Reading Log as of April 13th - Northern Lights

 

Found out why I haven’t been reading as much. Went to the eye doctor and was advised my eyes are a little bit different from each other and if I had the proper glasses, my eyes wouldn’t have to work as hard. Getting fitted for bifocals soon.  Oy!

Les Miserables – Jean Valjean has a crisis of conscience.

I reread Nora Roberts Northern Lights and it always surprises me. For some reason, I want The Professor to be the murderer and yet again, he wasn’t.  LOL!

Almost done with Kazuo Ishiguro’s The buried Giant. Interesting story, especially with the Arthurian language. They find such polite ways to say the worst things.

Picked up T.R. Ryden’s Occam’s Razor which looks and sounds really interesting:

“When ancient artifacts discovered in the Great Pyramid of Giza shed new light on a DNA pattern, venture capitalist James Anderson is thrust into an action-packed road of scientific exploration and discovery. An unlikely participant in the events that begin to unfold, he begins to realize he has stumbled upon the greatest and most terrifying cover-up in human history.

Occam’s Razor is a chilling speculative fiction thriller which ties together several well-known, and some not-so-famous controversial theories concerning alien visitation, human evolution, ancient legends, and much more. Explore just how plausible it is that the people in power may already know about an impending disaster, and join Anderson and his team as they figure out what to do in the face of unstoppable catastrophe.”

Our Saturday Night movie was the 2015 movie Jupiter Ascending with Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis which was excellent. 

Reading Log as of April 6th - Museum of Thieves

 

Our next 52 Books Bingo category is Narrative Nonfiction. Also known as creative or literary nonfiction which are true stories told in literary form rather than dry objective reporting. Narrative nonfiction entertains as well as informs but engages the reader’s emotions as well their attention.  Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt was the first nonfiction book I read written in narrative or creative nonfiction format and led me to reading read more nonfiction.

Have several Erik Larsen novels in the shelves which bought for hubby but will fill the bill for narrative nonfiction as well as Joan Didion’s Slouching to Bethlehem. It’s been years since I’ve read Didion so haven’t made up my mind what I’m going to read yet.

I’m currently on page 168 in Les Miserables and have discovered how Jean ValJean rises and Fantine falls. Good stuff.

Finished the middle grade mystery Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner which is book 1 in the Keeper’s Trilogy.  Will have to get the other two books to continue. A dystopian world in which kids up to the age of 12 are kept chained to their parents for safety. Goldie runs away and finds a mysterious world in the museum. Fun story with monsters and folks who help Goldie not only grow up and learn to fend for herself, but also help the city. 

Still in the midst of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant and enjoying it so far.

Our Saturday night movie was the 90's movie - Sleepy Hollow with Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci, - which was entertaining and not too gory.   I watched the series way back when which was really good until it went the way of Lost with the last season.

Reading Log as of March 30th

 

Our 52 Books Dragon for the month of April is Querig from Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant which I’m looking forward to reading.

Besides The Buried Giant, currently on my nightstand is middle grade book Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner and the classic Les Miserables which I’m turning into my primary book if I want to get anywhere with the story.

I finished the 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle which was a fantasy mystery which kept me on my toes keeping track of the characters and the storyline. Very convoluted, but intriguing and unique mystery which went all over the place.  Was everyone in on it?  Too many people, secrets, behind the stairs politics, above the stairs agreements, black mail, murder, and love affairs.  The characters never quite knew who to trust. Loved the description and imagery.  A definite 5 stars. 

Our Saturday night movie was James Bond's Goldfinger.  The guys loved it. 

BW15: Ishiguro, Erdrich, Hackwith, and Stabenow

 

Artist Georgiana Chitac: "ABSENCE

It's book week 15 in our 52 Books Quest and the theme this week is Rebellion.  I finished four books this week and I think my books are in rebellion because none of them ended on a happy note.  They all left me with a sense of loss and wishing better things for the characters. 

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, narrated by Klara, a robot.  She is an artificial friend, is made stronger by the sun and very observant. She is picked to be the companion to Josie, an ailing child, and goes to live with her and the mom. Klara sees the Sun as some sort of God and comes to believe that if she manages to destroy a "Cootings" machine (I think it's an asphalt paver) which spreads dark foggy pollution and blocks the sun, the Sun will save Josie's life.  Filtered through the eyes of Robot it doesn't  seem like an emotional story, but more philosophical. The humans around her aren't sure of some of the things she does, but go along, hoping she will make things better.  I really didn't like the ending because when she was no longer useful, the humans in her life, treated her like an appliance. 

(Dystopian Fiction, New to me author, 320)

The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith was an interesting read. The narrators are Claire who is a librarian for unwritten books in Hell. Ramiel, a fallen angel a watcher relegated to processing the departed at Heaven's gates. Leto, half demon, half man who finds himself with no memory, and Brevity, a muse helping Claire.  While they are trying to return a runaway character to his book, enemies and allies are thrown together in a quest to find and destroy the devil's bible in order to prevent a war between Heaven and Hell. In the meantime God evidently has disappeared and Uriel, an archangel is in charge in Heaven. She's not a nice angel and wants to destroy Claire and all those involved with finding the dark bible. It's an intriguing concept, but quite a dark story with bits of humor thrown in.  I really didn't know who to root for. I didn't dislike the story, but again I didn't love it as I found it hard to root for any of the characters. 

(Dusty, Fantasy, e)

A Cold Dark Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow is quite good and I look forward to reading more of the series. Our heroine is Kate Shugak, an Alaskan Aleut, a retired investigator who lives alone in the Alaska National Park, but near her family in the tiny village of Niniltna. She's asked to find two men who have disappeared and during the course of her investigation, she is drawn back into the life and problems of family and friends. The theme of man against nature and man against man with plenty of action with murder, angst, betrayal, grief, as well as humor throughout the story.  I liked Kate, her byplay with different characters and hope she finds her happily ever after.  

(Dusty, mystery, new to me author, 173, e)

The Round House by Louise Erdrich is told from the viewpoint of thirteen year old Joe, with some asides from when he was an adult,  and it is easy to forget his age as he is put through the ringer with the assault on his mother and trying to figure out who the culprit was and do something about it.  The characters live on the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota and provide the reader with an enriching background of Native American culture, history, myths and laws.  The story goes from dark to light to dark again. It's a story rooted in taking care of family,  grief, loss, hope, betrayal, strength, and the consequences of action.  Once you get used to Erdrich's lack of punctuation for the dialogue,  the story  will capture and hold you to the page.

(Native American Fiction, Literary, 368)