The Crying of Lot 49

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

My husband had always recommended The Crying Of Lot 49 by Thoman Pynchon to me, but I didn’t know what it was about. I had a vague sense it was about war. I was wrong.

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When Oedipa Maas’ ex-lover passes away and unexpectedly makes her co-executer of his will. When she travels down to San Narciso, near LA, an unexpected world is opened to her. Oedipa’s life will never be the same after this seemingly mundane task.

When I was rearranging our book shelves a few months ago, I saw that we had two copies of this book. It’s so slim and enticing! I finally picked this book up and what a great decision! This is a new favorite book for sure! Published in 1965 and set in an alternate California, this book takes the world we knows but puts a new spin on it. Secret societies, LSD pushing doctors, grave diggers and bone sellers, rewritten plays, mysterious authors, love triangles, and underground mail services, are just a few things that Oedipa discovers when she delves deeper into her ex lover’s life and death. The writing in this book was at times strange and obscure, many references were strange to me, or outdated. But it made this book totally immersive and and experiential. I loved the concept of a world just out of sight of the world we know and that one secret society can birth many more. This book made me start looking for clue and conspiracies everywhere. Crying of Lot 49 was a delightful read that just made me happy. I couldn’t wait to get back to it each day. I highly recommend this book to all those interested in bizarre and compelling writing and stories, readers who like short and exciting books, fans of conspiracy theories or underground societies and anyone who likes alternate histories.

Have you read this book? Did you love it or were you weirded out?

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The Circus in the Woods

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I’m not sure where I got this book, I vaguely think it was on a trip to VT. I’ve had The Circus in the Woods by Bill Littlefeld for many years. I picked it up several times, but I could never get into it and I could never get rid of it. Now, I’ve read it!

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Molly and her little sister know that thier annual family trip to Vermont is a slice of magic. Getting to be away with thier parents and having the freedoms of a cabin community is a special time. The arts and craft leader even seems otherworldly. But when Molly finds a secret in the woods the idea of how magic Vermont totally changes.

For years, whenever I picked this book up something stopped me from reading it. Now that I have read it, I know why that was. This book was not good. The character were lacking depth, the magic in this book was lacking in depth, the writing was one dimensional. I feel that one reason for this was an older male author writing a coming of age story for a prepubescent girl. Having been a teenage girl myself, this felt very fake to me: someone writing about something that they have no personal experience with. I could see that a writer might try to step outside of their own life to write stories, but these characters were neither interesting nor compelling. I found it disappointing that some of the ideas in this book that were interesting (a circus in the woods! A magical escape!) were poorly explored and fell completely flat. I would not call this book boring, bc events did happen. Perhaps “tedious” is a better word. It didn’t take me long to read this book, but I was happy when it was over. Something I did enjoy about this book was that it made me reminisce about the Summers that I spent in VT. This is a very niche upside to this book to say the least. Unless you fit that niche, I don’t see any reason to recommend or read this book.

Have you read a bad book this year?

This review is part Saturday of my Week of Books. Check out mynew YouTube/BookTube Channel: Mad Cat Quilts for more book content (plus cats, garden, sewing, eating, asmr, etc…!). New videos on Mondays.

Picasso and Lump

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I’m quite sure I picked up Picasso and Lump: a Dachshunds Odyssey by photographer David Douglas Duncan at the Wall Book Sale a few years ago.

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Told mostly thru photos and photo description, this book is a glimpse into the famous painter’s life as well as the lives of those he loved.

I’m always surprised what painter Pablo Picasso looks like. That might be why I picked this book up. Or maybe it’s bc Lump is sooo cute! This book is short and sweet relying on pictures and has very few words. It gives a small glimpse into Picasso’s life, how he worked and who he surrounded himself with. It does leave the reader wanting to know more, about the man and about the dog. It’s not clear if Lump was only visiting or he remained with Picasso after these photos were taken. It’s also not apparent if this was complied all in one day or over a longer period of time. It made me want to know more about both subjects, and I will keep my eye out for other books about them. These photos evoke a dreaminess of life that pulls one in. I would recommend this book for fans of the author or subject, both artist famous in their own right. I would recommend it for fans of slice of life photography, black and white shots of the 60s, 70s or 80s, and those who love dogs.

What is your favorite photography book?

This review is part Thursday of my Week of Books. Check out my new YouTube/BookTube Channel: Mad Cat Quilts for more book content (plus cats, garden, sewing, eating, asmr, etc…!).

