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Connie, this is your thread for 2020. I have included the link to the required format thread and an example. If you had a 2019 thread - it will be archived so when you get the opportunity move over your completed books and formats to the 2020 thread - but we will allow time for you to do that.

Please follow the standard required format below - I hope you enjoy your reading in 2020. Here is also a link for assistance with the required guidelines:

Link: /topic/show/...

Our Required Format:

JANUARY

1. by Winston S. Churchill
Finish date: January 2020
Genre: (whatever genre the book happens to be)
Rating: A
Review: You can add text from a review you have written but no links to any review elsewhere even goodreads. And that is about it. Just make sure to number consecutively and just add the months.

IMPORTANT - THE REVIEW SHOULD BE SHORT AND SWEET - THERE ARE NO LINKS OF ANY KIND IN THE BODY OF THE REVIEW ALLOWED. NONE. DO NOT REFER TO ANY OTHER BOOK IN YOUR BRIEF REVIEW. THE ONLY BOOK CITED IN YOUR REVIEW IS THE ONE YOU ARE REVIEWING - NO OTHERS. ALL LINKS TO OTHER THREADS OR REVIEWS ARE DELETED IMMEDIATELY - THERE WILL BE NO WARNING. WE CONSIDER THIS SELF PROMOTION AND IT IS NOT ALLOWED AND IS IN VIOLATION OF OUR RULES AND GUIDELINES

Connie, you are ready to go for 2020. We now have a special perk where we can list the books we want to read for the 50 Books Read in 2020. You also now have a Personal Reading List thread where you can keep track of what you want to read; and/or what you have completed etc for the challenge. These of course can be carried over to the next year's personal reading list if you do not complete your 2020 To Be Read list. You would simply do an edit, copy and paste.

JANUARY

1. by Edwidge Danticat
Finish date: January 2020
Genre: Historical fiction, Literary fiction
Rating: B+
Review: Edwidge Danticat has written a work of literary fiction centered around the 1937 massacre of Haitians who were working in the Dominican Republic. This was done under the direction of the Dominican dictator Generalissimo Rafael Trujillo. The island of Hispaniola is divided by a river into two countries--the Dominican Republic which had been colonized by Spain, and Haiti which had a mix of people of French and African ancestry. Tensions ran strong between the two small Caribbean countries.

The narrator is Amabelle Desir, a Haitian working as a maid in the Dominican Republic. Her parents had drowned when she was a child, and she was taken in by a Spanish Dominican family. Amabelle tells the story in chapters that alternate between actual events, and her troubling dreams and memories. She loves Sebastien, a Haitian worker in the cane fields, but he is captured by the Dominican soldiers during the massacre. Amabelle tries to return to Haiti with another group of people, and is seriously beaten. The story continues with Amabelle's life in Haiti, and her search to find Sebastien.

The title, "The Farming of Bones," comes from the sugar cane stalks which sound like chicken bones breaking. After the massacre of twenty thousand Haitians, it took on a new meaning as skeletons were found in mass graves and in the rivers.

This was a beautifully written book with strong images, sensual language, and characters one could care about. It was heartbreaking to read about the genocide of the Haitian workers, but the book helps us to understand the conflicts that still remain in the Caribbean today.

2. by Ann Patchett
Finish date: January 2020
Genre: Fiction
Rating: A-
Review: "The Dutch House" is a story about three generations of a family whose relationships are closely connected to a house outside Philadelphia. Cyril Conroy, a real estate developer who made his money renovating old buildings, bought the Dutch House as a surprise for his wife. Cyril loved old buildings, probably more than people, and was proud of his acquisition. His wife, who felt that she had a mission to help poor people, never felt comfortable in a home that looked like a museum and had a ballroom on the third floor. Their children, Maeve and Danny, were left motherless for reasons we find out later in the book. Maeve takes on the role of protector of her little brother, and changes her whole life to care for him.

Cyril later meets the manipulative Andrea who covets the Dutch House, and they are soon married. Andrea's interest lies with the house, and not with her stepchildren. The Dutch House is an important part of both the sense of loss and the strong bond shared by Danny and his sister.

Narrated by Danny, the story tells about childhood trauma and family relationships. It goes forward and backward in time, slowly showing us the events that molded Danny and Maeve into the people they would become. The close relationships between the siblings was special, and they could always count on each other. Ann Patchett's writing is captivating and humorous. I expect "The Dutch House" to be an especially good story for book discussion groups.

Ann Patchett is a tremendously gifted writer. May I recommend:
by Ann Patchett
Regards,
Andrea

Thanks for the recommendation, Andrea. I have that book on my TBR, but I should move it up a bit. I admire Ann Patchett for her support of other writers and independent bookstores, as well as her wonderful books.

