Having recently read Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson, in which Bryson travels around Great Britain just before he returns to the States, I haHaving recently read Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson, in which Bryson travels around Great Britain just before he returns to the States, I have to say that Round Ireland With a Fridge is the much better of the two books. This pains me slightly to say that, as I adore Bryson. While neither grabbed me quite as well as I assumed they would, this one was quite a bit funnier and also included a map so that the reader who may not know Ireland intimately can follow along with Hawks's travels.
Hawks does a great job of telling the story of his travels in amusing anecdotes, which keeps the reader interested, though on occasion Hawks seems to lose some of his literary momentum. It's definitely interesting to see how a British man sees Ireland, especially as we in America just tend to think of that area as one unified whole. I found it hilarious that the Irish tended not to even blink at the idea of a man hitchhiking with a fridge, like that was something they saw every day.
I admit that the pedantic side of me thinks that perhaps Hawks didn't earn his one hundred pounds honestly, as a lot of the folks who gave him a ride did so because they heard of him on the radio. I do wonder if he would have had as much success without the help of the radio show, though it did show how kind and generous people could be.
Definitely recommend, though it makes me want to head straight over to Ireland immediately....more
I'm rounding this up to a four, though it should really be given 3.5 stars, because it is compulsively readable. I just finished After You this afternI'm rounding this up to a four, though it should really be given 3.5 stars, because it is compulsively readable. I just finished After You this afternoon and picked up In a Dark, Dark Wood on my Kindle to try to knock out as many library books as possible before we have houseguests in a few days.
This is my kind of thriller. Granted, it could be a little creepier, but there was definitely a lot of tension and a lot of wonder about what exactly had happened, the things that Nora just couldn't remember. Most of the time I am annoyed when an author goes back and forth in time between the "now" and the "then," but Ware did it beautifully, keeping the "now" chapters blessedly short so that we could get back to the meat of the story in the "then."
I also loved how well Ware captures the reader to make her keep going. I really didn't do anything today other than cook dinner and read this book, and it's a mark of Ware's talent that I managed to ignore both my phone (Facebook is always calling me) and my husband's TV watching. That's how sucked in I was to this novel.
There are a few twists and turns to keep the reader guessing, though if I had thought about it too hard, I would have figured it out fairly quickly. My only quibble is that the supporting characters were somewhat flat. I would have liked a little more depth to them, as well as a little more tension and thrill to the book itself. And my biggest beef? (view spoiler)[I didn't find it at all plausible that Nora would be able to go back to the house, seeing as it's still a crime scene, and then of course the guilty party follows her there, when she herself is supposed to be in a very bad way. Plus we get the obligatory bad guy dishing out all her secrets and reasons for why she did what she did. It's a little overdone. (hide spoiler)]
But even with that, it's still an eminently readable novel, and I would definitely recommend it to someone looking to escape reality for a few hours. Well done, Ms Ware. This is quite an achievement for a debut novel....more
I have read all of Gillian Flynn's books and have loved them. Yes, even Gone Girl, which screwed with my head so very satisfyingly. But this? I'm sorI have read all of Gillian Flynn's books and have loved them. Yes, even Gone Girl, which screwed with my head so very satisfyingly. But this? I'm sorry, Ms Flynn, but this doesn't really do it for me.
Perhaps it's the length of the story. Yes, I know it's a novella, but I've seen novellas done really, really well, and this one seems far too superficial. We get some backstory on the narrator, just enough to make us interested in her, and Flynn gives her a job as a soft-core sex worker in order to titillate and shock the reader just a bit. Think about it: Would the reader be nearly as fascinated from the opening lines if it didn't describe the narrator's job as a woman who gives men hand jobs?
I'm surprised by the people who say that they were completely blindsided by the twists of this novella. I can't say I necessarily predicted them, but as I read, I was in no way surprised, which is a disappointment, coming from Flynn. And I didn't care for the "this is one possible ending, but wait, is it this instead?!" aspect. It can be done, and done well, so that it leaves the reader's spine tingling, but this just didn't do it.