The Brooklyn Follies

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

When creating my goodreads account, I couldn’t remember if I had read The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster yet. I had not so picked it up right away!

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Nathan Glass moves to brooklyn to die. Instead he finds new reasons for living.

This novel hits all the Auster notes I look for in his later books; Brooklyn places I love and recognize, Vermont locations that I love and recognize, family connections, disconnections, and reconciliations, ruminations on death and the shortness of life, and the magic in the mundane of living. Not an overly short novel, this was extremely easy to read and flew by. I’m always slightly surprised when this is so for an Auster book, as the first book I read by him was so dense and confusing (City of Glass). Another theme of Auster’s that I enjoy is that of men who love women for their feminine qualities, their beauty and temperance, but who also understand that there is more to females than just that. They have this understanding, but they cannot fully understand the women themselves. Perhaps due to my age and upbringing, I understand the struggle that he depicts in his aging male characters. That of aging men, who love women, who want to understand them, but have outdated ideas of how to interact with them and how to love them. Glass, in this book, takes a more open minded approach to the women in his life than many of Auster’s heroes. This book also have a few side plots that I liked and were well developed, and could have led to full books themselves. A nicely complex view of one person’s life and how it intersects with all others. I would recommend this book to those who have read Auster before, those who like quiet books about people’s lives, those who live in Brooklyn or Southern Vermont, and people who like stories about second starts later in life.

Have you read this book? Would you call it a “quiet” book?

This review is part Wednesday of my Week of Books. Check out my new YouTube/BookTube Channel: Mad Cat Quilts for more book content (plus cats, garden, sewing, eating, asmr, etc…!).

The Story of Doctor Doolittle

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I have no idea where I picked up this little copy of The Story of Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting but isn’t it cute??

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The wise Doctor Doolittle likes animals more than people. When his human practice fails, he gets some good advice from an unexpected avenue and his life changes forever!

I have always enjoyed the old movie of Dr Doolittle (1967) so I was excited to pick it up. I had no previous inkling about the source material of the movie, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. It’s definitely a childrens book, with simple writing and language. It’s also definitely of it’s era, with lots of outdated ideas and language. Reading this book today, it’s quite racist and sexist. It follows the movie pretty closely, minus the human companions and love story and (thank goodness) the singing, where the Good Doctor travels around the world after learning all the animal languages. I liked that all the animal had personality, but some of those were even also a little (animal) “racist” or prejudice (ex: the pig is depicted as a lowly, whiney character). There were also a few outdated ideas that struck me as not making sense with the story. For instance when the animals are traveling, they all eat fish. I mean, how could they speak the fish’s language, but still eat them?! It was obviously written in a time when being vegetarian was virtually unheard of, even if you love animals. All that being said, I was happy to read this book. This tiny pocket sized book was enjoyable to read and as I said before, it’s to cute! I always find it interesting to read the original version of children’s stories that are well known. I find that they are never exactly like the more modern versions that I am most familiar with (Peter Pan is a good example of this and well worth a read). Sometimes they are better, or more interesting, sometimes you see why certain changes were made. I would recommend this book to those who read children’s classics, those who like the 1967 movie, or those who like children’s books in general. And of course, all who wish they, too, could speak to the animals.

This review is part Tuesday of my Week of Books. Check out my new YouTube/BookTube Channel: Mad Cat Quilts for more book content (plus cats, garden, sewing, eating, asmr, etc…!).

I Garden - Urban Style

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I think I Garden: Urban Style, Grow the Garden that Fits Your Space & Schedule by Reggie Solomon and Michael Nolan was either bought second hand online, or at a book sale. Either way, I’ve had it for a few years and haven’t taken very good care of it. Some of the pages were stuck together with water damage (or god knows what).

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Focusing mostly on pot-gardens and raised-beds that can be easily adapted to just about any small urban space, I Garden: Urban Style gives advice, first hand accounts, projects and info for the city gardener.

