My Reading is Booming

I won't reveal the reason why--I have already strained credulity as to why this winter has been a time for retreating from the world and reading prolificly. Now, yes, once again, the two humans in our household were felled by a mutual frailty last week that demanded, most imperiously, that we resort to BOOKS rather than the exertions of WORK. Now, as I write this blog entry, I can step back and see the silver lining of this suffering by shared bronchittises, I really do.

Next I must write my Classics  Club review of Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee, a book I devoured last week. I fully appreciated the insights that this book gave me about its author, her background, her subsequent novel To Kill a Mockingbird, and about her life after In Cold Blood.

I treasured Girl through Glass by Sari Wilson, appreciated and enjoyed tremendously. 4.75 stars! I discussed this one a bit in a previous post. If the plot line intrigues you, don't miss it. An unusually well-crafted and mature debut novel, I must say.

Sarah at Crimepieces got me hooked on reading Wilkie Collins's The Haunted Hotel last week, which was an excellent change of pace and genre from my other reading. I must confess that I've never been able to get through Collins's classic novels The Moonstone or A Woman in White. My failing completely--Each time I've tried to read them, I simply cannot stay awake no matter how hard I try. I don't know what's wrong with me, really, but I think it's because I thrive on highly developed characterizations and complex inter-relationships to keep me going in a detective or mystery novel. Not Wilkie's fault. I'm so thrilled that I was able to make it all the way through this ghost novella. It has its gruesome moments, but they're more interesting than repulsive, and overall I think the story's well done and worth reading, especially if you want a shorter Wilkie Collins novel.

Next, my first Tessa Hadley novel. I chose to read The Past first, her novel most recently available in the U.S. I feel compelled to continue reading--I'm two-thirds of the way through now--but I do wonder how other readers have felt about this one. The incredibly difficult sibling relationships and Hadley's characterizations are disturbing. I will share my comments later. I'm compelled to keep turning the pages.

And last, I felt I needed something completely different. I recalled that in 2008 I'd started the Chinese-born American author Ha Jin's Free Life (incredibly ironic title about Chinese immigrants in the U.S. in the 1980s), had liked it, but before page 100, had had to return it to the library. No more! I'm loving it, it's on my Nook, and no returns will interrupt it.

Quick Notes on Great! Books!

On Friday or Saturday I finished Where My Heart Used to Beat, Sebastian Faulks's latest book. It was superb, in my estimation. It's such a relief to read about a mature man reflecting back on his life, even though parts of it were obscure to him due to life's traumas. I heartily recommend this book--I found I related so easily to Robert, the protagonist. Delicious locations, and truly heartfelt. Unfortunately, I cannot wax on with description. Robert is the son of a soldier who was killed in World War I, and he is nearly killed in World War II but survives. He becomes a doctor, then a psychiatrist after the war--and there is much here that is about lifetime memories. I found it not depressing at all even thought it had its sadnesses. I felt uplifted that a mature writer was able to write about characters that were at a stage where they could reflect honestly about their lives and their choices. Not to be missed!

I am now reading Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee for The Classics Club. I'm more than a third of the way through so far. More on this one later.

And I am so thoroughly enjoying [read loving!] Girl through Glass by Sari Wilson, which was released in late January. Mira is a "bunhead." She lives in Brooklyn, and later Manhattan, and at the ripe old ages of 11-14 is one of the most promising pre-pubescent ballerinas at the SAB. (I think this is Balanchine's School of American Ballet) in Manhattan. She rises, and rises through the ranks despite the fact that her parents have divorced and she is now living with her father and a caring stepmother. Despite the loss of her mother and the other supports in her life, she has an important, secret relationship with an older, nearly elderly man, Maurice, who loves her beauty and encourages her to catapult herself deeper into ballet. This story of the young Mira and the mature dance theory professor Kate (who is the actual Mira transformed by time and events) make for a captivating, incredibly well-written debut by Wilson. Another great read!!! I'm almost at the end and I'm lamenting every page I turn now.

Indulging Myself--Reading The Storm

The Reading Cure:
This week started out with me not making any progress with work, no matter what I tried to do. A medical professional I trust suggested (okay--strongly urged) that I take a break and recover my will and strength. So I've dedicated myself the past four days to only two hours of work per day followed by a long ramble over wild terrain, followed by reading for hours in the loft bed. No stress. I feel so much better already. The books and the walking have done wonders thus far.