I'll still wait eagerly for Ms Flynn's next novel, as I think she can write another great one, but if you're quite a fan of Flynn, don't be surprised if this doesn't satisfy....more
I am really, really surprised at how awful some of the reviews are for this book. Listen, I fully support everyone's right to his opinion, and I don'tI am really, really surprised at how awful some of the reviews are for this book. Listen, I fully support everyone's right to his opinion, and I don't think these people are wrong. It just makes me wonder if any sequel to Me Before You was going to satisfy these folks. Personally I feel as though Moyes has done a great job writing a sequel to a well-loved book, keeping the tone and the flow very similar to the first one, and being faithful to her characters.
Chick lit isn't really my thing. I don't usually go in for romance or love triangles or women whose lives are a mess of their own making. I usually like my reading a bit meatier. But I adored Me Before You; it's chick lit but with weight and meaning. I admit I had to find a refresher on the book since I'd read it so many years ago, which also meant that it wasn't my all-time favorite book either. So perhaps because I wasn't super invested in Me Before You has something to do with why I did enjoy After You.
After You isn't nearly the tearjerker that its predecessor is, but I'm glad of that. I wouldn't want Louisa's life to go totally off the rails. But I did enjoy how Moyes wrote her as still a flawed person, someone struggling with grief, someone totally stuck in a rut because she just didn't have the energy or gumption to yank herself out of it. It's quite a realistic picture of grief for a lot of people.
There were some parts of the story that I felt were a bit unrealistic (1. meeting up with Ambulance Sam again, though this is Britain which is far smaller than America, so maybe it could happen; 2. the whole plot line with Louisa taking care of Lily, though I wanted to punch Lily's mom in the face multiple times; 3. riding along with Sam and Donna in the ambulance, especially after Sam has been disciplined for it), but it all made for quite a good story. And like its predecessor, this is chick lit with weight, and is really well written to boot. Frequently I felt as if I had been sucked totally into the story, and even now I can see Louisa and the other characters fairly vividly in my mind's eye.
I would highly recommend this novel, though it's necessary to read Me Before You first in order to really appreciate what's going on in this novel. ...more
I am most definitely a fan of Bill Bryson, having adored both A Walk in the Woods and One Summer: America, 1927. And I love Britain so much, being, I am most definitely a fan of Bill Bryson, having adored both A Walk in the Woods and One Summer: America, 1927. And I love Britain so much, being, as I am, obsessed with nearly everything that wonderful island has put out in the last few hundred years.
But then I have never lived there. The closest I've come is an 8-hour layover (twice) in Gatwick Airport on my way to and from Kenya in 1996. And perhaps that is my problem. I don't have any sense of where these places are that Bryson visits, no idea of any sort of the geography, or why they are unusual or interesting outside of Bryson's book. He tends to assume you know where he's talking about, so perhaps his audience is actual real Brits, and not Americans who simply dream of living in Yorkshire or Glasgow (oh, how I yearn to become an adopted Glaswegian).
There are times when this memoir shines, and it's when he tells a charming anecdote, like when he decided to stay in Britain in 1973 without really thinking about it, and the mental hospital he worked in. But the rest of the book is just a string of superficial stories about how grumpy and grouchy he can be in various teeny outposts of his adopted country. Had he expanded his stories, and instead left out the towns in which nothing actually happened because a) it's winter and b) it's the off-season, this could have been a much stronger book.
Like most singletons, I've always been fascinated by twins, though I've never bullied them and I've tried to avoid asking them rude questions. One of Like most singletons, I've always been fascinated by twins, though I've never bullied them and I've tried to avoid asking them rude questions. One of my closest friends is himself a twin, but considering he and his twin don't always get along, this memoir, in which Cara and Christa are simultaneously each other's best friends and worst enemies, was interesting.
