Girlybooks: What are we reading in December 2013?

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Girlybooks: What are we reading in December 2013?

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1vwinsloe
Dic 3, 2013, 8:49 am

I just started James Tiptree Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon, and I am, so far, enthralled.

2krazy4katz
Editado: Dic 3, 2013, 1:55 pm

I can't decide whether to continue the dystopia theme after reading The Circle and read We or go for something equally cheerful, The Book Thief, or something Zen, like Saltwater Buddha. I could always go for light and endearing like the sequel to The Dalai Lama's Cat, which is The Art of Purring, but I don't own that yet and I am trying to reduce my owned but unread list (which is not all on LT).

Oops! I realize none of these is written by a woman. I guess I will keep looking.

3Citizenjoyce
Dic 6, 2013, 5:40 pm

I've finished some good and bad books in the last couple of weeks. I loved the wonderful The Hearts of Horses, one of my best reads of 2013. Molly Gloss discusses gender expectations and history around WWI and the beginning of the dust bowl in a little midwest farming community along with a really perfect description of cancer and it's treatment at that time. What a gem of a book. Another great book I finished was Hyperbole and a Half whose author, Allie Bosh was mentioned as one of the 50 most influential creative people in the world. The book is great, her blog is probably great, but for a funny woman who seems to be in an ongoing battle with depression, such an honor could be devastating. Let's hope it doesn't get to her. Her dog descriptions and stories are perfect and hilarious. The descriptions of her depression are also perfect. Amazing to have both in a little graphic book. Another good read was Schroder by Amity Gaige. I thought her treatment of this very self conscious sociopath was right on target, though I wonder if men will agree.
I've been reading a little bit through Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Books of 2013: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/issue/best-of-2013/section/fiction/? and don't think The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud should have been included, though it does show someone entranced by art. I never trust a book that ends with an epiphany. Now I'm listening to A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki , and it sure looks like it belongs there. It's the diary of a teenage Japanese girl found by an
American novelist living in Canada. It's so well written and the characters are so intriguing and believable, I don't think it can go wrong.
On paper I'm about to start The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson which is about the 1612 British witch trials, Shakespeare, and, of course, lesbians.

4vwinsloe
Dic 7, 2013, 9:11 am

>3 Citizenjoyce:. So happy to hear that you enjoyed The Hearts of Horses as much as I did!

5Citizenjoyce
Editado: Dic 8, 2013, 3:47 pm

I finished The Daylight Gate, and it's such an ugly book I can't recommend it. It covers witch trials of 1612 and goes into such details about torture and imprisonment that I'll never be able to get them out of my mind. Modern day witchcraft is fun, in the 17th century not so much. I think I was unprepared for it because of Terry Pratchett. It was in Good Omens that I first heard of Agnes Nutter, Witch and that setting was much more enjoyable. In Winterson's favor, the history was well illuminated, but too well for the squeamish.
I also finished Wrapped in the Flag, Claire Conner's autobiography about growing up in a John Birch Society household filled with hate and paranoia. Good ol' Daddy Koch makes a mentionable appearance (he must be so proud of his Tea Party sons) as, in a strange and oblique way does May Kay Letourneau. I think those Birchers would have felt right at home with the witch trials.
Now I've started Ellen Galford's The Dyke and the Dybbuk and am getting some much needed humor to take away the taste of Winterson's book.

67sistersapphist
Dic 11, 2013, 10:13 pm

Reading The Book of Salt for a book club I joined recently. The plot is pleasantly dream-like thus far, and I'm enjoying the language.

7CurrerBell
Dic 11, 2013, 10:46 pm

Motherlines on Kindle, having not too long ago finished Walk to the End of the World. The third and fourth Holdfast volumes don't seem to be Kindle-available, though, so I'll look to getting them through AbeBooks.

Actually, I already have Walk to the End of the World in treeware in the Radical Utopias bookclub edition, which also includees The Female Man and Triton. I guess I'll wind up getting Motherlines on Abe as well so that I'll have the entire series in hardcover/dj.

8overlycriticalelisa
Dic 12, 2013, 2:23 pm

rereading (for maybe the 6th time) the handmaid's tale by atwood. good goddess i love this book.