Ann Patchett

Thank you Connie.

3. by Mona Hanna-Attisha
Finish date: January 2020
Genre: Nonfiction, Medicine, Science, Politics
Rating: A-
Review: The Michigan city of Flint was in a financial crisis when the decision was made to change its public water supply from Lake Huron to the contaminated Flint River in 2014. Anti-corrosive measures were discontinued too. People in Flint complained about their water, but the city leaders assured them that it was in compliance with state standards. But General Motors stopped using Flint water because it was corroding engine parts.

Dr Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician and hospital researcher, was visiting with a friend who was a water specialist and was told that there were high levels of lead in Flint's water. Dr Mona and her associates looked at the blood lead levels of young children done as a routine screening before and after the switch to the Flint River water. Lead is a neurotoxin that is especially harmful to the developing brains of young children, affecting cognition and lowering IQ levels. Dr Mona, researchers at the children's hospital, water specialist Dr Marc Edwards, community activists, and journalists worked together as a team to bring this terrible situation to the public and stop the denials that were coming from state officials.

"What the Eyes Don't See" is the story of a whistleblower who had been raised in an Iraqi-American family with a history of activism and work for social justice. Dr Mona is intelligent, and passionate about public health and child development. She also felt there was racial injustice in a city of minorities, allowing a situation which would not have happened in an affluent white community. Even after the city of Flint hooked back up to treated Lake Huron water, they were left with corroded pipes which will cause lead problems for years. Bottled water, water filters, premixed baby formula, and various programs to stimulate learning and development in children should help reduce some of the harm that was done to Flint's children.

I don't know how the bureaucrats could sleep at night knowing they were poisoning thousands of children with lead while trying to hide the evidence. Dr Mona's writing is very accessible and conversational, and not filled with lots of scientific jargon. She is also very generous with her praise for all the people who helped her. This book is highly recommended.

Wow, Connie! Sounds like a great read!
Regards,
Andrea

Andrea wrote: "Wow, Connie! Sounds like a great read!
Regards,
Andrea"

Both my husband and I found it to be a fascinating book, Andrea.

4. by Elizabeth Strout
Finish date: January 2020
Genre: Short Stories
Rating: A
Review: Olive Kitteridge is one of my favorite literary characters. She's a mix of contradictions--difficult and obnoxious, but also compassionate and caring. Elizabeth Strout has written a second novel of linked stories featuring Olive and other people having connections to Crosby, Maine.

It's not easy getting older, and loneliness can be just as debilitating as physical health problems. Olive has been widowed twice, has an uneasy relationship with her son, and has many regrets. But Olive will be OK--she's tough and she's made a friend who checks on her every day. Olive is typing up her memoir as the book ends: "I do not have a clue who I have been. Truthfully, I do not understand a thing."

Kudos to Elizabeth Strout for crafting another fine book showing her deep understanding of human emotions. Olive, it's been great to visit with you again!

5. by Siobhan Dowd
Finish date: January 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction, YA
Rating: B+
Review: Eighteen-year-old Fergus is digging for peat in a bog along the border of Northern Ireland when he discovers a dead body. The small woman had been well preserved in the bog for thousands of years. Archeologists look for clues associated with her death.

Meanwhile, Fergus and his family are trying to cope with the knowledge that his older brother Joe, an imprisoned member of the Provisional IRA, is on a hunger strike. Bobby Sands and some other prisoners have died, and Joe is wasting away. Fergus wants to get good marks on his A Levels so he can go to medical school. He wants to save lives, and get away from the violence of the Troubles in County Fermanagh. Fergus is an engaging character who wants to do the right thing in a complex time.

This is a thoughtful coming-of-age book where dreams about the bog child's life alternate with 1981 in Northern Ireland. Although the book takes on some heavy subjects, there are also lots of light and humorous times with Fergus, his buddies, his family, and his first love. The well-written book is recommended for older teens and adults.

6. by Olaf Olafsson
Finish date: January 2020
Genre: Mystery
Rating: B
Review: While a young boy looks on, a priest falls to his death from the bell tower of the church. Sister Johanna, a French nun, had been sent to Iceland to investigate charges of abuse of school boys. (She was fluent in the language after rooming with an Icelandic woman at university.) It became evident that the church hierarchy just wanted the charges to disappear, but the nun knew the truth.

