All About Books discussion

GOAL 1: To read 100 books. Currently 133/100
GOAL 2: Have all my non-read books fit on one book shelf
GOAL 3: To read 5 books from my shelf, for every 1 book from the library/ kindle/ audible

Owned books: 37
Library books: 55
Kindle books: 26
Audio books: 13
Borrowed books: 1

January
1. Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery 4★
2. Jason and the Golden Fleece 3★
3. Cranford 3★
4. Thirteen Reasons Why 1★
5. The Encyclopedia of Early Earth 4★
6. The Color Purple 3★
7. Tales of the Jazz Age 2★
8. Elizabeth Is Missing 3★
9. Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics 4★
10. Stitches 2★
11. Miss Lonelyhearts 2★
12. Brighton Rock 4★
13. The Undertaking 4★
14. Men Explain Things to Me 3★
15. Austerlitz 2★
16. The Home and the World 3★
17. The Diary of Adam and Eve 3★
18. Selected Poems 2★
19. Burmese Days 4★
20. The Death of Ivan Ilych 2★
21. Doomed Love 3★

February
22. Lady Chatterley's Lover 5★
23. The Conservation of Races 3★
24. Bel-Ami 2★
25. Felicia Hemans: Selected Poems, Prose and Letters 2★
26. The Sense of an Ending 3★
27. A Tiny Bit Marvellous 1★
28. On Anarchism 2★
29. The Luminaries 3★
30. Democracy and Social Ethics 2★
31. An African Treasury 4★
32. Flowers for Algernon 4★
33. To the Lighthouse 3★

March
34. Speak, Memory 3★
35. Gulliver's Travels 3★
36. The Time Machine 3★
37. On the Natural History of Destruction 3★
38. Between Genius And Genocide: The Tragedy Of Fritz Haber, Father Of Chemical Warfare 3★
39. The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design 3★
40. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz; The Road to Oz; The Emerald City of Oz - Book 2 2★
41. Selected Poems 4★
42. Notes from Underground 2★
43. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks 3★
44. The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh 4★
45. Oh Dear Silvia 1★
46. Frida Kahlo 4★
47. Sally Heathcote: Suffragette 3★
48. Bad Feminist: Essays 2★
49. Spring Snow 2★

April
50. The Miniaturist 3★
51. Beowulf 3★
52. Foe 2★
53. Kindred 3★
54. Aphorisms on Love and Hate 2★
55. Suffragette: My Own Story 4★
56. Station Eleven 3★
57. The Emigrants 3★
58. Books v. Cigarettes 3★
59. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic 3★

May
60. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer 4★
61. The Enchanted 4★
62. 84, Charing Cross Road 3★
63. The Beautiful and Damned 3★
64. Out of the Blue 3★
65. Are You My Mother? 2★
66. The Woman in White 4★
67. The Jungle Book 2★
68. Keep it Vegan 4★
69. Shooting an Elephant 4★
70. Not My Father's Son: A Memoir 4★
71. Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week 3★
72. Cry, the Beloved Country 3★
73. The Diary of a Provincial Lady 4★

June
74. The Remains of the Day 3★
75. The Murders in the Rue Morgue 2★
76. The Girl on the Train 2★
77. Still Healthy at 100 2★
78. How to be both 3★
79. The Hunting of the Snark 3★
80. Giovanni's Room 5★
81. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August 4★
82. A Man Called Ove 2★
83. North and South 3★
84. Their Eyes Were Watching God 3★
85. The Plague 2★
86. The Woman Warrior 4★

July
87. David Golder 2★
88. Girl With a Pearl Earring 5★
89. This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate 4★
90. I Am Legend 4★
91. Northanger Abbey 3★
92. Letters of Note: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience 4★
93. Persuasion 3★
94. The Road to Wigan Pier 3★

August
95. All the Light We Cannot See 1★
96. Introducing Philosophy: A Graphic Guide to the History of Thinking 2★
97. Yellow Crocus 3★
98. Eros Unbound 3★
99. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter 4★
100. The Garden Party and Other Stories 2★
101. George Orwell: Essays 4★
102. Kim 2★
103. Lost At Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries 2★
104. Far from the Madding Crowd 2★
105. Candide 3★
106. Xingu 3★

September
107. The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man 4★
108. Suite Française 4★
109. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? 2★
110. First Love 1★
111. Blackamoores: Africans in Tudor England, Their Presence, Status and Origins 2★
112. Hold Your Own 3★
113. Lysistrata 4★
114. A Spool of Blue Thread 3★
115. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian 3★
116. The Moonstone 3★
117. Me Before You 3★
118. A Russian Affair 1★
119. Sense and Sensibility 4★

October
120. The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? 2★
121. Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock 3★
122. The Autobiography of Malcolm X 5★
123. Satin Island 1★
124. W.B. Yeats: Poems Selected by Seamus Heaney 1★
125. The Patchwork Girl of Oz 2★
126. The Telltale Heart 4★
127. The Sisters Brothers 4★
128. The Return of the Native 3★
129. Flappers and Philosophers 3★
130. The Long Home 3★
131. Tik-Tok of Oz 2★

November
132. The Fishermen 3★
133. Around the World in Eighty Days 2★

1. Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery

Highly recommend this one, though not if you have a fear of doctors or surgery.

