RidgewayGirl's Reading Part Three

Currently Reading (or about to begin, or under consideration, planned for soonish or started, but put down for now)



Schneewittchen Muss Sterben by Nele Neuhaus

Sorry by Gail Jones

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Springtime for Germany by Ben Donald

Blank

Books read in 2013

January
Broken Harbor by Tana French
Forged: Why Fakes are the Great Art of Our Age by Jonathon Keats
My First Murder by Leena Lehtolainen
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
The Female of the Species by Joyce Carol Oates
Cell 8 by Anders Roslund
Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith
There But For The by Ali Smith
Black Irish by Stephan Talty
Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton

February
The Moon By Whale Light by Diane Ackerman
The Collector by John Fowles
Black Dahlia & White Rose by Joyce Carol Oates
NW by Zadie Smith
Man in the Woods by Scott Spencer
The Death of Sweet Mister by Daniel Woodrell
Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan
Tenth of December by George Saunders

March
The Liars' Club by Mary Karr
Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Lessons in French by Hilary Reyl
A Quiet Belief in Angels by R.J. Ellory
The Cat by Edeet Ravel http://www.librarything.com/work/13194798
Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
Salvation on Sand Mountain by Dennis Covington
Son of a Gun: A Memoir by Justin St. Germain
Astray by Emma Donoghue
How to Survive a Natural Disaster by Margaret Hawkins

May
Dear Life by Alice Munro
Close to Home by Peter Robinson
Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell
Funeral Music by Morag Joss
The Burning Air by Erin Kelly
Them: Adventures with Extremists by Jon Ronson
Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler

June
Economix by Michael Goodwin
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
The Dinner by Herman Koch
Image Before My Eyes by Lucjan Dobroszycki
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris
How to be Alone by Jonathan Franzen
The Philadelphia Quarry by Howard Owen
Five Bells by Gail Jones

More books read in 2013

July
Third Culture Kids by David C. Pollock
The Jane Austen Marriage Manual by Kim Izzo
The Cooked Seed by Anchee Min
Blame by Michelle Huneven
The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas
Nineteen Seventy-Four by David Peace
All That I Have by Castle Freeman, Jr.
Mrs Kimble by Jennifer Haigh
Gods and Beasts by Denise Mina
A Crack in the Wall by Claudia Pineiro
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

August
This Must Be the Place by Anna Winger
Border Songs by Jim Lynch
A Hell of a Woman edited by Megan Abbott
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
The Red Road by Denise Mina

September
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
The Cradle in the Grave by Sophie Hannah
The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
The Other Woman's House by Sophie Hannah
Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella
The Expats by Chris Pavone

October
Go With Me by Castle Freeman, Jr.
The Collected Traveler: Venice by Barrie Kerper
Why Your Five Year Old Could Not Have Done That by Susie Hodge
TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
Paris: The Collected Traveler by Barry Kerper

November
Girls: a Novel by Frederick Busch
Dear Enemy by Jean Webster
Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda
Paris Was Ours by Penelope Rowlands
Welding with Children by Tim Gautreaux
Kittyhawk Down by Garry Disher
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
From the Jaws of Death by Brogan Steele
Right Ho, Jeeves by PG Wodehouse

December
In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century by Geert Mak
Roseanna by Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall
The End of the World As We Know It by Robert Goolrick
Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin
Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm by Philip Pullman
Saints at the River by Ron Rash
gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
The Oracle Glass by Judith Merkle Riley
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories by Alice Munro

Interesting books mentioned by other Club Read members:

Quiet London by Siobhan Wall (mentioned by kidzdoc)
Traversa by Fran Sandham (discussed by dchaikin)
The Recognitions by William Gaddis (recommended by EF)
Paris Changing by Christopher Rauschenberg (spoken of in passing by petermc)
Trapeze by Simon Mawer (reviewed by southernbluestocking)
New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani (wandering_star reviewed it)
The Absolutist by John Boyne (from Cariola's thread)
Alfred Andersch and Ernst Toller (authors suggested by edwinbcn)
The Maimed by Hermann Ungar (arubabookwoman wrote an excellent review)
Great House by Nicole Krauss (kidzdoc loved this one)
How Literature Works by John Sutherland (Nickelini thought it had merit)
Portrait Of The Mother As A Young Woman by Friedrich Christian Delius and The Beauty and the Sorrow by Peter Englund (both beautifully reviewed by wandering_star)
Blade of Grass by Lewis de Soto (SassyLassy liked it)
The Cooked Seed by Anchee Min (Cariola reviewed it)
The Rebel Sell by Joseph Heath (ljbwell had interesting things to say about it)
The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer (torontoc thought it was worthwhile)
The Last of the Just by Andre Schwartz Bart (reviewed by labsf39)
Crimson China by Betsy Tobin (endorsed by Edwinbcn)

Floating icebergs below. The roughly furrowed sea. They know there will be no turning back. It is all mathematics now. To convert the fuel into time and distance. To set the throttle for the optimum burn. To know the angles and the edges, and the spaces in between.

Colum McCann's Booker longlisted novel, TransAtlantic, begins with two men preparing to fly a repurposed British bomber from Newfoundland to Ireland, attempting to be the first to cross the Atlantic ocean nonstop. The novel follows them as they get ready, assembling their Vicker Vimy and waiting for the weather to be right. And then the story ends, moving on to a new one about Frederick Douglass on a trip to Ireland to raise funds for the Abolition movement in 1845, just as the Irish Potato Famine was taking hold. The final story of the first section involves Senator Mitchell as he works to reach what will be known as the Good Friday Accords.

But this isn't a book of short stories, or even short stories of famous men traveling to Ireland. The second part of TransAtlantic draws those seemingly unconnected stories together in the lives of the women of a single family, from Lily, the illiterate daughter of alcoholics working as a maidservant in a house that hosts Frederick Douglass during his stay and who is inspired to take a brave step by the former slave, to her daughter, who is a journalist reporting on the transatlantic flight from Newfoundland and her daughter, who photographs the intrepid aviators and on to Lily's great-granddaughter, the last living member of her family, living in Northern Ireland and looking back to the tragedy of the Troubles.

What shines in this book is the language, which is almost lyrical, while staying firmly grounded. It takes a strong structure here to hold McCann's writing, but it all works so brilliantly here. Moving from important men involved in great events to the most ordinary of women's lives is a beautifully effective method to bring forth the unexpected influences of big events in small lives and impact of the ordinary, small things on world-shaking events.

When I sat down beside them, their silence was lined with tenderness. We have to admire the world for not ending on us.

Oh good, I'm glad to hear you liked Transatlantic. I'm on my library's wait list for it, but hoping to get it soon.

Sounds like maybe McCann should have made the shortlist too. Enjoyed your review.

I'm surprised it didn't, Daniel, but maybe there was room for only one Irish author? I haven't read The Testament of Mary, but Colm Toibin is a gifted writer.

I look forward to finding out what you think of it, Jennifer.

What a wonderful sounding book and intriguing review. Will have to read this. Based on this, I'm agreeing with dan that it should have made the shortlist, but suspect you're right about the politics of representation.

Yours is the first review I have read of Transatlantic, and I see now why the book is getting so much buzz. I find the structure particularly interesting. Thanks for an intriguing review.

Wonderful review of TransAtlantic. The interconnections remind me of his Let the Great World Spin, which I loved.