Twenty years later Sister Johanna is living in a convent, tending the rose garden and pampering a rescued dog. She is a compassionate person with a dry wit. She is sent back to Iceland to talk to a man who wrote an anonymous letter to the bishop, and who will only talk to Sister Johanna about some new evidence. As she sets out on her trip, her memories come flooding back of her university days, her forbidden first love, her previous trip to Iceland, and a priest who knows her secrets. Sister Johanna's story is revealed through three interwoven timelines (which can be confusing until the reader knows which characters are associated with each of the two trips to Iceland). The nun stood up for the young and powerless. Justice is not always black or white, but comes in shades of gray. This was an excellent psychological mystery so I will be looking for more of Olaf Olafsson's work.

Great reviews - thank you

Thanks for your nice comment, Bentley.

7. by Oscar Wilde
Finish date: January 2020
Genre: Classic, Fiction
Rating: A
Review: An artist is painting an exquisite portrait of handsome Dorian Gray. In the artist's studio, Dorian meets Lord Henry who tells him about the value of beauty and art above all things, and encourages a sensual, hedonistic lifestyle. Dorian is afraid that his beauty will fade as he ages. When his portrait is completed he says, "If only it were I who was to be always young, and the picture was to grow old! . . . I would give my soul for that!"

Lord Henry acts as a mentor and friend to Dorian whose youth and beauty initially charms people. But he descends into a life of self-indulgence and scandals. Dorian always looks young, but his portrait reflects the ravages of his lifestyle, and acts as his conscience. This well-written Faustian tale is Oscar Wilde's only novel. Wilde's masterpiece has a timeless quality about it since humans still have the same strengths and weaknesses.

Connie, isn’t this a lovely book ... have you seen it performed on stage?
Regards,
Andrea

Andrea, I've never seen it on stage but imagine it would be marvelous.

Long, long ago I saw it done; it was phenominal!
Regards,
Andrea

8. by Sarah Bird
Finish date: January 2020
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: B-
Review: "I am the daughter of a daughter of a queen." Cathy Williams was born on a Missouri plantation in the early 1940s. Her mother wanted Cathy to think of herself as a captive and the granddaughter of an African warrior queen, not as a slave. When the Union General Phillip Sheridan storms through Missouri he thinks tall, strong Cathy is a man, and takes her into service as a cook's helper. Cathy sees the other women working in the laundry or as prostitutes, and decides that it's safer to disguise herself as a man.

When the Civil War is over she joins the Buffalo Soldiers, the army's exceptional group of black soldiers. She calls herself William Cathey. It was much more difficult to keep up the disguise in the army barracks than it was as a cook's helper living in a tent. She finds herself fighting for her life because some of the other soldiers can sense she is different. Cathy was noted for her shooting skills. The Buffalo Soldiers were sent to Texas to protect a small town from the Native Americans.

Cathy Williams was a real person who worked as a cook's helper and a Buffalo Soldier disguised as a man. Many reviewers have wondered if the romance in the book was real. I read author interviews where Sarah Bird said that the love story and royal lineage were imagined, Cathy was really a foot soldier (not in the cavalry), and she was stationed in New Mexico rather than Texas. Posting her in West Texas gave the author an opportunity to write about Texas' history as a slave state, and the attitudes that existed after the war. The author has stories about Cathy from a woman whose father lived in the Colorado rooming house that Cathy ran later in her life. Former slaves like Cathy were illiterate so there is not a lot of documentation about their lives. This is a fictional book so it's fine that some parts were imagined.

There were very few opportunities open to the freed slaves during the Civil War and Reconstruction era. Since Generals Sherman and Sheridan had burned the Southern farms to starve the Confederates, things were desperate for both the blacks and the whites in the South. Cathy Williams was remarkable that she had the fortitude to make her way in a man's world. Most of the book was lively and adventurous, although it slowed a bit in the middle. I always enjoy reading about trailblazers for women, and the challenges they faced.

9. by Lara Prescott
Finish date: January 2020
Rating: B-
Review: The Secrets We Kept takes us to the CIA group in Washington that was concerned with Soviet Russia's activities during the Cold War. While the men had important titles, the women in the typing pools also had access to many secrets as they typed up the reports and notes from meetings. Some of the women were also recruited as spies. Sally, a master of role playing, teaches the new recruit, Irina, the skills needed as they also develop a close friendship.

Boris Pasternak was forbidden by the Soviets to publish his masterpiece, Doctor Zhivago. Many books with political content were censored in the Soviet Union. An Italian publisher released Pasternak's book in Italian and translated it into additional languages. Pasternak was threatened, and his mistress and muse, Olga Ivinskaya, was sent to the gulag twice. Doctor Zhivago was set during the Russian Revolution with the forbidden romance of the characters, Yuri and Lara, resembling Boris and Olga's relationship.

