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Linda wrote: "Hi all! In December I read



Just Kids
Zeitoun
[bookcover:The Quiet Little Woman: Tilly's Christmas, Rosa's Tale..."
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Happy New Year to you, too, Linda !

Thanks for sharing your reads with us. It looks like you had a nice reading month.

Alias Reader wrote: "
The best online book discussion I ever participated in was for The Tortilla Curtain by TC Boyle."

there are just so many layers for discussion of this book. One of my best books of all time.

Bobbie57 wrote: Something told me that a book by Joyce Carol Oates on widowhood would not make me feel good. I will definitely pass on that.
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I've only read one of her books, and I enjoyed it. It was very well written. I read it when it because it was an Oprah book club selection and she had a message board on AOL.
We Were the Mulvaneys

She is a prolific writer !

Sherry (sethurner) wrote:Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann will probably be a favorite for 2010, whenever I finish thinking hard about the list. Structured much like the movie Crash, each chapter is about a different New Yorker, and their lives end up being intertwined. One thing they all have in common, being somehow connected to the man who walked a tight rope between the towers of the World Trade Center. Beautifully written.
*

I've heard nothing but good things about

Let the Great World Spin~~Colum McCann

I have been putting it off because I thought it was totally about the fellow who walked between the towers.

Now that I read your reviews, I see that is not the case. So I will put it on my TBR list. Thanks, Sherry!

Alias Reader wrote: "Sherry (sethurner) wrote:Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann will probably be a favorite for 2010, whenever I finish thinking hard about the list. Structured much like the movie Crash, each ch..."

Great book! I really enjoy the great Irish writers, and Colum McCann fits the bill.

Alias Reader wrote: "Bobbie57 wrote: Something told me that a book by Joyce Carol Oates on widowhood would not make me feel good. I will definitely pass on that.
----------

I've only read one of her books, and I enjoyed it..."

I have read several of her books but the Mulveneys was the best IMO. Another one on my list of all-time favorites.

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann - I tried and then abandoned it for greener pastures. It was my first book of 2010 and I wrote

<<
I realize that the short story form is very difficult and I do not think this author had a grasp on it, at least in this one story. So it will go back to the library, unfinished. Sigh. My first abandoned book of the new year.>>>

What I Read in December 2010

4781 Masters and Commanders How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941-1945, by Andrew Roberts (read 3 Dec 2010) This book, which I had heard nothing about till I saw it on the new books shelf at the library, proved to be an extremely fascinating and absorbing book! The author is a British historian and the book was published in Britain in 2008. The book tells of the meetings and interactions in World War II of what he describes as "four titans": Churchill, FDR, George Marshall and Sir Alan Brooke. (Brooke was the top general in Britain during the time considered, 1941-1945.) Using newly discovered records of the meetings in which these men were involved during the period, we get a very frank view of what they had to say and of the fierce conflicts they had. Though the author is British, he often faults Churchill and Brooke and shows they were often wrong. A big dispute was over when France should be invaded. The author feels Marshall was wrong to urge invasion in 1942 and 1943, and Brooke and Churchill were wrong to oppose the 1944 invasion. I felt Brooke was wrong usually, though Admiral King was a very tough character (he was at many meetings and was very anti-British). The book is totally absorbing, and tells of the war meetings in fascinating detail Any student of World War II cannot help but be caught up by this absorbing well-composed book.

4782 Scorpions The Battles and Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices, by Noah Feldman (read 7 Dec 2010) This is a facile study of the Supreme Court in the days of Justices Black, Frankfurter, Douglas, and Jackson, and gives mini-biographies of each, and sets out the tensions which divided these men, all appointed by FDR. The book uses well secondary sources, and collects stories and gossip to make a very lively account. It does a good job, I thought, in its discussion of the legal issues although its main thrust is to show the divisions among the justices--often very bitter. The 12-page bibliography is full of books I've read or would like to read. Douglas is the longest-serving justice in history, although Clarence Thomas, appointed at age 42, will no doubt break his record, more the pity.

4783 The Lawman's Redemption, by Pam Crooks (read 8 Dec 2010) This is a Harlequin book! I think the first I have ever read. I read it because it was written by a daughter of a first cousin of mine. It is a fast-moving story laid in 1884 in Montana. The lead female character has a Kodak camera, and such did exist in 1884. There is a lot of action in the story, both gun and romantic. I was surprised by the almost pornographic sex scenes, which I did not expect to find in Harlequin books. The author's picture is in the book, and she is pretty and looks like her mother, my cousin. I just thought I should read something by her, since I don't have many first cousins once removed who have been published. She has published ten novels. I wrote an Amazon review and gave the book five stars, though I did disclose that I was a relative.


