The Unconsoled

Reviewed by Cal

The author of this book is Kazuo Ishiguro, who also wrote Remains of the Day, which I have not read. It is an unusual book that, frequently, I considered not finishing because it frustrated me by never fulfilling my wishes for what would happen next. Everything seemed so much like what I myself might dream about being lost and not finding my way to wherever I was trying to get. But the story wasn't about a dream. I constantly waited for something nice to happen to the book's main character, a world famous pianist, but one dire happening was soon followed by another. Also, some of the characters would go on and on for pages telling things in great detail that didn't seem to add much to the story except to lengthen it. Still, I was curious enough about what would happen next that I continued reading and finished the book. As I supposed, the book's ending was not satisfying to me.

Even though I didn't enjoy the book and can't recommend it to others, I can imagine that certain readers might find it very much to their liking. Certainly, the authors who wrote blurbs for the back cover were high in their praise of the book. For example, Ann Beattie wrote, "A perfect novel. I couldn't put it down."

The Hunger Games series

Reader: Aniko
Books: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I just read the most amazing series. It's meant for high school students, but I am totally obsessed with THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy. All of the teachers on my floor have been reading and raving about the books and since I'm the only one of my coworkers who normally likes science fiction and dystopias, I figured I had to try them out. (even if you normally don't go for sci fi-- this is pretty awesome!)

The series is set in a dystopian version of the US far in the future. Each of the 12 districts that make up what used to be the US sends one teenager of each gender to the capitol, Panem, once a year. These adolescents fight to survive each other and the elements in a televised competition that allows for only one to remain. These competitions, "The Hunger Games" serve to keep the districts submissive to the capitol, to annually remind them of how much the capitol controls them. The main character, Katniss Everdeen, represents her district, a particularly poor one, after she insists that she takes her sister's place in the games.

The books are impossible to put down once you start. I loved that I never had ANY idea what was going to happen next. It's so gripping! I literally read each one in a day, one after another, within three days.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Well, I resisted this one for as long as I could, even after my book club decided to read it. I found I could not put it down, but then I remembered why I am always disappointed in mysteries--the denouement is almost never satisfying. I found that to be the case with _The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_, but I did find that I really liked the main character (of the whole trilogy, Lisbeth Salander). My book club mates insisted that the first book is merely the prelude to the real story, and so I read on. I really had trouble putting the second book of the trilogy down, and so I recommend it if you are looking for something to pass the time. It's quite violent, so it's not exactly pleasant reading, but it is definitely gripping. It deals with violence against women, and I would really like to hear from someone who knows about that issue whether it's a serious and helpful treatment of the problem or not. My friends tell me the third book is the best, and so I guess I'll read on. Has any one else tackled these?

Amy

Genghis Khan

Book: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

Author: Jack Weatherford

Think about the images that come to your head when you hear the word "Mongol." For me it was the bad guys in the Mulan Disney movie. Ruthless warriors who drank the blood from their own horses s0 they wouldn't have to stop riding. I also heard that Genghis Khan had tons of living descendants because he raped every woman in every city that he destroyed. I knew the mongols invaded China and Europe and they were around a long time ago.

I was wrong about a lot. The Mongols did create the largest Empire in world history, but the flavor of their reign was of a much different tone than that of ruthless warriors. Under Genghis Khan, his followers had religious freedom. He abolished torture as punishment. He expanded global trade and communication, eventually spurring on the renaissance. Way ahead of his time in military tactics, human rights, and politics.

This book is a must read for lovers of history and those interested in hearing the real story.

The Fall of a Sparrow by Robert Hellenga

I really loved this book, even the second time I read it. It's beautifully written and has something for everyone ... tragedy, foreign travel, terrorism, religion, love, sex, forgiveness, eating, humor, music. It's a work of fiction about an English professor at a small college in northern Illinois whose oldest daughter is killed in an event that is actually historical -- the bombing of the Bologna train station. It goes on to show how the different members of the family ... father, mother, and two younger sisters ... adjust to this tragic event. If you've never read anything by Robert Hellenga, you might be surprised at what he's accomplished here.

Reviewed by Cal

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

Not that any of you couldn't get just as good of an idea about the book by picking it up and reading the back cover, here's a brief description of what tales of the mysterious and fascinating human brain Oliver Sacks has included in this book.

