Week 4: So what did I really think of Goodreads?

My impressions (plus discoveries and revelations!) of Goodreads – I’ve been a member for awhile, but mainly just to keep a list of books.  I wasn’t at all proactive; in fact, Zeke White was my only friend, and that’s because he was kind enough to friend me J.   So I definitely had some catching up to do in that department – I’m now up to eleven friends (score!)  

Once I followed some of the recommendations, I was impressed with the different features, especially creating my own bookshelves (LOVE to organize information).   I have used the genres feature, although I find I need to filter a lot of the titles (I used it when I was presenting on magical realism, for example – many of the titles recommended definitely did not fall within that genre)

Honestly, I will probably not utilize all the bells and whistles of the site.  And although it’s nice to see what others are reading, it just tends to get overwhelming with the sheer amount of information.  For me, the most useful thing will continue to be the lists and categories.  I’ve been using my BCPL account to track books I want to read, but am trying to train myself to do this on Goodreads so I have everything in one place.  Sometimes too I felt like I was doing a lot of backtracking / checking in two different places, especially for listopia.  When I was voting on my books (I did the five books I most want to read this summer),  I had to check to see if it was already on the list, then I had to do a general search and then go back to the main screen…but it may just be that I’m not yet familiar with all the details of the site.  The recommends were a match probably about 50% of the time (in terms of what actually looked interesting to me).  All in all, though, it was good to know what the site could do and how this could be a good tool for readers’ advisory – I think it will help with read-alikes and will help me easily recall titles now that I have my shelves. 

Finally, is it just me, or is the site really slow?  It seems no matter which computer or what time of day, everything takes a long time to load.

I recommended two titles to Zeke White:

Hi Zeke - thought you might like this one based on your interest in The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad, plus your general interest in Russia and Russian history.  It got great reviews and contained so many personal accounts from people who lived through the siege (or didn't make it).  Amazing research.

Leningrad: the epic siege of World War II, 1941-1944 by Anna Reid.  Similar to The 900 Days, this book brings the history and tragedy of the Leningrad siege to life. It was just published in 2011 and is incredibly well-researched.  I thought it was also interesting how she traced the Russian government’s changing attitude towards the siege – at first it was denial; later after Stalin’s death it was seen as a “noble starvation”; but only since the fall of the Soviet empire has the true horribleness of the situation come to light.  I really learned a lot with this book. 

Based on your interest in Soviet Baby Boomers: An Oral History of Russia’s Cold War Generation, plus your general interest in Russia and Russian history, I’d recommend the following:

Mountain of Crumbs by Elena Gorokhova.  Similar to Soviet Baby Boomers, this is one woman’s recollection of growing up during the Cold War in Leningrad/St. Petersburg. It’s a memoir; she gives her impressions of what it was like day-to- day for herself and her family, and the pros (culture) and cons (government) of living in Russia during the Soviet era.  One reviewer recommended it to anyone interested in Soviet history and the Cold War.

Week 3 / Assignment 3: Here's What I Would Read

Conversation One:

Based on what you liked about Eat, Pray, Love, (popular book, strong female narrator/character, travels, reflective) and other factors you mentioned (like Oprah books, are looking for a good book club read), I would recommend the following:

·         Wild: from lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed.  This book has been mentioned by Oprah on her website, although it’s not in her “official” list of books.  Like Eat, Pray, Love, this is a book about a woman on a journey after facing personal hardship (death of mother, divorce), who rebuilds her inner strength as she hikes the PCT.  It’s very reflective and has been a popular read, and several of the trade reviews mention it would be a good pick for book clubs.

·         Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller.  This is a biography about Fuller’s mother, who was Scottish but raised in Africa.  Fuller’s mother is a unique and dramatic person and survives the unrest of 20^th century Africa, becoming stronger for it.  (Another of Fuller’s books, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, would also be a good pick – that one is about Fuller’s own childhood growing up in Rhodesia, and a book group I used to be a part of picked this as one of our reads)

·         The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. Another popular book with a strong female narrator.  Walls tells of her childhood with her transient family, and also reflects on her parents and their mental illnesses.

·         The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr.  Another family memoir with a female narrator, Karr reflects on growing up in Texas with her dysfunctional family.