After reading Little House in the Suburbs and not really caring for it, I was a little shy to start in on another large format gardening advice book. I’m glad I did read it, though, bc I ended up really enjoying this book. OK, really enjoy might be pitching it a bit hard. This is essentially a instruction manual, so it’s hard to really enjoy something like that. I think that I liked this book so much bc I had disliked the last garden book so much. This is a much more straightforward, instructional, book for those who want to start a garden, no matter where you live or how much space you have. I really appreciated that I Garden was instructive without being “cute”. There were many first hands account from gardeners and others in the industry (most of which I skipped TBH, but that might be helpful or insightful). I think the information is easily adapted to any space, big or small. The focus of this book is really small or shared spaces and there are tips for that situation. I also enjoyed that this was a no nonsense book, but it felt like a first book or a new writer. Sometimes that feeling or knowledge will make a book less enjoyable but in this case, I felt like the writer was letting me in on something. They didn’t know everything, but what they did know they wanted to share with me. I would recommend this book for those who are just starting their garden, especially if they are in an urban or small setting. Perhaps you are renting? Still living with your parents? This is a good garden starter book for you. I would also recommend this book to those who, like me, are working thru some garden books to improve their garden skills.

Do you live in a place where a large garden isn’t possible? Have you ever made a container garden or raised bed garden? Did you use an resources when making your garden?

The Way Through the Woods

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I had a hankering to listen to another Inspector Morse Mystery. The Way Through the Woods is the 10th book in the series by Colin Dexter.

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Morse is called back from his yearly furlough, perhaps to his surprise, but not to his chagrine, to take of the case of a young beautiful swedish girl who went missing over a year ago.

I’ve been working my way thru the Inspector Morse books by listening to the audio books read by Kevin Whately who plays Lewis in the tv series. And let me tell you, they are a delight. I love Whately as a reader. I think I say this every review of these audio books, but I feel that his having played the Lewis really lends him to be able to know the books and feel for Lewis, Morse and their relationship, how they feel about the victims and how they decipher the mysteries. I’m not sure I would like these books so well if not for that. Dexter is definitely a writer of his time: sexist, racist, and outdated by todays standard. It’s interesting to see, especially in this book written in 1992, how ideas are now changing in the books and in the real world. This is the first book where more modern amenities are mentioned, like car phones, the first book that does’t feel very very old. I find that books and stories set in England tend to seem older than they are and I would say that this was definitely true about many of the Morse series I have read perviously. Although they were written in the 1970s thru the 1990s, they feel like a time set apart, too different from now to only be less than 50 years ago. It’s nice to see the author and creations step closer to the modern day. And luckily, Morse doesn’t loose his cantakerous nature, poor health habits, or surly demeanor. His flaw of thinking so highly of himself is especially noted in this book, and it’s interesting that it is sad, tragic maybe, but not un-endearing. Although he is a mean boss, a puffed up self important detective, and a lecherous male, I find that I still like Morse. I would recommend this book for those who have read other Morse novels, I think this was my 3rd favorite of the series. Those who enjoy cop dramas with some comedic elements, British mysteries, and or fans of the characters from the TV series may also enjoy this book.

Who are some unlikely characters that you like despite their flaws?

Notes From a Small Island

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I was super excited to get Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson, partly bc I have read a few other books of his and enjoyed them and partly bc I love almost anything England centric.

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20 years after moving to England, travel writer Bill Bryson is moving home to the USA. Since he loves living in Briton, he takes one last trip around his small island.

Ugh. I really wanted to love this book. But I did not. This book seems to be intended to be a comedic view, part travelog, part revisiting and reminiscing. Bryson is known for his sometimes cantankerous humor, but he was down right dower in this book: cranky, curmudgeonly, cheap and negative for almost every leg of the trip. Claiming that he wanted to see what England had to offer before he left it, he only complained that it was not how he remembered it. He took umbrage at every penny he used to stay or travel or see sites, but insisted on doing little to no research on how to find hotels or attractions that might be more to his taste. For a reader who wanted to learn more about England, who was excited to be on this journey, every aspect was marred by his bad attitudes. His humor was not black, but unfunny and rude most of the time. His travels only saw small pockets of fun or pleasure, and although well written, this was mostly a joyless read. Seemingly designed for those who might find the observations on England’s eccentricities amusing, Bryson was more about fat shaming and calling people stupid rather then making “astute” notes of the “foibles” of the nation (as the NYT seems to have said, according to the cover). I finished this book solely for the glimpses of interesting history or landscape that managed to survive in it. I wish I could recommend a book that showed England in a better light. I cannot really recommend this book at all. If you like Bryson’s writing I would skip this book. If you want to try him, I would not suggest starting here.

Do you have a favorite travelog? What countries are you most interested in reading about?

Death of an Expert Witness

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

Death of An Expert Witness by PD James is the 6th novel in the Adam Dalgliesh series. This is also the 6th book I’ve read in the series even though I have NOT read them in order.

