November's Readings

I'm reading The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam

Reading Shakespeare's Richard II as preparation for seeing David Tennant's performance in the title role later this month. This trend of screening theatrical performances in cinemas is a really good idea (providing of course they screen in cinemas near me).

I'm not sure I have any Canadian authors on my reading list this month.

Oh, wait! I do:
- The Book of Negroes / Lawrence Hill.

It's a reread for me, though. I rarely reread books, except more recently for my f2f book club (but even then, only if I liked the book to begin with!).

I just finished listening to Stolen Innocence: my story of growing up in a polygamous sect, becoming a teenage bride, and breaking free of Warren Jeffs, by Eliza Wall. The story is fascinating, and one that every person in the US and Canada should be fully aware of. Recommended.

Just finished a novel that most definitely needed some severe editing: Just One Evil Act by Elizabeth George. This used to be one of my favourite crime fiction series, but I found myself desperately wishing this book would come to an end!

>4 Nickelini: Have you also read Escape by Carolyn Jessop? I read it a few years ago. Very very good book!

#6 - I haven't, but the authors are from the same community. I wonder how different the books are. I did, however, read Under the Banner of Heaven back when it was published and it was very, very good.

I've read The Secret Lives of the Saints: Child Brides and Lost Boys in a Polygamous Mormon Sect by Daphne Bramham, which was about Canada's Bountiful community. And a novel, The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff which was good, and partly based on the story of Brigham Young's 19th wife.

For a different perspective, The Lonely Polygamist, and novel by Brady Udall was intriguing -- darkly funny at times, sad at others.

Lynn - thanks for pointing out The Secret Lives of the Saints--I had heard something about that book but didn't have the title right so couldn't track it down. I especially want to read it because it concerns Canada. I have a friend who moved to Creston, BC, which is the closest town to Bountiful. They were renovating so she had to use the local laundromat, and women from Bountiful would come to town and use it too. She said they just stood and stared at her and gave her the evil stink-eye. It was pretty creepy, and having read Stolen Innocence, very sad since those stares and dirty looks came from the lies they were brainwashed to believe.

Thanks for the other recommendations too. I will look into them, although I'm not sure how much about this I can stand to read!

Nickelini, a book I found very interesting (and a major contrast to polygamous Mormom sects) was Rumspringa: to be or not to be Amish by Tom Shactman. Amish teens are given a year "off" from all the rules so that they can freely choose to be Amish. Almost all do. This book looks into the practice.

#10 - That might be really interesting. Thanks for pointing it out. I'm not all that interested in the Amish right now, because my teenage daughter showed me some episodes of the reality TV show "Breaking Amish" and the people were so unlikeable . . . and then it turned out they were a bunch of lying frauds anyway. Kinda turned me off learning more about the Amish. But I'll get past it and perhaps read that book one day!

I do have a few books on the topic on my tbr (though I've - so far - only read Escape (sorry, i can't remember how to link the title to the book!)). Oh, and I did read Under the Banner of Heaven a number of years ago, as well.

I double checked and Stolen Innocence is on my tbr, as is The Lost Boys and a few others.

Thanks for The Secret Lives of the Saints suggestion. I will now add it to my tbr. I'd love to read one on the Canadian community.

I have Shattered Dreams here at home, so that's most likely to be the next one I read on the topic. I'm actually hoping to get to it this month, but I'm not sure I will.

I've finished Nervous System by Jqn Lars Jensen qnd have started The Piano Teacher by Efriede Jelinek.

I'm reading The Red House by Mark Haddon. Ok, I've only read the first paragraph so far.....

Just finished Arrivals and Rivals a book about competitive birdwatching which was quite well done. I am starting to fade on Oryx and Crake. Perhaps Atwood is just too weird for me?

#15 - I found Oryx and Crake pretty weird, but it all came together int he last quarter and then I thought it was very clever. I did prefer Year of the Flood though. Have you read any other Atwood? Her books are quite varied, so you might like her literary or historical fiction better.

