Becky's Books –

Pilgrim’s Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier
by Tom Kizzia
2013 / 336 pages
read by Fred Sanders 10h 15m
rating:  A / true crime

When I saw this book mentioned on Amazon’s  “Best of 2013” list (a tad bit early) I decided to give it a try.  Although it’s a gripping true crime story taken from recent news stories,  I don’t think I’d ever heard of the people or events described.  Kizzia wrote about the lives of the “Pilgrim” family  (their chosen last name) while working for the Anchorage Daily News,  so he is well acquainted with the story,  the area and the local issues.

This is like a combination of Jon Krakauer’s books,  “Into the Wild” or “Under the Banner of Heaven,”  and a story not too distant >>>>MORE>>>> 

The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon
by Alexander McCall Smith
(The #1 Ladies Detective Agency series #14)
2013/256 pages
read by Lisette Lecat  9h 43m
Rating:  A / VERY cozy crime (guilty pleasure)

I’ve followed this series from the time when book #1 came out in paperback,  probably in 1999 or 2000.  It was titled The #1  Ladies Detective Agency.   After that first sample,  I got hard covers shortly after they were released until I started listening in 2007 – then it was the day of release.

Although there are always one or two little crimes  >>>>MORE>>>>

My Brilliant Friend
by Elena Ferrante (Italian)
translated by Ann Goldstein
2012/ 336 pages
rating:  9.5 /21st cent lit

At the age of 65, Lila Cerullo,  the best friend of Elena Greco who is the 1st person protagonist,  is missing.  She is entirely missing,  artifacts and all.  It seems Lila has decided to erase herself from the world.   Trying to deal with Lila’s son and the situation,  Elena takes on the task of  recounting her memories of her dear friend. >>>>MORE>>>>

Norwegian by Night x2
by Derek B. Miller
Read by Sean Mangan 10h. 36m.
2013 / 306 pages
Rating:  A- / literary crime

I used to never listen to a book twice but this time I kind of had to – I volunteered to be Question Maestro at 4_Mystery_Addicts  and needed to refresh my memory.   I remember the broad basics and that I enjoyed it but I read it in July! (See Norwegian by Night.)    But to ask discussion-prompting questions review is needed.

And I’m wow’ed by how much I missed – >>>>MORE>>>>

Sycamore Row
by John Grisham
2013/464 pages
read by Michael Beck
rating  A+ /  legal thriller

Grisham is back!   For awhile there it looked like he’d permanently changed his genre but with the last book,   The Racketeer,  and this one perhaps he only took another short reprieve.   Legal thrillers are probably my favorite in the crime genre.

After the dying Seth Hubbard kills himself  >>>> MORE >>>> 

The Moor’s Last Sigh
by Salman Rushdie  (India/Britain)
1995 / 434 pages
rating 7 / 20th c. fiction

Okay,  so I’m a Rushdie fan since Midnight’s Children and totally fell in love with The Satanic Verses (the first book I ever read twice in back-to-back sessions).    But I missed The Moor’s Last Sigh – for no good reason except the hack-kneed “so many books,  so little time.” (sigh)    >>>>MORE>>>> 

Turtle Diary
by Russell Hoban  (American ex-pat)
1975 / 185 pages
Rating  9.2  /20th cent. fiction

Odd rating,  I know,  but I wanted it to make the 9+ category.  It’s that good,  but still,  not more than that.  It’s a special kind of book,  imo.

An older man and an older woman tell,  in alternating chapters,   first person accounts of their daily lives over a relatively short span of time,    their interactions with animals at the London Zoo and more.   They are strangers,  but by coincidence they meet more than once.  >>>>MORE>>>> 

A Glass of Blessings
by Barbara Pym (England)
1958 / 246 pages
Rating:  8 /classic

I discovered Barbara Pym several years ago but have not even nearly got all of her books read.    Pym was very popular in the 1950s and ’60s but somehow she went out of style at some point until the mid 1970s during which time  publishers wanted more “stylish” material.    Then in the 1990s she was re-discovered when a column highlighting her as one of the most under-rated authors of the 20th century appeared in the London Times Literary Supplement.  The publishers then started accepting her work again.  In addition to A Glass of Blessings,  I’ve read Excellent Women (1952) and  Quartet in Autumn (1977).  >>>>MORE>>>> 

Stay Close
by Harlan Coben
2012 / 480 pages
read by Scott Brick
rating A+ / crime-suspense