You sold me on Go with me from the end of Part 2. I've added it to my wishlist. Then I get to Part 3 and have to add Transatlantic too. Mt TBR is growing phenomenally faster than my reading speed!

Glad you liked Go With Me! I still haven't read his Judgment Hill, but will one day.

I really loved Let the Great World Spin and I've been hesitating about this one, but I know I'll read it eventually.

Rebecca, I had hesitated with TransAtlantic because I thought Let the Great World Spin didn't look that interesting. And now I'm going to have to read it soon.

Excellent review of Transatlantic. I'm hoping my library has it. It sounds absolutely brilliant.

Enjoyed your review of Transatlantic, it's one on my wishlist and you've reaffirmed that I definitely want to get to this one. I noticed in your post number 5 above that one of your 'interesting books' is The Last of the Just by Andre Schwarz-Bart. For what it's worth I wanted to add my two penn'orth that it is a very memorable tale indeed and possibly one of the finest books I ever read. I hope you enjoy it.

I would like to read The Last of the Just also, not just because of Lisa's review, but also because The Bridge of Beyond by his wife, Simone Schwarz-Bart, is one of my top reads of the year. I also was a big fan of Great House, which is also on the Interesting Books list.

Excellent review of Transatlantic. It sounds intriguing.

Transatlantic made it to my wishlist a little while ago, but your review would have put it there. Very nice.

Last week, we went to Paris and had a very nice time. The weather cooperated, the crowds were thin and the kids had fun. Also, my SO took the kids off one day to the science museum and to ride bikes in the Bois de Vincennes so I could wander the Pompidou and the Orsay museums. Thanks to Lisa (labsf39), we rented an apartment which worked beautifully. It was in the 18th and if you went downhill, you ended up in a lively multi-cultural area and if you went uphill, you ended up in this small, perfect square at the base of the steps up to Sacre Coeur, the big, white basilica on the hill.

So, in preparation, I read Paris: The Collected Traveler by Barrie Kerper on the drive to Paris. The Collected Traveler series is intended to give a visitor a feel for the place through a collection of articles. It's not supposed to take the place of a guidebook and it's not supposed to be too time sensitive. I wish the author had reminded herself of that while she was putting the book together. It's a largish book, but a third is taken up with the sort of things one uses a guidebook for; packing guidelines, currency tips, etc.. I think that Kerper, traveling as frequently as she does, wanted to help out the first time traveler, but the result is a lot of filler that is organized better in any Fodor's or Lonely Planet guide. Then there were the articles, several of which were interesting, like the one on how to greet people and how to ask for the bill. The ones on food and wine are always fun, although I was disappointed to find that some were merely a series of restaurant reviews, again something done better by a proper guidebook.

I recently read Kerper's book on Venice and found the same flaws. The concept is amazing, but it's disappointing how poorly it was executed. Every so often, though, an article would be wonderful, full of the kind of history and observations that really makes a trip more interesting, but there is so much more dross than gold.

Kay, That sounds like a wonderful trip. I am quite envious.

Your trip sounds lovely, K. I think I have a block of some kind when it comes to Paris, going there just doesn't interest me (though I have enjoyed going other places, and have a long list of places I'd like to go).

I love Paris and haven't been there in more than ten years. You make me want to go back.

There are some nice fringe benefits to living in Munich. You seem to be making the most of your time there. Must be nice to nip off to Paris for a few days.

I've got Transatlantic on hold at my library but I'm low on the list of requests. Looking forward to it.

I'm glad the apartment worked well for you. How did you find it? I have some friends going next summer who also want to rent. What did you enjoy the most? What did the kids? Although I enjoy just wandering quite a bit, especially if I have a good guidebook to read about the history of the area, I must say my favorite was taking a quiet bateaux ride on the Seine one evening. It was a touristy thing that I had always disdained, but it turned out to be lovely. I think the key was finding a quiet company. My daughter enjoyed rowing on the lake in the Bois de Boulogne and Marie Antoinette's faux farm at Versailles. What's up next on your agenda?

I booked the apartment through a British site called "Homeaway", and the one we chose was up in the 18th because I had never seen much of that part of Paris. It was perfect, with a small, untouristed square just up the hill where the steps to the Sacre Coeur start on one side of us, and a vibrant, multi-cultural neighborhood down the street.

The walking around was great. We did a lot of that. We didn't make it to Versailles, but the kids loved biking in the Bois de Vincennes. I thought the Chateau there would more fun for them because parts of it are medieval. They liked the new foods and the Army museum quite a bit as well as the Tuileries gardens.

We did the Batobus, which chugs up and down the river and was a good way to take a short break between things.

I picked up Frederick Busch's Girls: A Novel hoping for a reasonably well done crime novel and got so much more than that. It was wonderfully written; Busch has the astonishing knack of making his words both eloquent and spare. His characters became people I knew, complex and interesting and the setting, a private university in upstate New York during a harsh winter, was so clearly drawn as to make me pull on gloves. Busch writes a little like Castle Freeman, Jr., which suits perfectly the setting of the book, but also with an understated descriptiveness that reminded me a little of Hemingway.

And, for all that, this is an unpretentious book about how a girl gone missing from a small farming community impacts the life of a man with the sorrow of his own daughter's death. Jack works as a university security guard, protecting the pampered children of well-to-do families as they do their best to misbehave. His wife and he are not doing so well; although they both wish their relationship was better, improving it seems to be impossible. Jack isn't a talkative man and his closest relationship is with his dog. When an acquaintance asks him to look into the girl's disappearance, he is reluctant to get involved. The state police know what they are doing and his investigating days never amounted to more than getting drunk servicemen to admit to their acts of violence. He slowly becomes obsessed with the missing girl, as she becomes mixed in his mind with his own daughter.

As much a psychological study of people handling more than they're equipped for, the plot nonetheless is well put together, creating a book that is both an entertainment and worth thinking about afterward.

Girls: A Novel sounds intriguing.

Nice review of Girls. My local library has it - so another one goes on the reading list!

I can't recall the last time I read a mystery, but this line caught my attention: "As much a psychological study of people handling more than they're equipped for". Enjoyed your review.

Enjoyed your excellent review of Girls: A Novel

I see you've had Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version on your page for a while. Are you reading them a story at a time? What do you think? I just bought this, and I'm happy to see that he's added commentary for each story. I haven't read much yet though, but it doesn't look like a book to read in just a few sittings.

Grimm's Fairy Tales was the first book I ever "read". I was only four years old and still hadn't actually learned how to read, but I looked along every line of text. My impression was that reading wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be. Or, was missing something? That was confirmed when I announced the achievement and didn't receive any oohs and aahs. I still have a soft spot for those gory stories that I go back to often.

Pullman's version of Fairy Tales fro the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version is excellent. He being faithful to the stories, with traditional tellings, and he's mixing up the onesm we all know with less well known tales. I was reading them with my son, but with the move and the new school year, we've let that drop. I've continued to read a story now and then (they are very well done), but I miss reading them with Max.

Dear Enemy is Jean Webster's follow up to the successful Daddy Long Legs. It follows the adventures of Judy Abbott's flighty socialite college friend, Sallie MacBride, as she works to renovate and reform the grim orphanage Judy had grown up in. Sallie doesn't look like the kind of person who would be able to be an orphanage superintendent. She is, by her own admission, silly and too much in love with having fun. But she's goaded into taking the job by the laughter of her boyfriend and now that she's installed in the superintendent's ghastly living quarters, she's going to give it her all to improve the lives of the 113 orphans in her care.