9krazy4katz
Dic 12, 2013, 7:22 pm

I agree with you 100% on The Handmaid's Tale! I should read another Atwood soon.

Right now I am reading Swimming Home by Deborah Levy. I noticed it was short, on sale (kindle version) and short-listed for the 2012 Man Booker Prize. Those are not necessarily the best criteria for selecting a book, but it was late at night so I went for it.

10overlycriticalelisa
Dic 12, 2013, 8:53 pm

>9 krazy4katz:

they're not bad criteria! especially the man booker. i think it's my favorite of the prizes. (by which i mean the one i most seem to agree with, as opposed to, for example, the pulitzer. i usually hate pulitzer winners.)

11Eliminado
Dic 13, 2013, 9:35 am

Any other thoughts on The Woman Upstairs? I read The Emperor's Children and found it very disappointing, so I'm off her.

Continuing my Pearl Buck jag with Peony. Interesting look at the small Jewish community in (forget what city) in China.

I have Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch to read over the long term break.

12Citizenjoyce
Dic 13, 2013, 8:08 pm

It seems to me that the main character in The Woman Upstairs has everything: a career at which she excells, great friends, talent, imagination, intelligence, opportunity, money and beauty yet all she feels is anger. Lord knows, there are plenty of reasons for women to be angry, but I can't see why this particular woman sabatages herself to such a degree. Alas, she is a terribly old spinster, around 40 I think, but that's by choice. When she talks about her art, she's fascinating, yet she refuses to be fascinated herself except by unobtainable romances. Let me know what you think.

I finished A Tale For the Time Being and it's another 5 star read. Using a family of suicidal people: a 16 year old girl, her father and great uncle; a "failed" artist and her "loser" scientist husband; and a 104 year old Budhist nun Ozeki explores the topic of the human response to sadism and the urge to create. At times, of course, it does get ugly, but not The Daylight Gate complete ugliness due to the zen influence. I listened to the audiobook read by the author, and she reads the girls diary in such a perky voice, it's kind of amazing. I highly, highly recommend it.

13vwinsloe
Dic 14, 2013, 6:10 am

>12 Citizenjoyce:. Thanks for the recommendation on A Tale for the Time Being. A friend recommended it, and I want to read it but my TBR pile is way over my head at this point. Good to know that you listened to the audiobook and enjoyed it, since that gives me an option that I may get to more quickly.

14LyzzyBee
Dic 14, 2013, 11:43 am

Oh, I loved A Tale for the Time Being but not as much as Other Half did. He listened to it on audiobook and said it was excellent.

15Eliminado
Dic 14, 2013, 4:20 pm

Geez, Joyce, maybe I won't read it now :-)

16CurrerBell
Dic 14, 2013, 8:59 pm

Just posted a 3*** review of The Warrior's Path, first book in the three-part "When Women Were Warriors" novel by Catherine M. Wilson. Note that this really isn't a trilogy but simply a single, long novel that's been broken up into three parts.

17Citizenjoyce
Dic 14, 2013, 9:42 pm

nohrt4me2, you shouldn't take my word for it. Maybe The Woman Upstairs just hit me wrong. It was listed as one of the best fiction books of 2013, so lots of people must like it.
I just finished the delightful The Dyke and the Dybbuk, and it was just what I needed after so many heavy books this month: a humorous look at Jewish folklore, lesbians, taxi driving, battling aunts and movies. Next up is Alice Hoffman's Survival Lessons. It's a tiny little book that, in Hoffman's words, was written to remind myself of the beauty of life, something that's all too easy to overlook during the crisis of illness or loss.. So, I'll make myself a cup of tea and get to it.

18lemontwist
Dic 15, 2013, 11:47 am

Read Oranges are not the only fruit and found it a bit slow at first but excellent once I really got into it.

Mentioned this book last month but am finally finishing Marie Curie and her Daughters which I'm finding to be quite fascinating as it focuses on more than just Madame Curie's scientific accomplishments but also her relationship with her daughters and family. It's amazing to me that so little can change in 100 years when it comes to women scientists and their obligations to both science and family. It's still seen as selfish for a woman to put her research ahead of her family, and at the same time science research only rewards those who put it at #1 in their lives.