While I did have a great deal of sympathy for the girls and their difficult childhood, and for the horrifying trauma of Cara's rape (which proves that rapists look for people wearing clothes that are easily removed, as I doubt Cara was wearing stripper heels and a super short skirt while walking her dog in the woods), it was difficult to read about the aftermath. For one thing, I had a hard time liking either Cara or Christa even as my heart bled for them. I hate that Christa has to continue living without her other half because it's clearly very painful for her, but she engaged in some very destructive behavior that she should at least in retrospect realize caused the divorce from her first husband. Not only that, but she's very unsympathetic to the men she and her sister married so young; Cara's husband Kahlil gets an especially bad rap, which makes me curious as to what he thinks of this book. I don't know that in her shoes I'd be so harsh; the violent rape Cara survived doesn't come with a manual on how to deal with the horrors of surviving it, and perhaps everyone around Cara and Christa simply did the best they could, though unfortunately it wasn't good enough.
I would have loved to see more of Christa's photographs of the two of them, especially the ones she describes so vividly in the book. I was quite disappointed to see that we only were able to see the one that's printed on the cover.
I also didn't care for the ending. It seems a little too pat and perfect. Granted, that could be exactly the way it happened, with Christa finding redemption in her new husband and baby daughter, but it felt by then that I was watching a Lifetime movie. Now that I say that, this book would be amazing as a Lifetime movie.
I'm not sure I can recommend this book. From the other reviews, people either loved it or hated it. I'm going to have to leave it up to the individual reader....more
I saw this for sale at my favorite book store on Cape Cod, and now I'm so very glad I didn't actually buy it. Considering I had promised my kids we weI saw this for sale at my favorite book store on Cape Cod, and now I'm so very glad I didn't actually buy it. Considering I had promised my kids we were only buying for kids on the Angel Tree, I felt it would be hypocritical to buy a book for myself. Good thing I stuck to my guns and got this book from the library.
Listen, I'm all for mysteries and plot twists and setting up the next book in the series, but as I've said before, you cannot end a book on a total cliffhanger. You've got to at minimum wrap the major issue up before the reader reaches the end, or I guarantee, the reader will want to fling her Kindle across the room. Plus there is nothing in the book blurb to let a person know that this is simply the set-up for a sequel. Had I known that, I probably would not have checked this book out.
Admittedly, this is a pretty quick read. But the characters were really flat and rather stereotypical. George Foss is your average middle-aged man who carries a torch for his first love from college, and when she waltzes back into his life twenty years later, he totally falls for her all over again, even though he's completely aware she's wanted for murder. And of course Liana is a femme fatale because what else would she be in this less-than-stellar thriller?
I had a hard time believing that anything in this book could happen in real life; it was all so far-fetched and crazy. For me, the title didn't even make sense, even when it was explained a bit in the book. About the only thing I did enjoy was reading about Boston and the surrounding Massachusetts towns, considering I live not far from there.
My advice would be to pass on this one. There are so many more awesome books out there that are worth your time and effort....more
I'm not sure I'm smart enough or qualified enough to write a meaningful review of this book. There's so much going on here, from Zen Buddhism to quantI'm not sure I'm smart enough or qualified enough to write a meaningful review of this book. There's so much going on here, from Zen Buddhism to quantum physics. I admit my eyes may have glazed over at the end when Ozeki delved into the multiple world theory in quantum physics, but I think I understood enough of it to grasp what she was trying to say.
This, though, is such a fascinating book. Just the title makes you think. Are we talking about a tale for the time being, as in "now"? Or are we talking about a tale for a time being, "being" acting as the noun in the phrase? Somehow it's both, which makes Ozeki's tale so fascinating, and the fact that half of the narrative is told by a woman named Ruth, married to a man named Oliver, just like the author and her husband, adds to the charm of this book.
Occasionally I become quite frustrated with books that switch between points of view because I find them jarring if it's not done well. But Ozeki manages to weave the two narratives together almost seamlessly, and it's fascinating to discover Nao's story alongside Ruth and Oliver. It's almost as if the reader is the audience to the audience of Nao's story. The only thing that bothered me just a bit about Nao's narrative was how mature she was with her writing. I understand that she endured a lot of change and upheaval and bullying, but I'm not sure that even the best of writers could be so fluent and engaging at the age of 15. That said, at so many points in her story, my heart broke and bled for her. I hated everything she endured; a child shouldn't have to go through all those awful things.