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In one of the most important forensic labratory in England, it seems impossible that there would be a murder. Does the walled in lab hold the secret of this gruesome crime? Or could it be a random act of violence? Detective Dalgliesh must find out.

By now, avid readers might recognize the closed community, in this case a locked laboratory with a walled in campus, the jealousies and passions of a such a community, the twists and turns of such relationships. This cast had a lot of varied characters, some we’ve never seen before in this series, some more venomous or independent than many we have seen before. A relationship or variety of character that James continually examines is that of close siblings. In many of her books, brother and sister not only live together but share an unsettling bond of some kind. Although none of her books, that I have read, have explicitly taken the relationship to an extremely inappropriate place, in many cases the writing keeps you guessing if there is more going on than the reader is seeing. This creates a particular type of tension that builds the story and bleeds to other characters. What do the people in this community think or imagine is going on between these siblings? In all of James’ books, I find a character that I like and want to discover what their fate will be but in Death of an Expert Witness there was so many unlikeable people! That being said, I really enjoyed this book and although James uses many of the same plot devises, I like to find out where the subtle differences will be! I recommend this book to those on Adam Dalgliesh’s journey, as I am, those who enjoy the intrigue and affairs of closed communities, and of course, readers who love murder mysteries.

How do you read series? Always in order or do you jump around as the books come to you?

Red Dragon

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I loved the show Hannibal and wanted to read the source material, starting with the first book Red Dragon by Thomas Harris.

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Will Graham has left his time with the FBI behind him. He has a wife, he has a family, he has tried to forget the traumatic events of capturing Hannibal lector and the scars it has left on his mind and body. But when his old pal and boss. Jack Crawford comes for a visit, Will Graham knows his FBI days were never truly over.

I read this book in about 4 days. It’s a quick read compared to many of the books I had read around the same time. It is a heavy book in that there is a lot of violence and some gore. I have seen the show Hannibal, which primarily takes place before this book. I have never seen the two movies based on this book, Manhunter and Red Dragon. Since I wasn’t sure when the events of Hannibal related to this book going in, I was surprised where it picked up. I do not usually go into any book with such preconceived notions. That both made it easy and hard to read this book, I think. Once I got my bearings and realized that season three of the show was based on this book, I was surprised at how faithful to the source material it was. I had watched that season only a few weeks before and could remember exact lines that had come directly from the book. It was interesting to see where changes were made and what charters were changed. The characters were not as likable as they had seemed in the show, but I still wondered about them and wanted to find out what happened to them. This book gave me “books advertised on the subway” vibes. Like, maybe not the most brilliant book, but one that would be quick and easy to read. Overall I liked this book and look forward to reading the sequel, Silence of the Lambs. I would NOT recommend this book for those that don’t like horror, or books about killers or books where the violence could exist ion the real world. I would recommend this book for people interested in the source material of the show or movies, those who like easy to read psychological thrillers, or books about serial killers or forensic/FBI agents. I also have a love for authors who write several books, and when they want to stop are forced to write more by their publishers. That’s probably pretty rare, but it makes me want to read all the books and see what effect that has on the series.

Have you read this book? What are you thoughts? Do you have recommendations for other books that famous movies were based on?

Everybody Loves Our Town

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

A freind from work recommended Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History Of Grunge by Mark Yarm after I mentioned reading a oral history of punk some years ago. I picked up a copy, but it took me quite a few years to actually read it.

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A collection of interviews with almost everyone who was on the scene in Seattle and surrounding towns when “Grunge” started, this book tells the true tale of their time, their music, in their own words.

Many of the interviews in this book are new when writing, but some are from older interviews as well. In this way, the author is able to share voices of those who were lost druing or after this time. Many of the people in this book are now deceased and part of the running theme of this history is how the musicians and artists became currupted during or after thier climb to fame. Although now grunge is well known around the world, in the late 80s and early 90s Seattle was just another American city and not yet the birth place of this influential music movement. In a few short years, it became an epicenter of it’s time and produced some of the most well known bands in history. And yet, many of it’s founding member were left in relative obscurity. Many saw the climb of certain bands as a cash and fame grab rather than making music for the right reasons. As with the punk history I read, I really enjoyed learning how people felt as it was happening, from the player’s themselves. But there is, so long after the fact, a feeling that history has been changed a lot by perspective. This is neither bad nor good in this book. The artists have mostly all had some time to ruminate on their version of the history and are able to retell it having thought about it for many years. Having grown up during this time, and having experiences and opinions on this time and music myself, it felt in some small way that I added my own history to this book while reading it as well. Although I was experiencing these milestones from a far, I certainly have my own take on them. I would highly recommend this book for readers who like oral histories, non fiction about the resent past, those who liked or still love grunge music, and those who grew up in the 1990s..