The CIA wanted to show the Soviet citizens that literature was not censored in the free world. They obtained a copy of the original Russian book. The CIA printed the book on ultra-thin paper which they distributed to some select Russian tourists visiting the 1958 Worlds Fair in Brussels. Although it would have been dangerous for people to be caught with a copy of the censored book, Doctor Zhivago was recopied and secretly passed from person to person in the Soviet Union.

The Secrets We Kept is a story of the power dynamics in the CIA, the role playing of the spies, the censorship in Russia, and several romances. I'm not sure if it's foolish or brave for authors to risk their lives, and the safety of their loved ones to publish their books, but it's an interesting question to ponder while reading this novel. This historical story kept my interest to the end.

Connie, what lovely reviews. I can see that you took a great deal of time in writing them.

Thank you, Bentley. I belong to several library book groups, and writing reviews helps me remember the details before I go to the discussions.

Connie, that is always a great practice - it summarizes all of the basic thematic highlights of the book. It helps you remember all of the "notes" of any selection. Keeping the focus on what is important!

Great work.

FEBRUARY

10. by D.H. Lawrence
Finish date: February 2020
Genre: Fiction, Classic
Rating: B-
Review: Sons and Lovers is a semi-autobiographical novel about relationships. Gertrude married Walter Morel, a fun-loving coal miner in Nottinghamshire. Their initially passionate relationship produced four children. But the marriage became very unhappy as the miner became abusive. After long hours in the dangerous mines Walter drank away a large portion of his pay. Mrs Morel attached her love to her two oldest sons. After the oldest son, William, died, Mrs Morel had a deep emotional relationship with her sensitive, delicate second son, Paul.

Mrs Morel hopes that her sons will have better jobs than her miner husband, and she makes sure that they attend school. She also wants Paul to marry into a financially prosperous family instead of attaching himself to a working class girl. Mrs Morel has an intellectual side, but her opportunities were limited because she is a woman. So she lives through Paul's experiences.

Paul is so emotionally bound to his mother that he has a difficult time loving or marrying a woman. He has a friendly relationship with Miriam, but feels little passion for the intensely spiritual woman. Then Paul spends time with sensuous Clara, a woman who is separated from her husband. They have a passionate relationship, but Paul is afraid of being bound to any woman. After Mrs Morel dies, Paul is no longer suffocated by her jealous love. But he seems self-absorbed, lost in his life, and drifting alone. Paul had worked as a clerk and as an artist, and there is a sense that he might look for a new vocation.

Sons and Lovers was set between 1885-1911, a time when miners were fighting for safer working conditions in the mines and better pay. D.H. Lawrence was able to portray the lot of the coal miner and the drab look of the mining town so well because he had grown up in those circumstances. Lawrence's life resembled the life of his character, Paul.

Although much of the book is wonderfully written, parts of the story were very drawn out and wordy. This novel is not for everyone since it does require patience. The reward is an interesting study of human relationships, and a look at the workers in England at the turn of the century.

A wonderful book I read years and years ago.

11. by Julia Alvarez
Finish date: February 2020
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: B+
Review: In 1960, during the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic, three revolutionary sisters were murdered and their car was pushed off a mountain. The Mirabel sisters had been visiting their husbands, jailed as political prisoners, while their fourth sister stayed home with the children. The sisters were called "Las Mariposas", translated to "The Butterflies", which was Minerva's code name in the Fourteenth of June Movement.

The book gives voice to each of the sisters as it tells the story of their childhoods, and how they became involved in revolutionary activities against the Trujillo dictatorship. The fourth sister, Dede, frames the story in an interview with a journalist as she keeps their memory alive. Dede and her mother had large roles in caring for the children of the three assassinated sisters.

One can feel the terror of living in an authoritarian police state. An obligatory portrait of Trujillo is hung next to the picture of Jesus in the Mirabel home, giving Trujillo a godlike quality. With Minerva, Patria, and Maria Teresa each having chapters written in the first person, the book presents "Las Mariposas" as distinct individuals who each had her own reasons for joining the revolution. Julia Alvarez honors these sisters in a very compelling story.

12. by Ian Sansom
Finish date: February 2020
Genre: Mystery, Humor
Rating: D
Review: Israel Armstrong traveled to Northern Ireland to start a new job as a librarian. When he reaches the library, he finds that his job description has changed. He now has to drive a mobile library around some of the small villages of County Antrim. But the books have disappeared!

This is a light book with lots of slapstick humor. Nothing goes right for Israel--he's the guy who breaks his eyeglasses, steps in manure, and has his pants burn while drying by the stove. It wasn't the right book for me, but it's a quick "beach read" for someone who enjoys that type of humor.