I'm bored with both my paper books--Night and Day by Virginia Woolf (been reading it since June), and What Alice Knew: a Most Curious Tale of Henry James and Jack the Ripper. But I just started a new audiobook--The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst, and the language is gorgeous and lush. I think I'll like this one.

16: Nickelini - I have only read A Handmaid's Tail many years ago and that was a little weird as well. Glad to hear your thoughts on Oryx and Crake. Parts of it have been interesting so I hope to get back to a bit more like that soon

For those of you interested in reading about the Mormon faith, just LDS, not FLDS, I found the auto biography The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith by Joanna Brooks to be excellent and a real eye opener for me. I wrote a review on it sometime back. One of the things that I liked about it is although she was critical of the Morman faith, and married a Jewish man, I did not feel that her views or experiences were to extreme.

I've read Crooked Maid by Daniel Vyleta, one of the Giller Prize finalists, and Escape from Berlin by Irene Watts, an early reviewer copy. Escape from Berlin is written by a Vancouver writer. It's meant for the YA crowd, but I really enjoyed it.

Just read Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat; or "Hardly Knows It" as the nickname goes in the north. Fascinating debate behind this one re fiction/non-fiction.

19: There is something about Farley Mowat I really like. I think he once said he never lets a fact get in the way of a good story (or something similar). The stories are good (some terrific)... the facts are something I would always get from other sources!

#20 - Oh, I have to smile at that. "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story" is one of my husband's favourite phrases. I can't actually accuse him of lying but he is either dressing up a story, exaggerating, or fibbing. Like Mowat, he's a very likeable guy :)

I've really enjoyed the Farley Mowat I've read. But then, I love animals! (Which also made a book like A Whale for the Killing a tough one to read.)

I'm reading Michael Ignatieff's memoir, Fire and Ashes: Success and Failure in Politics.

In the Arizona sun, I've finished Cataract City, hmmmm, and the husband's Secret, yummmmm, and The Woman Upstairs, grummmm.
Off to the pool with Hellgoing.
I'm also playing enough pickleball to keep my thighs burning. It seems like half of the population here is Canadian.

well, i finished reading 419 by will ferguson , on thursday night. i am scratching my head over how it won the giller last year? i began reading the circle by dave eggers last night, for the LT 'one book' project they are trying out. it's reading really quickly.

I have to ask...what is pickleball?

Pickleball...the fastest growing sport among the 'mature' generation. imagine tennis on a badminton sized court, a smaller racquet, a whiffle ball. Loads of fun, strategy, not as hard on the body as tennis. The club here has 900 members!
::25. Speaking of the Giller, I am having trouble with Hellgoing. I am Re-reading many of the stories, and still wondering what was that about? ( I think Alice Munro is safe in her role of queen of the short story.)

Spend the whole evening and half the night finishing Police by Jo Nesbo. One of the Harry Hole detective series, and the best I've read of those. Loved all the twists and suspense , except that now I'm listening out for every creak and odd sound in the house!

Re: #27, loosha - aw, i am sorry you are having trouble with coady's book. she is a glaring gap in my reading, though i have enjoyed her writing in the globe & mail. i really respect short story writers - i think it is a more challenging realm in many ways. but i don't have a lot of success with reading short stories and often fail like a failed reader when i read short story collections. of course, flannery o'connor and alice munro are wonderful exceptions for me. :)

i did recently read a collection by nancy jo cullen, called 'canary' (hmm, have to search the database for that one, doesn't seem to be coming up. sorry!), and it was excellent! so, if you are a fan of short stories, i highly recommend that book!!

edit to add: here's the link to the book: http://www.librarything.com/work/13726695

it seems to have been titled 'the' canary in the database, which is incorrect. i shall see if i can fix that.

I finished Wedding Night by Kinsella (so cute) and Debout les morts by Vargas - I must say I like her Adamsberg series a lot more.