·         An Education by Lynn Barber.  A personal journey, Barber as a teenager met and was seduced by an older man who changed the way she saw the world and raised the bar on what she expected materially.  Barber ultimately became a successful journalist, and she reflects how all of her past experiences, more than any traditional school, gave her a more in-depth education about life and living and made her stronger.

Conversation Two:

If you like vampire stories that are more fast-paced than Twilight, and avoid subjects like teen angst and love, here are some to try:

·         Salem’s Lot by Stephen King.  This is a classic vampire story with suspense, well-developed and smart characters, and plenty of action: it is do-or-die as the main characters attempt to escape from their town where people are rapidly becoming infected.

·         Vampire Chronicles (the most famous is Interview with the Vampire) by Anne Rice.  A series of books, like Twilight, all featuring an 18^th Century vampire named Lestat.  Unlike Twilight, Rice has a more mature following, and her stories and characters are more complex and nuanced.  Trade reviews describe these books as “quality fiction” and intelligent, with plots that keep readers turning the pages.

·         Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith.  This is a unique plot: secret journals are uncovered which show Abraham Lincoln was a fighter of vampires.  There is a romance, but the overall plot involves Lincoln’s struggles to kill all vampires after he finds out his own mother was killed by one.  The writing is smart, funny at times, and definitely fast-paced.

·         Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett.  Although this is a science fiction story, it is described in reviews as being an old-fashioned vampire horror story.  It is also action-packed, with a quirky, imaginative plot with characters ranging from vampires to witches.

Conversation Three:

You liked River of Doubt because it is about nature and charting unknown territories, a fast-paced and fascinating story which includes a murder.  Okay, here are some non-fiction books with those same qualities:

·         Devil in the White City: murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America by Erik Larson. This is definitely a fast-paced true crime story with two simultaneous time lines: a gifted architect racing to complete the 1893 Chicago’s World Fair and a serial killer setting up shop in Chicago around the same time.  This book is a fascinating look both at the exhausting work that went into the World Fair, which itself included many “firsts”, and into the mind of a sociopath.

·         Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.  This is about a young man from an affluent family who gives up all his possessions and sets out on a journey that eventually ends in the Alaskan bush.  It’s definitely about someone traveling into the unknown and facing nature head-on.  Krakauer also provides interesting information about the man, Chris, and his background, and interviews various friends and family members who speculate about his choices to go in an entirely different direction.

·         Storm Kings; the untold history of America’s first tornado chasers by Lee Sandlin. This is a new book about the nature of tornadoes and early settlers’ first attempts to understand the storms (which they believed were supernatural).  It mentions several famous historical storms and includes information about how scientists and meteorologists over time learned more about tornadoes and helped ease the living conditions for people in tornado-prone areas.  Reviews call it “riveting”.

·         How to Survive the Titanic: the sinking of J. Bruce Ismay by Frances Wilson. Here’s yet another Titanic story, this time about the ship’s owner.  The sinking of the Titanic is, of course, a nail-biting tale in itself, but also interesting is the fall-out.  Bruce Ismay was the ship’s owner, and was largely shunned by the world after he took a seat in a life boat meant for women and children.  His own personal trials and dealings after the sinking make for fascinating reading.

·         Dead Run by Dan Schultz.  Also a new book, true crime.  This is a modern-day news story about fugitives wanted for killing a police officer and essentially vanishing into the southwest wilderness.  What’s more scary, however, is what they originally intended to do.  There are still unsolved elements about the crime, which lend to the story’s mystique; all in all, it’s a thrilling crime story.

Week 2 / Assignment 2: I just love these books!

Sybil Exposed: the extraordinary story behind the famous multiple personality case by Debbie Nathan

Sybil Exposed is a non-fiction historical book with mostly chronological reporting, although it does jump back and forth at times.  It is not fast-paced but does have information and facts which I found interesting and which told an amazing story.  This is a history of many subjects, which are all intertwined: religion, feminism, psychology and early psychotherapy.  From a social psychology perspective, it’s a revealing look at how quickly something can veer off course and what society can be led to believe as a result.