4784 Clear the Bridge! The War Patrols of the U.S.S. Tang, by Richard H. O'Kane Rear Admiral, U.S.N. (Ret.) (read 15 Dec 2010) This is a 1977 book by the Captain of the submarine Tang. It tells of the five patrols of that submarine in the Pacific War. It is full of technical discussion of the submarine and of its operations. This made for not fun reading, and while one gloried in the successes the sub had, it was kind of repetitious and not as exciting as other submarine-related books I've read. The end of the book is sad since the sub was sunk by its own torpedo and most of the crew died and the survivors were subjected to awful Japanese treatment. The story is a great one, but told in sort of official officer talk. O'Kane was a smart officer who was dedicated to his job and his ship.


4785 A Journey My Political Life, by Tony Blair (read 20 Dec 2010) Blair entered Parliament 8 June 1083, became leader of the Labour Party 21 July 1994, and became Prime Minister 2 May 1997 and served as such till 27 June 2007. The book tells very little of his life before he entered politics and concentrates on his political life. I found it very good reading indeed, as I have books by other prime ministers, e.g., Margaret Thatcher's two volumes which I read 5 Feb 1994 and 11 Oct 1995, and Harold Wilson's memorable A Personal Record read 19 May 1987. I enjoyed reading the account even though I have not paid as much attention to British politics as I used to. Much he says makes good sense. Even his justification for joining the Iraq War, even if not convincing, makes a strong argument--mainly because Saddam Hussein was so evil. One cans see why Britain would want to be supportive of the U.S. There is a lot of discussion of internal British issues, soma of which was not super-interesting but much was. He is at times even funny and he is persuasive in his argument that "New Labour" was the way to go. He was at odds with Gordon Brown a lot and seeks to show that he did not give way to him till he was persuaded Brown would follow "New Labour" policies--but he knew he wouldn't. And Blair says that is why Brown lost in 2010.


4786 Lord of Misrule, by Jaimy Gordon (read 23 Dec 2010) (National Book Award fiction prize for 2010) This is an awful book, and never elicited my interest. It is laid at a West Virginia race track, and tells the story of four horse races, and a cast of characters interested in some of the horses in those races. It is one of those books that has lots of dialogue but no quotation marks. So there is a lot of bad English, either being thought by the characters or being said by them. I found the book utterly without Interest in any way.


4787 A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle (read 26 Dec 2010) This is a book which sometimes shows up in '100 best books' lists. It won a Newbery Medal in 1963 It tells of three kids going to another planet where the father of two of them has been for a long time, It is a place of total conformity, and the ones who run it seek to ensnare the kids. It is all fantastic and to draw a meaningful moral is impossible for me. I was glad to finish the book and now I know it was not worth reading for an old guy such as me.

Hi,

My December reads were:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Coming Home

I really enjoyed The girl with the dragon tattoo but found Coming Home to be bland, idealised and just dull.

Alias Reader wrote: "Bobbie57 wrote: Something told me that a book by Joyce Carol Oates on widowhood would not make me feel good. I will definitely pass on that.
----------

I've only read one of her books, and I enjo..."

I enjoyed the Mulvaney's also but some others of hers I really didn't like. And she does tend to be dark IMO. It is just that I am a widow and I don't need to dwell on the dark side of the issue.

Bobbie57 wrote: "
I enjoyed the Mulvaney's also but some others of hers I really didn't like. "

Same here. Some are just too bizarre, also. I read

Rape: A Love Story a few years at the urging of a friend who told me how masterfully it was crated. I mean, really, who would read a book with that title? But my friend was right and while I was not "glad" I read it, I certainly found out why she held that opinion. It WAS masterful.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Bobbie57 wrote: "
I enjoyed the Mulvaney's also but some others of hers I really didn't like. "

Same here. Some are just too bizarre, also. I read

Rape: A Love Story a few years at ..."

JoAnn, It kind of gives me the chills.

Schmerguls, I was happy to see your thoughts about the Tony Blair autobiography (memoir?). I've been wondering if that is one I want to read. Right now, it isn't a high priority, only because there are too many others that have been waiting too long.

Emma, for me The Girl Who Played with Fire was the best of the trilogy, but I didn't enjoy the books as much as most readers have. The only reason I continued after the first is that I love the Lisbeth Salander character.

I have a couple of Joyce Carol Oates books on my shelf, still to be read. With her, I never have an expectation that I will love her book or that I will dislike it because I never know quite what to expect. Still, when I do like her writing, I like it enough to keep trying her others.