This is a childhood favorite of mine, that I reread every few years. Written as the collected letters and notes of Sallie as she gets settled and learns how very much needs to be done, it's amusing in the best possible way. What's interesting as an adult is the picture of how things like genetics were viewed a hundred years ago. There are references to the cutting edge work of that time, including the fantastic The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-Mindedness, which is both laughable and frightening to modern eyes, but was seriously considered in the eugenics movement of that time. So that in between the silly capers and misadventures of Sallie and her orphans and the light romance between Sallie and the dour Scottish doctor is a heap of information on how people back then thought orphanages ought to be run and the role of a child's background in his or her future chances.

I too read Grimm's Fairy Tales at a very early age and have been intrigued by the new version but haven't picked it up yet. I read a lot of fairy tales as a child, not just the Grimm ones and am also intrigued by reworkings of them.

Pullman pulls together different versions and has notes on each story which bring up elements found in other versions from other European countries. If you're interested in fairy tales, it's a fascinating collection.

I too am intrigued by re-tellings of fairy tales but usually find I prefer the old ones. I will watch for Pullman's version, it sounds like a good read.

I have Jean Webster's book too, unread as yet. They will have to be moved up higher on Mt TBR.

I didn't know Jean Webster had written a sequel to Daddy Long Legs -- soft spot for her as she's from my part of the world (the part I grew up in).

Nice review of Frederick Busch's Girls: A Novel back there. I'm not familiar with his books at all, but your review led me to adding his short story collection Don't Tell Anyone.

Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda was a frustrating read for me. By turns, I couldn't stop reading and was somewhat bored. Telling the story of three people who have had difficult relationships with their parents but who find a tentative happiness as roommates in an enormous old Paris apartment. The three main characters were interesting enough. There's Philibert, the stammering, history-obsessed postcard seller, who has the apartment while his family fights over a will, Camille, the sensitive artist who has given up art and is working as a cleaner in an office and Franck, the tempestuous sous-chef who is run ragged between his arduous job and his grandmother, who lives hours away and may not be up to living on her own any more. Predictably, they become stronger as a group of misfits forming a sort of family.

There's a lot to like about this book. The setting is Paris and Camille, Franck and Franck's grandmother are quirky, endearing characters. The third resident of the apartment remains thinly drawn, to the point where his transformation and independence occur entirely off the page. And it's sometimes self-consciously quirky, as though the characters' actions and traits are there more for the effect they will have on the reader's heartstrings than fully realized parts of themselves. I like that in the aftermath of the success of The Elegance of the Hedgehog, more books seem to be making the leap from French into English translations. I just wish a better book had been chosen, but much of my dissatisfaction with this book is my dislike of whimsy and charm. Not everyone dislikes a happy ending.

Not everyone dislikes a happy ending.

Very funny! And how true.

Interesting review of Hunting and Gathering-- I love the cover of the book. Does it relate to the content in any way?

OK 'fess up. What has happened to Infinite Jest

Rebecca, many people have loved the book. And I know how cranky I am.

Jane, one character is an artist. It's a gorgeous cover, isn't it? The title, on the other hand, has nothing to do with the book at all. The French title is Ensemble, c'est tout (Together is everything), which isn't even close.

Bas, I'm still working my way through it. Not actively, if you want to get picky, but I consider it a book still underway. I'm stuck halfway in, which is too far in to give up and not quite far enough to think that I should just buckle down and finish. I got distracted by another doorstop of a book called In Europe, which I think you recommended, although I could be wrong. In any case, that book is fabulous and the book I pick up when size is not a factor (or print size, for that matter).

Great review of Girls. You've pushed my WL over the edge with that one.

was so clearly drawn as to make me pull on gloves.
Love it!

Years ago, I read the title story in Tim Gautreaux's collection, Welding with Children: Stories and it stuck clearly enough in my mind that when I ran across a copy of the book, I wanted to read it. Considering that I have forgotten entire novels, this is notable. The story remained much as I had remembered it; the first person recounting of a day spent caring for his daughters' children, and the realization that he is not free from blame in his daughters' life choices. Set in a small town in Mississippi, there's both a strong atmosphere of people not quite getting by, of cars rusting in side yards next to decaying porches, and an undercurrent of hope.

That sense of resilience is, along with rural Mississippi, the common themes of this excellent and diverse selection of stories. Gautreaux takes set-ups that with Daniel Woodrell or Donald Ray Pollock would end in a blood bath and steers them in unexpected directions. In one story, a desperate criminal's home invasion is written with an off-beat humor, as he is thwarted by the elderly woman he finds in the house, and as her neighbors notice something is wrong. In another, an old man, disoriented in the Wal-Mart parking lot, is kidnapped by a carelessly cruel opportunist. This is the harshest of the stories, but there is a bright note in the man's desperate attempts to remember his past. Other stories deal with the remnant of a leading family, living in her decaying house and relying on the piano tuner for company, a priest whose drinking problem and inability to say no lead him into illegal acts and middle-aged man attending a writing workshop finds that he may be the only attendee with a desire to improve his writing.

I'll be looking for more by Tim Gautreaux. He's a fine writer with a strong sense of place.

Welding With Children is a great title.

I never heard of Tim Gautreaux before and will look for him. And yes, great title.

Yesterday, I left the house without a book, necessitating a quick trip to the Hugendubel bookstore downtown, which has a good English section. I only picked up three books, which showed moderate restraint. I picked up Standing in Another Man's Grave by Ian Rankin, Night Film by Marisha Pessl and Europe Central by William Vollmann.

I left the house without a book

Bad planning, but at least you quickly recovered! Europe Central is a fascinating but somewhat odd book. Did you read Pessl's Special Topics in Calamity Physics?

No, I haven't, Rebecca. I have a copy, however, it is sitting in a storage locker in SC. I picked up her new one despite a vague rule of thumb not to buy a book by an author if I have an unread book by the same author, based on a single review. The other reviews have been decidedly mixed, but this one though the book was worthwhile and described it in such a way as to have me hooked.

Incidentally, it was your review of Europe Central that had me grab it. If I remember correctly, your review said it was a bit bloated and odd, but interesting. And I like Kathe Kollwitz.

Well, I'll be interested in your review of the Pessl, because I was underwhelmed by the book I read.

Initially I misread your book's title as Welding the Children, which needless to say immediately caught my eye. Even though it isn't quite that drastic, this sounds like a book and author I would like. It's hard to write about books of short stories: nice review.

Great review of Tim Gautreaux's Welding with Children: Stories. I have The Next Step in the Dance on my TBR shelves at the foot of the stairs, and another couple on the wishlist. I'm gonna add this one too as I like short stories and southern writing. I was led to Gautreaux via the likes of Larry Brown (one of my favourite authors) and Barry Hannah.

In The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox Maggie O'Farrell dumps the reader into a complex story somewhere in the middle and moves out in both directions. There's the present day story of Iris, who owns a vintage clothing store and has few close attachments outside of her dog and her step-brother. She is informed of the existence of an aunt she never knew about when the institution her aunt has lived in for the past sixty years is closing. And then there's the story of that aunt, Esme Lennox, beginning with her childhood as an energetic and imaginative girl in India.

O'Farrell manages to pack quite a bit of dramatic occurrences into a slim novel, without falling into melodrama. There aren't a lot of quiet moments here; there simply isn't room. I enjoy O'Farrell's talent for drawing the reader into the intimate lives of her characters. She manages to make the story believable. I might have liked to have understood a few of the secondary characters a bit better, but this was a book I had a hard time putting down.

