labwriter: 2010, thread eight and last

Here's my new thread.

Here's my old thread.




Books read in December

84) Louise Bogan A Portrait, by Elizabeth Frank. 4.5-star
85) A World of Light: Portraits and Celebrations, by May Sarton. 5-star
86) U Is for Undertow, by Sue Grafton. 3-star
87) Cheat and Charmer, by Elizabeth Frank. 1.5 stars
88) What the Woman Lived, ed. by Ruth Limmer. 3.5 stars
89) In the Bleak Midwinter, by Julia Spencer-Fleming. 3.5 stars
90) Middlemarch, by George Eliot. 5 stars
91) The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Stieg Larsson. 4 stars
92) The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson. 4 stars

I finished the second book in Stieg Larsson's trilogy, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and since the third book picks right up where the second one left off, I decided to start that one right away, since Santa was good enough to put that one in my stocking. So last night I started The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. But I didn't get very far--too much Christmas cheer, maybe? Heh.

I still need to read the third book in the trilogy! Maybe I will finally get to it in 2010.

Hi Becky! You must have been a good girl! Santa didn't forget you!

Next year I am gonna try to be good (hohoho) and leave my WL in my stocking... maybe Santa will get the hint! ;-)

Hi Becky. I actually finished Middlemarch last night and was so glad I read it. And I know that never would have happened if not for the encouragement of the GR. I'm still in a slight food coma from the last few days so will wait for my head to clear to post some final comments.

Merry Christmas, Becky! I finally finished Middlemarch also--I enjoyed it immensely! Thanks for running the group read!

Merry Christmas, Becky. Beautiful snowy picture. We had the salt trucks driving around Friday night, but we only got a little sleet and about 12 snowflakes.

Glad that you're sticking it out in 2010 - it's getting pretty quiet here, isn't it? I'm still posting here as well, although I did go ahead and set up a 2011 thead during the rush, just so that I could get in on the starring frenzy. Wanted to make sure that all my fans could find me - all 3 of them!

I've read the first 2 of the Larssen books. My reaction after #2 was that Lizbeth Salander was my new favorite character. Unfortunately, it sounds like she is not so prominent in #3. I'll get to that one in 2011, whenever I can get it from the library. I checked today and I'm up to #76 on the wait list.

>4 -Cee-: I made sure that 'santa' got my wishlist, with the ones I really really wanted starred. I made out like a BANDIT.....

>7 sjmccreary:. Seventy-sixth! Holy Cow. Send me your address and I'll mail you my copy when I'm finished with it. Seriously. So far it's pretty darned good. I've also heard that the second book is the best, but I'm willing to keep an open mind.

I've been doing almost all "entertainment" reading for the past week. I wouldn't call this fluff, because I think Stieg Larsson's books are better than that--certainly more complicated. But because I don't have any "reason" to read this book other than just to be entertained, then that's what I call it.

I'm halfway into the third book of Larsson's trilogy: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I was up until almost 3:00 a.m. reading this thing for the second night in a row. I don't like it quite as much as the second book, mainly because there is less in this book of the Lisbeth Salander character ("why" there's less would be a spoiler, which I'm trying to avoid). However, it's still a very engaging police/journalist/mystery thriller with some great twists. It isn't often when I'm reading one of these things and a plot twist makes me say--"Wow!"--right out loud. Larsson is an accomplished writer, and it's simply a shame that he's not around to write more books.

I'm having an easier time of reading this one than I did the first one, probably because after three books I've gotten used to the Swedish names. There are more darned people and place names in this book than probably any book I've ever read. Make no mistake, it's a convoluted story, and it is a more difficult read because it's by a Swedish author than it would be if the setting were, let's say, New York City. Sweden will never be confused with the U.S., by the way. Larsson gets a little more about Swedish politics into this thing, but I'm grateful that he didn't add more than he did. I am simply incapable of comprehending something called the "liberal conservative Moderate Party"--ha.

If you haven't yet read these books and you plan to, then I would say you should definitely read at least the last two books back-to-back. The third book picks up right from the ending of the second one, so if the second book is fresh in your mind, then this third one is a whole lot easier. I would also say don't even try to read the third one if you haven't read the second. And why read two and three if you haven't read one?

