| Author |
Message |
Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, May 14, 2017 - 12:55 pm 
It certainly sounds like something that would appeal to the students.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, May 14, 2017 - 1:31 pm
The book about adoption was not just about the author and his wife and two daughters adopted from China .. his wife is from France, he is half Jewish.. They have a wide range of friends.. He is a journalist andvwriter..
But he includes other adoption stories and writes about adoption in general.
Enjoyed it.
Then stepped into a memoir written after the author's husband died suddenly after his 50th birthday.
Sad, yes, but rich, poetic, joyous..
Elizabeth Alexander, author of The Light of the World: A Memoir is a tenured professor at Yale when she wrote this book, only the third black woman to accomplish this, She was chairman of the African American studies department. She joined the faculty of Columbia in 2016. She is a teacher, poet, essayist and playwright. She read one of her poems at the second Obama inauguration.
She was born in Harlem in 1962.
Her husband, Ficre Ghebreyesus, was born in Eritrea, also in 1962. He had left to avoid war, live in various places, including Italy, but they met in NY.
They had two sons.
He was an artist as well as a cyst and restaurant owner. And an amazing person. Loved it gardens, music, books.. And family.
Some killer sounding recipes are included.
This book is no pity party, and is just gorgeous, lyrical in its prose..
I am not done reading, but highly recommend it..
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Sunday, May 14, 2017 - 5:49 pm
Thanks for the input. 
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Sunday, May 14, 2017 - 8:17 pm
Finished "Night Film" by Marisha Pessl. It was quite interesting. At one point, I thought it was going to be similar to a Stephen King book. It was not exactly. But to be honest, the last few SK books I've read, have had disappointing endings. Love the journeys, but not the ends. Read a SK interview a while back, and he seemed to admit, he does not always know how to end the books. That was kind of disappointing, too.
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Tresbien
Member
08-26-2002
| Monday, May 15, 2017 - 10:49 am
Fredrik Backman's Beartown is about a town that pins all of its hopes on the high school hockey team to win and lead to the revitalization it needs. The characters are compelling, each with his or her own story, and I loved reading how they responded to a pivotal event. Recommend!
I've begun Matthew Quick's comic novel Love May Fail, which had me chuckling from the first pages. I had enjoyed Silver Linings Playbook and looked to see what else the author had written. I'm impressed so far.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, May 15, 2017 - 11:28 am
Ric.. Maybe your running friend kind of knew what you found in the book, so didn't recommend it.. If this is true, she probably won't press you for a comment.
I am starting a memoir by the mom of a daughter with albinism..
Beyond the Pale: Folklore, Family, and the Mystery of our Hidden Genes, by Emily Urquhart.
Just started and they were immediately frustrated when doctors and nurses claimed nothing was amiss..
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Monday, May 15, 2017 - 12:25 pm
Heckagirl, I read that one when it first came out, I actually had an advance copy so before it came out, but I loved it. It was so different. And I agree about Stephen King. I find myself enjoying most of the book and then start thinking please don't make it be some kind of alien and boom, it's some kind of alien and ruins the whole book for me.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Tuesday, May 16, 2017 - 1:20 pm
I have finished The Burial Hour by Jeffery Deaver and it was ok. I thought the same of his last book, The Steel Kiss. They aren't bad books, I have just preferred many of his other works.
I am starting Beartown by and looking forward to reading it.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Wednesday, May 17, 2017 - 7:53 pm
Teach, sorry I couldn't contribute any insight about the graphic novel project - I've never read a graphic novel. đŗ
Sea, I think you're right that Carilyn probably kept mum so that I could come to my own opinions about her sister's writing style. đ
A little while ago I finished Patricia Highsmith's Deep Water which she wrote in '57. It was another in her thrilleresque collection - the thrust of the story was a man who developed a habit of eliminating (permanently) the men who kept having affairs with his wife. That leaves about 16 or so books of Highsmith's that I still have cross off my TBR list. đ
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, May 22, 2017 - 6:46 am
A dear friend of mine grew up in Massapequa, NY and when we first met, in 1983, my friend mentioned that one of his high school teachers was Alec Baldwin's father, which I thought was a fun fact to know.
Last night I finished Baldwin's new memoir, Nevertheless, and it featured many passages about his father, almost all of them heart-breaking. Baldwin covers many other major events in his life and does so excellently. He doesn't sugarcoat anything and reminds the reader about all the mistakes he's made as well as the jerk behavior he's engaged in and sweeps it all ABOVE the rug. All in all, it's one of the better memoirs you'll read. As with all good memoirs I only wish it had been twice as long. đ
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Monday, May 22, 2017 - 9:02 am
Thanks Uncle Ricky I just put that at the top of my wish list. I like Alec Baldwin when he's not being a putz.
In return let me suggest actor Alan Cumming's bio Not My Father's Son. His life was no picnic growing up with his abusive dad.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, May 22, 2017 - 11:38 am
I read and recommended Alex Cumming's bio here fairly recently and completely agree that it was well worth reading.