I thoroughly appreciated The Storm by Dutch novelist Margriet de Moor, which was translated by Carol Brown Janeway, and published in English in 2010. (Original Dutch publication 2005.) As I think I mentioned previously, this novel involves one family's experiences of the horrendous catastrophe that befell southern Holland on January 31-February 1, 1953 when nearly 2,000 lives were swept away by the sea in a storm. The dykes broke all across southernmost Holland, letting loose tidal waves and winds that blasted houses to bits and literally obliterated town after town. Even though the hurricane-force winds that had crossed Scotland the day before, killing 19 people, then had borne down on the shores of East Anglia killing 370 people by flooding, was not enough for some reason for weather services in Holland to issue a warning to their people. It was a weekend. January 31st was, in fact, a Saturday night when no weather forecasters were on alert.

The storm in this novel is a larger-than-life character. Shocking storm imagery abounds. I have not read anything in my life that competes with the storm characterizations that de Moor creates.

It is a grim novel, even though only one member of the family is caught in the storm. This novel is also about how a single tragedy has tremendous repercussions over the lifetimes of all family members. It is also about how a family and in particular, how one sister manages to survive her guilt.

Highly recommended.

A Cozy Evening in a Warm Hotel Bed Near Boston

Whew! My brother and I did it. We're done. We cleared out the masses of stuff in Mom's apartment, and moved her into her much smaller, but very nice, large corner room, which she already likes very much. I had no idea she had as much stuff as she did. Huge surprise to both of us! David and I are both very tired and very thankful that we got through it without any incident between us.

At the end of the horrors of Day One, in the late afternoon in an exhausted, dust-covered state, I took a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card I'd been saving to the mega-store on the Natick-Framingham line on Route 9.

I'd noted in past visits that this store has an enormous literature selection. And I was deliriously happy to find the two Classics Club books I want to read before June: Jane Austen's Persuasion and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (50th Anniversary Edition) by John Le Carre. I'm very much looking forward, but before I read them, I will finish out the winter with the Dutch classic The Storm by Margriet de Moor. I have a recently published edition of the early 1950s novel from the library. I will be able to have enough time with it so I don't have to rush, and I can keep another book going alongside it. (L is for Lawless??? Oh no!)

But before I get to The Storm, I'm now halfway through Where My Heart Used to Beat by Sebastian Faulks. I'm deeply into the story but will refrain from commenting until I'm finished. I can say this: Faulks has matured a great deal as a writer since his early days. This is NOT in any way to denigrate his early works. They are, many of them, admirable. But this is different.

On a much lighter note, last evening I continued a book I've had in the bin for quite a while. When I'm too dim-witted to read anything else, I pull this one up on the Nook and continue reading. First, I must confess to always having had a crush on Cary Grant. I must admit this crush goes back to age 8. When it came to Cary, I was very precocious.

So if you want to know what it's like to have an affair with Cary Grant, you may enjoy skimming a very light memoir, Dear Cary by Dyan Cannon, his final wife. (At least I think she was!) They did divorce, and they did have a daughter together. Anyway, if you happen to fancy that a fling with Cary would have been your thing, don't miss it!

If Only A Readathon and New Books on Tap

I've just finished my second Sue Grafton mystery for 2016, and it's only the first week of February. This may not portend well for diversified or literary reading this year. Yes, K is for Killer was definitely entertaining and worth reading. And Sue Grafton's mysteries get better with each new installment. Save me!

But guess what. I have some great reads on hold for me at Crandall Library in the "city," and because Ken is going to the Y tomorrow, he'll be able to pick them up for me, so I have them for my trip to Boston this Tuesday through Saturday. I may plan for a complete day of nothing but reading. Maybe Friday or Saturday?

I'm lucky to have Sebastian Faulks's new book waiting for me. I haven't read Faulks since the days of Birdsong and some of his other works of historical fiction. The latest, Where My Heart Used to Beat appeals to me because I empathize with a troubled person who reflects on past trauma, and whose life is profoundly disturbed by war trauma from World War II. I'll be very interested to read it.

And I have a new Classics Club book to read. And that's the Dutch novel The Storm by Margriet de Moor, a novel based on the devastating real-life flooding of the Netherlands in the early 1950s.

Also on hold is Cath of Read Warbler's winter read recommendation: Mystery in White: A Christmas Crime Story, although as Cath pointed out, it's more wintry than Christmasy. Looking forward!

I wish to be buried by books.