13. by May Sarton
Finish date: February 2020
Genre: Memoir, Animals
Rating: A-
Review: This is a charming story about Tom Jones, the Gentleman Cat, who lived with May Sarton and Judy Matlack. Their home in Cambridge, Massachusetts was a delight with a porch, a garden, big windows to watch the world go by, and dishes of warm haddock. A Gentleman Cat becomes a Fur Person when he is truly loved by a human being--and Tom Jones was very much loved. The author is an astute observer of cat behavior. The slender book is nicely illustrated by David Canright.

14. by Melinda Gates
Finish date: February 2020
Genre: Memoir, Sociology, Medicine, Politics
Rating: B+
Review: Melinda Gates and her husband, Bill Gates, are co-founders of the Gates Foundation which works to improve health and reduce poverty in developing countries. They have supplied vaccines and birth control, and worked to keep girls in school. They have also partnered with organizations in developing countries to prevent child brides. The foundation has been helping farmers by providing better varieties of seeds and other items needed for farming. Melinda emphasizes that it's important to involve the women in discussions since they do much of the farming and most of the cooking.

Melinda has traveled all over the world, listening to people's heartbreaking stories in remote areas with extreme poverty, and little access to health care and education. Other stories are about amazing people who have built schools and changed cultures. She has shared these stories to show how changes can lift women up, which results in lifting their families up.

Melinda also directs the Pivotal Ventures, an investment company that gives opportunities to disadvantaged people in the United States. She also writes about gender equality in marriages and the workplace. With warmth and humor she uses examples from her own life and marriage to Bill.

I admire billionaires Bill and Melinda Gates, as well as Warren Buffett, who are using their time and their fortunes to help others through the Gates Foundation. This inspiring book also makes me appreciate all the unnamed people who have become midwives, gone door to door with vaccines, encouraged girls in school, and changed cultural attitudes.

15. by Hélène Gestern (no photo)
Finish date: February 2020
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Rating: B+
Review: "The three figures in the photograph are frozen forever, two men and a woman bathed in sunlight."

The woman in the newspaper photo is Nathalie Hivert who died when her daughter, Helene, was four. Helene was intrigued by the photograph and wanted to know more about her mother's life. She placed an ad in some French and Swiss newspapers, and began a correspondence with Stephane, the son of one of the men in the photo.

The story is told in letters and e-mails with occasional descriptions of other photos linking their parents. Helene and Stephane learn almost more than they can handle emotionally--their parents' secrets and an explanation of their troubled childhoods.

The People in the Photo is a beautifully written book translated from French. I read it in one evening because I could not put it down. Although many of the characters made mistakes in their lives, they were caring people who often did not have a clear option in front of them. This book is recommended to readers who enjoy character-driven fiction.

16. by David Sedaris
Finish date: February 2020
Genre: Humor, Memoir
Rating: B
Review: David Sedaris is known for his humor, but this collection is just as much about making connections with people. His essays are very thoughtful, reflecting on his family during both relaxing and troubled times. He feels a deep sense of loss since the deaths of his mother and youngest sister. He thinks about the people he loves getting older, and bought a large beach house (named the Sea Section) on the North Carolina coast so they can visit together. Sedaris is so obsessively faithful about counting steps on his Fitbit that he'll probably still be walking miles every day as he ages.

Sedaris doesn't hesitate to write about embarrassing or disgusting experiences. Dark humor and absurd situations fill the pages. His stories also show wisdom, kindness, and a deep love for his husband and siblings.

17. by Ted Chiang
Finish date: February 2020
Genre: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction
Rating: B+
Review: Ted Chiang's first collection of science fiction short stories is impressive. Most of the eight stories have been previously published in magazines, and have received many awards. The erudite Chiang will have the reader googling for more information because his stories make us think, and marvel at his creativity. I did not always connect to his characters, but his ideas fascinated me.

Chiang sometimes goes back in history to do his world building as he did in "The Tower of Babylon" where the Biblical workers try to break through the Vault of Heaven. My favorite story was "The Story of Your Life" which involved linguistics, learning the language of aliens, and a mother who knows what the future holds for her unborn daughter. "Hell is the Absence of God" involves angels who visit the earth to perform miracles, but their power is so strong that they often leave a path of destruction in their wake. The story revolves around a man who desperately wants to join his beloved wife in Heaven after she is accidentally killed during an angel visitation. "Liking What You See: A Documentary" is written like a report by a journalist about the ability to discern beauty, and what would happen if there was an easy way to turn off that perception. "Understand," "Division by Zero," "Seventy-Two Letters," and "The Evolution of Human Science" are also included in this collection.

