Library Loot: July 05 2021

Just happened to find myself at the library the other day – a complete accident, I tell you! /jk/ – and these titles happened to make it home with me:

(Top to bottom in photo):

• The Old Curiosity Shop – Charles Dickens (F)
• Seeking Pleasure in the Old Wild West – David Dary (NF/history)
• Women of the Four Winds: The Adventures of Four of America’s First Women Explorers – Elizabeth Fagg Olds (NF/history) (not in pic)
• The Great Gatsby – graphic novel (love this read) – not pictured
• DK Eyewitness Medieval Life
• Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History – S.C. Gwynne (NF/history)

(Can you tell I was roaming the history stacks? It was glorious.)

So what am I reading right now?

Well, these are in line but at this very moment in time, I’m reading an adventure/travel writing book called Side Country: Tales of Death and Life in the Back Roads of Sports by John Branch and then a quick look at a title from the TBR: The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom by Salvomir Rawicz (1956), a NF about Rawicz who was a young Polish cavalry officer who was arrested by the Russians and, after brutal interrogation and a farce of a trial, he was sentenced to 25 years’ hard labor in the Gulags. In the depth of winter in Siberia, he escaped and crossed the trans-Siberian railway and headed south to freedom. (Supposed to be an amazing read so I’m looking forward to this.)

And my regular summer project of a reread of the AP Style Manual….

Plus – you know: all these library books. 🙂

The (Almost) Halfway Post.

Almost halfway through the year and like other book bloggers, I think it’s fun to see how the reading is going and whether there are any patterns or trends emerging. 

To that end, here is what I’ve read so far this in terms of numbers:

• 54 books in total for a total of 16,142 pages:

• 33 fiction  – Includes short story collections and a play. (Very surprised to see this. I would have sworn that it was more NF but it’s not to be.) 
• 21 non-fiction

Other interesting (perhaps only to me!) stats include:

• 25 books (46%) taken from my TBR – I’d like to up this stat a bit more this year…
• Average number of books read per month: 10.5 books
• Average page count per month: 285 pp.
• Total average page count per month: 2,690 pp. 

How do the demographics look?

• 10 from POC/BIPOC authors (19%) – I’d like to up this stat a bit more this year…
• 23 male authors
• 27 female authors
• 5 mixed gender content

The books themselves:

Oldest book: (Far From the Madding Crowd / Hardy – 1875) 

Newest books: Two from 2020 (Battle of Brothers / Robert Lacey (NF) and Sharks in the Time of Saviors / Kawai Strong Washburn (F).)

Best book so far: 

Hmm. If I absolutely have to commit for both F and NF, I would argue for the following:

• Fiction: Rebecca / du Maurier (or the Hardy)
• Nonfiction: The Best American Travel Writing 2019  / Alexandra Fuller (ed.) 

Autobiographies and biographies have been popular topics, but there are no real leaders, TBH: Other topics have included nature writing, travel, history and the social sciences…. 

.It’s been a good year so far. I hope that you’re having a similar year. Onward and upward!

Library Loot: June 14 2021

Top to bottom, left to right:

• Trees – DK Eyewitness Books (NF/nature)
• An Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science – Edward J. Larson (NF/history/geog)
• The Round Tree – Louise Erdrich (F)
• Started Early, Took my Dog – Kate Atkinson (F)
• Dolores Claiborne – Stephen King (F)
• An American Marriage – Tayari Jones (F)
• The Little Princesses: The Story of the Queen’s Childhood by her Nanny, Marion Crawford – Marion Crawford (NF/bio/auto)
• The Secret of the Chimneys – Agatha Christie (F/murder)

Already read and finished the Stephen King book (ok) and now about to start on the then-scandalous Crawford memoir about the Queen’s childhood (and that of her sister). Ohh la la. (Rather a craze on the royals right now. 🙂 )

People you should meet…

Trawling my TBR shelves the other day, I realized that I have quite a few autobiographies and biographies about various people so thought I would gather these titles together in case you might be interested. One caveat: these are TBR which means that I haven’t read them just yet. They look good though!