Personally I had a really hard time with the September 11th section, but that's due to my own issues. Some people may be taken aback to come across such vivid descriptions of the events of that day.
Some may find the end a little disappointing, but I felt it fit the tone of the rest of the book. I also appreciated that in the Kindle version of the book, all of Ozeki's footnotes were easily accessible by clicking on them; I do hope that they're not endnotes in the hard copy edition, as flipping back and forth to the back of a book is one of my biggest pet peeves. I learned so much about this book, not just about quantum physics and Zen Buddhism and a smattering of Western philosophy but also about Japanese society in general, which has always fascinated me. I took a course on it in college, but this information is quite a bit more updated.
I'd definitely recommend this book for someone looking for something a little different, something with a bit of heft and meat to it. ...more
I'm not a particularly religious person, though I went to church every Sunday as a child, and even did a lot of volunteer work at and through my churcI'm not a particularly religious person, though I went to church every Sunday as a child, and even did a lot of volunteer work at and through my church. But I am fascinated by religion, especially the sects that seem closest to the most ancient form of a religion.
Th Carthusians are an order of monks that have existed for 900 years in silence and contemplative prayer. This book describes their founding by St Bruno, but also details the impact of the Desert Fathers on the ways in which the Carthusians choose to live their lives. Even as a non-religious person, it somehow gives me great comfort to know there are monks and nuns in this world that do nothing but pray for everyone's souls throughout the day and the long night. I can only imagine the perfect peace that these monks and nuns have found, and it's a refreshing thought in this world of commercialism and greed.
I was also surprised to learn that there is a house of Carthusian monks here in New England, just north of me in Vermont. Were the Carthusians to welcome visitors, I would definitely love to visit and see the monks at their daily prayers. But the whole point of this particular sect is to be removed from the world entirely, so they do all their praying in private.
Lockhart encourages us all to take some time out of our busy day to meditate and engage in some contemplative prayer. He even includes quite a few quotations on which to meditate. Many of them aren't particularly Christian, and so would appeal to people of many different faiths, or even of no particular faith at all.
This is a fascinating book, and one I would definitely recommend....more
This book is so original and yet so damn creepy that I have a feeling it's going to resonate in my thoughts for quite some time. I don't usually care This book is so original and yet so damn creepy that I have a feeling it's going to resonate in my thoughts for quite some time. I don't usually care for scary books, but this was so well done that I devoured it in less than a day. The only thing that I didn't care for personally was the back-and-forth of the story between what's going on now, and what happened four years previously. I understand that Malerman did it in order to increase the suspense and tension, but on occasion I was so invested in the storyline from four years ago that I was rather annoyed that I had to be yanked back to the present. The ending nearly brought me to tears as well.
I don't want to say much about this book because like my friend Cynthia, I feel that it's best not to have a single idea about this book. It adds to the creepiness and the strength of the writing. Just know that you will probably want to sleep with the lights on, or curled up with your favorite person or animal while you're reading this novel.
This novella is the moving story of two boys, one an aristocrat and one a Jew, who become each other's only friend, but then find themselves growing aThis novella is the moving story of two boys, one an aristocrat and one a Jew, who become each other's only friend, but then find themselves growing apart, thanks to the rise of Nazism in Germany. It's a very quick and powerful read, and I admit I didn't see the twist at the end coming. Highly recommended....more
I picked up Linda Greenlaw's The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island while on Cape Cod this past weekend, and not wanting to leave the worI picked up Linda Greenlaw's The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island while on Cape Cod this past weekend, and not wanting to leave the world of the New England fisherman, I dug out my copy of The Perfect Storm that I had picked up somewhere along the way because it happens to be one of my husband's all-time favorite movies.