18. by Cara Wall (no photo)
Finish date: February 2020
Genre: Fiction
Rating: B
Review: Four very different people are brought together in 1963 when Charles and James are hired to be co-pastors at a Presbyterian Church in Greenwich Village. Charles comes from an upper class, intellectual background, and is a good listener to his parishioners' concerns. James, the son of an alcoholic father damaged by the war, is a fiery man who wants to change the world. The two men complement each other in their work, and become good friends.

Their wives are very different. Charles' wife, Lily, is a loner, an academic, and an atheist. Her emotional life was severely impacted when her parents died when she was a teenager. Nan, the religious wife of James and the daughter of a minister, is much more suited to being a minister's wife. Both women have difficult challenges to face as they start their families.

Faith, or the lack of faith, ties the story together. The characters are introduced to the reader when they are in their teens, and we follow them through courtships, and their years of marriage. Struggles and difficult decisions, testing their faith in God, are presented in a sensitive manner. Even though faith plays a central role in the plot, the story never feels preachy, and various points of view are explored. Faith is a deeply personal feeling for each person, and it may waver or become stronger during that person's life. "The Dearly Beloved" is a special book that I would recommend to readers who enjoy complex characters, and heartbreaking situations presented with depth and compassion.

19. by Leila Aboulela
Finish date: February 2020
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: B
Review: Sammar, a young Muslim woman from Khartoum, has been overwhelmed with grief since her husband's death. She works as an Arabic translator at a university in Aberdeen, Scotland while her son stays with her aunt in Khartoum. Sammar and Rae, a kind secular Middle Eastern Studies professor, form a close friendship which deepens into love. Sammar has a very strong faith that defines her as a person. But Rae comes from a different religious and cultural background.

Author Leila Aboulela writes using spare but beautiful language. Aboulela has lived in both Khartoum and Aberdeen, and gives wonderful descriptions of the contrasting locations. The book starts in cold, gray Scotland in winter, reflecting the depression that Sammar is feeling. She visits her family in Sudan later in the story. She feels the comfort and warmth of being with her family as she's also enjoying the heat and earthy colors of Khartoum. She does have to cope with the water shortages and power blackouts in Khartoum, but feels that she acts more like her true self there. She misses Rae, but doesn't know if they can resolve their differences. "The Translator" is a lovely little gem about faith, traditions, love, and two very different cultures.

Great progress Connie

Thanks, Bentley.

MARCH

20. by Vladimir Nabokov
Finish date: March 2020
Genre: Fiction, Classic
Rating: B
Review: "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta."

Written from prison, Humbert Humbert starts his confessional memoir immortalizing the young Lolita with that paragraph. He wrote his memoir to show the jury why he was so obsessed with Lolita, and the reason for his last crime as his mental state deteriorated. Humbert was a pedophile, attracted to pubescent girls that he called "nymphets." As an adolescent boy he had loved a girl, Annabel, who tragically died. As a middle-aged man Humbert was still attracted to clear skinned, long legged, twelve-year-old girls.

He noticed Lolita when he moved into her mother's boarding house, and eventually married Lolita's mother to be close to her daughter. When her mother dies, Humbert takes Lolita on a long road trip. He uses new clothes, special treats, and movie magazines to entice her into his bed. Humbert portrays himself as a cultured European scholar full of love for Lolita. But he is an unreliable narrator because it occasionally slips out that she sobs herself to sleep later.

As Humbert and Lolita travel, small-town American culture is seen through the European eyes of Humbert, adding some humor to this tragic tale. Just as Lolita is a double for his childhood love, Annabel, Humbert also has a double who follows them around the country. His rival may put Lolita in an even worse situation.

Humbert's memoir is about a very troubling subject. But Vladimir Nabokov writes this tragic confession with interesting word play and beautiful language. Nabokov skillfully puts the reader in Humbert's mind throughout the story. Humbert is a narcissist weaving a web of charming words justifying his "love" of his "nymphet." While Lolita is not angelic, she is a young orphan who was unloved by her mother and is alone in the world except for her abusive stepfather. We will always remember that she cries herself to sleep at night.

21. by Jodi Picoult
Finish date: March 2020
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: B
Review: Jodi Picoult is known for writing about controversial subjects, and she sets this novel in a Mississippi women's health clinic that offers abortions. George, a disturbed gunman, has shot several people at the clinic, and has taken the others hostage. Hugh, a police negotiator, has been talking to George all day trying to get the hostages released. Two of Hugh's family members are in the building. He tries to create a bond with George by talking about their daughters as one father to another. Father/daughter relationships are an important part of the story.