--

I read The Handmaid's Tale ages ago and loved it, but I'm always worried about the anticlimax of reading other books by authors after I read one book and love it... I also find that authors tend to be formulaic after a while so their subsequent books never have the same impact on me as the first.

19overlycriticalelisa
Dic 15, 2013, 2:54 pm

>18 lemontwist:

that was one of those (few) books where i've said, 'after reading this, i'll read everything she wrote' because i loved it that much. nothing, so far, as come close to the handmaid's tale for me, but it's my #1 or 2 all-time favorite book, so that's not surprising. what i've found, though, is that she is never, ever remotely formulaic. you don't have to worry about that. her topics and style are wide ranging. well, i guess she writes a lot about women and gender issues. but not always. anyway, you might not like everything she's written, but i don't think you'll find it rote at all, even if you read them back to back to back.

20Eliminado
Dic 15, 2013, 3:17 pm

Joyce, I'm not high on Messud to begin with, but yes, this book has rec'd a lot of hype. It's been on several recommended lists.

Today just downloaded Hild: A Novel by YA author Nicola Griffth.

Given that the cover has a picture of a young woman wearing chain mail and a helmet (that is not in any way historically accurate), I expect to be deeply disappointed, but even so, the story of these remarkable and self-directed women religious in the 7th Century need to be more widely known.

21vwinsloe
Dic 15, 2013, 4:16 pm

>20 nohrt4me2:. I wouldn't call Nicola Griffith a YA author. She is a well known science fiction writer--a recipient of both the Tiptree and Lambda Awards. I haven't read Hild; A Novel yet, but a friend is reading it and finding it a bit a of slog due to all of the names and genealogies.

I finally finished James Tiptree, Jr. The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon and highly recommend it, whether you are a science fiction fan or have read Tiptree or not. The well-researched biography not only details Alice Sheldon's fascinating and troubled life, but also provides a look at the emergence of women authors in science fiction in the context of the feminist movement circa the early-mid 1970s.

22lemontwist
Dic 15, 2013, 6:47 pm

>19 overlycriticalelisa:... thanks! Good to know. I'll keep that in mind next time I'm ready to read some fiction. :)

23Eliminado
Dic 15, 2013, 8:56 pm

>21 vwinsloe:, I don't know Griffith at all; the book was billed as a YA selection, so I guess I just assumed ...

Will be interesting to see what a sci-fi writer does with hagiography.

24CurrerBell
Dic 15, 2013, 9:07 pm

20,21> I have Hild in a TBR pile. I just stumbled across it during a browse through B&N and got it because I'd read Griffith's sci-fi Ammonite many years ago and remember being impressed. I really should give Ammonite a reread and look into some of Griffith's other books too.

25vwinsloe
Dic 17, 2013, 3:07 pm

I just started The Light Between the Oceans. It is not often that I read a book this new, but it was on the bargain rack at Barnes & Noble. The clerk explained that they changed the cover after the book became a hit, and so the old covered version remainders were put on the bargain rack.

Of course, I have no idea what to expect. I saw that it was popular on some list published somewhere and grabbed it when I saw it because it was on the sale rack!

26SaraHope
Dic 18, 2013, 10:50 am

I'm reading an SF book, Vicious by V. E. Schwab, which I'm really enjoying so far. It's about two college students who theorize about how people become ExtraOrdinary (superheroes, basically). Their experiments send everything very much downhill...

27wookiebender
Dic 19, 2013, 9:18 pm

#26> Sounds intriguing!

I started the month with Dreadnought, a steampunk-with-zombies book. Very good fun, I particularly like the strong female characters Priest creates. And the fact that none of them fall in love with any of the male characters. I rather enjoy some romance in my trashy reads, but I think there's just been too much lately. I've bought the third book in the series now too, so hopefully will get to it over Xmas.

And am now reading an Amelia Peabody mystery, Seeing a Large Cat. Chuckling over Ramses' sudden growth spurt into a fine young handsome man with a moustache. Amelia Peabody is always great fun.

