pair of young lovers fleeing the repressive atmosphere of the Puritan colony. They build a cabin in the wild mountain region.

Decades later, after Indigenous warriors massacre a Puritan village, a young mother and her infant son seek refuge at the cabin of an elderly English woman.

Themes and Connections:

North Woods weaves together cycles of history, nature, and language, emphasizing our interconnectedness with the environment and each other.
This magisterial novel brims with love, madness, humor, and hope, making it a compelling read for those who appreciate rich storytelling and intricate connections

---

      My Postreading Comments About North Woods

The diversity of story lines in this book can be seen by noting the Key Tags aligned with the cover. These signify the presence of certain of my personal list of tags that I look for in books I read. The book has hundreds of tags and these are simply the ones I look for.

Note the incredible diversity in the list. It is really genre defying. Ironically my personal list doesn't include the word Nature which is absolutely the major tag for this book. Henceforth I am adding that to my personal list of interest.

The Goodreads list of genres for the book, which has 36,236 ratings, does include Nature in their list.

In my reading of the book Nature is, possibly the more dominant descriptor as all human behavior in the various short story like interludes is always compared to an aspect of nature. In my casting about for a way to describe this I came across a GR review that addressed this in a cogent way.

Reviewer Melissa ~ Bantering Books

"The structure of the novel is original: twelve interlinked stories corresponding with the seasons and months of the year, all set around a house in a New England forest. The first story takes place in the time of the Puritans, with each subsequent tale advancing through history and focusing on the revolving inhabitants of the house. Among others, Mason writes of an apple man, spinster twin sisters, and a painter – the stories all stunning in prose and cleverly linked, many shaded with a twisted darkness and a bit of the supernatural.

Each tale, too, is couched within some of the most beautiful nature writing I’ve ever encountered. Mason paints a vivid scenic picture and shows us how the land changes over time due to human interference, climate change, and blights. His ability to illustrate the interconnectedness of our natural world is unmatched."

It is ironic that, even though she gave the book 4 stars, she had a minor quibble about the book that stopped her from giving it 5 stars. She acknowledged that it appears that she was incorrect in doing this.

I absolutely disagreed with her analysis as it seems to me her 'quibble' was really missing the major nature dimension that she described so well in her quote above.

I listened to the audio and hadn't even studied the blurb from the publisher. That list of key tags from my list caught my attention, as well as the 4+ stars.

I think it was an actual advantage for me, as I just went with the flow of the story and was enthralled. The first time I became aware of how unusual this book story is happened when the first leading character, the apple man died in the Revolutionay War.

Once I finally caught on to the fact that this story was going to span from there to contemporary time by interlinked sub-stories that all tied to the house, nature, and different humans with their connections to the house I was really hooked.

In reading the book I became somewhat connected to each of the individuals in a sub-story, but only as an observer. In other words, I didn't get overly attached to any characters like I usually do. Instead, I was very attached to continuing the story stream.

Speaking of characterizations, the author Daniel Mason demonstrated incredible capability to describe the psychological dimensions of each character in the 12 short stories. Each story was spoken by a different individual, and he had to build that image over-and-over. In addition, some of the stories are interlaced by poetry which speaks to the overall dimensions of the book. He is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, so the concepts of the mind are allied with terrific literary skills.

To top this skill by an equivalent understanding of 'Nature' is incredible to me. He discusses nature in equally poetic ways. The net effect, for me was a melding of nature and humanity from basics involving reproduction desires for all life.

Look up the credentials of Daniel Mason to understand what unique skills he has.

I am going to end my commentary by presenting once more comments from another reader that expresses so well what I wished I could say.

From Goodreads August 21, 2023

Reviewer: Jill
Author
2 books
1,892 followers

Now THIS is why I read! Daniel Mason has created a masterwork with North Wood. If he doesn’t write another word in his life – and that would be a crying shame – his reputation is sealed with this marvel of a book. It’s bound to win the next Pulitzer and more importantly, the hearts of many readers like me.

If I sound overly enthusiastic, it’s because I truly am. I read this elegiac and sui generis novel with mounting awe and an abundance of admiration. The handful of pages about a lusty beetle is in itself worth the price of admission.

I can see my literary friends scratching their heads and asking, “Yes, but what’s this novel about? A lusty BEETLE? The power of nature and how it heals us? A pathologically jealous sibling? A mass murder? A deep dive into psychiatric disorders? A story of unrequited and society-shunned love? A GHOST story?” My answer to all the above would be “yes” but that barely scratches the surface of things.

If I had to sum up this book with one word, that word would be “connection.” Daniel Mason strips bare the tenuous connection between transient characters – those who once existed, do exist, and will continue to exist – within a setting that endures and is ever-changing. As one of the characters says about the boundaries that separate us, “One believes the world is enchanted or one does not.”

By the end of the book, it’s hard not to believe that there is enchantment at work in the world. As Shakespeare wrote, “All the world’s a stage”, and in Daniel Mason’s staging, the cycle of the seasons, the scents and sounds, the birds and mountain lions and beetles all have their place as humankind too, acts out its own dramas.

I haven’t yet addressed the prose. The author is like a magician, starting off by channeling Hawthorne and then quickly cycling through everything from old letter and medical case notes to poetry and mystery magazines. Moreover, no matter what voice he is adapting, he does it so well that the world melts away.

If you just read one book this year, make sure this is the one. I am so very grateful to Random House for enabling me to be an advance reader in exchange for an honest review. I would give this one six stars if I could!

>177 JoeB1934: I'm going to skip your thoughts on North Woods for now as I have plans to read it soon. I will definitely be returning to your words later though.

>178 JoeB1934: That is EXACTLY what I would recommend for everyone, and I will place a notice to that effect in >177 JoeB1934:

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Just to use the hackneyed phrase, 'time waits for no man' I am now reading new books by two of my most favorite authors. Neither of them are in the realm of literary superstars, but both are writing what I consider strong literary mysteries of long-standing series.

This is the end of the Maisie Dobbs series and surely close to the end of the Walt Longmire series.

Of course, none of us know when our series ends.