I enjoyed your review - this was the first book by Maggie O'Farrell that I read and it was good to be reminded of it.

From the Jaws of Death is a collection of true stories of wilderness survival edited by Brogan Steele, which I'm pretty sure is a made up name. I read several chapters at random during a long car trip, so I can say with some authority that the ideal audience is a ten year-old boy. The poor writing in several of the stories did not detract him from the adventure. The stories range from the very old, (Such as Pierre Viaud's tale of being stranded on the Florida shore in the early eighteenth century with only a woman and a slave. They ate the slave.) to a few relatively recent accounts set in Alaska.

The clear star of the collection is Ernest Shackleton's account of a desperate journey in an open boat with just a few other men to find help after his ship, the Endurance, is crushed in the Antarctic ice. His matter of fact telling of a horrific and dangerous journey is spell-binding. I will be reading the full account soon. And there lies the weakness of the book. Because it's a collection of stories, many of which are pulled from the full accounts written by survivors, there's a let down at the end of many of the chapters. To follow Shackleton's story, or Owen Chase's story of being stranded in a small lifeboat with inadequate supplies, for just long enough to be invested in their survival, only to have the chapter end and the rest of the story summarized in a few sentences is disappointing. I'm sure it will lead to many of these original accounts being read in full, but to the person reading In the Jaws of Death, it's like being pulled out halfway through a movie and having to be satisfied with someone telling you the ending in the car on the way home.

There were also a few duds. No one expects someone who has lived through some death-defying adventure to also write eloquently, but several stories were taken from two collections of Alaskan survival tales in which the authors wrote down the oral stories of survivors. And they were the worst written stories of the bunch, with oddly placed quotations (Above him, Tunks took in the "magnificent" vision of the H-3 aircraft "exuding power"…) or a whiny tone that might have gone unnoticed if I hadn't just spent time with Shackleton surviving much, much worse with a cheerful stoicism.

If you're fascinated by how people survive under difficult conditions, then I recommend reading the accounts many of these stories were drawn from. If you're a ten year-old wanting an adventurous story or two, this book is perfect.

I thought this sound intriguing until I got to the part about the ideal audience being a 10-year-old boy!

Well, I sometimes think I have a 12 year old boy living inside of me. Is that too old? He likes to tease girls and pull hair. He's probably a little immature.

Left the house without a book? Don't you have kindle on your phone for emergencies? Although that wouldn't have helped me this morning when I left without my glasses.

Nice review of From the Jaws of Death. I hope you do get to Shackleton's epic South, I read it a few years ago and have never forgotten it. It is one of the best works of non-fiction I've ever read. The drama is spellbinding and the writing - though clearly of its time in the style of language - is moving and truly exhillirating. Comparison's between Shackleton and Scott ("of the Antarctic") have always bothered me since I read anything about Shackleton. Scott was clearly unlucky though he made many avoidable mistakes that compounded so horrifically in a miserable end. Shackleton never lost any of his men to what he called "The White Warfare of the South".

Shackleton is utterly awesome. What was telling in this collection was how humane he was. Later (and earlier) accounts glossed over the animals (or men) they killed for sustenance, while Shackleton regrets the albatrosses they killed for food, while noting the necessity. He also never whines, brags or mentions how pious he is.

According to Caroline Alexander, one of Shackleton's animals that didn't make it was the cat, known as Mrs Chippy. She wrote Mrs. Chippy's Last Expedition: The Remarkable Journey of Shackleton's Polar-bound Cat in the style of an explorer's logbook. Very entertaining, especially if you are familiar with Shackleton's story, but unfortunately life on an ice floe was deemed too difficult for the cat. Sad ending, but a wonderful story.

>63 Polaris-: I'm going to look out for South. It sounds like a book I would enjoy.

John Rebus is retired, sort of. He now works cold cases, sorting through dusty cartons of old files, looking for the missed clue or the piece of evidence modern technology might be able to unlock. It gets him up in the morning, limits his drinking and gives shape to his life. In Standing in Another Man's Grave, Rebus is drawn into a current investigation when a series of disappearances is shown to be possibly linked. Rebus is both part of and excluded from the investigation. He's no longer a real police officer and the center of the crimes being investigated is in the north of Scotland, not in his familiar turf of Edinburgh. But he's the one who drew the connections to the eyes of the investigators and he has a talent for hanging around where he's not officially supposed to be. His old-fashioned methods may be frowned upon, but they show results, even if those results might not hold up in court.

I'm probably alone in this, but when Ian Rankin announced that Rebus was retiring, I thought that it was none too soon. I've loved Rankin's books about the cranky detective who alienates many of his colleagues and isn't adverse to a wee bit of violence from the beginning. But Rebus grew jaded over the years and his cutting of corners had less and less to do with necessity than habit. Rankin began a series featuring a new investigator, Malcolm Fox, who looked into the criminal and unethical behavior of cops and who was as different from Rebus as it was possible to be. I liked Fox, tightly wound and diligent, and I was enjoying getting to know him. He and Rebus were, under the skin, more similar than either would admit; both dedicated to their jobs and lonely. I began looking forward to the new Fox novel in the way I had once anticipated the new Rebus.

Then Rankin brought Rebus back with Standing in Another Man's Grave. The short break has done both author and character good, with this novel being among the best in the series. I'd be happy if Rankin divided his attention between these two characters, but this book indicates that this will not be the case as in it Rankin has transformed the complex and diligent character he spent two books developing into a one-dimensional bad guy who jumps out of dark corners to threaten Rebus while twirling his villain's mustache. So while I was happy to have a solid crime novel to enjoy, I'm disappointed with what Rankin has done to his new protagonist. Ian Rankin has some 'splaining to do.

I've only read 2 of the Rebus stories, so I have a long way to go. I just downloaded the 3rd to my iPod yesterday, so I will be getting to that one soon. I am starting my first Dr. Siri book on my way to jury duty today.

Enjoyed your review of Standing in Another man's Grave

Nice insight into Fox and Rebus in terms of similarities. I also liked his cutting of corners had less and less to do with necessity than habit. It was interesting seeing Rebus outside of Edinburgh. It was nice to see him back and you're right; the break probably did them both good.

I too found myself unable to put down the Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox and stayed up very late one night reading the whole thing. I even exclaimed aloud a couple of times, startling my sleeping spouse.

I saw an exhibit of photos from the Endurance and was completely mesmerized. Your review of From the Jaws of Death have inspired me to dig out my copy of South.

Colleen, how is jury duty going? I hope you have plenty to read.

Thanks, Bas.

SL, I have been unable to avoid the temptation to grab a copy of next Rankin book, Saints of the Shadow Bible.

Lisa, have you read After You'd Gone?

No I haven't. Is it as good?

I think it was better. I loved it. I'm looking forward to reading her other two books.

"Colleen, how is jury duty going? I hope you have plenty to read."

It is moving right along, Kay. Thank you for asking. Some boring, some interesting. As for books, I have more than I will ever be able to get to. Of course that won't stop me from buying more. :)

Wow. I'll have to add it to my wishlist.