I gave The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo a 3-minus star rating--not quite a 2.5, but not quite a 3. I think that was because it dragged in the middle. But I wonder if I were to read it again if I wouldn't give it a higher rating, now that I'm used to Larsson's style and all the Swedish. Probably. I remember being annoyed at tripping over Blonkvist's name, but after the first thousand times or so, I finally got used to it.

I rated The Girl Who Played With Fire as a 4-star book, largely because of character, but plot twists also kept me reading into the night.

I'm thinking The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest will probably get 4 stars from me as well. I'm happy to say that in this book Larsson has left out the SM sex that was, IMO, too much a part of Book 2.

This is a good series, but it's not something that is a simple "vacation" read. This is a mystery thriller series someone can really get lost in, requiring some real effort on the part of the reader, but very much worth it!

Thanks for those reviews -- the DH has read those and he concurred -- that the first book took a lot of 'getting used' to the style. Helps for him though that he is a huge Henning Mankell fan.

Hmm... I'm still not convinced I want to read those books, but I'm very intrigued and I like the way you've given a few enticing details. Bah, maybe I'll download a sample to the new Nook and see what I think. Now there's something I couldn't have done before Christmas! Wow, suddenly a whole new world of reading opens up... haha. All right, you've convinced me (or I've convinced myself through writing this). I'll get the sample and give the first one a try.

Hi Becky!
It pains me a bit that I still don't want to read Stieg Larsson's three books. They must be pretty darn good cuz so many like them... but I don't think it's anything I would enjoy. I'll be glad when the overwhelming popularity subsides so I won't be tempted so much. I'm trying to think of it as "the one that got away" - you know, would have been a great catch, but too much for me to handle. Luckily there are many, many other books to keep me more than busy!

>12 dk_phoenix:. Hi Faith. I hope you like your new Nook. For Christmas I upgraded my Kindle to the new version because I gave my old one away, but it's still in the box.

The Larsson books aren't for everyone, that's for sure. I'm a bit surprised they were such huge best-sellers, mainly because I think they require an "experienced" reader, if you know what I mean--both somewhat experienced in the genre, but also a person who is a dedicated reader--of anything. I'm guessing that a lot of these books were bought but never finished. I think in a way you have to be just darned stubborn to get through them. And if you're put off by SM sex--well, there's that.

>11 sibylline:. Lucy, I guess I'm gonna have to check out Henning Mankell. The first one is on my wish list. I'm not convinced though that I want to spend so much time with another Swedish author right away. Swedes seem to me to be only just a tiny bit happier than Finns. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing--Lord knows I'm not exactly a laugh riot myself. I think all that dark cold does something to a person's psyche.

My take on Swedes is they are maybe a tiny bit happier but they also take themselves way more seriously than do the Finns who have an amazing sense of humor and belief in magic.... all I can say is read a Moomintroll book or two! Finn Family Moomintroll Tove Jansson It doesn't matter if you are a grown-up.

I'll never forget the 60 Minute piece by Morley Safer on Finland--it was years ago. Finns dancing--but with the most uniformly sad expression you've ever seen. Finns riding a bus--ditto. I have a good friend from Finland who confirms this view of them. I think they all probably suffer from SAD.

Oh Jeeze, I just love the Internet. I just found the Safer piece on YouTube. Here's the link.

I just read where Swedes view shyness and introversion as positive traits--thus individuals have no problem with reporting themselves as introverted, for example. Not so in the U.S. of A. Freaking extroverts all--except for a few. So Americans tend to evaluate introversion as a negative trait, and if they are so "afflicted," then they tend to hide it--or "compensate" for it, as one of my friends would say, a guy who is clearly introverted, but who will only admit to being a compensated introvert, whatever that is.

Maybe I should move to Sweden.

I think I remember the show on the Finns! I was a devotee of 60 minutes during its heyday.