Alias Reader wrote:Nineteen Minutes~Jodi Picoult
Fiction
Rate 2+
If you want to read a book about Columbine I recommend the excellent Columbine~Dave Cullen and skip this work of fiction. Picoult sensationalizes the murders and doesn't cover any new ground.

Alis, "Nineteen Minutes" was not about Columbine...it was a work of fiction about bullies, bullying and yes, a school shooting. Picoult often takes items in the news and builds a work of FICTION around it. Comparing "Nineteen Minutes" to "Columbine" is really like comparing apples to elephants, in my opinion.
I thought NM was very well done and brought out the viewpoints of the various people who are affected by a tragedy such as this.

My reading list is again meager...not sure why I'm not reading as much lately, but possible foot reconstruction surgery with 6 weeks on non-weight bearing should remedy that!

During the month of December, I read Christmas related books. Rarely are they great works of fiction, but it gets me in the mood...usually.

The first one I read was A Christmas Blizzard It was horrid. Normally I enjoy Garrison Keillor's humor, but it really fell flat in this book.


The other 2 I read were really good for getting in the spirit, especially:

The Santa Letters

And the 3rd was a re-read of a favorite:

Christmas Jars

Sherry (sethurner) wrote: Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks was fun too. His experience with all sorts of people with neurological difference due to genetic accident, physical trauma, or illness never fails to capture my interest. This time he looks at all the ways humans perceive and react to music, including a chapter about why some songs and jingles worm their way into your brain and keep playing over and over. I skipped a couple case studies, but found lots to interest me.

"

Sherry, based on your review which I saw on my feed earlier this month, I bought this book for my son, who is a music education major. Thought he might be interested.

Schmerguls wrote: "What I Read in December 2010

4781 Masters and Commanders How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941-1945, by Andrew Roberts (read 3 Dec 2010) This book, which I had heard nothing about til..."
------------------

I enjoyed reading your reviews, Schmerguls. I especially enjoyed reading about the FDR book. He is a favorite of mine.

Emma wrote: "Hi,

My December reads were:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Coming Home

I..."
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Welcome to BNC, Emma ! Thanks for sharing your December reads with us.

It's a shame the author didn't get to enjoy the tremendous success of his books.

Emma, I loved The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Are you going to read the rest of the series?

Nancy/nanckopf wrote: Alis, "Nineteen Minutes" was not about Columbine...it was a work of fiction about bullies, bullying and yes, a school shooting. Picoult often takes items in the news and builds a work of FICTION around it. Comparing "Nineteen Minutes" to "Columbine" is really like comparing apples to elephants, in my opinion.
--------------

She took a lot of elements from the Columbine shooting. That is why I compared it to the Columbine book.

I know her work fiction and that she often gets her ideas from the newspaper headlines. However, I felt she took a very serious event and trivialized it and sensationalized it. She also didn't bring any new insight to the topic, imo.

In fact, by taking a lot of the events of Columbine and conflating them with the topic of bullying, she perpetuates one of the myths of Columbine. And that is not useful.

I also thought the ending with the daughter was absurd.

We will have to disagree on this one, Nancy. :)

Nancy/nanckopf wrote: "My reading list is again meager...not sure why I'm not reading as much lately, but possible foot reconstruction surgery with 6 weeks on non-weight bearing should remedy that!
."
----------------

Nancy, that sure sounds painful. :(
I hope you have a speedy recover.

Alias Reader wrote: "Nancy/nanckopf wrote: Alis, "Nineteen Minutes" was not about Columbine...it was a work of fiction about bullies, bullying and yes, a school shooting. Picoult often takes items in the news and build..."

Definitely will have to disagree! There really wasn't a comparison to the two incidents, one real, one fiction. Other school shootings did involved bullying and I welcomed her fictionalized "take" on it from all the various views.

Alias Reader wrote: Nancy, that sure sounds painful. :(
I hope you have a speedy recover. "


I'm told it's very painful and that's what is keeping me from jumping right in with my decision. Lots to think about, but relieving the pain I live with everyday is a big factor. Thanks for the well wishes.

Marialyce wrote: "Emma, I loved The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Are you going to read the rest of the series?"

I have no idea what these books are about, but they seem to be very popular, so I have the first on my PBS Wish List. If it's really sci-fi I probably won't like it, but I have to give it a try.

Emma wrote: "Hi,

My December reads were:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Coming Home

I..."

And Coming Home is one of my all time favorite Books.