Madonnas in Leningrad and I'm Feeling a Dose of Comfort Reads Coming On

Last week I spent three long days in Albany doing research at the New York State Library and Archives. Yes, the days were long, but it was interesting work. When I got out of there each evening, in the bitter cold of last week, I immediately zipped over to my hotel, and instead of exercising as I should have, I enveloped myself in Debra Dean's debut novel Madonnas of Leningrad, which was published in 2006. I've meant to read it ever since the year it was published, and finally when it was available for the Nook for $1.99 about a year or two ago, I snatched it up.

It's the story of a young woman in Leningrad during the Siege of WWII, a woman passionate about the art within the walls of The Hermitage, the exquisite Russian museum within a stone's throw of The Winter Palace. The war comes and overwhelming hardships along with it. The women work tirelessly day and night, without adequate food, to remove all the precious art works from The Hermitage to safety in the countryside. As the German blockade of the city results in starvation, hopelessness, and death, she continues her duties as air warden on the rooftop of The Hermitage. She falls in love with a young man on his way to the front. Then, with winter, life becomes virtually impossible. The only thing that keeps her sane is her ability to walk the empty rooms of The Hermitage and envelop herself in her memories of the art works that once hung there. Those memories are her sustenance.

Interwoven with this story of the early 1940s is the story of the same woman, much older, whose memory is failing exponentially day by day. She has her husband to keep her grounded, but more and more she is falling irretrievably to reveries of her past. She becomes lost but her memories have her body and soul bound in protection that is as impermeable as cotton batting.

This is a short novel at 197 pages. I found it engaging, though I must confess that the last quarter of the novel was not focused as the rest of the book was. The end of the novel lacked resolution, which I know is not necessarily a flaw. I enjoyed the read nevertheless.

My life is exciting, but it's been very challenging these days because of the never-ending loads of work. In just a couple of weeks my brother and I must move our mother into a unit for Alzheimer's patients. Note: It's a highly recommended unit where she will be well taken care of. But it will be a big loss for her and for us because she fiercely loved her home in her assisted living community where she has lived for 12 years and where she has many friends. One mustn't get maudlin, but the end of life does pose some difficult losses for people and their families. I'm feeling that "one loss at a time" pattern, reminding me that one must live for today, as much as we possibly can.

Bring on the comfort reads! So you probably know I'll probably move on to K is for Killer by Sue Grafton, and let Kinsey Milhone strike again. What else shall I treat myself too? I hope I don't insult anyone by saying that Maisie Dobbs is a comfort read for me. And then I may treat myself to one of the wintry books on Cath's Read Warbler list. (See previous entries for details.) And please note, you can connect to Read Warbler via my "Blogs of Substance" List.

My List of Very Snowy, Wintry Books

A Slightly Boring Introduction to My List:
As I browsed the lists of books I've read, my bookshelves, and my book stacks, I discovered that the large majority of the books I've read have not been set in wintry places or were only partially set during winter. In other words, the winter setting was not a major component of the plot.

Then there are the books where the weather or climate of an area is so crucial, so central to the plot, that it assumes the importance of a character.

I'd like to encourage every reader to add their favorite wintry books in the comments, or to write a blog post of their own featuring their favorites. I'll help alert others to your post.

Winter Blizzard/Storm Novels

Chill Factor by Sandra Brown (A suspense thriller set in the western mountains of North Carolina.) The blizzard is a character. This is the only Sandra Brown novel I've ever read, and I picked up this book because of the blizzard. I was not disappointed.

The Winter People by Phyllis Whitney  (Very wintry and a chilling plot. A Whitney special title, I'd say.)

Snowfire by Phyllis Whitney. (Wonderfully wintry and good.)

Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas by Stephanie Barron. 2014.  (Christmas party-goers are snowbound on an estate for all 12 days—it just keeps snowing and snowing and no one can go home and get away from the murderer. A few slow spots in the middle and three-quarters through, but overall worth it if you thrill to being completely cut off to the world by snow.)

Winter Study by Nevada Barr  (Anna Pidgeon studies wolves in winter on an island on Lake Superior in US/Canada. Thriller. Deep winter atmosphere. Brrrr... Terror.

A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow. Winter and murder in Alaska. The first in Stabenow's series. This one won an Edgar. I definitely recommend it!