Do you like to read books about music? What are some of your favorites?

The Wild Places

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

This copy of the The Wild Places by Robert Macfarlane was bought from the Montague Housing Works thrift shop and had post card of a cat face in it. How did it come to me? I have no recollection.

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A world traveller, Robert Macfarlane realizes one of his favorite wild places is a short walk from his house. He begins to wonder what other wild places are still in his home country or if there are any left. He takes the time to search them out in this book.

This book is divided into the different landscapes that the author visits and takes the reader on a tour of the wild and remote places in the British Isles. Full of visual and emotional observations, Macfarlane shares thoughts on travel, history, friendship, and what wildness means. This book was definitely a beautiful travelog, but also quite slow and a little bit hard to stick with. His travels have a sort of meandering style and his writing does, too, switching between historic details and his current quest. I really loved that his destinations were so varied and he took the reader to many contrasting locations, high mountaintops, fields, valleys, beaches. But I found it hard to identify with in many ways, as I have never travelled as described in the book. That these were experiences I have never had could have been inspiring and exciting, but mostly they felt a bit isolating. Sleeping in a ice drift seems like a mad idea, not a romantic revelation. There may have been some places that I would have liked to see while reading, but afterwards, I can’t remember them. They were beautifully described but the image doesn’t linger. More so, the story of Macfarlane himself is what sticks out about this book. His duel life between traveling and sleeping rough, his loyalty to his family and close friends, and discovery of his farsightedness when it comes to the wild places right outside his door. Being an anglophile, I did love learning more about the English landscape. I would recommend this book to those who want to hear more about the English terrain, people who love travel books, “ramblers” and anyone who wonders what and where the wild places are.

What is your favorite travel book? Do you like books where people travel to exotic lands or explore their own back yard?

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Little House in the Suburbs

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

Little House in the Suburbs: Backyard Farming and Home Skills for Self-Sufficient Living by Deanna Caswell and Daisy Siskin is one of several books on self sufficiency I’ve read. I think I got this one used from amazon.

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Two friends living not that far away from each both decide to get back to basics. They share their wins, loses and advice in this book.

Why do sustainablilty books try to be so cute and clever? It’s really annoying. Please avoid the cliches, puns, silly phrases and the like. I get it that many sustainability authors are nervous about sharing their lifestyle, that they worry about how “normal” people will relate. Or at least I guess this is what they are thinking. Make it cute, make it twee, that way the masses will become interested. It’s true that for many (perhaps most) people subjects in this type of book, like growing your own food, raising chickens and goats, making your own hair products, sewing your own clothes, keeping bees, and other homesteading ideas, will be very strange. These concepts seem remote, alien and undoable to most people nowadays. But it wasn’t that long ago that these were extremely mundane practices. If you had a yard, you grew food, you prob had a few chickens. If you wore clothes you repaired them, sometimes you made more. You used the scraps to make rags or quilts. If you wanted honey, you had bees and if you wanted clean hair, you made shampoo or soap. Although our society has moved far from these easy daily tasks that enrich our lives, it wasn’t so long ago that they were “normal”. Books like these, by reducing these actions to simply cute, silly stories, I believe do the opposite of the goal intended. They allow someone interested in these subjects to blow off the reality of it. I actually ended up skipping a lot of this book. I wasn’t really interested in many of the side stories, looking more for the informative aspects of the text. I skipped the goat section, as I do not intend on getting goats. There is a lot of useful information in this book, you just have to get thru a lot of “cute” to find it. All that being said, I do think for people new to the slow living or homesteading movement, this book does go over a lot of questions one might have. It covers a good range of basics, like gardening and easy health care items and recipes, to more advanced projects like keeping chickens, bees or goats. Some passages in this book were a bit outdate language wise even though it was only written in 2012, but the message is pretty timeless. If you are looking for an overview into urban homesteading, this might be a good starter book. I would recommend this book to those interested in this lifestyle and who live in the suburbs, those who have none of the basics but want to learn more, or those interested in some of the specifics in this book, like easy beekeeping.

Do you have a favorite homesteading or slow living, or low impact movement lifestyle book that you can recommend?