28Nickelini
Editado: Dic 19, 2013, 9:27 pm

#25 - Vwinsloe - I will be starting the Light Between the Oceans very soon, as it is my book club pick for next month and my friend needs to read it after I do. Like you, I also don't read new books very often. I'm sure lots of people here at LT wouldn't call this one new anymore, but it's pretty new to me. Anyway, hope it's good.

29vwinsloe
Editado: Dic 20, 2013, 6:49 am

>28 Nickelini:. I'm about halfway in. While I wouldn't call it a page turner, it is uncomplicated and plot driven. It may be a more compelling story for someone who has had children, which I have not. I do like the descriptions of lighthouse life and that part of Australia. So far I have nothing bad to say other than it is a very simple book; the sort of thing that my mother will love. At least it didn't turn out to be a romance (not yet anyway!)

30Citizenjoyce
Editado: Dic 20, 2013, 5:29 pm

I'm about half way through The Daughters of Mars written by a man, Tom keneally but about Australian nurses in WWI. I would say it's amazing that he got his characters so right, but he also wrote Schindler's Arc (upon which was based the movie Schindler's List) so I shouldn't be surprised that he can write so well beyond his own experience. I'm pretty sure this is going to be a 5 star read for me.
I'm also about halfway through The Secret Magdalene which is a very different way of looking at Mary Magdalene and Jesus (he had red hair and a twin brother). I would much rather have read Ki Longfellow's book about Hypatia, but my library system doesn't have it. I don't much like the magic described in the book. I think her comments on philosophy would be much more powerful without it, but still, it's a good look at the times.
This morning I started Transition by Chaz Bono. I can't say much about it yet.

31SaraHope
Dic 20, 2013, 3:28 pm

Finished Burial Rites, a historical novel based on a true-life crime in Iceland in the 19th century. I wasn't blown away, but enjoyed it well enough. It good enough that I'd look out for the next book by this author. She's pretty young, only in her late twenties.

32Citizenjoyce
Editado: Dic 22, 2013, 5:20 pm

I just finished The Finishing School by Muriel Spark which is related to The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie only in that it's set in a school. Much less political, much more fun.

33overlycriticalelisa
Editado: Dic 26, 2013, 12:59 pm

just started reading light a penny candle. i don't usually like maeve binchy all that much at all but i seem to be in the mood for this right now as it doesn't feel particularly different than others i've read but i'm not disliking it.

(edited days later to fix typo of authors's name)

34Eliminado
Dic 25, 2013, 4:13 pm

The Finishing School is my favorite Spark, and her last. Beautifully plotted, some laugh out-loud scenes. How to confuse an attacking snake.

Have been reading The Goldfinch for over a week. It's a page-turner, but sometimes I think the writers of these windy tomes are a little self-indulgent and too much in love with their own prose.

35Citizenjoyce
Editado: Dic 25, 2013, 9:14 pm

sometimes I think the writers of these windy tomes are a little self-indulgent and too much in love with their own prose
Absolutely. I read 1Q84 for about a month and Murakami's constant repititions began to be very annoying. Are editors reluctant to do their job when faced with a famous author? I'll.be reading The Goldfinch next month, I think. I'm hoping not to feel the same way.

36Sakerfalcon
Dic 27, 2013, 6:49 am

>35 Citizenjoyce:: I am a huge fan of Murakami, but I couldn't finish 1Q84. If I hadn't known otherwise I'd have assumed it was originally published in installments in a magazine, thus the constant repetition of information in each chapter. In the UK it was published in 2 volumes, and I just didn't care enough to pick up the second one.

I've been reading some F and SF - Inda by Sherwood Smith, and Parasite by Mira Grant (Seanan McGuire). Parasite's twists and turns kept me gripped, whereas Inda is a slower, richer read.

37Eliminado
Dic 29, 2013, 12:17 pm

@35: Just finished "The Goldfinch," and it really is worthwhile. The epilogue, however is a little windy, and maybe tries to cram in too much of the Meaning of Everything.