• A Girl Named Zippy – Haven Kimmel. This was LOL hilarious when I read it a few years back…
• She Got Up Off the Couch and Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana – Haven Kimmel (part two of above auto.)
• Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature – Linda Lear.
• Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald – Matthew J. Broccoli.
• Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter  – Adeline Yen Mah. A powerful autobiography about growing up in China.
• Charles Dickens: A Life – Claire Tomalin.
• The Glass Castle: A Memoir – Jeanette Walls.
• Lab Girl – Hope Jahren.
• The Man Who Caught the Storm: The Life of Legendary Tornado Chaser Tim Samaras – Brantley Hargrove.

• Cherry: A Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard – Sara Wheeler.
• A Promised Land – Barack Obama.
• Becoming Queen Victoria – Kate Williams.
• Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor – Robert Lacey. A fast read of the life and times of QEII (up to 1983, when book was first published). Just finished this. An enjoyable and rather fluffy read.
• Hillary Rodham Clinton: Living History – Hillary Rodham Clinton.
• Adventures of a Young Naturalist: The Zoo Quest Expeditions – David Attenborough.
• Life on Air: Memoirs of a Broadcaster – David Attenborough.

• Everybody was so Young: Gerald and Sara Murphy: A Lost Generation Love Story – Amanda Vaill.
• A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on her Diary, 1785-1812 – Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.
• The Short and Long Times of Mrs. Beeton: The First Domestic Goddess – Kathryn Hughes.
• The Victorians – A.N. Wilson.
• The English: A Portrait of a People – Jeremy Paxman. (A DNF in the end. Just couldn’t get on with his writing style.)

• The Girls from Winnetka – Marcia Chellis.
• Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle – The Countess of Carnarvon.

Now I just to read them all. HA!

Summer reading

School and grades are now completely done which means, for me, that I can start the Summer of Liz. I don’t have anything required (outside the normal responsibilities) so the next three months are mine, all mine. 🙂 (I’m very lucky, I know.)

So – how to wisely spend this time? HA! I’m going to read and then read some more. I’m going to go through my wardrobe to see which outfits I can create/combine (just for fun) and I’m going to go and see my twin sis in CA for a few days.

So, speaking of reading (as we were), what titles have I read since the end of school? The above image tells the story:

• Chasing the Monsoon – Alexander Frater (NF). Reread and ok. Probably doesn’t need to live on my shelves any more though. :-} (Off the current TBR shelf.)
• Soul Clap Hands and Sing – Paule Marshall (F). I’ve read and enjoyed other Marshall work. This was a collection of short stories. Meh. Library.
• Majesty – Robert Lacey (NF/bio). I love the majority of Lacey’s work (good sense of humor) and and enjoying the older bio of the monarch. Nothing too mind-shattering but enjoyable all the same. (Off the current TBR shelf.)
• Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier (F). Loving this classic. (Off the current TBR shelf.)
• 100 Great Artists: A Visual Journey from Fra Angelico to Andy Warhol – Charlotte Gerlings (NF/history/art). I’ve really been interested in getting some more culture so got this out of the library. A quick but wide-ranging tour of some of the artworks of the world (mostly [all?] Western hemisphere).
• The Pale Horse – Agatha Christie (F). A murder mystery all wrapped by the end of your cup of tea. I do like a Christie every now and then. Library.

New TBR shelf…

Here are the titles on the new TBR shelf:

• Letters of Note: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience – Shaun Usher (ed.) (NF/socio)
• On Doctoring: Stories, Poems, Essays – Richard Reynolds, M.D. and John Stone, M.D. (eds.) (NF/socio)
• The Girls from Winnetka – Marcia Chellis (NF/bio)
• A Victorian Courtship: The Story of Beatrice Potter and Sidney Webb – Jeanne McKenzie (NF/history/bio)
• Cold: Adventures in the World’s Frozen Places – Bill Streever (NF/geog)
• My Family and Other Animals – Gerald Durrell (NF/nature)
• All Things Wise and Wonderful – James Herriott (NF/nature)
• The Book of Not – Tsitsi Dangarembga (F)
• Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card (F/sci fi)
• Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor – Robert Lacey (NF/bio). Read. Good.
• Time and Again – Jack Finney (F)
• On Borrowed Wings – Chandra Prasad (F)
• Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout (F)
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes – Anita Loos (F). Read. Good.
• Mr. Chartwell – Rebecca Hunt (F)
• Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World – Rita Golden Gelman (NF/travel). Read. Good.
• Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey – The Countess of Carnarvan (NF/history)
• Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier (F). Read. Good.