25 - can't say I was all that impressed with 419 either. I thought it was rather dumb. Shrugs..

I am rereading Oryx and Crake right now.

24 - Many of my friends are in Arizona, but I haven't heard of pickleball. For those of us left up here, we should try it with snowballs!

25 - I wondered about Ferguson getting the Giller too. He's not one of my favourite writers.

28 - Thanks Ted, the library has Police on order. I'll get my hold placed early.

I just finished Oryx and Crake. For whatever reason I got stuck in the second fifth of the book and almost gave up. I am glad I did not as it really all managed to come together in the end and was very good.

32 arghh, no, we play indoors most of the year! It is a great sport, totally addictive.
I have Police reserved also. But for now, i've just started the Luminaries.
Now that i've finished Hellgoing i admit it was quite extraordinary, finding the hellish thread in ordinary lives. You never can tell with the Giller. I liked 419, moderately.

Our library has ordered Luminaries but I will wait and see what size it is before I torture my arthritic hands. If necessary I'll get the e-version.

Right now I'm in the middle of Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch. It is extremely entertaining and unlike anything I've ever read before.

re: #35 - vivienne: the luminaries is a very chunky and heavy book, over 800 pages. if you have trouble with your hands, i would recommend the e-book edition, definitely. i have both editions, and ended up reading it on my nook as i found the tree book edition (heh!!) just too awkward. it's a beautiful book though (the design, i mean).

36 - That's what I expected, and I have trouble with some hardcovers of half that size. I will definitely have a look at the print edition though, especially as you say it is beautiful. That's what I miss with e-books.

I've read Benevolence by Cynthia Holz and am now reading about Ken Jennings' experience on Jeopardy!, called Brainiac.

Brainiac is a good one! Enjoy.

On the bus I am merrily following the exploits of Peter Grant in Moon Over Soho, and at home I am exploring the West with Zane Grey in Riders of the Purple Sage.

Just a question. Do you all ever share your reviews in this group? Reviews of books by Canadian authors? Would people like to do that if I started a thread for it? Or would I be stepping on someone's (maybe our admin's?) toes if I did that? Just a thought.

I post reviews or comments on the book's main page for every book I read, but don't post them elsewhere. But, I'm open to doing so.

I'm reading Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul by David Adams Richards.

I post my comments (I don't call them reviews--that's a bit formal for me) on my own thread in the ClubRead group. Lots of people do the same there, or at the 50 Books, 75 Books, or 100 Books groups (and elsewhere). But I don't see any reason why you can't start a thread at this group if that's where you want to keep it.

Today I came across 84, Charring Cross Road at my local used shop. Since then I have not managed to put it down until I finished it. Without a doubt one of the best books I read this year. It is heartwarming and funny and I cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone who likes books.

#41, 42. Thanks for your comments. I do also post them on the book's page, but I thought it might be fun to share in groups, too. Maybe I'll wait till the weekend, and set something up.

Bones of the Lost by Kathy Reichs

I've finished Change your questions change your life by Marilee Adams. The format is a bit cheesy, but this is a great coaching book - whether you are struggling with personal or professional relationships (or need to build teams), the tools will help reframe and rethink issues to get out of ruts.

I'm now reading a bit of Canadian historical fiction with The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor by Sally Armstrong as part of my book club read.

Detroit City is the Place to Be, by Mark Binelli.

Just finished Gods and Beasts by Denise Mina, a gritty mystery whose politicians are too close to the truth for comfort. I thought I'd enjoy this more as I was reading it but I got worn down by the depressing characters and their shenanigans.

Half way through the hefty the Luminaries. I have the e-book and i'm on holiday with lots of time to read, both very good circumstances. Excellent story! I love the language and the characters who are so well drawn that even though there are so many, are quite distinct.