 

*****Cold River by William Judson.  What starts out as an Adirondack Wilderness winter adventure for a seasoned woodsman and his son and daughter turns into a battle for survival, a test of wits, and a tale of terror-filled suspense. How Judson managed to combine all these elements I'll never know. First published in 1976, it's still in print and available on Amazon and other retailers as a mass-market paperback. ($6.99). The best title on the list. Set in the 1920s. Unforgettable. (Don't ask me why a canoe!! is on the cover. In this frozen story, there were no canoes.

“Burning  Daylight,” a short story by Jack London, which features a blizzard. [This is the only list item I haven't read.]

“To Build a Fire” by Jack London.  No snow, but harrowing, killing cold. I reread this once a year! 

 The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper  (YA fantasy), set in Britain. Cooper is an American author who lived in Britain for years during mid-life.

Russian Winter by Diane Kalotay. 2010. A young ballerina in Leningrad during the years just before the Revolution and just after. 

The Siege Winter by Arianna Franklin and Norman (2015)  A thrilling historical novel set in England during the 11th-12th centuries.

The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig. This book became a YA/middle-school novel in the U.S., but Hautzig wrote about her childhood for adults. Early in 1939, she was a young girl living in eastern Poland, in Vilna, with her extended family. The Russians came, rounded up many families of Jews, and deported them to Siberia to work in the mines. This is the story of her and her family's triumphant survival. And it is not a sad book. The setting is exquisitely depicted. They arrive not in winter, but in the heat-scorching of mid-summer. The Winter follows.

Katia by E.M. Almedingen. This is an exuberant tale of 19th-century provincial Russian gentry's lives based on the stories told to the author in her childhood. I so adore this book. The child Katia is so cherished by all her aunts, uncles, and extended family. Imagine being on a year-long vacation. That's what life was like for this family. Full of fascinating details and lots and lots of wintry adventures. In Britain, this is available as a used book but with a different title. Maybe someone remembers from several years ago when I last wrote about this wondrous book?

In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming   I echo Cath's (of Read Warbler) endorsement of this one. Not only wintry, but a book with extraordinary characters and an excellent plot. Some of you may recall that this is the first book in my favorite mystery series of all time.

Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan  (Christmas romance fare but very, very snowy and good.)

I will stop for now, but I know I'm forgetting some. Like...When Jays Fly to Barbmo... about a half-Sami, half Norwegian girl above the Arctic Circle. Her life during winter darkness. Coming of age. Top-notch! Probably hard to find, though possible as a used book here. I think this book was also sold in the UK.

Snowy Books List Coming, Inspired by Read Warbler

Do you sometimes choose a book for its snowy or wintry setting? Have you ever chosen a book just because there is a blizzard in it? Do you thrill to read about characters who are battling the most severe weather winter has to offer?

I naturally answer yes to all of these questions. And I encourage you to contribute your favorites if you answered yes to one or more of these questions. Please visit Read Warbler for a compelling list of snowy, wintry reads. And, if you feel so inclined, it would be fascinating if you post your own list on your blog. If you feel inspired, I'd love to know about more books that sate my appetite for winter wooliness.

I'm compiling my list as we speak, but it's not completed yet. I hope to have it up later tomorrow or Sunday.

Bulgarian Fiction for 2016

Thomas at his MyTwostotinki blog has announced a Bulgarian Literature Month for this coming June 2016. I have never read a novel by a Bulgarian writer, so I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to do so. Bulgaria is overshadowed by the more ostentatious nation-states that lie around it. So, I did a little research, and I ordered a book that won the Bulgarian Book Award (not sure the year it won, although the book was first published in 2008). The book is Eighteen Percent Gray by Zachary Karabashliev. It does sound like a zany romp.

An excerpt from the Publishers Weekly brief review reads, "Karabashliev, the eponymous main character of Karabashliev’s debut novel, is experiencing a major life crisis. Once a passionate photographer, Zack moved with his wife Stella to the United States from Bulgaria, the author’s native home, to attend graduate school. After running out of money, Zack sells his camera equipment and lies to get a job at a pharmaceutical company in Southern California. Just as Stella’s painting career takes off, she abruptly leaves, fed up with Zack’s conforming to middle-class life..." [Yes, this is a novel, not a memoir.]

Thank goodness Open Source Books at the University of Rochester in New York has published a translation, and I am now waiting for my copy to arrive. Mind you, I am not waiting until June to read it. This year has so many variables in the air that I need to read it this winter and write my thoughts about it before anything else happens.


I have met so many Eastern European and Balkan young people while living in the Adirondacks. Many come to work in the hotels, restaurants, and other aspects of the tourist trade here during the summers. I find them and their stories fascinating.