38overlycriticalelisa
Dic 29, 2013, 2:58 pm

started telling: a memoir of rape and recovery yesterday and so far am finding it honest, real, and very well written. she's written novels as well and i'd be interested in them as she seems, at least in this memoir, a very good writer. so far a very worthwhile read, for survivors and non-survivors alike.

39overlycriticalelisa
Dic 29, 2013, 2:59 pm

oh, and finished light a penny candle a few days ago. i mostly was over it by the time it ended. too long and too conforming to gender stereotypes, and the ending actually opened a few things up that never got resolved. still, i liked it more than i usually like her stuff....

40Citizenjoyce
Editado: Dic 29, 2013, 3:47 pm

I just finished Healer by Carol Wiley Cassella. It's a personal look at what's involved in the financing of medical research and also an honest look at medical care for the underserved - migrant farm workers. The daughter is depicted as the normal, obnoxious, entitled American teenager, but, as I thought it would, explanations are found. The basic theme is honesty, and it honestly turned out to be better than I thought it would. I'm also almost done with the second in the Mistress of the Art of Death series, The Serpent's Tale. I love Ariana Franklin's (can't remember her real name) descriptions of historical medicine and social relationships. This morning I started Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, and it's already a winner about a modern day foster child and the 1920's shipping of orphans from New York to the mid-west.

41lemontwist
Dic 29, 2013, 7:10 pm

Been on a bit of a mental illness memoir kick lately. This month so far I've read The Center Cannot Hold which I found to be extremely captivating, considering most memoirs aren't about schizophrenia. I also read Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood, An Unquiet Mind and The Year of Magical Thinking. All of them fascinating, although not always easy to get through.

42Citizenjoyce
Editado: Dic 29, 2013, 10:35 pm

I also found the Center Cannot Hold to be excellent. I've seen Elyn Saks on a couple of tv programs, and she's very impressive. It does give one hope for schizophrenics, which I'd kind of been convinced was hopeless. I've thought of reading The Year of Magical Thinking but am unsure. Maybe one of these days.

43lemontwist
Dic 30, 2013, 8:58 am

>42 Citizenjoyce:, Schizophrenia is one of those mental illnesses that seems to be ill treated by the media. The image one usually sees is decidedly negative, and it's really nice to get a better understanding of the disease and that some people can be well treated with the right mix of therapy and medication. I was horrified, but not exactly shocked, at the difference in treatment that Elyn received in the US vs. UK. It's absolutely disgusting the way the US treats people who suffer from all illnesses, but most especially mental illnesses. I know we've come a long way from automatically locking people up and giving them shock treatments, but there's still an awfully long way to go before people with mental illnesses are treated in a humane way. Unfortunately, it's also still prohibitively expensive to get appropriate treatment for mental illnesses. It's so sad. Even just talk therapy is horrifyingly expensive, I feel like it should be covered as preventative health and be free. Alas, it seems like it's a long way off in the US. I could rant about this all day.

Also, the Year of Magical Thinking was good... however at times I found Joan Didion's unchecked privilege to be obnoxious. I tried to overlook it and focus on the narrative of grief and loss, which was captivating and so true. She does a great job capturing the mysterious way the brain works when we're suffering from loss, and how seemingly tiny things can spark recollections of the past.

44Eliminado
Dic 30, 2013, 10:16 am

42, 43: Thanks for your thoughts on the memoirs. I am increasingly bothered by the "Me and How I Triumphed Over Everything" type of memoir. They tend to be long on trauma and short on any real exploration of how their story adds insight into the human condition. Didion's book, much as I find her novels cold and arrogant, sounds like it tries to at least document something universal. I think I'm too close to my own losses right now to read it, but in a few years maybe.

45StacyO41
Dic 31, 2013, 2:27 am

I just finished "sister land" for my book club. Then I went into "You before Me" I heard good things about that one and it kinda fell flat for me. It's a bit of an unconventional love story, but I just couldn't connect with the Main character. Oh well, Moving on

46overlycriticalelisa
Dic 31, 2013, 11:35 am

>44 nohrt4me2:

just finished a great memoir that is about recovering from trauma, and more. definitely not the kind that you mention bothers you. highly recommend, with a part or two with a trigger warning:
telling: a memoir of rape and recovery

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