As always, the usual guidelines are in place: these are just suggestions for me and I’m happy to go off-piste if I want to. It’s summer time rules here! 🙂

Reading Review: April 2021

The reads for April 2021 included:

• Life After Life – Kate Atkinson (F). Loved this and plan on reading more Atkinson.
• The Happiness Project – Gretchen Rubin (NF). Meh.
• Bird: DK Eyewitness Books (NF). I’m starting to get into a bit of birdwatching but I’m a big novice right now. Thought I’d learn some basic facts.
• Evil Under the Sun – Agatha Christie (F)
• Living, Loving, and Lying Awake – Sindiwe Magona (F/short stories). OK.
• Belfast Diary: War as a Way of Life – John Conroy (NF/history/geog). Pretty interesting how it “normalizes” a war-torn society and culture.
• Suburban Sahibs: Three Immigrant Families and Their Passage from India to America – S. Mitra Kalita (NF). OK.
• Sharks in the Time of Saviors – Kawai Strong Washburn (F). Despite my aversion to short stories, these worked. Plus it’s on a list of Favorite Reads by President Obama.
• A Gentleman in Moscow – Amor Towles (F). Loved this. Definitely going to read more Towles.
• Dinner ASAP – Cooking Light (NF/cooking). I’ve been cooking some of these recipes – very good and not too complicated for this neophyte chef.
• All Creatures Great and Small – James Herriot (NF/memoir). Just a good read.
• Freddie and Me: A Coming-of-Age (Bohemian) Rhapsody – Mike Dawson (GN/autobio). Fairly typical teenaged angst for GNs.  

So to the (rather obsessive!) numbers:

• Total number of books read in April 2021: 12.
• Total number of pages read:  3,656 pages (av. 305). 
• Fiction/Non-Fiction: 5 fiction / 7 non-fiction. 0 plays.
• Diversity:  3 BIPOC. 6 books by women.
• Library books vs. books I owned (and thus removed from the home abode): 6 library books, 7 owned books (whee!) and 0 e-books.

Plans for May 2021 include continuing to include more BIPOC writing on my list. Continue this pace of reading and continue this streak of reading more from my own TBR as opposed to those titles from the library. Sounds pretty doable to me. Plus – it’s the end of the semester and I’m off for the summer. 🙂

The Long March – Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick (1998)

Chahta hakia hoke: We are Choctaw.

With Cathy at 749Books focusing on All Things Irish this month, I’ve been pulling some Irish-related titles from the shelves and in doing so realized that I know shockingly little about Irish history. So – wanting a quick primer on the Emerald Isle, I read this title. (I also have another FANTASTIC novel that I’m finishing up but that’s a different post.)

This read was about the terrible potato famine that occurred in 1845-1847. The juvenile title covers how the Choctaw people in Oklahoma collected money from their tribespeople to send to the Irish during their time of need…

Despite having lived close to OK for many years, I was not familiar with this event of the Choctaws supporting the far-away Irish so my interest was piqued when I saw the title on my library website.

Even better – it was a kid read which meant two things: (one) it’s probably really well explained (assuming the author is good) and (two) it wouldn’t take long to read and learn. I was right on both counts.

The protagonist, Choona, a young Choctaw boy, is familiar with the terrible Great March (or the Trail of Tears) which his tribe had been forced to undertake when their lands were taken away from the tribe, and as the reader learns (along with Choona) of the overlaps between these two displaced peoples, s/he also learns the importance of being true to yourself and others.

(In fact, there is such a connection between the Choctaw tribe and Ireland that Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, was inducted as an honorary tribal chieftain.)

So – what was good about this read? Well, it was really well researched by Fitzpatrick and she had worked closely with her Choctaw contacts, both the actual Chief of the Choctaw tribe and the Executive Director of a non-profit that works with the actual tribe. This automatically added authenticity and drive to the book for me, at least.

