Books and other stuff I feel like discussing
By education and experience - Accountant with a specialty in taxation. Formerly a CPA (license has lapsed). Masters degree in law of taxation from University of Denver. Now retired. Part time work during baseball season as receptionist & switchboard operator for the Colorado Rockies. This gig feeds my soul in ways I have trouble articulating. One daughter, and four grandchildren. I share the house with two cats; a big goof of a cat called Grinch (named as a joke for his easy going "whatever" disposition); and Lady, a shelter adoptee with a regal bearing and sweet little soprano voice. I would be very bereft if it ever becomes necessary to keep house without a cat.
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Books Update
Time to speak up and let you know I'm still around. Perhaps not as motivated as I should have been, but still here. This is my log of reading since the last entry.
THE LONG SONG by Andrea Levy
A member of one of my book discussion groups pestered the rest of us unmercifully until we chose a book by Levy. Now we are all apologetic for delaying so long to read her work. Levy goes back in time to the Jamaica of early generations of her parents' families, and has written about the life of a young woman who was born a slave, but moved on to better things.
GHOST HERO by S J Rozan
PI's and tentative romantic partners Bill Smith and Lydia Chin get drawn into the political intrigue surrounding present day Chinese art. Works have appeared on the art markets of NY City with distinctive characteristics of an artist who died as a result of the political upheaval in China some twenty years ago. Is he still living? Is a skilled forger producing the paintings?
AN OBJECT OF BEAUTY by Steve Martin
More on the New York art scene - this time following the career of a young appraiser and gallery owner who zooms to the top of the pile and just as dramatically fails. Martin uses a first person narrator/observer to tell the story of the main character, and I often wasn't sure how the narrator could have known all he relates. The book is an interesting perspective, I have a few reservations about Martin's skill as a writer of fiction. I would advise him to keep his day job, but at this time in his life, I doubt if he will ever need to work again.
THE MOST DANGEROUS THING by Laura Lippmann
A group of persons who were close friends and playmates as children are reunited when one of their number dies in an enigmatic car accident which might have been suicide, or perhaps just an accident resulting from drunk driving. The surviving friends begin to come to terms with very unsettling memories.
I always like Lippmann's stand alone novels. In this one she uses an unusual voice - some chapters are written in the first person plural - "we did thus and such" with the reader never completely clear who is speaking. In an interview published on Amazon, Lippmann discusses her use of "we." It's an interesting discussion. Check it out if you're interested.
THE AFFAIR By Lee Child
Just how did Reacher get started on his nomadic Robin Hood way of life? All fans of Jack Reacher will gobble this one up. Readers new to the character might pick up an earlier book and learn about the protagonist.
BLOOD, BONES, AND BUTTER by Gabrielle Hamilton
A lot of my reading hours are devoted to assignments for the writing classes I'm taking. Hamilton is the head chef and owner of a well known New York restaurant. She writes about her early life, her career in food preparation, and her very unusual marriage. As a reader, I enjoyed the book. As a writer (or student of writing) some of the decisions she made on what to include in her memoir continue to puzzle me.
BOOMERANG by Michael Lewis
Lewis was intrigued by developments in the world of finance in several places in the world. He visited Iceland, Ireland, Greece, Germany, and California. He has several very astute observations about what led to the current crises in these varied locales. His writing, even on a highly technical topic like world finance, is very readable. It's the kind of book which instructs and entertains at the same time.
BELLWETHER by Connie Willis
Willis lives just north of Denver, and one of my book discussion groups schedules a book by her every few years. This novel imagines a market research firm, where varying projects, funded by grants, investigate current fads and other predictions of what to produce and what to sell. Willis' tone is wryly humorous and her powers of observation wickedly sharp. I laughed out loud quite often.
SCENT OF THE MISSING by Susannah Charleson
The author trains dogs for search and rescue and is an established member of a team based in Texas. By turns poignant, suspenseful, and tender, she writes about her life with her dogs and the work of her team.
FURIOUS LOVE by Kasher and Schoenberger
A "People Magazine" sort of biography of the years Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor spent together. I had the book on audio and listened driving down to Arizona and back over the holidays. For a device to keep me alert and not fretting during the long drive, it was OK. It's probably not a book to remember for long.
FOREIGN LAND by Jonathan Raban
On the other hand, any book by Raban is a book to remember. A British man, who worked for years in various ports in the Middle East and Africa, as a civilian in the shipping industry, finds himself at loose ends when he returns to England after his retirement. A sense of purpose reinvigorates his life when he buys a small sailboat and sets out along the southern coast of England. A neat little "gotcha!" at the end which took me an hour or so to understand. If you're not familiar with Raban's writing, I recommend that you get familiar with him.