While I found this book fascinating, and a very accurate representation of what could have happened to the Andrea Gail, there were times that I felt that it got a little too technical. Also frequently Junger used terms that I had never heard of, but are probably very familiar to a fisherman or to a meteorologist. I also feel that Junger tried to be as respectful as possible to the victims and their families; he could easily have made this account far more lurid and dramatic just for the sake of making big bucks. Instead he sticks to the facts as much as possible, and to the most realistic occurrences for the doomed ship.
I look forward to watching the movie, as I think perhaps this is one of the few books that might do better on the big screen. Regardless, I'd recommend this to anyone looking to learn more about huge storms and shipwrecks....more
One of my husband's all-time favorite movies is The Perfect Storm. For him, it was the perfect thriller, one that had him on the edge of his seat and One of my husband's all-time favorite movies is The Perfect Storm. For him, it was the perfect thriller, one that had him on the edge of his seat and breathless in the movie theater. Because of this, I picked up The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea somewhere in my wanderings through used bookstores, but have yet to get to it. This weekend, my little family and I wandered around Massachusetts, first to Falmouth on Cape Cod, where I picked up this book at the library sale at the Falmouth Library, and then to Plymouth the next day to check out Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II. We've also visited Gloucester, Massachusetts, home port of the Andrea Gail, the first time we lived in Rhode Island. So New England and its dependence on fishing is something that interests me, as I'm constantly surrounded by it.
I really wanted to love this book for several reasons. First would be my aforementioned fascination with New England and the knowledge that much of the economy rests on fishing. Second, I enjoy stories of women who do things that tend to fall in the realm of male dominance because I feel as though the women who do are the strongest of us all. And thirdly, I adore memoirs of what I consider to be "normal" people, i.e., not famous or readily recognized by much of the country.
While a lot of the chapters in this book are quite interesting, some fall a little flat. There isn't a lot of cohesion in this book either; it seems more like a collection of essays that detail the chronology of a terrible season of lobstering, but that's it. There's a whole chapter (just a couple of pages) on Dorothea Dodge, the postmistress, but I don't really understand why it's been included, since Greenlaw admits that she barely knows her, even though she's one of only a few permanent residents on the island, since she keeps to herself so much.
Some of the vignettes are amusing, especially the one about Alabama Slammer, but it's almost depressing to read about how difficult it is for the permanent residents to stay on the island and maintain their unique way of life. It made me almost want to move there once my husband retires from his naval career, though I'm not wholly certain we'd be welcome as newbies.
This book is quite readable, however; it's not until you get to the end that you realize there isn't much cohesion. But I'd still recommend it for fans of shows like "Deadliest Catch," to see the contrast between those big boats in the Bering Sea and Greenlaw's small boat off the coast of Maine, with just her as captain and her dad as sternman. ...more
I'm not usually one for short stories. When I find a great story, I want to wallow around in it for as long as possible, getting to know every tidbit I'm not usually one for short stories. When I find a great story, I want to wallow around in it for as long as possible, getting to know every tidbit of every character. This is one of the many reasons I loved A Little Life so very much.
This book was sent to me by Bas Bleu as their Book of the Month for July 2015 (I am really behind in my reading), and perhaps because it was a short story collection, I let it languish on the shelf these last four months.
But these stories are a super fast read, and the writing is incredible. Lee is lyrical and magical, and she has a way of bringing her characters and settings to life in such a vivid way that I actually didn't mind that they were only short stories. That said, I wish her stories were a little more varied in tone and character; most of the stories involved academics living in the Midwest, which, even though I literally just finished the book, leaves me a little foggy on which character belongs in which story.
I did enjoy "Min" the most, however. There's something so intriguing about Sarah having to research a wife for her friend while she's living in the almost magical world of Hong Kong for the summer, before it was returned to the Chinese. Perhaps that's why it is my favorite, that it's the only one of Lee's stories in this book that doesn't take place in North America, let alone the Midwest (though the last one is set in North Carolina).