Nancy/nanckopf wrote: "Marialyce wrote: "Emma, I loved The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Are you going to read the rest of the series?"

I have no idea what these books are about, but they seem to be very popular, so I ..."

Oh no, Nancy, they are not sci fi at all.

My December Reads
by
The Same Sweet Girls Cassandra King 3/5 good but predictable story about college friends in middle age
Dashing Through the SnowbyMary Higgins Clarkand Carol Higggins Clark. rating 3/5 pleasant holidy mystery
Hot Flash Holidays: A Novelby Nancy Thayer a silly but quick and fun read for the busy holiday season
Fleece Navidad by Maggie Sefton rating 3/5 oay holiday entry in this cozy series

For some reason, I've not been spending as many hours reading, but in the past 2 months, I've read a series I've mentioned before, set in Kentucky starting in the 1880's, a time period I really like to read about.Jan Watson






They were just what I needed to read right now. Very well written, with great stories, and true to life descriptions of day to day life in this time and place. The author is a retired Labor and Delivery nurse, so one of the main characters is a Midwife. Some very interesting stories about that. I'm going to give all of the books a 4+.

I also read
Margaret Maron
She's one of my favorite authors. She writes 2 series, and I've read the one featuring Judge Deborah Knott. I started this thinking it would be a thin, fluffy, Christmas book. It wasn't, it was a regular length, full on murder mystery. I was kept guessing until the end. I think I gave this one a 4+ as well.

I know I have several new books coming to me from the Library, so I'll wait to pick them up Monday to see what I'll be reading next.

Thanks to everyone for sharing their books read. Susan, I read your review out loud to my DH...he loves to hear our posts!....and we both got a good laugh! I said to him, "I guess we'll cross that one of our list!" That's funny to us because we would NEVER pick up War & Peace.

Donna in Southern Maryland

Interesting comments on War and Peace Marialyce. I am reading that now but am only about 150 pages in. I like it but not thinking it's a super-great book at this point. Which translation did you read?

Bobbie57 wrote: "Anyway -- we have picked up some new members this year who have become quite active and I am grateful for them.

If all those people posted I honestly wouldn't have time to deal with it. "

Me! I only have 82 comments but just joined this year. And 400 people posting would definately be way too much! I am guessing some of those 400 read everything, but most probably have just forgotten about us.

I had a slow reading month but enjoyed both books:
The Handmaid's Tale - 4 stars
Shanghai Girls - 4 stars

My short and probably unhelpful reviews:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Donna in Southern Maryland wrote: "Susan, I read your review out loud to my DH...he loves to hear our posts!....and we both got a good laugh! I said to him, "I guess we'll cross that one of our list!" That's funny to us because we would NEVER pick up War & Peace..."

I think that great War and Peace critique came from Marialyce -- I loved reading her thoughts too!

Julie wrote: "Interesting comments on War and Peace Marialyce. I am reading that now but am only about 150 pages in. I like it but not thinking it's a super-great book at this point. Which translation did you read?"

Julie, I read the Pevear and Volkhonsky translation. It has a lot of the original French so you do need to constantly refer to the footnotes and translations unless you can read French.

When my TBR list gets too big I go to Amazon and read the one-star reviews. This helps to keep my list down. I did this with The Girl Who books and so they are not on my list

Donna and Susan, If you want to read the full "critique" you can go here:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/... and click on W and P.

Schmerguls wrote: "When my TBR list gets too big I go to Amazon and read the one-star reviews. This helps to keep my list down. I did this with The Girl Who books and so they are not on my list"

Mine either. LOL Love this "solution".

Marialyce wrote: "Julie, I read the Pevear and Volkhonsky translation. It has a lot of the original French so you do need to constantly refer to the footnotes and translations unless you can read French. "

I got that one and also one translated by Rosemary Edmonds from the library. I started with P&V but the footnotes drove me nuts after 9 pages so I switched. I still occasionally pick up the other just for comparison sake and P&V is starting to look just a little more awkwardly written in to me. I have a LONG way to go though. I am reading it as a group read with another group so I will have support and discussion, otherwise I probably wouldn't have attempted this. :-)

Julie, I sure can understand that. I actually printed out the notes and had 37 pages of them. I do hope you enjoy this massive book.

Susan wrote: "Donna in Southern Maryland wrote: "Susan, I read your review out loud to my DH...he loves to hear our posts!....and we both got a good laugh! I said to him, "I guess we'll cross that one of our lis..."

Susan, thanks for straightening me out! Marialyce, thanks for the laugh and the link to the full review. Darn short term memory loss....