The author stays very objective; the language is straightforward but in many ways it reads like a true crime story – the author has done an excellent job fleshing out these historical figures and telling an intriguing story.   The setting and time periods are very well described – not in exhausting detail but enough to understand the context in which the main “characters” lived and worked.  This book at times made me raise my eyebrows in disbelief, at other times caused me to be amazed, and yet other times made me feel angry or frustrated along with the main subjects.  It’s not so much the tone she sets as the information she delivers – it speaks for itself.

Since it’s non-fiction, the characters are what they are.  I like that there are few true “villains”; instead, there are several deeply flawed individuals who made poor choices.  As I’m reading, I can see how they were in large part “products of their times”, which I find intriguing: how would they be different or have made different choices today based on more opportunities and knowledge?

Overall, this book was appealing to me because I did learn so much on a topic of interest (social psychology / psychotherapy) to me.  It was one of those books I felt I had to share with people – it was that intriguing to me.

Catch Me by Lisa Gardner

Catch Me is both a criminal murder investigation and a family mystery rife with dysfunction.  It is quickly paced, yet at the same time slow to unveil what actually happened. There are several alternating story lines featuring different characters, with all stories brought together at the end.    

Multi-layered, Catch Me begins with Gardner throwing everything out there at the same time: nothing seems to fit together and it’s easy to think, “She’ll never tie all this together!”  However, in the end, after multiple clever plot twists, everything is explained and all loose ends tied up (but not in an overdone way). I am amazed at her imagination and creativity to pull together such a story without being formulaic. 

I like everything about how she built the characters: Not all characters are as they first appear; lots of personal life details and story lines are revealed about characters as the story goes along; and the main characters are strong but conflicted women (a female detective and a woman with a troubled childhood). 

The writing is straightforward, terse with a lot of action words.  Gardner uses lots of descriptors to bring to life gritty Boston and its surrounding neighborhoods.  The characters are also described but not in exhausting detail.  Something important for me is timeline, particularly years and ages, as I calculate these numeric details in my head while reading (i.e. it really bugs me if the story is set in 2009, the character is supposed to be 30, but they were born in 1980).  This book for the most part did that, although I thought the ages of two of the younger characters were a little muddled.  The overall tone is grim and extremely suspenseful: time is of the essence with these characters.  Gardner is a self-described research junkie, and her books reflect that level of detail as she outlines police work, crime solving, and forensics.  For me, this book appealed to my love of true crime, mystery, characters with dark pasts and overall CSI-esque intrigue.

 

My recommendations:
I recommended two books to Sharyn Yenzer:
Since you liked Loving Frank, I would recommend another historical fiction book: The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin. It has everything you listed in Loving Frank: 1) Vivid characters (Charles and Anne Lindbergh). Not a spoiler but just a heads-up: Charles is not the heroic, clean-cut guy from the history books. 2) The story moves along – chronicling everything that happens to the couple as they age (particularly their run-ins with the press, the kidnapping of their first child and Charles’ fall from grace as an American hero). 3) The tone is similar – romantic, dramatic, definitely sad and reflective. 4) The settings are well-described, especially the Hawaiian dwelling and their house in New Jersey. 5) There is a resolved ending, although, like with Loving Frank, maybe not what you wanted to see. It’s truly a bittersweet tale and I learned a lot about the Lindberghs and their life together.
*Based on what I’ve read so far, I would also recommend Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler. (again historical fiction). Like with Anne Lindbergh, there’s more than meets the eye with Zelda – and it reveals more of the shades of gray of the Fitzgeralds’ marriage.

Since you liked Son, I would recommend Safekeeping by Karen Hesse. Although I think of this as more “post-apocalyptic” as opposed to dystopian, since it takes place in the wake of disaster, it is another book about a young teenager searching for people she holds near and dear (in this case her parents) in a world which is suddenly chaotic and insecure. Certainly suspenseful, this book is also introspective and shows how one girl learns to survive and forge new friendships when everything she has known about her country / government and taken for granted is gone. One criticism I’ve read about the book is that everything ties up too neatly at the end – I think Lowry does a better job of leaving questions unanswered and in that way gives the reader more to ponder. One difference is that it is a stand-alone book – not part of a series like Son. Despite the differences, the developed characters and pacing of the book make Safekeeping a good read-alike.