Every so often it's very enjoyable to just lean back and let PG Wodehouse tell me another story about Bertie Wooster, gay boulevardier and carefree man-about-town, and his fish-eating manservant Jeeves. In Right Ho, Jeeves, Bertie must contend with a bossy aunt, a friend who can't quite summon up the courage to tell the girl he loves how he feels and a manservant who disapproves of his new, natty jacket. Wodehouse tells essentially the same story in each of his Wooster and Jeeves books and that is a part of the charm, along with some of the funniest dialogue ever written and main character with a gift for creating outrageous messes, while remaining utterly ignorant of his effect on others. Right Ho, Jeeves was, like every other book in the series, an absolute delight.

>76 RidgewayGirl: I haven't read all of the Wooster and Jeeves stories, but have loved the ones I've read.

In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century is an awe-inspiring book. Author Geert Mak spent 1999 traveling around Europe looking to understand and tell its common history. What does someone from Stockholm have in common with someone from rural Poland, or the coast of Portugal? Beginning in Amsterdam at the dawn of the twentieth century, and winding up in December of 1999 in Sarajevo, Mak draws together the disparate threads of each country's history, into a broad picture of what has made Europe what it is today. I loved this massive book. It pulled together all those bits and pieces I've acquired through the years, from classes, newspapers, articles and books, and showed me where they belongs in the bigger picture.

Mak travels from place to place, centering each chapter on both a location and an event from the twentieth century. He talks to and looks at both ordinary people and those at the center of great events. He looks at how an event is both influenced by what had happened before and how it, in turn, shapes what occurs later. He looks at those obvious pivotal moments, like those fatal shots fired by Gavrilo Princip on the quayside in Sarajevo, as well as more obscure things like what happened to Jean McConville of West Belfast. The great moments are made personal by telling the story of someone caught up in it all, whether the son of a former ruler or a young mother trying to keep her family safe.

I had to read this book slowly. It is thick with connections and how the hurried decisions of a government can affect the lives of ordinary people forever. It was also an emotionally wrenching book. I'm not sure how he did it, but Mak managed to make both troop movements and strategical decisions intertwine with how that would have been experienced by an ordinary soldier or a civilian watching his house burn.

Geert Mak is Dutch, and so a little removed from the patriotic tales woven into the lives of the citizens of great powers. He was able to look at one side of a conflict then drive on a few miles and look at that conflict from the other side. He doesn't look to find bad guys or good guys, but to find out why people acted as they did, on imperfect information influenced by their own histories.

I'm a little sorry I've finally finished On Europe, but I'm looking forward to deepening my understanding of Europe's last century as well as someday rereading this book.

That sounds like a fascinating book, and something that i would appreciate (I hesitate to say "enjoy," given the horrors of the last century in Europe.)

In Europe sounds interesting. I think I will put it on my check it out list.

Rebecca, it is fascinating, but not a good choice for a book to carry with you. Some of the chapters were hard, but not unbearable. You're right, though. The twentieth century was not a gentle one in Europe.

Colleen, you'd like it, I think.

Love that picture you have in #1. I saw it somewhere on the interwebs with the comment that what once was meant to represent the horrors of female independence, today just looks like an awesome bar! (If one doesn't mind cigar smoke, at least. :))

In Europe sounds interesting, although it may be a while before I get to it. Bloodlands has taken the desire to read sweeping European history out of me for a bit. Not because it's not a good book, but because it's so depressing.

I read The Inimitable Jeeves, but it sounds like the same stories. I wonder if it is the same book under a different title, or if all the stories sound a bit the same?

Lola, the conversation I followed pointed out the anti-emancipation brigade's sad lack of imagination in thinking that the only alternative to the patriarchy was a world in which women took over and relegated men to the tiny "Gentlemen's Parlour" instead of a world where men and women might both enjoy freedom. But, yes, I would totally spend lots of time at that bar.

Lisa, I have Bloodlands high on my list. I'm prepared to despair. And since all of the Wooster and Jeeves books follow essentially the same plot (the disapproved article of clothing, a formidable female relative, a close shave with an engagement, etc..) you may have read Right Ho, Jeeves or you may have read a different one. I'm convinced Wodehouse wrote precisely enough books so that by the time you've finished them all, you can move right into the rereading of same.

Just ordered In Europe from Amazon -- sounds like an amazing read,

I have Bloodlands high on my list. I'm prepared to despair. It's always nice to meet someone else who reads the depressing stuff!

Sometimes it's nice to have books like Jeeves to fall back on. Dependable, you know what you are getting, and funny. I find myself dipping into Stuart McLean's stories of the Vinyl Cafe owner Dave for that sort of fix. Have you read (or heard) any of the Dave stories?

Jane, I will look forward to finding out what you think about it.

Lisa, I have a copy of Stories from the Vinyl Cafe, but I haven't read it, and it is, naturally, in storage in the US right now.

I was listening to German radio this morning and there was a discussion going on about Bloodlands. I'm just going to order my copy today.

The body is found in a canal near Lake Vattern. Martin Beck is sent from Stockholm to lead the investigation. But the body is all they have and it seems impossible to even find out who she is. Roseanna is the first in a series of books written by Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall and featuring Martin Beck. First published in 1965, Roseanna is a snapshot of a very different world, one where everyone smoked like chimneys and a Transatlantic phone call was an event.

Police work was also unrecognizable. Stakeouts depended on the undercover officer being able to find a public phone when he needed to. Getting information from somewhere else depended on digging through physical files and sending them by mail. Beck is dogged in his pursuit of the murderer of the young woman, but unlike a modern crime novel, there's quite a lot of hanging around doing nothing going on. Hunches take weeks to follow through. The great fun in reading this book now is in enjoying all the period details. This is a solid police procedural written long before the Scandinavian crime novels became popular.

"Prepared to despair" LOL

Roseanna - the technology - doesn't it make you wonder how we ever got anything done? Reminds me of when I went down in an old Titan missile silo (museum now). The equipment was SO SO old it's hard to believe it could have blown up the world. And very scary to think we expected it to work. And it would have. It's just weird.

RG, do you see yourself reading the whole series of Wahloo and Sjowall books? They are quite addictive. Many credit them with launching the whole Scandicrime phenomenon. What amazed me was how seamlessly they wrote together. It is difficult to separate them out. The period details were fun, but I suspect the nothing happening is still quite current for a lot of crime investigations while new information is sought.

You could be in for a minor binge read there.

In Europe sounds like an interesting take on the century. The more ways of looking at it, the better. Those books that we are sorry to finish are always the best.

Merrikay, I bet they never wasted an hour just wandering around the internet, though!

SL, I've added them all to my wish list. I'll certainly continue to follow the series, but since I don't have them in hand right now, I'm safe for the moment.

Roseanna sounds like it belongs on my wishlist... so there it goes.

Well I think of myself as a European rather than a Brit so I think I should read In Europe: Travels through the twentieth century Excellent review.

Count me in for the depressing reads list too. I'm reading a remarkable book now, that is both very depressing and a tribute to the author's desire to stand as a witness: 1941: The Year That Keeps Returning by Slavko Goldstein. It's about the Nazi and Ushtasha takeover of Croatia and what happened to the author's family, but he's gone back and done incredible research. So I will get and read In Europe, but not right after this book.

Oh dear, that sounds good too, Rebecca. I may need to read something light next though as I'm currently reading Rue de Retour, a book I learned about through your review. Wonderful writing, but grim too.

That's a depressing one too, Lisa! I've been thinking of you while reading the 1941 book, as I figured it would be one for you.

>88 RidgewayGirl: That era doesn't seem all that long ago for some of us!