I imagine that several of you have already read this book, and if you are not one of those people you should be soon. This book contains all the usual elements to a great Oliver Sacks book. Amazing brain studies and curious brain "disorders" or variations. When you are reading his books, for that moment, you always just want to be able to experience for a few hours what people of various diseases or disorders are experiencing. However, with this book, the things aren't color blindness or autism (well they are actually in a couple of stories), but more like absolute tone deafness and 'amusia.' I want to know what it's like to have musical hallucinations because he describes them so well that it is hard for me to imagine that other people in the world are experiencing something so vastly different than I am simply because the hear music in a different way. He talks about different variations of synesthesia and people with Williams' syndrome. He talks about musician's dystonia and brain worms and rhythm. He talks about music in ways that I have never though about before and I have definitely grown a little through reading this book.

People on the subway who saw me reading this book, more so than any other book I have read, commeneted on how they "love that book" and "Isn't that book amazing!" So take it for what you will, I think that this book, a book on music - which is such a big part of all of our lives - is a book that really affects people on a deeper level than most books I have been reading on the subway. And even if you aren't transformed, you will at least enjoy the stories which Oliver Sacks is so skilled at putting onto paper.

Still Alice, by Lisa Genova

Reader: Gwyn

Alice was a linguistics professor at Harvard when her life turned upside down at the discovery of her early onset Alzheimer's Disease. This month by month account of the rapid progression of her disease was so disturbing, I was almost unable to read it. But this was an amazing book. It gave great insight into the thoughts of the person with the disease, as well as to the difficulties of those around her.

Although this was emotionally difficult for me to read, I would recommend it to all for a better understanding of Alzheimer's

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, by Rhoda Janzen

(A Memoir of Going Home)

Reader: Gwyn

Rhoda Janzen was raised a Mennonite. As soon as she could, she left that lifestyle behind, and went out to the world. When events in her life took a turn for the worse at the age of 40 years, she returned to her family looking for solace and support.

Janzen is a witty writer, with a delightful cynicism that made this a fun, easy book to read. Her descriptions of life with her quirky family actually did make me laugh out loud more than once. Of course, a memoir would not have made it to the presses if it did not include some self-realization and personal growth. This book provided that as well.

I recommend this book to anyone needing a chuckle at the expense of someone else's family.

City of Thieves, by David Benioff

Reader: Gwyn

This was a great book. David Benioff was able to take a gruesome tale of atrocities in Russia, during the winter of 1942, and make it a heartwarming coming of age story. I'm afraid to say much more, because much of the joy of reading the book was the discovery of what would happen next to the young protagonist.

At least 2 people in the family had recommended this book to me, and I'm so glad I listened to their advice. My question for others who read this book is: Is this really the story of Benioff's grandfather?

Lost on Planet China, by J. Maarten Troost

The full title didn't fit in the title box so:

Lost on Planet China: The Strange and True Story of One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation or How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid, by J. Maarten Troost

This easy read was written by the same author who penned Sex Lives of Cannibals (see review below). It was recommended to me by a coworker (and fellow expat) as something we can all appreciate. The author doesn't always paint a pretty picture of China but there was nothing in the book that I particularly disagree with. In fact, I 100% absolutely believe everything he wrote actually happened to him and I can say that while I have not traveled as extensively as he has, I have shared many of the same experiences and felt much the same way. In general, he pokes fun at cultural norms which westerners find somewhere between amusing and appalling. I don't particularly share his disdain for China but I think that is because I have been in the same place for 9 months and have actually gotten to know people, as opposed to judging them based on their habits. I do share the general distrust he does for the Chinese government and I think he describes the feeling rather well. Most if not all of the people I work with (Americans, Europeans, Indians, and other SE Asians) seem to feel the same way about the communist party (and state-owned companies) and the absurdities we have to deal with.

This book gets a bad rap because it portrays China in a relatively negative way but I can honestly say that it is a pretty darn accurate description of what one will find on the main backpacking circuits throughout the middle kingdom. I will say that most of the individuals I've come to know here are very nice, generous, and generally great hosts but I am ready to move on to a new set of appalling cultural norms in the next assignment.

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time, by Dava Sobel

Reader: David

This slim volume was recommended to me by Dad, and I really enjoyed it -- a quick read! So it turns out that it has long been easy to reckon one's latitude on the planet, but as recently as the late 1700's, there was no good way to reckon longitude. Who knew? It was a huge scientific/mathematical/astronomical/horological conundrum which had far-reaching military and mercantile implications. It was so important an issue for the British empire that King George III created a commission to solve the problem, and they created a competition with a huge monetary prize -- something like a million dollars today. This book tells the story of the actors in the administration of, and competition for, this prize, and it's loaded with intrigue, jealousy, and treachery, and it is centered on one lone eccentric who became the father of modern, accurate time-keeping through his solitary genius and creativity. It's quite a bit more interesting and intriguing than you'd imagine. Fun!