I'd recommend this book as a satisfying plane read, or a good vacation read for someone who desires something deeper than the normal beach fluff....more
One of the reasons I adore historical fiction so much is because I am absolutely fascinated by how people lived well before modern times. Even somethiOne of the reasons I adore historical fiction so much is because I am absolutely fascinated by how people lived well before modern times. Even something as recent as the 1930s and 1940s are fascinating to me because of how quickly our world has changed with the advent of televisions, telephones, the internet, and smartphones.
But usually historical fiction stays in pretty safe waters, generally no earlier than the 1700s because people didn't really start writing down what life was like until they had a bit more leisure time. So to find a book that details the everyday life of people in medieval England was so very intriguing to me.
This novel is incredible. It might not be the best written, but it brings to life the daily grind lived by Marion Carpenter and her family so very well. A friend of mine read this in college, and according to her professor this is a very accurate portrayal of life in medieval England. We see how interconnected everyone's lives are in the village, how they owed tribute to the Hall, who would in turn protect them and care for them if disaster struck. We're even treated to some of the stories the old folks tell at festivals, times of true famine when babies and the elderly died so frequently, when even hale men who had been healthy a season before were reduced to a shadow of their former selves. We see through Marion's eyes how close these people lived to starvation; they were just one crop, one harvest away from not surviving. The intense worry and anxiety caused by the lack of a salt delivery, which would allow the villagers to put up meat for the winter, is proof of this.
After finishing this book, done while I listened to my modern washer and dryer clean my towels for me, I became very thankful that I live in a time when life is so easy. For Marion, nothing ever smelled sweet or clean; clothes were worn regardless of the spills and stains on them (including bodily excretions) because it was either too wet or too cold to wash them. My home is snug and dry on this crisp fall day, where Marion could do nothing more than to sit in near stupefaction through the winter days because she could never get warm enough to stir herself. We had a cord of wood delivered to our home a couple of months ago, allowing us a fire whenever we feel like it; I don't have to send my small child out to gather firewood in the forest, without which we would freeze with no other heating source. My own bed, that I share with just my husband and not my children, is warm and dry, even with the slight draft coming in from the window above our head; it's not sodden and wet and mildewy, and the straw underneath broken down. I have food aplenty in my fridge, my freezer, my pantry, and all I have to do is head to the grocery store to get more. I don't have to glare at my husband for having an extra piece of bread and cheese because our flour is running so low that I might not be able to make another batch of bread.
While there's a lot of tragedy that touches Marion's life (deaths of babies and children and friends), she also manages to enjoy the beauty of her surroundings when she can. She sees a beautiful feather and marvels over it, feels the warmth of a spring breeze and enjoys it, takes pleasure in the amusement her baby girl finds for herself. It's definitely eye-opening to think of a life where most of the scholarly pursuits mean very little, that all of one's energy and brainpower is solely focused on survival from one season to the next.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a story about a strong woman persevering in the face of tough odds, or anyone who has a curiosity about life in the Middle Ages. ...more
I had the great good fortune to be part of a really great book club when I lived in Virginia. We had a lovely grIn reality I'd give this 2.5 stars
I had the great good fortune to be part of a really great book club when I lived in Virginia. We had a lovely group of women (though our membership fluctuated a great deal more than the one featured in this book), but we never really got to be as close as the ladies in The Reading Group grew to be. Perhaps it's because we met at the library instead of a person's home, but also perhaps it's because most of the members didn't have the major issues that these ladies had to face.