>71 RidgewayGirl: I'm sure that must be the Rankin I have on order, due out in January. I'm trying to read The Boy in the Snow, the 2nd in the M. J. McGrath's series but it's not grabbing me. A reliably good Rankin novel is always something to look forward to.

>71 RidgewayGirl: and >97 avaland: Glad you succumbed. It's due out in hardcover Jan 14th (why would they miss the holiday market?). I mentioned it the other night and the response was "It will be good summer reading", which I took to mean "Wait for the paperback". Probably not a bad idea though.

So here's the advantage of living in Germany and having to go downtown to the giant bookstore (refreshingly crammed with people all the time) with a small, but decent, English language selection. I now get books on the British publishing schedule, so I have my large trade paperback edition of Saints of the Shadow Bible already in my hands. I'll be very careful of spoilers.

Lois, it was just slightly before I was born. Once the music of an era is described as classic rock, you know it's historical. Which means the eighties have moved into history.

Lisa and Rebecca, I've made note of both titles. I've got Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder on its way to me. I'll see where I am after that.

Bas, I was surprised you weren't the person who recommended In Europe to me (that was MeditationesMartini) as it seemed as though it would be something you would read. You did bring The Discovery of France to my attention.

>99 RidgewayGirl: Some of us try to bypass the delay by ordering from the UK :-) I didn't mind waiting a bit for the Rankin this time as I have gobbled up a dozen Peter Robinson titles this year. I've put the McGrath aside and am reading Black Skies by Indridason.

Ah, the 80s. It's a blur of permed hair and small children for me.

Robert Goolrick is best known for A Reliable Wife, which I thought was a fine, if not fantastic, book. Despite this, I picked up a copy of his memoir, The End of the World As We Know It, which he describes as "scenes from a life", because I read the first paragraph and was hooked. Goolrick sucked me into the story of his relationship with his parents and didn't let go until I closed the book. This book, which takes events from his life, or themes, and places them into non-chronological chapters that could be read in any order, although the way he has set things up is to show elements of his life, the alcoholism, say, or the stay in a mental hospital, and then to later put them into the context of his childhood, which was not a carefree one.

This is a horrifically difficult book to read, and a compulsively readable one. Goolrick's writing is simultaneously gorgeous and unflinching. I probably would not have picked up this book if I'd known the contents ahead of time, but I'm very glad to have read it. Don't read it if you would prefer not to look at the worst of humanity, but also avoid it if you're a fan of the "misery memoir". This book avoids sugarcoating anything, but there are also no vicarious thrills or moments where love conquers all. It's a very, shockingly, honest account from a damaged and difficult individual, who writes with immense skill.

I was not a fan of A Reliable Wife, and I think I'll skip this one! But thanks for the review.

Popping in to say hi and see if you've started Bloodlands yet. Maybe you'll be the incentive I seem to need to finish it.

Rebecca, I also didn't love A Reliable Wife. I am now interested in at least looking at whatever he writes next, though.

Lisa, it arrived today. I'm tempted to start tonight, but I'm not sure it's the best choice for holiday reading, especially when there will be a lot of people around -- I don't want to be the person who talks about nothing but genocide at the party.

I don't want to be the person who talks about nothing but genocide at the party.

LOL! I know what you mean! I just finished reading about a poet imprisoned for 8.5 years because of "crimes of opinion" and moved on to a Polish officer sent to the Gulags after fighting the Germans because he must, of course, be a spy. Maybe I should read Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital to have something current and fashionable to talk about. ;-)

In Saints of the Shadow Bible, John Rebus finds himself back on the force, but demoted to a lowly DS and relegated to working with his arch-enemy, Malcolm Fox, as they look into shady dealings in the cop shop Rebus worked in back when he was just starting out as a DC. In those days, Rebus joined forces with a group of detectives who weren't opposed to cutting corners or knocking heads if that's what it took. It's an uncomfortable place for Rebus to be; he's still not above going around the law when it suits him, but he's made uncomfortable by just how far his compatriots went and is torn between his loyalty to them and his desire to do his job. Of course, things become more complicated than just revisiting an old inquiry. Siobhan Clarke, his former subordinate, is now his boss, and she's doing a good job. Fox is moved back into regular detective work, but he oddly has Rebus at his side as they both end up working together and maybe even developing a respect for each other.

The old series has benefitted from the shake up. Clarke is better as Rebus's boss and it's good for Rebus to be held to account by someone who knows him well. And Fox, who was thinly and unpleasantly drawn in the last book, is reclaiming three-dimensionality. I hope Ian Rankin continues to develop Fox as a real character. I'm also interested in the way he's highlighting Rebus's own willingness to skirt the law whenever it's not working fast enough for him. Rebus is becoming a likable, but unpredictable anti-hero. I'm looking forward to where Rankin takes things next.

I've only read the first two in this series, but look forward to reading the rest. I was introduced to the series by you and others in Club Read. Thank you. :)

Rebus must be knocking on a bit. I thought he was past retirement age. Nice to hear he is back in action though.

I looked up Robert Goolrick's home page to find he is a Virginian and very much a Southern American.

Colleen, you have much fantastic reading ahead of you.

Bas, he retired and then reapplied when the retirement rules changed. And Goolrick's book was very much about growing up in the South.

You can add me to the list of people who did not like A Reliable Wife, but you may have convinced me to at least consider reading Goolrick's autobiography. That book was so dark, I'm not surprised to hear he's had a troubled life.

104, 105, I often SO much feel like that person! you both made me LOL. Fortunately for me, I love my life so much that it all seems to balance out.

In Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm Philip Pullman has taken some of the most familiar tales, such as Cinderella and Red Riding Hood, some of the not-so-familiar, like The Goose Girl and The Bremen Town Musicians and several of the least known stories, like Faithful Johannes and Hans-My-Hedgehog and retold them. This isn't a reworking or a collection of imaginative stories based on Grimm's fairy tales, but a faithful retelling. At the end of each story Pullman adds notes about the origins of the story and how he chose to tell it.

It was enjoyable to revisit those old tales and Pullman's writing does justice to them. The stories I had never encountered before were, for me, the most interesting, but the real meat of the book is in Pullman's brief notes about each tale. I read several of these with my ten year old son and he was astonished by the sheer bloodthirstiness of several of the stories. Grimm's fairy tales are very different than the carefully inoffensive Disney versions, often containing a strong religious influence, but also reflecting the harshness and capriciousness of the world in which they were told.

Sounds interesting; I had a huge book of Grimm's Fairy Tales as a child and they were certainly not "inoffensive."

The ideas of what was appropriate reading for children was certainly different. Rather than protecting children from harsh realities, the stories seemed to highlight them in a matter of fact way. Hansel and Gretel still makes me shiver.

It's the next day and I'm still laughing at being the one at the party who talks about genocide.

and as for what we tell children, I'm not sure we can ever beat Now I lay me down to sleep.......if I should die before I wake.......LOL

Saints of the Shadow Bible sounds good. I've only read The Complaints, which was OK, but the developments in the series that you describe make me want to get to the next one quickly.

and as for what we tell children, I'm not sure we can ever beat Now I lay me down to sleep.......if I should die before I wake.......LOL

Indeed! The other one that struck me when I was a new mother was "rock a by baby, in the tree top . . . " What kind of parent sticks their baby at the top of the tree? I'd like to know where that one came from.

Anyway, I will definitely read the Pullman Grimm in 2014 as I have a fairy tale project planned for the year. Glad to hear it's a good one. I first read the real Grimms' tales when I was 8 and I was shocked at how different they were from what I'd been told to that point. It was a fairly exhilarating experience.