Back to work this morning, reading Seeing Mary Plain: A Life of Mary McCarthy, by Frances Kiernan. This is turning out to be an excellent biog. Now all I need to do is devote more time to reading it. Her dates: 1912-1989. One of the questions I had about her was this: how did a girl who lived in Seattle get to be a graduate of Vassar? It turns out she had a high school English teacher who went to Vassar--and that's how--it wasn't any more complicated than that.

I think I've eaten a record number of ham sandwiches since Christmas Day. My ham was around 10 pounds, which without a bone is a whole LOT of ham. Yes, I could get creative with it, but I'm taking a break from cooking. We're just eating up all the leftovers. Although there may be a spaghetti dinner in our near future--ha!--just sayin'.

One of my favorite things to do with a ham bone is to make split pea soup. I have a recipe that is absolutely THE BEST. One of my "hobbies" is collecting soup recipes. Any time I go out to eat, anywhere, I always make sure I have some kind of soup--and then later, if it's good, try to either recreate it or find a recipe that seems similar.

The best potato soup I EVER at was at a lunch counter in Pella, Iowa. Pella was originally (and very much still is) a Dutch community (Pella means "refuge" in Dutch), and I do believe the Dutch make some of the bests soups ever.

Happy reading or whatever you're doing today!

Loved the video about the Finns.

I think you're on to something about the effect of the cold dark on people. And I wonder if it isn't coded into our DNA - like the ability to tolerate cold is (or so I understand). I like the stories set in Italy and other warm areas - the people are so passionate, the emotions always running high. However, I always feel like an outsider looking in when I'm around folks like that, and even when I'm just reading about them. But the first time I read a Scandinavian author - Indridasson, I think it was, from Iceland - it felt almost like a homecoming. My ancestors were northern European, although not Scandinavian. But the acceptance of the isolation that comes with the long winter, the gluminess, the melancholy - all these felt familiar at a very basic level. I love them. Of course I love the winter, too, and most people think I'm crazy for that.

>20 sjmccreary:. I think you're so right. One-half of my DNA comes from the Netherlands--and all of that comes from Friesland, which is the farthest north province. My 3rd-great grands and farther back all sailed the North Sea. The looks on those faces in the 60 Minues video all pretty much look like me. I very much relate to them. If I had to choose to live in one climate "forever"--hot or cold--I wouldn't have to think about it for a second. It would be cold. Yes, and you're right--I find that most people don't understand that attitude.

Good to see you.

I tell my husband that I'm ready to begin packing just as soon as he calls to tell me he's taken a job in Minneapolis (or Helena, or Bismark, or wherever). He just rolls his eyes. He's been whining for weeks already about the puny little winter weather we've gotten this month! I'm glad to find another cold-weather soul.

Love this discussion!!!! My husband is very very nordic -- and he just loves that gloominess, it amazes me. I am not sure what I am ultimately -- my heritage is largely western B.Isles as in Wales, Isle of Mann, west Scotland.... I do like a change of season and don't mind snow..... The DH has a gloomy outlook, and is comfortable with it, I like the dark season mainly because I'm an introvert and it's an excuse to stay home!!!!! I get kind of hyper in the summer and find winter restful..... what can that mean?

I am also a big soup lover, Becky. We are having a lentil stew for dinner tonight, as a matter of fact.

I tried to post something last night and kept getting an error message. Will try again.

>20 sjmccreary:. Jar City is definitely going on my wishlist--I think it's the first in a series by Indridason. Thanks for the tip. I've never heard of this author.

So here's today's fun fact from the Mary McCarthy biog, Seeing Mary Plain by Frances Kiernan. Mary was the first girl in her graduating class at Vassar ('33) to get married. She married a New York actor she'd been seeing for most of the time she was in college. He must have been at least 25 years older than she was.

Mary had a very sad life as a child. She was orphaned by the 1918 flu epidemic and raised by her grandparents, who were pretty remote. When she graduated, her graduation present was the money they would have spent on traveling to her graduation, since they stayed home. She was married in Manhattan, and again they were no-shows.

I'm about 90 pages into this biography, and all I can say is that this thing is outstanding. Kiernan has done a really thorough job and I love the structure of the book.