I really wanted to like this book. Even though chick lit isn't really my preferred genre, I do enjoy a light and fluffy read at times just to escape. This just didn't deliver for several reasons. For one, there were a lot of characters to keep straight. The names of the women weren't enough for me to be able to differentiate their story lines, which meant that every time the point of view changed, I really had to think and figure out what had gone on in that woman's life before. Secondly, I think part of the reason it was difficult for me to differentiate between the women was because I didn't feel as though the women were as fleshed out as they could have been. I felt quite a few of them were rather two-dimensional and flat, and almost stereotypical in a way. Worst of all, the problems they had to deal with were so cliched. We've got an adulterous husband, a woman who wonders if she really does love her husband, a daughter who falls pregnant just before leaving for college, an infertile woman and the stress that puts on her marriage, and a woman dealing with being part of the "sandwich" generation (having young children and aging parents to take care of at the same time). None of the situations were terribly unique, and maybe Noble did that intentionally to make the women more relatable. But to me the novel felt more to me like several Lifetime movies stitched together into one whole, and unfortunately it didn't really enthrall me. Plus even though the book seemed from the cover to be about the book group as a whole, it's more about the separate lives of these women who come together only once a month to discuss a book.
If there is one good thing about the book, it has made me more interested in some of the books that the women discuss throughout the year. I was also pleasantly surprised to find at least one of them already on my shelves.
I would recommend this as a lighter summer read to someone who may be looking for something a little more involved than a typical beach read, or to someone who is dealing with one of the situations described in the book. Otherwise I believe there are much better books out there to spend one's time on. ...more
I've always been fascinated by spirits. My parents weren't very adventurous drinkers -- my mom has a glass of sweet wine with dinner and my dad will hI've always been fascinated by spirits. My parents weren't very adventurous drinkers -- my mom has a glass of sweet wine with dinner and my dad will have a beer on Saturday night, but every so often they'd break out the Galliano and have Golden Cadillacs (a drink I just realized I've never tried). For myself, I didn't really start drinking until my mid-20s; my core group of friends looked down on the people getting shit-faced at frat parties, and to be honest, none of us liked beer anyhow.
But then I met Jeff Cioletti and his wife Craige, and all of a sudden, there was all this beer that sounded amazing and delicious! It didn't hurt that the craft beer scene was really starting to take off, so I had lots to choose from.
Since I've been back in Rhode Island this last year, I've also noticed the explosion of craft spirits. Watching "The Booze Traveler" on the Travel Channel has also broadened my horizons (which is why there is now a handle of Bols genever in my liquor cabinet).
Now Cioletti has published the perfect book for people who may be looking to broaden their horizons a bit more. There are so many spirits in this book I had never even heard of, but which now I want to try. Baijiu, huangjiu, shochu, and others have all been described in such a way as to de-mystify them to this reader for whom they're all totally new. (I only wish I lived nearer a large Chinatown so I could possibly try them.)
Each chapter takes us through a specific spirit and tells us a little bit about the history of it, where it comes from, and how it's made, plus gives examples of some excellent brands so we don't have to wander the aisles of the local packie in ignorance. Cioletti is never pretentious and always encouraging, plus he really does know his material thoroughly. He has researched and sampled each of these alcohols himself, and admits that in the course of writing this book, he himself has gotten out of his comfort zone (as vast as that is) a few times. His main point is to enjoy these spirits in moderation, not to ingest as much as possible in order to get hammered. If that's your only goal when drinking, this book is beyond you.
I would encourage you to buy this book, read it from cover to cover and make notes of your favorites, and then keep it in your car, so that when you happen upon a bar or restaurant that serves one of these adventurous spirits, or if you stop by your local liquor store with the idea of having a flight of your own at home, you have the perfect reference material right in your hands. ...more
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is one of my all-time favorite books, and one I frequently recommend to people, so when I saw that one of the authors had a new book out, I knew I had to check it out.
I won't say I'm disappointed that I read this novel. But it does have quite a few issues. It's super long, which isn't in itself a bad thing, but it starts off so very slowly, and takes so long to allow the reader to feel like she knows the setting and the characters, that it actually detracts from the book. I didn't mind the changes in point of view, although they were occasionally very jarring, when they happened in the middle of a chapter without enough description to know immediately which character we have switched to. For me, the ending seemed a bit weak, especially considering that Willa, who is only 12, ends up as the fount of wisdom between her father and his sister Jottie, which feels a bit forced to me. I also felt it was a bit unrealistic that Jottie would have sacrificed just about her entire adult life to her brother, to the extent of not even speaking to a certain man because it would upset Felix so greatly.