Reading The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor, a fictionalized biography of a British settler in New Brunswick. The beginning was a bit of a swashbuckling adventure, but it's coming along well with a very good take on Native, French (Acadian) and British relationships.

Just finished The Dinner by Herman Koch. Although some of the plot devices are unbelievable and all the characters horrible people, I did enjoy this book. Funny, yet dark, and very thought provoking.

Also finished today The Beacon by Susan Hill. Beautiful prose, a suspenseful haunting story that leaves the reader wondering. I really like the earlier works of Susan Hill-the novels in her detective series don't really grab at me the way this novella did.

I've just re-read Agnes of God by John Pielmeier and am reading Forgotten by Catherine McKenzie.

re: #38 - lynnb.

hi lynn! i really liked benevolence a lot. i thought it flew under the radar and had hoped it would have gotten more attention. i found it touched on so many interesting ideas.

Just about finished Ru for my bookclub meeting tomorrow night. Then I can get back to the Annotated Pride and Prejudice, which is what I'm in the mood for these days.

Just finished The White Lioness the third Kurt Wallander mystery. I am nearing the end of The Bookshop as well.

I'm just starting Monsoon by Robert D. Kaplan

One of the best Nordic crime fiction series: A Conspiracy of Faith by Jussi Adler-Olsen

In Quebec with The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. I read the first one in the series and found it wasn't to my taste but I've been convinced I should give her another try.

>59 VivienneR:. Good luck! I've tried two and wasn't overly excited about either one. I probably wouldn't have read a second one, except that it was for my book club.

Well, the Luminaries lived up to the hype. I thought it was excellent and immediately re-read many parts. And I think I will continue to do that for a couple of days, it is such an enjoyable experience. Like a good movie, better the second time around.

#60 - Yes, I understand how you feel. The Brutal Telling is better than the first one I tried (Dead Cold), but still I get that unpleasant atmosphere when even a bright summer day comes across as dreary darkness, with a sense of something out of whack. Not sure how to describe it. Maybe Penny planned it that way. I'm almost finished this one but still not crazy about Three Pines or the people who live there.

I started Dead Souls and The Whole Truth both of which are enjoyable so far

Enjoying When We Were Young by Stuart McLean.

I'm reading Schooling by Heather McGowan - she does a good job of balancing children's cruelty and innocence. It will be interesting to see how the story unfolds.

I'll be starting Wolf Moon by Charles de Lint... hopefully this weekend.

I will be watching the Riders play tomorrow, so I'll see how much time I have for reading around that! :-)

Cindy, I'm also an ex-pat Saskatchewan girl. I'll be watching the game today and trying to catch glimpses of my family in the stands.

>67 LynnB:. I won't have any family in the stands, but I do know friends who will be there! To be there for that game would be sooooo much fun! :-D

>66 LibraryCin:, 67, 68: My team failed miserably this year (if you've been following the season, you'll know who I mean) so I'll be cheering for the Riders.

And we won the cup! Just got home from the Green Mile which was insane. 4 solid blocks of people downtown. Off to relax in bed with a good book.

>70 Mareofthesea:. Woooohooooo! Wow, I bet that was a ton of fun to be there!!!

>70 Mareofthesea: Congratulations! It was a great game.

I'm reading The Bishop's Man by Linden MacIntyre. After working with survivors of Canada's Indian Residental Schools, it took me a long time to get to this one.

ETA: Wow! The Bishop's Man was so powerful a story! One to re-read for sure.

I'm now reading Walls: Travels Along the Barricades by Marcello Di Cintio for a book club.

>73 LynnB:. Marcello Di Cintio is from Calgary, so a few book clubs here got together in September and had him speak to us about the book. Really interesting. I have yet to read it, and I'm on hold at the public library for it (but there are LOTS of holds! I've been on the hold list since before his talk). I'd heard him speak once before - years ago - I think it was after he wrote his first book: Harmattan: Wind Across West Africa. I really enjoyed that one, too. It's a travelogue in Africa.