The book starts at 5 pm, and the story is told in reverse chronology going to 4 pm, 3 pm, 2 pm. . . back to the morning. It ends with an epilogue at 6 pm. So we know which hostages have been shot in the first chapter, and find out their backstories and reasons for being at the clinic later in the book. The author presents characters that are both pro-choice and anti-abortion, and they all have valid reasons for their opinions. Dr Ward's pregnant mother died after using an abortion medicine given to her by a voodoo priestess, and his goal is to prevent other women from dying from unsafe abortions. Some of the hostages have appointments for other women's reproductive health issues.

I found the book to be well-researched, showing a diverse group of women from a range of socioeconomic and racial groups. Picoult writes about contemporary women who feel very desperate about their situations. The story addresses a "hot topic" issue that concerns politicians, courts, religious institutions, medical workers, and everyday people. I found the reverse chronology storytelling a bit confusing until I knew the characters. The reverse timeline also meant that the highest tension was at the beginning of the book, instead of building up to a tense ending. "A Spark of Light" is a book designed to make the reader think about the issues.

22. by William Kent Krueger
Finish date: March 2020
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: A
Review: The storytelling is impressive in "This Tender Land," a tale about four orphaned children journeying down the Gilead and Mississippi Rivers. The four vagabonds were escaping from the abuse at the Lincoln Indian Training School in southern Minnesota. The narrator Odie, his brother Albert, a mute Sioux named Mose, and young Emmy who possessed special gifts joined forces to find a place they could call home. It was the summer of 1932--during the desperate times of the Great Depression. They met helpful people at shanty towns along the way, as well as dangerous ones who stole their money and forced them to work. A high point of their trip was meeting Sister Eve at a religious revival meeting. Sister Eve could sense what was troubling each person and offer help.

Twelve-year-old Odie was a good storyteller even at his young age. He was also an excellent harmonica player, using music as the universal language of friendship. Albert used his mechanical skills and sense of responsibility to gain people's trust. Emmy charmed everyone she met and could see into the future. For Mose, the journey was a time of self-discovery as he learned about his Sioux heritage. (The Lincoln Indian Training School's goal was to remove the Indian language and traditions from their students' lives, and totally immerse them in white culture.)

"This Tender Land" was a wonderful book--written with heart--about finding a home and a family in unexpected places. The author drew inspiration from themes in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Homer's The Odyssey, and works by Charles Dickens, but these four orphans experienced their own unique voyage. This was the first book by William Kent Krueger that I have read, but it won't be the last.

23. by Mary Balogh
Finish date: March 2020
Genre: Historical fiction, Romance
Rating: C+
Review: "Hiraeth. The deep--the bone deep--longing for something beyond himself. The longing to be a part of the beauty and the passion and the soul of this little part of Wales. The yearning for--he shook his head. There was no real word for it."

Mary Balogh's historical romance is set in the hills and valleys of a Welsh mining village during the Industrial Revolution. In 1839 the Chartist Movement is gaining supporters to fight for safer working conditions and better pay for the miners and iron workers. Sian Jones is engaged to one of the leaders of the Chartists. But she is also attracted to the English Marquess of Craille who recently inherited the mines. The widowed Marquess also employs Sian as a governess for his young daughter.

This novel combines interesting historical details, Welsh music and culture, and a good sense of place with a romantic love triangle. While some parts of the story seemed a little unrealistic, the book did have a lively plot that kept me turning the pages.

24. by Haruki Murakami
Finish date: March 2020
Genre: Short Stories
Rating: B
Review: Haruki Murakami set this collection of six short stories a month after the destructive 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan. The stories do not involve the earthquake area directly, but show the people of Japan undergoing psychological changes in response to this national disaster. The characters in the stories are having strange dreams, or are moving in an alternate dream reality. They feel an emptiness and loneliness in their lives.

This slim volume starts with "ufo in kushiro" about a man whose wife left him. She said that living with him was like living with a "chunk of air" since he has nothing but emptiness inside. The stories get more optimistic as the reader nears the end of the collection. The last story, "honey pie," finishes on a hopeful note with love and a caring family within reach. This collection of stories was a sensitive and imaginative response to the devastation caused by the earthquake.

25. by Alix Nathan
Finish date: March 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: B-
Review: Herbert Powys, a wealthy man from Herefordshire, is a loner interested only in books and horticulture. In 1793 he decides he wants to make his mark on science by conducting an experiment. He advertises for a man that is willing to live in solitary confinement in Powys' nicely furnished basement. The confined man will have a good supply of books and gourmet food, but he must grow his beard and nails during his seven year confinement. Powys has only one man answer his ad--John Warlow, a semi-literate laborer with a wife and six children. In return, Warlow will receive 50 pounds yearly for life. The story has first person accounts by Powys, Warlow, Warlow's wife Hannah, and several servants.