I finished Beyond the Pale and wow.. Learned so much about albinism.. Myths abound and Tanzania is not the only country where people will attack someone with Calvinism and kill for parts of just hack off a limb. The myth is set of like why sharks are killed for their fins, or rhinos are mutilated or killed for their horns.
The author and her husband went to Tanzania to meet with boys at a sanctuary for them.
She also traced her family and her husband's back to a family in common, with 4 daughters with albinism.
There are conferences where people come together for support..
Quite an unexpected and fascinating book.
Now reading Orange is the New Black. The memoir.
.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Monday, May 22, 2017 - 5:06 pm
Has anyone here read John Irving's Avenue of Mysteries? I'm listening to it, and it is rather unusual - almost like he's using the surrealism/magical realism style. Haven't seen that type of writing from him before, and I'm not sure I'm enjoying it. I ADORE Gabriel Garcia Marquez, so I won't give up on Irving, but just wondered what others thought.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, May 22, 2017 - 10:23 pm
Teach,
From December, 2015, I copied below the review I posted on Twitter. I read the book soon after it was originally published. Irving has simply lost his mojo. I read every one of his books, but I will not read his future works if there are any. It's sad to see one's heroes' talents fall by the wayside. âšī¸
"I'm very bummed to report that #AvenueofMysteries by #JohnIrving is a complete mess & the exact opposite of compelling. Boring beyond belief."
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Tuesday, May 23, 2017 - 7:27 am
MB and Sea,
I got so distracted by Teach's John Irving question that I didn't notice your posts about Alan Cumming - I keep forgetting to request it at the library. I've been wanting to read it too. One of the things I loved about Baldwin's book is how he devotes a fair amount of space to his daytime TV career ("The Doctors") - many actors ignore their daytime days because of the stigma of daytime itself, but Baldwin gives daytime a great deal of credit for helping him learn how to act. I hope you like it as much as I did! đ
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Tuesday, May 23, 2017 - 5:25 pm
Finished "Songs of Willow Frost" by Jamie Ford. It was quite good. It's about a Chinese "orphan" who finds out he's not an orphan. It's set in Seattle in 1934. Lots of interesting stuff.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Tuesday, May 23, 2017 - 7:24 pm
Thanks, Uncle Ricky. I do remember that post now that you brought it up...it was niggling that someone had mentioned it. In that case, I won't feel bad about moving on to another book (and I'm grateful I got it from a 99 cent Audible deal! LOL).
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Wednesday, May 24, 2017 - 12:25 pm
Heckagirl1631, I read Songs of Willow Frost some time ago and enjoyed it. I meant to try and see if the author has any other books. Thanks for reminding me of this novel.
I started the latest in the Maisie Dobbs series.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Wednesday, May 24, 2017 - 3:02 pm
The book does say he has an earlier book, "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford. If I run across it anywhere, I would like to read it, too.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Wednesday, May 24, 2017 - 6:53 pm
I finished the memoir, Orange is the New Black and really enjoyed it. (I have not see the show).
Now starting a free or cheap book written by a woman who was apparently portrayed in the show and/or the book, to tell her own story: Out of Orange: A Memoir Orange is the New Black introduced the world to Alex Vause. Now meet the real woman behind the glasses.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, May 29, 2017 - 11:51 pm
A little while ago I finished The Nix by Nathan Hill, which is his much-celebrated debut and 10 years in the making. I'd known nothing about it until a couple of months ago when Linwood Barclay raved about it on Twitter. So of course I waited my turn for a library copy to pop up.
It's easily the best novel I've read since A Little Life which I read in March 2016. The Nix is nowhere near as sad and it's actually quite shriekingly funny in many sections. A sweeping family saga (625 pages) that moves swiftly and focuses on a mother and son who are torn apart in 1988 and are reunited in 2011 in a wildly complicated way. I really hated to see it end! HBO has scooped it up for mini-series adaptation and will be headlined by the greatest actress of her generation, i.e., 20 Oscar nominations (3 wins) and the nemesis of the current occupant of the White House.
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Tuesday, May 30, 2017 - 9:44 am
Putting the nix on my must read list. I luv family sagas. Thx Uncle Ricky.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Tuesday, May 30, 2017 - 4:22 pm
Finished "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins. I thought it was pretty good.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Tuesday, May 30, 2017 - 4:35 pm
MB, I hope you like it as much as I did. There's a young college student character (Laura Pottsdam) who made me howl every time she appeared -- too, too funny!
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Mak1
Member
08-11-2002
| Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 3:34 pm
I just finished The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood. Read it! It's really good. I fell in love with that little boy who counted everything and collected things and had no friends  . The 104-year-old woman he was assigned to help had great stories and forged the most unexpected, wonderful friendship with the boy. Her backstory is told through her answers to his interview questions for a school project. He is driven to find a way to get her into the Guinness Book of World Records. His parents had their own compelling stories and problems.
The author will do a visit to our library tomorrow evening. I'm so excited!!!
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