Howl's Moving Castle

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I’m pretty sure I “borrowed” Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones from my mom. But I could have also got it at a book sale. It seems like a thing I would pick up.

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Sophie is the middle girl in her family and is therefore content to remain in her families hat shop toiling away, as that is the fate of middle children. But one day she is visited and cursed by a witch and Sophie’s thoughts about life and her place in it change drastically.

Surprisingly this book and author are not well known. Jones wrote a prolific amount of books, including several that a certain famous writer mined (stole?) ideas for her most famous wizarding series. I have read some of Jones’ books before, but I didn’t realize that they were all by the same author until researching this review. Howl’s Moving Castle is actually a trilogy of books all revolved around Ingary, a magical kingdom in a magical world closely related to our own world. The first book is probably the most well known of all Diana’s book bc it was made into a Hayao Miyazaki film of the same name. I have seen the film, but remember very little of it. I liked this book bc, although many books are set in magical lands, this one is also connected to the “real world”. I thought that this was an interesting take on magic in general. No spoilers, but trust me, it is unlike that aforementioned wizarding book. I also liked that there are many magical and fairytale tropes in this book, but they all have a bit of a spin. There’s a scarecrow, but it’s not what you expect, there’s a house hunted (but by a demon!). It was fun to see where the twist on the tale I was familiar with would turn up. I also picked up on a few other ideas that I’ve seen borrowed by other books, or shall we say that inspired other work? I really enjoyed this book, but it was actually a little difficult for me to get through. I’m not sure if it was the style it was written in, or that it was just such a different type of book from those I’ve been reading lately, but I felt that reading Howl really dragged for me. At points, I really wanted this book to just be over. I would blame that feeling more on me and my mindset than the book it’s self, bc I also feel this book starts a spate of books that dragged my reading down. That being said, I would definitely recommend this book to those who love magical adventures, those who have seen the movie based on it, those who like new takes on traditional fairytales, and anyone wanting to see some source material for other more well known authors.

I plan to watch the movie when I can find it! Have you ready this book and seen the movie? How did they compare?

The Cat Nappers

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I can’t remember where I got The Cat Nappers by PG Wodehouse, but it must have come from a local library or book sale as it was once housed at the Brielle Library.

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After Wooster visits the doctor and is urged to move to the country for clean living, he and Jeeves must find their way out of another pickle, this one involving aunts, engagements, spots on the chest, horses, an African explorer and one friendly cat.

I’ve read or listened or watched quite a few Jeeves and Wooster stories now, and this one felt quite diierent to me. Although Wodehouse’s most famous characters are always self referencial, this book felt especially so. I wondered why so I looked up this book and it turns out that this is the last J&W book ever written. This book was called Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen when it was released, but changed to The Cat Nappers in America. Makes sense to me! One of the reasons I love Wodehouse’s books are their truly and uniquely British ideals and languages. But this title might be too British for those not in the know. If you hadn’t read of Wooster’s lamenting his aunts before, you might not get it. This book touches on Bertie’s fear and angst of Aunts, his love of creating his own single letter abbreviations, J&W’s habit of running into people with whom they have already had encounters (usually of the unpleasant kind) and many more tidbits and treats that are common in these stories but in a more intese fashion. So I wouldn’t recommend this book to new readers of Wodehouse or Jeeves and Wooster, but I would recommend it to those familiar with the characters, those that love romping British Country Side Adventures, and readers who might like a yarn about stealing cats.

Have you read any books staring this bumbling and balance duo?

The Quiet American

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I was worried about reading Graham Green’s The Quiet American as it is set during the Vietnamese War, but this book is quite incredible.

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Thomas Fowler, a war reporter who has forsaken his homeland of England and fallen in love with Vietnam in more ways than one, is dismayed when his life is uprooted by A Quiet American.

Oh my goodness, what a great book. It’s no surprise this is an American classic, taught in many classes on many levels, and made into several movies. Although there were brutal parts of this book, gory and scary imagery, I did not want to put this book down. What I might have enjoyed most about this book is the flaws held by all its charters. Fowler is flawed to the point of being almost unlikable, although one does like him. Each charater has a perfectly selfish motivation for thier actions and they know it. The fact that it impacts others, even takes lives, doesn’t bother them enough to make them change their actions. That being said, they all genuinely care for each other as well. A perfect picture that shows how selfishness destroys those around you and yourself. I would highly recommend this book for readers who love classic novels, books about the horrors of war, and stories of love and revenge.

Have you read The Quiet American? What are your thoughts? Leave them in the comments below.