Additionally, the artwork was stupendous. Fitzpatrick, the author, is also a professional illustrator and it was obvious that she had taken great pains to reflect Choctaw life and people accurately and with care. I wonder how she had come across this story originally, as I haven’t heard of it before now. I’m really glad that I’ve learned about this as it’s a really interesting story.

Fascinating (to me) note: According to this title, the state name of Oklahoma (actually Okla Homa) is Choctaw for “Red People”.

New TBR Shelf: March 2021

The new TBR shelf for March 2021.

(Left to right on the shelf):

• In Search of London – H.V. Morton. (Loved his In Search of England not too long ago so hoping for more of the same.)
• From Holmes to Sherlock – Mattias Bostrom (NF). A deeper dive into the world of Sherlock Holmes and the fans worldwide.
• Notes from Walnut Tree Farm – Roger Deakin. (NF/nature writing.)
• The Happiness Project – Gretchen Rubin. (NF/aspirational.) (Read in progress.)
• Journal of a Solitude – May Sarton (NF/memoir.)
• Republic of Lies – Anna Merlan (NF/current events.)
• The Iceman Cometh – Eugene O’Neill. (Play.) (Tried to read it but yowzer. So much whining so it was a DNF. Still, gone and out of the house now.)
• Cranford – Elizabeth Gaskell. (F.)
• The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, A Detective and a World of Literary Obsession – Allison Hoover Bartlett. (NF/history.)
• Microbe Hunters – Paul de Kiruif. (NF/science.)
• Londoners – Craig Taylor. (NF/travel.) (Read this. Enjoyed it. Review here.)
• Outrageous Acts and everyday Rebellions – Gloria Steinham. (NF/autobio.)
• What Every Body is Saying – Joe Navarro. (NF/social sci.)
• Freddie & Me – Mike Dawson. (GN/bio.)
• Tales of a Female Nomad – Rita Golden Gaiman. (NF/travel.)
• The Best American Travel Writing 2020 – Robert McFarlane. (NF/travel.) (DNF. For some reason, McFarlane and I didn’t see eye-to-eye on “good writing”.)
• The Winds of War – Herman Wouk. (F.)
• The Crow Trap – Anne Cleeves. (F.)

The usual rules and guidelines apply: I don’t have to stick this list of titles if I find another title to look at and these are just suggestions. Other plans: read more from my TBR and continue to read a wide range of topics and authors (including a push for POC/BAME authors/topics).

Library Loot: March 04 2021

I’ve been busy at the library lately so thought I’d update my stash of interesting titles:

• The Colorado Kid – Stephen King (F) – was looking for another read by King since I loved his Misery title… (This edition actually has what I consider to be the WORST cover art in the world. I’ll get you a pic…)
• The Water Museum – Luis Alberto Urrea (F/short stories). Love Urrea’s other work…
• Hitting a Straight Lick with a Stick – Zora Neale Hurston (F/short stories). Other Hurston reviews here: Barracoon (NF), Their Eyes were Watching God (1937)…
• Mrs. Malory Wonders – Hazel Holt. (F/mystery). Just was looking for a cozy murder book and this title came up…
• Bookmarks: Reading in Black and White: A Memoir – Karla F. C. Holloway (NF). I ILL’d this title but it looks rather different inside than I was expecting. We’ll see how it goes.
• Around the World in 80 Days with Micheal Palin – Michael Palin. (Loved his travel book on the Himalaya mountains and wanted to read some more good travel writing.)

And more titles… (Told you I might have got carried away… 😉 )

• The Sittaford Mystery – Agatha Christie (F/mystery). Already finished this – good fun.
• My Cousin Rachel – Daphne du Maurier (F/thriller/mystery). Was looking for a Gothic thriller type of read… (Just realized that I’ve already read this. Sigh. No worries. Moving on…)
• Ice: The Antarctic Diary of Charles E. Passel – Charles E. Passel (NF/travel/adventure).
• The Round House – Louise Erdrich (F/Native American).
• Queenie – Candice Carty-Williams (F).
• A Traveller’s Life – Eric Newby (NF/travel).
• DK Eyewitness Books: Astronomy. (NF). Just looked interesting.

Which one to read first?…. I know I’m going to read the astronomy Eyewitness book this weekend for starters and make a start on “The Commitments” by Roddy Doyle for Cathy’s Reading Ireland 2020 project.