Of course Mary's novel The Group came straight from her experiences with the group of girls she was involved with her senior year at Vassar. The novel follows these women for seven years after graduation. I've only read the first chapter--it starts with a wedding, which is evidently very much like Mary's own wedding--but I've read enough of it to "get" the snarky tone of the narrator, which is something I don't normally enjoy. However, once I finish this biog of Mary, I am definitely going to give the novel another try. I also want to try The Company She Keeps.

#25 Jar City is the first book that has been translated to English. I think there are 2 or 3 earlier books that haven't been translated yet. I hope you like him. He is one of my favorites, and I was thrilled to see that the latest American release, Hypothermia, is waiting for me at the library today. I think there is already another title that has been released in the UK, and probably at least one more than that in Iceland. They made a movie of Jar City that is available on Netfilx. Filmed in Icelandic with English subtitles.

Thinking about it a little more, I suspect some of the reason I like Indridason so much is because he was the first Scandinavian I ever read. A lot of people don't care for him. But I like the way he tells his stories - sparing all unnecessary descriptions. The books are pretty short. I'm looking forward to hearing your opinion.

>27 sjmccreary:. I looked up Indrioason on Wikipedia and also on Amazon and found this list of the Detective Erlander series that have been printed in English.

Jar City (also known as Tainted Blood, pub. 2000

Silence of the Grave 2001

Voices 2003 (touchstone doesn't work for this one)

The Draining Lake 2004

Arctic Chill 2005

Hypothermia 2007

Jar City is going on the DH wishlist......

This quotation really hit me, from the Mary McCarthy biog. The girls who graduated from Vassar in 1933 (Mary's class) had an impossible time finding jobs. One of them spoke of waiting in line with 400 other applicants to "sell toys at Macy's" for $15 a week. Forget anything like a sub-sub editor job at one of the magazines, which girls just like them just 10 years before would have had their choice of.

Here's the quote from the biog:

This is a December 1933 letter (she graduated in June 1933) from Mary McCarthy to her best Vassar friend, Frani Blough:

I find that I am becoming a prey to boredom, the boredom that sends young wives out to join bridge clubs, where they become still more bored. Not boredom with John, not at all, just a feeling of vacancy that must come with the end of a four year routine. Housework and a book review or two are not effective substitutes for sixteen hours of classes a week.

I can second that.

I finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson. All it took was yet another night of reading until 3:00 a.m. Heh. I'm giving it four stars. How sad that this is the end of his wonderful character, Liz Salander. I think he would have come back again with her, since in this book Larsson keeps teasing us with the idea that "somewhere" out there is Salander's twin sister. Oh well. It was a good read, a continuation and wrap-up of the second book.

-finis-

Before year's end I will probably finish up a couple of books I started and had to drop because of some group reads. I'll continue reading the Mary McCarthy biog. I also might have to break in my new Kindle with something--probably those Detective Erlander books by the Icelander. (Icelander?--I guess so.) I also have a couple of "fluff" books that I will probably enjoy--two more of the Julia Spencer-Fleming books with the small town sheriff and the female Episcopal priest characters. I think A Fountain Filled With Blood is the next one in the series. So as usual I have plenty of books in the queue. We will be having one of our famously quiet New Year's Eves (no travel to Colorado to visit family this year for a change, thank the Lord, since the weather this time of year can be so iffy for traveling), so I'm thinking there should be plenty of time for reading. Hope everyone is enjoying this liminal week at year's end.

I've got my houseful of rellies, but so far they're all behaving themselves..... I'll be interested in hearing about the Spencer-Fleming, she's on my wishlist.

The Mary McCarthy Biography Quote of the Day

This was quoted in the biog by Frances Kiernan--this is from a friend of Mary's, c.1936 during a time in her life when she was divorced, living in Greenwich Village, and publishing pieces in The Nation.

You couldn't talk to Mary about socialism or Marxism or conservatism. No good asking her, "What do you think about John Stuart Mill's book On Liberty? She was no good on abstract ideas. She was fine on life in general. People. Society. People's reactions. Character. She responded very sensitively and sharply. Mary was a good writer, but ideas were not her thing at all. She was a great wit, but she was not a great thinker. Like many creative people, she had no gift for academic thought.