The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific by J. Maarten Troost

This was a fun, light read about a guys experiences while living on a Pacific atoll for 2 years. It's mostly about the culture shot he and his wife experienced all written in a sarcastic, humorous way. It's pretty short and quick to read. I laughed out loud several times on the bus while reading it. Not a whole lot in terms of plot here, but the outlandish living conditions are enough to keep me reading. I plan to read his next book, Lost on Planet China as well which I'll post about when I'm done. It gets my recommendation, especially if you just finished a long, relatively humorless 2000+ page trilogy ;)

Red Mars / Green Mars / Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

The following is a review of the Red Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. I decided to post them all as one post since I feel like they all really go together. One word of caution, llllloooooonnnnnggggg. You can't really judge how big a book is on a Kindle until you realize you've been reading 2 hours/day for a week and are only 25% of the way through. All 3 books are lengthy but I thoroughly enjoyed the saga.

The story follows the lives of the first 100 people to colonize Mars. They don't really have a goal when the international team lands on the red planet but the books are about what the first 100 do and how they work to achieve their vision of what the new world should be. The time line is fairly unrealistic (they first land in 2026 I believe for example) and the rate at which humans develop new technology makes the Renaissance look like the dark ages. But the story doesn't focus on the science fiction so much as the human and cultural forces experienced by the people there and their relationship with those still on Earth and the terrans who followed them to the red planet. The first 100 were a diverse group so while the narrative wanders back and forth among them, the reader gets to look through the eyes of biologists, physicists, geologists, ecologists, engineers, psychologists, and anarchists and get a feel for what they think is important in life and their fight to get it.

The settlers go about creating a completely new world, as opposed to a second Earth. I really enjoyed many of the changes proposed to traditional society but the author. One major element the author projected is the predicament Earth will be in in the next few hundred years. To me, the major point of the trilogy was to get people thinking about what the future holds for the world and what can be done to change it. He proposes some radical ideas which would likely never be possible on a world with so much momentum in one direction but the first 100 got the privilege to start fresh and do it right from the beginning.

This isn't so much your typical aliens vs. humans, pew-pew shoot em up kind of sci/fi, but more of a fictional anthropology set in the future. I really really liked it and felt fulfilled when the 3rd book was over. There is excellent character development and enough drama and excitement to keep me entertained all while exploring what we think of as human nature and how that can change depending on cultural influences.

A Thousand Splended Suns by Khaled Hosseini

I have a bit of a backlog of books that I've read recently. I keep track of what I read here which is a pretty decent website in my opinion to help you remember what you've read.

Anyway, content ahoy!

A Thousand Splendid Suns follows the lives of two Afghan women through the 70s to the recent past. It gives a great feeling for the difficulties women go through on a daily basis and the discrimination they face under the rules of the Taliban. There are happy parts and heartbreaking events but overall it talks about the importance of love even in the face of tremendous loss and oppression. If nothing else, it made me glad that I live in a country where people are guaranteed certain human rights and are allowed to choose how they live their lives. It is a good insight into the lives of those much less fortunate than us and helped give me a tiny glimpse of what life is like in war-torn Afghanistan.

I've never read The Kite Runner, but I've heard many people compare it to that (same author). It was a moderately easy read but not for the light-hearted.

How to add yourself as a contributor

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if you want to be happier, read this book-- really.

Family member: Aniko

Book: EAT, PRAY, LOVE by Elizabeth Gilbert

Brad and I stopped by The Strand Bookstore again last Monday so he could pick up a new Oliver Sacks book (which looks really cool-- can't wait to read his review). I spent the whole time winding through the miles of narrow stacks across three floors. I was unfocused, unable to commit to buying a book, even ones I had been meaning to read forever. After an hour, I was standing with Brad in line, resigned to leaving without something to read. At that moment, though, out of the corner of my eye I saw a book with three huge words on the cover: EAT, PRAY, LOVE. On an impulse I grabbed the book and thrust it onto the checkout counter at the last second.

I'm generally a pretty picky reader. I normally choose classics, modernist novels, and quirky contemporary stories (which, more often than not are set in NYC). I'm not sure that I had read anything on a New York Times bestseller list before. But, let me tell you-- this book was AMAZING. I wasn't able to put it down until I finished it this morning (silently reading while Brad made me breakfast and then silently reading while I ate the breakfast and he stared at me).