Donna

Alias Reader wrote: "Sherry (sethurner) wrote:Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann will probably be a favorite for 2010, whenever I finish thinking hard about the list. Structured much like the movie Crash, each ch..."

Alias, I know your taste runs to nonfiction, so i thought you might be interested in a documentary film about Philippe Petit, the high wire walker referred to in the book. The film is entitled Man on Wire, and it was released in 2008. We watched it on DVD rom Blockbuster. I was fascinated by the man's audacity and simple joy in what he does. It helped me enjoy Let the Great World Spin even more.

Meredith wrote: "My December Reads
by
The Same Sweet Girls Cassandra King 3/5 good but predictable story about college friends in middle age
[book:Dashing Through the Snow|554538..."
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Meredith, it looks like you had a nice holiday theme going on in December. :)

Schmerguls wrote: "When my TBR list gets too big I go to Amazon and read the one-star reviews. This helps to keep my list down. I did this with The Girl Who books and so they are not on my list"
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I do that very same thing ! And so far, I've managed to stay away from The Girl Who books. The one - star reviews are scathing.

Marialyce wrote: "Julie, I sure can understand that. I actually printed out the notes and had 37 pages of them. I do hope you enjoy this massive book."

I have a character list printed which I keep looking at to keep things straight. It helps with the first name vs. last name vs. nickname switching.
I am liking it well so far. Some month I will post in this thread about it when I am finally done.

Julie wrote: "Me! I only have 82 comments but just joined this year. And 400 people posting would definately be way too much! I am guessing some of those 400 read everything, but most probably have just forgotten about us.

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Julie, you have been a great addition to BNC. We are so fortunate to have you here. :)

I don't want hijack the topic here, so I am going to comment on what we can all do to help make BNC better in the general conversation thread. If you have any ideas, do let us know in that thread. Suggestions are most welcome !

Sherry (sethurner) wrote:Alias, I know your taste runs to nonfiction, so i thought you might be interested in a documentary film about Philippe Petit, the high wire walker referred to in the book. The film is entitled Man on Wire, "
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Thanks, Sherry. I'll see if my library has it.

I also rented Man On Wire from Netflix. It's really quite good, though my hands were sweating through much of the film!

Kate

Sherry, do you think Let the Great World Spin would be a good group read? I am on the lookout for titles for my F2F book group.

I read in December 2010 those two books:
1."Pasion india" by Javier Moro.This book was translated from Spanish language to Slovakian.
2."Les derniers jours de Paris" by Nicolas d'Estienne d'Orves. This book was translated from French to Slovakian language.

I hadn't been interested in the "Girl Who" books either, but I heard a few people talking about them at work, so thought I'd give the first one a try. It should be coming from paperbackswap next week... I'll find out if it's for me or not!

My daughter and her husband just went to Kauai to celebrate their tenth anniversary. She took a huge number of books, 8, I think....and this is what she just wrote on her blog as her December reads, so I thought I would include it here:

...i've had a few people ask how many of that pile of books I actually read when we were in Hawaii. The answer? Six. And two more I started but didn't finish. By the trip back, I just wanted to read Oprah or People. I was tired of plots.

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova � this was an advanced reader copy. I love reading these because it’s like detective work for me trying to find the errors. I found one! But the book was good too…And will make you never reach for your cell phone in the car again.

Look Again by Lisa Scottoline � a plot I’d never read nor heard of. Good, quick read. Read it on the plane(s) on the way out to Hawaii. At one point I was crying and the guy next to me was trying to make conversation with me about Kauai. I think I heard him utter, “freak,� under his breath.

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman � cute, sweet read, which I read entirely one day by the pool, while sipping on Lava Flows. Ahhh. Were we really there? Or did I dream it?

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen � started but didn’t keep going. Found her voice a little obnoxious. Sorry. Doubt she reads my blog though.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout� Made it about ¼ through this. Everyone loved this book. Meh. Maybe I’ll give it another shot. I know Oprah recommended it. I'm pretty sure she doesn't read my blog either. Her loss, really.

The Castaways by Erin Hilderbrand � There were a lot of characters in this one and sometimes I felt like I needed a flow chart for all the affairs/addictions/attractions. But it was a good read.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jumpa Lahiri � Absolutely beautiful. I don’t usually like short stories, but this was fantastic. Jumpa, if you read my blog, you should totally make some of these full-length fiction. Go!

A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore � I finished this but I thought it was weird, and I found myself skimming. There was just too much - parent problems/terrorist boyfriends/adoption/death/winters in Michigan.