Megan Pierce has lived the life of an upper middle class suburban loving wife and mom for 17 years,  but she has a huge secret.  Her life is a lie.  She thought she left her old wild life completely behind when she ran from the scene of a crime in Atlantic City and her lover Ray.  Now the crime and her whole secret past has come back to haunt her and to wreak havoc on her life.  >>>>MORE>>>> 

The Turn of the Screw
by William James
1898 / 117 pages (Kindle)
Rating:  9 / horror

I’m not a horror fan at all but I do enjoy Henry James,  so when this book was suggested as a Halloween read for a book group I was okay with a re-read.   I really got a whole lot more out of it this time – very much enjoyed it.

James sets  up the story in true ghost story fashion.   The frame:  long ago and late at night in a big old house around a flickering fireplace a group of people meet.  The first person here relates how another guest,  Douglas,  tells >>>>MORE>>>> 

The Love Artist: A Novel
by Jane Alison
2002/222 pages
Rating:  7 /fantasy romance set in the past

I’m taking the Coursera class in Historical Fiction and this is one of the highlighted books.  I’m going to try to get to some of the other recommended books in the upcoming couple months.

With The Love Artist Alison has used a wonderfully lush writing style,  especially when it comes to the flora and the fauna of Greece.  Her descriptions of the islands and sea routes was a marvel.    The historical parts interest me but as I close in around the romance/love/erotic and magic parts I’m inclined to >>>>MORE>>>>

Mortal Bonds
by Michael Sears
2013/352 pages
rating A /crime

Jason Stafford is a hired  financial investigator who works for the companies he worked for and did business with prior to his arrest and time in prison for fraud.   This time he has to deal with a Bernie Madoff type Ponzi scheme.  Big bucks.  Then it collapsed,  William Von Becker was caught and committed suicide – or did he?  >>>>MORE>>>>

About Grace
by Anthony Doerr
2004 / 402 pages (Kindle)
rating: 5 (out of 10)  / 21st c. fiction

This book tries to be a lot of things and I don’t think it succeeds at any.  From the beginning there are interesting references to the patterns of science, especially snowflakes,  as a possible theme but that idea never quite takes off –  it’s never really connected to the plot.   I suppose the main idea is the question of whether or not we choose our own lives or if they predestined in some patterned way.   Because dreams, according to this novel, can give us glimpses into the future – perhaps because of the patterns?   (That’s never  >>>>MORE>>>>

Tracks
by Louise Erdrich
1988 / 226 pages
read by Anna Fields 6 h. 22 m.
rating:  9 / magical realism – Native American

This and Four Souls comprise the backstory of Fleur Pillager the mother of Lula, a major character in Love Medicine.  Lulu was born to Fleur in 1914 and in Love Medicine,  for the most part, she is only mentioned a few times.  This Pillager family is one of several in the Ojibwe tribe  residing on a the Turtle River Reservation  in North Dakota.  Fleur was born in late 19th  >>>>MORE>>>>

Four Souls
by Louise Erdrich
2004/ 240 pages
read by Anna Fields 6 h. 40 m.

After falling in love with Erdrich’s  Love Medicine I decided to listen to try the next novel or two in the “series.”     The reader is Anna Fields who is excellent in spite of a rather pitiful sample on Audible.

I think the books are in backwards order in this Audible recording –  I think I’m listening to Four Souls first and it actually takes place after Tracks.   We’ll see – and I’m not sure it makes much difference.

There are three 1st person narrators here.   >>>>MORE>>>>

Swimming Home
by Deborah Levy
2012 / 154 pages (K)
rating 8.5 ? / 21st c. fic.

Although it’s short,  this is not a quick and easy read –  well, duh,  it’s a Booker nomination so what did I expect?   In fact,  it’s starts out dense enough I may have to reread.  Ah well … such are the joys.  Actually,  it gets much easier after about 70 pages and the characters are all straight – a few too many,  too soon, imo.  A story of poetry and madness I suppose.   >>>>MORE>>>> 

Heir to the Glimmering World
by Cynthia Ozick
2004 / 310 pages
rating 9 / 20th c. fiction

I read this the first time back in 2004 – I know this because I have a hard cover copy.   It’s a good book,  so when it was selected for the Book Group List I was willing to reread it if I had time.  Well… what with only one other book to finish before the 15th,  I have time!

Set-up – The 1st person narrator,  Rose, age 18  >>>>MORE>>>>