117 I KNOW! the bough breaks? wth?

In Saints at the River by Ron Rash, a twelve year old girl vacationing with her family wades out into the Tamassee River and is swept over the falls downstream. Now her parents want to recover her body and local environmentalists, fisher and kayakers are worried that the method suggested will damage the area around the river and set a precedent allowing for developers to move in. Maggie Glenn is a photographer with a Colombia-based paper, sent to cover the story with a reporter because she is from Oconee county, where the accident occurred.

The story circles around the motivations of both groups, with neither being identified as good or bad. Well, the developer was pretty close to a stock villain, with his habit of simply paying any nominal fines for pollution rather than taking the more expensive and time-consuming measures to fix things. Even Rash's notable writing talents did not stretch that far. There's a secondary story about Maggie's broken relationship to her father and her conflicted feelings about being back in her hometown. This was as early novel by Rash, and so it lacks some of the complexity and nuance of his later works, like Serena, but it was a well-written and highly readable book beautifully set in the mountains of South Carolina.

In never heard of Ron Rash before, but am glad to learn about him.

Caught up now! Loved your review of In Europe by Geert Mak. Enjoying your thread and the conversation.

Saints sounds pretty interesting to me. I think I might like that. Great review.

Rebecca, he's an excellent Southern writer, with his books set in the Appalachian region of the Carolinas. Serena is his most well known book so far. It's a sort of MacBeth-based story about the height of the logging industry. His books do have a strong environmental aspect, and he describes the areas he writes about really well.

Hi, Polaris. In Europe is definitely one of the best books I read this year and will be one I'll reread down the road.

MerriKay -- I think you would like it. And Ron Rash is an author who deserves to be more widely read.

I will keep Ron Rash, and see whether any of his work is available.

I was impressed with your review of In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century too so I picked up a copy. My husband immediately took it over and read non-stop! Then he offered to lend it to a friend who goes south for the winter. So I will have a couple of days to absorb as much as possible, postponing the remainder until it comes back in Spring.

I enjoyed Saints at the River back when it first came out. I thought it and what I got through of Serena had a vivid sense of place, in the way that Jeffrey Lent's work has of Vermont & New Hampshire.

Edwin, I'd be interested in finding out what you think. I liked his writing because it so well describes a part of the world I'm familiar with. I wonder how it reads to someone unfamiliar with the area.

That's funny, Vivienne. I've found that my SO is happy with my book-squirrelling ways because it means there's always something for him to read.

Lois, I remember when you were reading Serena. I'm hoping that eventually Rash will break out of the Southern writer designation and just be known as an author worth reading. And now I have to go look at Jeffrey Lent.

》Thanks, Alison. As I had never hear of Ron Rash, I haven't noticed or paid attention as to whether his books are available, but should I find some, I will buy and read some.

Well, this is probably not the best time of year to ask with people being so busy, but I'm wondering how your Third Culture Kids are doing in Germany.

Thanks for asking, MerriKay. The international school has made it easy for them to make friends -- this is a lot easier than a local school would have been with the groups and cliques being fairly open to new kids. My daughter fell in with a group quickly and so has several friends who are always around. One is moving back to India in the summer, so there's a pattern of kids moving. My son has found a best friend in a boy from Berlin whose mother is having trouble adjusting to Bavarian culture. I love talking to her because I end up defending Germany. The problems they have been having are ones they would have if we'd moved to the next school district over, rather than to another continent.

We are finding that the public school the kids had attended is behind the international school. My daughter had taken a year of honors ninth grade algebra in seventh grade only to find herself level with the regular eighth grade math (although she is doing well) and she's playing catch-up in English and social studies despite being in the gifted and talented classes back in the US. My son, being younger, has less catching up to do, but he's had to adjust to a larger amount of homework. Luckily, they are quick and willing to work and the school is willing to provide support.

Language-wise, I think that the kids enjoy being able to communicate with people in shops and restaurants. My daughter has a goal of improving her French as well, so that she can communicate better on a return trip to Paris. We're going to Prague at the end of the month -- it will be interesting to see what they think of that.

My SO and I have been discussing doing these two year stints again after the kids have left home. His company has expat openings in South Africa, India and China, all of which would be interesting, don't you think?

Ah that just sounds so wonderful for your children. I bet your kids are a lot of fun. Also great that their education is getting kicked up, but sad about what it says for schools in the U.S. I still remember my first day in a California excellerated sixth grade when I moved from Atlanta to CA. I knew I was in trouble when I walked into the classroom and they were discussing the forces that hold a satellite in orbit. But wow did I ever get lucky with the teacher, who adored Shakespeare and read him to us. He made it easy catching up.
I'm envious of the language skills. That is so wonderful. And getting to see Prague! I'm hearing that's the place to be these days. And I have to say I'd have a hard time choosing between SA, India and China. Will the work be different and thus an influence? Who knows that far in the future I guess. I'd like to see all three of those but maybe not quite bad enough to get off my duff and go. ;) Altho, when we went to Europe and New Zealand my husband did so much planning it was a piece of cake for me. We travel together really well.

The school sounds like a wonderful and supportive environment run by great people. Thanks for filling me in.

I enjoyed hearing about the kids' schools as well. It's too bad that even excelerated learning in the US isn't on par with their school in Germany. Although, I wonder if it would be as advanced in the public school as at the international school. Do you have a sense? Wonderful about your daughter wanting to improve her French as well. I envy polyglots enormously. Have you been to Prague before? I was there in 1988 and 1990 and 1995. Very interesting to be there in 1990 when so much change was happening.

We had an unusual snow storm this morning, and I'm watching my birds at the feeders, one of which is attached to the window next to the computer. They are very happy to have found seed, but peckish and squabbly as well. Much like the drivers I encounter on my way to the carpool this morning.

Have you been to Prague before? It's very nice, but I don't quite get the big fuss over it lately. I kind of wonder if all these people suddenly proclaiming it the gem of Europe have really traveled many other places. I had a lovely time there, but not much of an inclination to go back. On the other hand, I'd go back in a heartbeat to Athens, or Budapest, or Italy.

>132 labfs39: I imagine the public schools are pretty close to the international one. Schools in the US, frankly, are crap (this is coming from an American who attended "good" ones from day one). The amount & depth of things they learn in schools in Europe is practically mind-boggling to an American, except really it's what the American schools don't teach that is so astonishing. The only positive to American schools is that you learn a little bit about a lot. Schools in (most places in) Europe get into paths by the time students are around 15, and they choose what subject-path they want to focus on and eventually (hopefully) get a career in. In the US, you can get a more "well-rounded" (though quite lacking in any sort of depth) education and not choose your specific path until you've gone halfway through college.

Excelerated excelerated! Oh that is doubly priceless considering the context! I've heard Prague is so great from people in their 20s who like to party.

>130 RidgewayGirl: It's interesting to hear how your kids are handling the move to Munich. Although a move like the one you made may be daunting, especially at the outset, kids amaze me that they adapt so quickly. You deserve congratulations for preparing them well. You are so fortunate to have the opportunity to do stints abroad in the future too. India would probably be my choice. I've always wanted to visit that country. I know someone who went there to set up a specialized library. She loved it.

>131 mkboylan: Thankfully we have teachers like the one you had when you arrived in CA. The difference they make can be astronomical. We remember not only what they taught us, but the individuals too.