The servants have been energized by the French Revolution and Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man," and see Warlow's confinement as an example of the upper class taking advantage of a working class man. Of course, Powys' experiment goes terribly wrong with awful repercussions for everyone involved.

Alix Nathan writes well, and has some interesting ideas. But the middle of the book explores so many of the servants' concerns that the main story sometimes seems forgotten. There's been a lot of press lately about the effect of solitary confinement on prisoners and mental health patients in our modern world, so this historical story seems very timely to read.

26. by Elizabeth Strout
Finish date: March 2020
Genre: Short Stories
Rating: B+
Review: "Anything Is Possible" is a collection of nine interconnected short stories set in rural Amgash, Illinois. It's a sequel to "My Name Is Lucy Barton." While the first book left much unsaid and hinted about problems, "Anything Is Possible" is more open as the stories reveal the characters' situations.

The stories are about the relationships in some families in Amgash. The characters face poverty, abuse, and disappointments, but there is also healing, love, and forgiveness. Elizabeth Strout has become a master of writing linked short stories set in American small towns. She writes beautifully with a understanding of human emotions and the effect of childhood trauma.

27. by August Wilson
Finish date: March 2020
Genre: Drama
Rating: B+
Review: Boy Willie: If Bernice don't want to sell that piano. . . I'm gonna cut it in half and go on and sell my half.

"The Piano Lesson" is the fourth play in August Wilson's ten play Century Cycle about African-American life in the 20th Century. Boy Willie wants to sell a piano that he and his sister, Bernice, inherited. Their ancestor, a slave master craftsman, constructed the piano and carved scenes and people from their family history into the piano legs. Bernice does not want to sell this family treasure. Her brother wishes to buy land in the South to farm, and use the piano to partially fund his dream.

I would love to see this play in the theater. Wilson makes use of ghosts in the play, and it would be interesting to see how it is staged. Throughout the play their family history of slavery also has a haunting presence. "The Piano Lesson" won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1990.

28. by August Wilson
Finish date: March 2020
Genre: Drama
Rating: C+
Review: August Wilson wrote the ten play American Century Cycle, one for each decade of the 20th Century. "Seven Guitars" is set in 1948 in the backyard of a Pittsburg tenement. The play starts with the funeral of a blues singer, Floyd, and then goes back to flashbacks of his life. As seven African-American friends and neighbors hang out in the backyard, we can see how difficult their lives have been. They have not been able to fulfill their dreams. The three women have been disappointed in love. The men feel that it's extremely difficult being a black man in a white man's world. Floyd has recorded one hit record, and he needs money to get his guitar out of the pawn shop.

Because there were seven characters, it was difficult to emotionally connect to any one person when reading the play. But seeing talented actors on the stage, and hearing the music and the crowing of the rooster would be a very different experience and probably would draw me in more.

All I can is "wow" Connie.

Bentley wrote: "All I can is "wow" Connie."

Having time to read is one of the perks of retirement!

You are quite fortunate and I can see you are taking great advantage of the opportunity (enjoy)

29. by Susan Fletcher
Finish date: March 2020
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: B+
Review: "In the shoebox there are more than just scraps of paper. There are objects--things I can only assume had a hidden, private meaning to them. Love tokens, as Mrs Maddox might say. . . .They make me both happy and wistful. Like a mouse, she hoarded these objects. She tucked herself around them, kept them warm. Kept them in the musty dark under her Birmingham bed."

Eve Green, awaiting the birth of her first child, thinks back to her childhood years. After her single mother dies, she is taken in by her grandparents who live on a farm high above a rural Welsh village. The atmospheric novel is an exploration of loss and discovering her roots.

Eve is a precocious seven year old, full of spirit, who has inherited the red curls of her Irish father whom she has never met. She becomes friends with disabled Billy who slowly shares what he knows about Eve's parents' love affair. Another loss is the disappearance of a beautiful young girl, a probable victim of a pedophile. Innocent people come under suspicion in the investigation.

The novel also shows love in many forms--the kindness of her grandparents, Eve's growing feelings for Daniel, the gentleness of Billy, and the many people who loved Eve's mother.

Susan Fletcher's writing is lyrical with beautiful descriptions of Cardiganshire as the farm passes through the four seasons. Farm life goes on at the mercy of the elements, especially the frequent rain. I enjoyed Fletcher's debut novel and look forward to reading more of her work.