CARAVANS by James Michener
One of my book discussion groups thought about reading this one, to understand more about Afghanistan. We eventually chose another book, but my interest was tweaked so I picked it up. It's set in the ten or fifteen years after WWII and centers on the diplomatic tangle which occurs when a young American woman disappears. I enjoyed reading and learned a little more about that far corner of the world.
That's it for this update.
THE LONG SONG by Andrea Levy
A member of one of my book discussion groups pestered the rest of us unmercifully until we chose a book by Levy. Now we are all apologetic for delaying so long to read her work. Levy goes back in time to the Jamaica of early generations of her parents' families, and has written about the life of a young woman who was born a slave, but moved on to better things.
GHOST HERO by S J Rozan
PI's and tentative romantic partners Bill Smith and Lydia Chin get drawn into the political intrigue surrounding present day Chinese art. Works have appeared on the art markets of NY City with distinctive characteristics of an artist who died as a result of the political upheaval in China some twenty years ago. Is he still living? Is a skilled forger producing the paintings?
AN OBJECT OF BEAUTY by Steve Martin
More on the New York art scene - this time following the career of a young appraiser and gallery owner who zooms to the top of the pile and just as dramatically fails. Martin uses a first person narrator/observer to tell the story of the main character, and I often wasn't sure how the narrator could have known all he relates. The book is an interesting perspective, I have a few reservations about Martin's skill as a writer of fiction. I would advise him to keep his day job, but at this time in his life, I doubt if he will ever need to work again.
THE MOST DANGEROUS THING by Laura Lippmann
A group of persons who were close friends and playmates as children are reunited when one of their number dies in an enigmatic car accident which might have been suicide, or perhaps just an accident resulting from drunk driving. The surviving friends begin to come to terms with very unsettling memories.
I always like Lippmann's stand alone novels. In this one she uses an unusual voice - some chapters are written in the first person plural - "we did thus and such" with the reader never completely clear who is speaking. In an interview published on Amazon, Lippmann discusses her use of "we." It's an interesting discussion. Check it out if you're interested.
THE AFFAIR By Lee Child
Just how did Reacher get started on his nomadic Robin Hood way of life? All fans of Jack Reacher will gobble this one up. Readers new to the character might pick up an earlier book and learn about the protagonist.
BLOOD, BONES, AND BUTTER by Gabrielle Hamilton
A lot of my reading hours are devoted to assignments for the writing classes I'm taking. Hamilton is the head chef and owner of a well known New York restaurant. She writes about her early life, her career in food preparation, and her very unusual marriage. As a reader, I enjoyed the book. As a writer (or student of writing) some of the decisions she made on what to include in her memoir continue to puzzle me.
BOOMERANG by Michael Lewis
Lewis was intrigued by developments in the world of finance in several places in the world. He visited Iceland, Ireland, Greece, Germany, and California. He has several very astute observations about what led to the current crises in these varied locales. His writing, even on a highly technical topic like world finance, is very readable. It's the kind of book which instructs and entertains at the same time.
BELLWETHER by Connie Willis
Willis lives just north of Denver, and one of my book discussion groups schedules a book by her every few years. This novel imagines a market research firm, where varying projects, funded by grants, investigate current fads and other predictions of what to produce and what to sell. Willis' tone is wryly humorous and her powers of observation wickedly sharp. I laughed out loud quite often.
SCENT OF THE MISSING by Susannah Charleson
The author trains dogs for search and rescue and is an established member of a team based in Texas. By turns poignant, suspenseful, and tender, she writes about her life with her dogs and the work of her team.
FURIOUS LOVE by Kasher and Schoenberger
A "People Magazine" sort of biography of the years Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor spent together. I had the book on audio and listened driving down to Arizona and back over the holidays. For a device to keep me alert and not fretting during the long drive, it was OK. It's probably not a book to remember for long.
FOREIGN LAND by Jonathan Raban
On the other hand, any book by Raban is a book to remember. A British man, who worked for years in various ports in the Middle East and Africa, as a civilian in the shipping industry, finds himself at loose ends when he returns to England after his retirement. A sense of purpose reinvigorates his life when he buys a small sailboat and sets out along the southern coast of England. A neat little "gotcha!" at the end which took me an hour or so to understand. If you're not familiar with Raban's writing, I recommend that you get familiar with him.
CARAVANS by James Michener
One of my book discussion groups thought about reading this one, to understand more about Afghanistan. We eventually chose another book, but my interest was tweaked so I picked it up. It's set in the ten or fifteen years after WWII and centers on the diplomatic tangle which occurs when a young American woman disappears. I enjoyed reading and learned a little more about that far corner of the world.
That's it for this update.
Read/Post Comments (3)
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