#133 Then there is the high school I attended in rural Maine. According to one study, 14.7% of students are ready for college at graduation and the school's performance index is -5.

A little late to the conversation, but I agree that this is a wonderful experience for your kids (and you too, I presume!). I was in Prague in 1993. It was explained to me that it was then still a beautiful city because the old buildings hadn't been destroyed in any recent war. It was getting to be a bit trendy then, and the Czech couple I had been introduced to by friends in the US were having trouble keeping up economically. It's hard to believe that that's 20 years ago now! I imagine a lot has changed.

>137 rebeccanyc: Probably less than you'd think. I'm sure some of the restaurants and little shops have changed hands, but for the most part it wouldn't be so very different. And things are still a fair bit cheaper there than in more western Europe, though not quite so much as a couple decades ago.

I've been to Prague several times, but always just for short stays and it's been a while. I've heard it's now full of partiers, and we are leaving new year's eve early in the day so that a huge group can take the apartment we rented. But there are such startlingly beautiful parts of Prague, which will still be there, like the Jewish quarter and the Charles Bridge. I'm hoping there are still students giving small walking tours, as those were always fantastic.

I'm a big fan of public school systems, but it's clear that the US is falling down at the job. At least in SC, teachers are paid next to nothing and the school districts have less money each year to work with. We just don't think it's a priority.

Oh there are plenty of walking tours, we did one that covered all the major points of the city+Jewish Quarter, one that covered the underground tunnels, and then for fun we did the ghost/legends one our last night there :))

Re: schools, yeah, sadly that's how it is pretty much everywhere in the country. There's the occasional "rich" schools but they're much fewer & farther between. :|

gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson tells the story of Arlene Fleet, who is living, happily enough, in Chicago having made a deal with God that if one event is kept a secret then she'll always tell the truth, give up fornication and never return to Possett, Alabama. When an old schoolmate shows up at her door, asking the wrong questions, Arlene figures all promises are broken and she heads south with her boyfriend to fix what needs repair.

Jackson is both a Southern writer and a very funny one as she casts a familiar eye over small town Alabama life. From a disapproval of Arlene's church-going habits -- she's attending a Baptist church but not a Southern Baptist church, leaving serious questions to be asked about her spiritual health, to her family's consternation at her boyfriend being African American -- as Arlene tells Burr, "They aren't like Ku Kluxy, but…", to the woman next door who has an odd relationship with her pet chicken, Jackson's novel is funny, even as she guides the reader through some very tough situations.

I read Gods in Alabama years ago. I remember it being a bit quirky and funny. Your review reminded me that I had read it, so I think that's a good thing. :)

So, while I may finish a few more books this year, I've already started two books that I know I won't finish before the new year. Time for my end of the year assessment!

Books read: 96 (assuming I finish the two I'm almost done with)

Male/Female: 55% female, 45% male

Nationality:
American: 55 books
British: 24
Australian: 3
And two each: Canadian, Dutch, Irish, Swedish
And one each: Argentinian, Finnish, Israeli, Polish
A selection remarkable only in its lack of diversity.

My Ten Best Books of the Year:

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov -- I read this as part of a group read and I'm so glad I finally read this. Nabokov's narrator is unreliable and vile, but the language and writing, as well as Nabokov's understanding of the damage done to the titular character, make this one of the best books I have ever read.

The Collector by John Fowles -- I read this because of the happy coincidence of SantaThing bringing me the book and a Fowles in February themed read. This is a chilling and masterful story and while the setting is very much England in the 1960s, the events and the justifications of the main character are just as apt today.

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James -- Seriously, you guys? Group reads are the best thing for getting me to actually get to those books I always mean to read but am distracted from by lighter fare. And Victorian novels are always awesome. I need to read more of them.

Economix by Michael Goodwin -- Who would have thought that a comics explanation of economics would be both so clear and readable. If you'd like to understand how we got to where we are but find that the mention of Keynesian or supply side economics sends you instantly to sleep, this is the book for you.

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides -- This was largely a case of the right book at the right time, but Eugenides's third novel is both well-written and utterly compelling, with three main characters I felt I knew as well as my best friends.

Salvation on Sand Mountain by Dennis Covington -- Covington takes the world of snake-handling, poison-drinking Pentecostal churches in southern Appalachia and treats it with curiosity and respect. It's utterly fascinating.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers -- Another group read. McCullers's tale of sad and lonely people in a small, Southern town is utterly heart-breaking and unforgettable. She doesn't pull a single punch.

Tenth of December by George Saunders -- Not only is this collection of short stories incredibly diverse, ranging from internal domestic tales to dystopia at it's harshest, but Saunders is at the top of his game. We'll be seeing a lot more of this author.

TransAtlantic by Colum McCann -- McCann ties together three historic characters with ties to both Ireland and the new world through the women they interact with. His language is poetical and the interconnected stories shine.

Dear Life by Alice Munro -- This was my introduction to the Nobel prize winning author and I'm hooked. Her stories are quiet domestic tales with an uncomfortable underbelly. She's subtle but intense.

And because there are always a few stinkers out there:

A Few Terrible Books I Regret having Wasted Time On

The Execution of Noa P Singleton by Elizabeth L. Silver -- This is the most laughably bad novel I have encountered -- and I've read my share. The writing makes submissions to the Bulwer-Lytton contest sound like Chekov.

Black Irish by Stephen Talty -- Proof that just because you're a respected non-fiction writer, doesn't mean you can write fiction. This one features every bad cliche in the book and winds up making no sense at all.

Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry -- With a protagonist who essentially kidnaps a child on a whim, then moves in with a man she suspects of murder, not a single action taken in this book makes the slightest sense.

I'm looking forward to jumping into next year's reading, although I still have a few more books to wrap up this year with.

Enjoyed reading about your ten best, great list. I don't know anything about George Saunders, but yours is the second list I have seen him on.

Entertained by your review of the Gods of Alabama.

Daniel, while gods in Alabama can be easily shelved in the dreaded "women's fiction" section (in Germany, this section is called Grosse Gefuhl (big feelings)), there's more there than that. For one thing, it's wickedly funny -- the scene where her aunt gets into berating her about her poor choice of a church, for example -- but also with an edge -- as when her relatives try to take on the skin color of her boyfriend. They manage to insult him at every turn. He does his best, but eventually gives in to sarcasm. It's a scene that rings true, is hilarious and also deeply troubling. Jackson manages all this without showing any effort at all. I suspect that she will be relegated to the "Southern" and "popular" parts of literature, but she's good.

A Few Terrible Books I regret having Wasted Time On

I always love these lists too. Salvation on Sand Mountain is still calling my name. It's outside my normal realm of reading, and therefore something I'll have to search out.

Interesting lists! I hope you'll post them over on the Best, Worst, etc., thread too!

Will do, Rebecca! Thanks for the reminder. Happy Holidays, all.

Catching up on your postings -- hope you had a wonderful Christmas and joys for the New Year!

And just because my Christmas book haul was so satisfying --



All were so well chosen. It has not been a rare Christmas when I have opened a book about a cat. I like cats and books but, oddly, not the two of them together.

I really liked The Garden of Evening Mists. I'll look forward to your thoughts on The Gift of Rain.

Enjoyed reading your ten best list. It was a good reading year for you.

Kay, I have The Goldfinch on my reading list too. I'm looking forward to your review.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone! I'm moving my reading over to:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/163183

I'm looking forward to continuing the conversations. See you over there!