I did enjoy the writing a great deal. Barrows paints the town of Macedonia so vividly that it feels almost as if the reader is walking down the street with Willa and her sister Bird. The author also did a great job of setting the novel in a certain time; I never once felt that it was a novel taking place in the modern day, but definitely during the Depression. And the letters Layla writes back and forth to her family and friends are quite witty with dry humor, which made me chuckle.
This might be best read during a sticky hot day at the beach. It can be a fast read, even though it took me nearly a week to get through it, but when I had the time to devote to it, pages just seemed to fly by. It's definitely worth a read, but not quite up to the same level as The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. ...more
When I told a friend that I was on a giant wait list for Circling the Sun, she suggested that I read West With the Night to hold me over until then. (When I told a friend that I was on a giant wait list for Circling the Sun, she suggested that I read West With the Night to hold me over until then. (And then I almost immediately was notified that Circling the Sun was available for me.) Because I enjoy book recommendations, I did as she suggested, and I am definitely not sorry.
This book is incredible. It's beautiful, it's lyrical, it's rhythmic. I've read quite a few books penned in the middle part of the 20th century, and I have to say, it was a time in which authors had a certain rhythm to their writing, and Beryl Markham is no exception. It's like I can hear her voice in my head, lilting and beautiful, telling me these extraordinary tales of her childhood growing up in British East Africa (now Kenya). This book was even more thrilling for me because I could picture some of the landscape, having visited Kenya for a month when I was 17, and living in the bush between Nairobi and Mombasa.
Of course, the Kenya in which she grew up, before World War I, when Kenya was even more primitive than it is today, is long gone, which makes her tales of it even more fascinating. Her father owned a mill and many, many horses, and apparently she had very little in the way of supervision as a child. It was mind-boggling to me that she would be allowed to go on hunts with the local tribesmen and not return home till the next day. But then that's what makes her unique and a non-conformist later in her life. She definitely lived life to the fullest, and suited herself without worrying about what society would say.
I thoroughly enjoyed the layout of this book too. She starts with her time as a pilot in Kenya, then goes back to her childhood until she catches back up to her time as a bush pilot in Kenya, and then eventually talks about her record-setting flight from England to Nova Scotia, the first woman to do so. It's somewhat surprising to find she devotes so little of the book to that flight, but in a way, it endears herself more to me. She doesn't come across as a braggart, but simply as a person who did this thing that maybe others would find incredible.
Even if you discount the record-setting trip from England to Nova Scotia, the fact that she could fly at all in Africa is staggering. Nowadays pilots have well-lit routes (at least in most of the world; I'm sure some of Africa and Australia are still dark) with radar and constant communication with various air traffic control towers and even auto-pilot for the boring bits. But most of where Markham was flying wasn't even charted or mapped. Listen to her description of flying at night to deliver an oxygen cylinder for a man near death:
Night flying over charted country by the aid of instruments and radio guidance can still be a lonely business, but to fl in unbroken darkness without even the cold companionship of a pair of ear-phones or the knowledge that somewhere head are lights and life and a well-marked airport is something more than just lonely. It is at times unreal to the point where the existence of other people seems not even a reasonable probability. The hills, the forest, the rocks, and the plains are one with the darkness, and the darkness is infinite. The earth is no more your planet than is a distant star – if a star is shining; the plane is your planet and you are its sole inhabitant.
Now imagine flying from England to Nova Scotia, alone, at night, with nothing to guide you, not even a radio. It almost doesn't even bear thinking about.
Read this book if you're interested in Africa from a hundred years ago. Read this book if you enjoy stories of a kid allowed to run free and explore. Read this book if you love horses. Read this book if you enjoy books about unconventional women doing amazing things. Read this book if you're interested in the birth of aviation. Read this book if you enjoy excellent writing and the ability to weave wonderful tales. Just read this book. I promise you it will not disappoint....more
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