I had read an article about the backlash against the book the day before (as they say there's no such thing as bad press) and was intrigued by what the article said. EAT, PRAY, LOVE is an autobiographical account of the trip the author took to Italy, India, and Bali after a painful divorce and her equally painful subsequent relationship. She basically eats her way through her 4 months in Rome (gaining 23 healing pounds in the process!). She then spends 4 months meditating in an Ashram in India (which I think is really, really cool. She attempts to describe the absolutely outofthisworld experiences that she has while meditating and I'm definitely intrigued). Finally, in Bali (which also sounds amazing) she comes to a point of balance someplace between that decadence and the self control.

This story would normally sound far too ridiculous for the often cynical me to be interested-- but it's good, really good. She's a fantastic writer (if a bit of an emotional wreck as a person) and the way she's able to weave the story together is fascinating and intriguing. And inspiring. GIlbert's journey for self discovery is already nudging me to take stock of what's important and what's excess in my life and how to remain balanced and happy. If this is telling-- when I finish a book that I'm really in love with, I normally feel a bit depressed when I come to the end because it's over. The end of this book left me feeling both empowered and relaxed-- I'm a bit incredulous that the book had such an great impact on me, but I love it all the same.

Don't get me wrong, though-- there's no way that I'm going to see the movie. The movie's going to be ridiculous.

it worked!

So here's what you do if you want to get an email every time there is a new post (I know I do). Click on "New Post", and on the next page, click on "Settings", and on the next page, click on "Email & Mobile", and on that page, put your email address next to mine in the top box, separated by a comma. Then click on "Save Settings" at the bottom and you are ready to go.

David

one more thing....

If you'd like email notification of new comments as well, go to "Settings", then "Comments", and scroll all the way to the bottom to Comment Notification Email and fill in your email address just like before.

D

An Equal Music by Vikram Seth

Book

Cal

This novel is written in the first person by the second violinist in a string quartet headquartered in London. It's beautifully written and includes both the pleasures and problems of playing in a quartet. Throughout the book is a love story that will keep you on edge, wondering how it will possibly turn out the way you'd like it to. The book is also a bit of a travelogue as the quartet travels to several cities in western Europe.

I've read the book three times and enjoyed it even more the third time than I did the first two.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Book: A Short History of Nearly Everything

Family Member: Bradley!

Bill Bryson, in this book, makes the science and history of Earth fun and funny. He covers topics spanning from atoms and the creation of universe to apocalyptic meteors to the history and lives of the scientists and major players in scientific history.

There are indeed, some slow parts like when Bryson chooses to talk about the entire history and intricacies of those special scientists who collect the thousands of varieties of mosses around the world. However, the part I found most interesting were the mico-biographies of the people that history 'forgot' when writing the books on who discovered what and who deserves credit.

It's a fun read and you will definitely learn at least a baker's dozen new things.

Blood Lure by Nevada Barr

by Gwyn



I never used to be able to read mysteries because by the time I got to the end of the book, and the mystery was solved, I had forgotten who was who and how things all tied together.

Then, one summer, I decided to do Cameron's summer reading along with him. I followed the same instructions as he. The book was
A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. The assignment was to write in the margin each time a new character appeared. This is a most amazing concept to me. Throughout the book, I kept referring back to my notes. By the end, I knew who everyone was and how it all tied in together.

This brings me to the present and Nevada Barr's series of mysteries. I am able to enjoy these sinplistic books because I keep a running log in the front cover of all the characters.

Barr was an actual NPS ranger. She writes stories about the adventures of ranger Anna Pigeon as she is assigned to various of our national parks. Ms Pigeon travels with a black cloud over her. Everywhere she goes, strange things happen, usually deaths, and she needs to solve the mysteries.

I have enjoyed all of the books I've read in the series. Every one of them includes details about natural features of the park; politics of working in the park; park visitors; conflicts between natural features and accesibility; and reappearing characters in the life of Anna Pigeon.

Blood Lure takes place in Glacier, and its focus is on the lives of grizzly bears.

I recommend this series for anyone who wants an easy read without too much mental challenge, other than keeping the characters straight. I imagine that anyone with much familiarity with actual park workings might find the series annoying, though.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