The Julia Spencer-Fleming books, starting with In the Bleak Midwinter are very well-written. Yet I would describe the books as light reading, unlike the Stieg Larsson trilogy that I just finished (which probably everyone knows starts out with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo).

So what the heck is the difference? These are both mystery-thriller series, and good writing is good writing, right? Well, yes and no.

Anyone want to take a crack at this? What makes Larsson a substantial read while Spencer-Fleming is just a nice, light fluffy entertaining diversion?

Ed. for speling.

I like that MM quote, I think I know what the person meant about her. Although that last line is the kind that makes me bristle, wtf does that mean even, academic thought? sputter sputter sputter...... Was that a man friend talking about her? Sounds a bit like that 'women can't think abstractly' crap. Still sputtering off into the night.

>36 sibylline:. Oh you got it, absolutely it was a man-quote. It comes from Isaiah Berlin, who Wiki calls "one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century." Unfortunately the biographer gives no context for that particular quotation, other than it must have been sometime around 1936 when Mary was divorced and working at the Partisan Review. They were contemporaries, born within a few years of each other.

Mary would have scratched his eyes out if he'd said that anywhere within earshot.

Glad you liked the Larsson trilogy - I've heard good things about them, but haven't gotten to read them. Didn't he intend to publish several more books about Ms. Salander? I was under the impression he died without finishing the sequels.

I want to try a Spencer-Fleming book too!

>39 BookAngel_a:. You're probably right, that he planned to publish more about the Salander character. I don't know much about Larsson. He has a website, though, that might tell more.

The Spencer-Fleming books are better than average for the genre. I'm only a little bit into the second one, A Fountain Filled With Blood. The titles all seem to be taken from hymns. She's a very good writer, IMO. I do think I remember with the first one having to overlook some rather implausible plot twists, although not so bad that I was put off by them. I guess what I would say about her books vs. something like the Larsson trilogy is that the SF books simply don't have all that much complexity. The characters are what-you-see-is-what-you-get, the plot line is fairly linear and bordering on thin and the "who-dunnit" is pretty obvious. She does a good job with description and setting, and her dialogue is very real. It's hard to fault her for much with all of that going for her. For what it is, it's a fine series.

#37: Ironic that you mention Isaiah Berlin. I just added one of his books, The Hedgehog and the Fox, to the BlackHole today.

#39: There were originally slated to be 10 books in the Larsson series. The first 3 were published and there is an existing manuscript for book 4, but unless Larsson's heirs come to some agreement, it is unlikely ever to be published. There is also, as I understand it, the basic framework of books 5 and 6 roughed out already.

Hi Stasia. Wow, wierd coincidence about Isaiah Berlin, huh? For those who are Tolstoy fans, the subtitle to the book Stasia mentions is Tolstoy's View of History.

Thanks for the info about Larsson. Wow, that makes me feel terrible. I just loved his stuff. I guess millions of others did too.

#42: It is a very weird coincidence about Berlin considering that prior to today, I had never heard of him and I only found The Hedgehog and the Fox by accident when I was looking for another book entirely.

I loved Larsson's stuff too so I am with you, Becky - it makes me feel terrible that his life was cut so short that he could not complete what he had started.

Yesterday is the first time I'd heard of him as well, Stasia.

All kinds of coincidences then!

My dear Labrador Jack got me up early this morning, so I decided to take a look at my reading for 2010 and write up some stats that maybe will help me with some goals for 2011.

This is based on a total of 92 books.

Books of Correspondence/Journals = 5%

Biographies = 16%

Memoirs = 15%

History = 3%

Politics/Current Affairs = 4%

Fiction--Entertainment = 36%

Fiction--Classic = 4%

Books about Writing = 3%

Essays = 2%

Self Help = less than 1%

Abandoned Books = 3%

Some thoughts about what I discovered from these stats:

I'm disappointed at the number of Correspondence/Journal volumes that I read this year. I have a huge collection of these on my shelf that are unread. I really enjoy reading these. So why am I not reading more? That would be one of my goals for the new year: to be more intentional about reading in this category. I think the best way to do that is to say that I'm going to read one of these a month. I read five of them in 2010--almost one every two months--but that's not enough. At this rate I won't make it through even a fraction of these volumes that are on my shelf.