2. Jason and the Golden Fleece

What did you think of Jason and the Golden Fleece Pink? That's one of the Greek/Roman classics I haven't read yet.

Greg, I liked it, but read a translation by E.V. Rieu, which is in prose and I'd probably prefer to read a more faithful poetry version.

Thanks for the tip Pink; I'm guessing I would too.

3. Cranford

I listened to the audio version, narrated by Prunella Scales, who did a great job. I found it a sweet and funny book, but quite short and perhaps I'd have liked a little more depth to it.

4. Thirteen Reasons Why

I hated this SO MUCH. I skimmed most of it, then gave up before the end and looked up what else happened. I shouldn't have bothered. This is EVERYTHING that is wrong with YA.

Wow Pink, 4 books in 4 days :)

Too bad that the last one was a dud...

I'm starting the month with shorter books so I can get them out of the way, then concentrate on The Luminaries.

Pink wrote: "1. Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery

Highly recommend this one, though not if you have a fear of doctors or surgery."

Definitely adding this!

5. The Encyclopedia of Early Earth

I borrowed this from my daughter's bookshelf, after having bought it for her last year. I really, really liked this. The story is sweet, a retelling of myths and fables, to fit within the story. What I enjoyed most was the drawing and general production of the book, which was such good quality.

The Encyclopedia of Early Earth looks fun Pink! I added it to my to-read list. :)

I loved Do No Harm as well. He was very frank about his experiences and I learnt loads about neurosurgery

It was fun Greg!

Heather, I agree Do No Harm was very frank, I liked how he talked about his development as he got older, realising that sometimes it was better to do nothing for the patient, rather than tackle interesting, but high risk cases.

Yes, I agree. His development as a surgeon was so interesting to read. I also enjoyed reading his opinions on the current NHS situation

6. The Color Purple

Phew, well that book tries to rip your heart out and stomp on it.

Pink, I have a couple of questions about Purple. Things that explain why I have yet to read it. It is epistolary in nature,so does it all hold together? And the violence - does that serve a real purpose or is it JUST to tear apart readers? Finally I have heard the ending is perhaps to good to be true. I am still considering the book so I would appreciate your advice.

Curious what you thought too Pink. I quite liked it when I read it, but it's been years.

Well, I listened to The Color Purple on audiobook, narrated by the author. The epistolary nature of it meant that each short chapter was addressed to 'Dear God' but came across more like a diary entry, than an actual letter. I thought this format worked well for the book.

As for the violence, the sex, portrayal of black women and more especially, the portrayal of black men in a negative light, I think it served the author's purpose. The ending, yes too good to be true, BUT the whole book did feel very contrived in order for Alice Walker to make her point. I went into this expecting to be blown away by the subject matter, but it took me a long while to warm up to the book as I often felt like I was being emotionally played. This might be my own personal problem with it being a fictional account, but it felt like she tried to cram every mode of suffering into the book. Perhaps it was necessary, as many people did live with this amount of drama and heartbreak in their life, but I don't know if it was all needed. Nonetheless, it was a very good story of a family saga and it drew me in more and more. The parts that I enjoyed most were the relationships between all the female characters, especially Celie and Shug Avery. The parts in Africa I liked less, as these felt the least necessary to the story, but included for a different agenda. I think I might take a while to digest my overall feelings.

Thank you, Pink. You write, "I often felt like I was being emotionally played. This might be my own personal problem with it being a fictional account, but it felt like she tried to cram every mode of suffering into the book. Perhaps it was necessary, as many people did live with this amount of drama and heartbreak in their life, but I don't know if it was all needed." That is really the answer to my second question. Usually you can feel the difference between fiction and non-fiction.

Yes usually you can feel the difference. This book definitely felt full of emotion and if somebody had told me beforehand it was a memoir, I'd have believed it and felt all the more heartbroken. Perhaps that's why I felt emotionally played. Probably an unfair accusation, as surely the purpose of all fiction is to make you feel something.

You can usually feel when the horrible events are pushed too far. For reality's sake a smidgen of happiness should be thrown in. There is some happiness in everyone's life if you just bother to look for it. I don't think you are making an unfair accusation, Pink.

I think you're right Chrissie.

7. Tales of the Jazz Age

This was okay, for the most part I found the stories boring, but there were a couple of good ones in the collection.

Update - I am failing miserably at goal 3, to read 5 physical books from my shelf, for every book on kindle/library/audible. Out of the 7 books I've read so far this year, only 2 have been from my shelf. Think I'll have to start concentrating on this goal and maybe accept that I won't have time to read library books as well for the moment.