family member: David

book: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon

Amy recommended this book highly to me, and I do the same for you. It's about two young Jewish men, Sam Clay living in Brooklyn in the Depression, and his Czech cousin, Josef Kavalier, who shows up in the middle of the night having escaped, along an arduous journey, from the increasing Nazi oppression in 1939. Sam, a creative, optimistic, excitable, wiseass storyteller, and Joe, a magician, visual artist, and escape artist, jump into the new world of comic books that was exploding with the likes of Superman and Batman, and their greatest creation becomes a nationwide best-seller. The plot goes on to span decades of their "amazing adventures" together, their lives and loves, recounting their childhoods, Sam's Vaudevillian, absent father, Joe's apprenticeship as a magician in Czechoslovakia and his escape, and Joe's lifelong battle, both imaginary and real, with the Nazis. On one level, it is about the whole fascinating comic book business, and, as a reader of Marvel comics as a child, it's very fun in this regard -- lots of inside details about all the characters in the business, presumably based on lots of research, and I think Mark would really like it for this reason -- but it's much more than this. It's a real saga full of rich and fascinating characters. The writing is incredibly inventive and captivating, with great descriptions of scenes, people, and events. It's hilarious at times and absolutlely gut-wrenching at others. It was the rare book I hated to see end. As you can tell, I really liked it.

Rule of Three

Book: Rule of Three

Reader: Eva

I recently read Rule of Three by Megan McDonald. Here's my (long) summary:

The book is about three sisters: Alex (the oldest), Stevie (the middle child), and Joey (the youngest). Stevie is tired of being stuck in the middle and never getting any attention. But when auditions for the school musical are announced, Stevie decides that maybe she's tired of being the "Sensible One". Maybe, for once, she'd like to be in the spotlight. While Joey encourages them, Alex and Stevie are soon engaged in a fierce competition to find out who will get the lead. The fight goes on for a while, and finally Alex gets the lead. Stevie gets even more mad at Alex. Eventually, Stevie is convinced she'll get the lead in some other play and peace is restored.

I love this book!

-Eva

Out of Our Heads

family member: Bradley
book: Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness by Alva Noe

Warning! This book will require a lot of complex thought and probably a second reading. Out of Our Heads is a great book to read if you are into re-thinking the way we interact with the world and the way we consider consciousness. As the title suggests, Noe believes that, contrary to the current assumed view most people have, if a scientist pokes a brain in all the right ways, no matter how you poke it, a world will never show up for that brain. He says that we are not just brains held in very sophisticated jars (aka our bodies). He says that instead, while our brains are obviously crucial and necessary, our consciousness (and therefore, US) resides within our entire body's interaction with the world around us*. He explores all aspects of life and interaction including everything from reading street signs on your daily commute to dreams and beyond. A must read for anyone willing to push their understanding of the world and our interactions within it to the limit.

*That's the part that may require the second reading.**
**Or third.

A Stopover in Venice

family member: Gwyn

book: A Stopover in Venice by Kathryn Walker

This wonderful book is a story within a story. A woman boldly finds herself alone in Venice in modern times. There she encounters a group in search of the history of a found mural. Their friendship and support of her lead her to discover her own worth as she discovers the history of a woman from the past.

A knowledge of Venice would have enhanced this book for me. Even without that, I found this book to be tender mixture of history, discovery, and romance.

If any of you read it, let me know whether you enjoyed it too.

to start things off: a book on books.

family member: Aniko
book: EX LIBRIS: CONFESSIONS OF A COMMON READER by Anne Fadiman

Brad and I recently took a friend who was visiting us in New York to The Strand . It's a famous used and new bookstore that boasts having over 18 miles of books within its three floors of winding and narrow aisles. Before our friend left, she gave us the one thing that she scoured the store for, a copy of EX LIBRIS as a gift to thank us for housing her. She said that it was her favorite book and, knowing our tastes, she insisted that we would love it too.

I love books. But a book about books? I wasn't interested. I feigned delight, poorly I think, because our friend insisted on reading one of the essays aloud to hook us on the book. Which worked. The book is awesome.

This book is a collection of short essays that Fadiman wrote about reading, words, books, etc, etc. I saw my own excessive love of books and words expressed in some of the essays-- Fadiman writes, humorously (always) about the difficulty she and her husband had in deciding to finally merge (and pare down) their libraries after ten years of living together, needing something to read so badly that she once read a car manual (something which I have certainly done with cereal boxes or instructional manuals), her musings from reading through a book that belonged to her great-great grandmother, the joys of reading aloud-- there are 18 essays altogether.

The essays are perfect to read in snatched pieces of time-- I read during train rides, while the oven warmed up, whenever I had a minute-- and it still went fast.

I highly recommend this book to people who consider themselves to be bibliophiles. It's funny, smart, and will leave you wanting to find more books by Fadiman. (which I did immediately after reading this one.)

get it here: http://www.amazon.com/Ex-Libris-Confessions-Common-Reader/dp/0374527229

Please respond to this post with book suggestions that might match this book, or let us know if you've read EX LIBRIS.

love,
Aniko