Biographies/Memoirs
The total here was almost 30% of the books that I read for 2010. That's pretty good. One of the goals I had for myself for this year was to read more in this category, and I would say that I accomplished that.

Politics/Current Affairs/History
Only 4%. That surprises me--I know that in a "normal" year of reading, that total would be more. Add history and it's still a pretty paltry 7%. I'm a political junkie, and I enjoy this category a lot. I would be surprised if the total for this category is this low in 2011. I should also look for some good stuff in the "History" category.

Entertainment-type Fiction
Wow, 36%. That's a whole lot of "entertainment" vs other kinds of reading. This is sort of a catch-all category, which is one reason the percentage is so high. It includes "good" current fiction, but it also includes pure fluff. I would like to see this category decrease to about 25% in 2011.

Classic Fiction/Literature
Ouch! This category was only 4% of my reading. So what that tells me is that I need to be more intentional about reading literature. When I was getting my lit degrees, I obviously read so much of this stuff. But it would seem that I've gone from the sublime to the ridiculous. Much of this will be re-reads for me, but the thing about books in this category is that they're worth reading more than once because often the second time around (or 10th--ha) reveals something that a first reading didn't. Willa Cather said she read Huckleberry Finn every year. I think that's going to be the first one in this category that I tackle for 2011.

Books about Writing
This is the last category I'll mention. I had a disappointing total of 3% in this category, which represents only 3 books. I need to read more of this stuff.

So, I'm going to moodle these stats around a little bit and make myself a list of concrete goals for 2011 that I'll post on my brand-new thread at the 75er 2011 Group.

It's 59 degrees here this morning, and I'm thinking that I'd like to work outside on my garden beds instead of sitting in front of this computer. I simply can't believe that temp, but when I took the dogs out at 4:30 this morning (ahem), I didn't even need a coat. Whacko weather!

This is truly a great round-up Becky. My biggest reading category is the 3.5 fiction range, which is filled with decent 'genre' books and OK contemp fiction reads and all sorts of stuff like that, kind of the mainstay of my reading life. I think at one time, when I was younger I did push myself harder, and I am a bit disconcerted at how my standards have fallen. I wonder if you aren't doing a bit of unconscious hoarding with the Correspondance/Journal category that you so love, I catch myself at it and have to shake my head at myself! But I just love having a shelf of books I 'know' I'm going to love!

Hi Becky. I just "re-found" this thread. I was over commenting on your 2011 thread and clicked the link to come over here and saw there were 43 unread posts. Somehow you got "unstarred". I hate when that happens. I was thinking you were busy this week and not on LT much. Oh well!

I have the first Julia Spencer-Fleming book on hold at the library so was glad to see you liked it. I seesaw back and forth about reading the Larsson books but have never gone back to them after stopping at about p. 100 of the first one.

Happy New Year!

Hi Pat! Glad you found me again. I understand the back-and-forth about the Larsson books. The first one was my least favorite because I think (as I remember it, anyway) it had the least in it about Lizbeth Salander. I guess what I liked about the first one was the Swedish setting. I remember that I got sort of bogged down in the Vanger family genealogy minutiae. It's a good series, IMO, a worthwhile read, but it is very long--somewhere around 1800 pages.

I read Spencer-Fleming #1, then I read Larsson, now I'm reading Spencer-Fleming #2. My reaction to the second SF is that it's sort of a yawn compared to Larsson. Oh well.

Happy New Year, Becky! I am so glad you were part of the 75ers in 2010! Especially since some of my best reads of the year were books you recommended. I look forward to more of the same in 2011!

What an interesting comparasion - Larsson vs Spencer-Fleming. I love both of them, but they are so different that the strengths of one do not distract from the other.

I reread The Group in 2009 - I had a review copy of a new Virago Modern Classic edition with an introduction by Candace Bushnell for the Bookbag. They're bringing out The Company She keeps in the summer. I have Seeing Mary Plain and must get to reading it.