Pink wrote: "7. Tales of the Jazz Age This was okay, for the most part I found the stories boring, but there were a couple of good ones in the collection."

What did you think of "Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Pink? I found that one both touching and amusing. Was it representative though? Are the others similar to that one?

I love Benjamin Button, I've read it before and I really like the film version, even though it's completely different. I thought 2 or 3 stories were almost as good, but most of them fell short for me. They are somewhat amusing, also very short, so you can easily dip in and out. I read these on a free kindle version, which I was pleased to find, though I don't know if you use kindle books Greg?

I actually am having trouble finding my kindle Pink, so frustrating. I left it on my desk when I went on vacation several months ago (since I was in the middle of some paperbacks at the time).

My partner cleaned the house while I was gone, and I know it must be in the house somewhere but for the life of me I can't find it. Eventually it will turn up .. probably one day after I buy a new one, LOL :)

Thanks for the tip though. When I find it, I'll get my free copy!

Greg wrote: "I actually am having trouble finding my kindle Pink, so frustrating. I left it on my desk when I went on vacation several months ago (since I was in the middle of some paperbacks at the time).

My..."

Yikes! That would freak me out!

8. Elizabeth Is Missing

I really liked this book. The mystery element was done quite nicely, but what I really loved was the writing. So often new fiction books are fast paced, but this one had such beautiful language, which made me slow down and take my time with it.

9. Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics Bell Hooks is just great. Thanks Greg for reminding me about her a little while ago. This book was written in 2000, so is already 15 years old, but sadly many of the issues seem even more relevant today.

My pleasure Pink :)

10. Stitches Very quick, graphic novel/ picture book/ memoir. Quite a sad story, but really too short to give it much in depth thought.

11. Miss Lonelyhearts Bleak is the word that comes to mind.

12. Brighton Rock Loved this one!

Pink wrote: "12. Brighton Rock Loved this one!"

:) And it stays with you!

13. The Undertaking I really, really liked this book. I only heard of it as it was shortlisted for the Bailey's Women's Prize for fiction last year and I've been very slowly working my way through the shortlist. I like war novels anyway, but I particularly liked the different viewpoints of the husband fighting in the war and the wife's life back in Berlin. I had minor quibbles with it (some of the war characters blurring into one), but I'm VERY hard to please and critical of my books. I definitely recommend this one, very bleak, but very good.

Hmm, I think I will read The Undertaking sooner rather than later after what you have said. Thanks, Pink.

14. Men Explain Things to Me Quite a good collection of essays. The first 4 were great, mainly focusing on feminist issues, but really thoughtful and well researched pieces and definitely not just for feminists to read (though obviously we should all be feminists, shouldn't we?). The last 3 essays I wasn't so keen on, so might be hard to rate this one.

Library books are definitely winning my book tally (at the top of the page) hopefully my owned books will catch up a bit once I get through my current loans. Then I want to really concentrate on my personal books and only borrow for a group read etc.

Pink wrote: "Library books are definitely winning my book tally (at the top of the page) hopefully my owned books will catch up a bit once I get through my current loans. Then I want to really concentrate on my..."

This is a struggle that I am constantly wrestling with -- I find solace that at least I am not purchasing so many books so eventually my backlog at home will dwindle down to nothing (even if it takes a decade or so!).

15. Austerlitz Very mixed feelings about this one, but overall I wasn't so keen. Another library book too!

Sebald may work for others but NOT me. I don't give up on many books, but I did with Austerlitz!

I'm still unsure about it Chrissie, but I am glad to have finished. Austerlitz is a strange book, in that I didn't like a lot about it, yet I keep thinking about it. I'm going to try something else by him I think.

16. The Home and the World I'd never heard of this author before, but I read it for another group's Nobel Prize challenge. It was really quite good and I'd like to try some of his poetry in the future.

Are you considering a particular book by Sebald?

Chrissie, I'm thinking about Vertigo as it was his first novel, although The Emigrants and On the Natural History of Destruction both appeal to me for the subject matter.

17. The Diary of Adam and Eve and Other Adamic Stories This was quite humorous, though as a collection of pieces, some of the stories worked better than others. Thanks to this group's members for bringing it to my attention!

Pink wrote: "16. The Home and the World I'd never heard of this author before, but I read it for another group's Nobel Prize challenge. It was really quite good and I'd like to try some of his poe..."

I do enjoy his poetry Pink, both his longer poems and his collections of short sayings Fireflies: A Collection of Proverbs, Aphorisms and Maxims that are almost like very brief poems themselves. Beautiful with a bit of a flavor of mysticism. I read an interesting essay by or interview with Salman Rushdie where Rushdie talks about growing up with Tagore's work. A funny and engaging discussion, but of course I have not the slightest idea where I read it now. My memory is notoriously bad.