Becky's Books –

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
by Katherine Boo
2012 / 257 pages (Kindle)
non-fiction – contemporary India
rating:  9.5

Harrowing tale of life of Muslim immigrants to an impoverished and basically Hindu slum area of Mumbai – near a very modern airport and hotels.   The family at the center of this novel is not the poorest of the poor – in fact they are  >>>>MORE >>>> 

Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power
by Rachel Maddow
non-fiction
2012 / 288 pages
Read by Maddow / 7h 31m
Rating:  8.5

The Preacher
by Camilla Lackberg
mystery
2011 / 15h 46m
read by David Thorn
rating:  B-

I enjoy the frame story of Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck in their new life together with a baby on the way,  and individually these two are very appealing characters.   But the rest of this story is very complex,  with some basic “fem jeop” craziness.   >>> MORE >>> 

HHhH
by Laurent Binet (tr. by Sam Taylor)
historical fiction – WWII
2010 Fr / 2012 US / 336 Kindle
Rating: 9.5

I suppose I should dislike this book if I’m to remain consistent with prior ideas,  but …  I do like this book – very much.  The problem is that it’s post-modern play on a very serious event in history.  The resolution,  to me,  is that narrator frequently shows his struggles with bringing an historical event “to life” without fictionalizing it it.  >>>> MORE >>>> 

The Human Comedy
by William Saroyan
classic fiction
1943/ 192 pages
Rating: 9.5

I’ve lived here south of Fresno for darned near 50 years and I’ve never read Saroyan!   Omg!  I’ve been to the Saroyan theater – seeing The Nutcracker at Christmas used to be a special treat.   I got my  >>>MORE >>>> 

Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard
by Kiran Desai
fiction – India
1998 / 224 pages
Rating:  7

This is a somewhat silly but very fun read – inspired by a rather bizarre true a true story from India  Desai takes that outline to very different places.  Nevertheless,  the book is basically about a man who takes to living in a tree where he gains fame  >>>MORE >>>

All Cry Chaos
by Leonard Rosen
mystery
2010 / 332 pages
read by Grover Gardner /  10h 24m
rating – B

This is the debut novel for author Rosen along with his protagonist,  Henri Poincaré,  and although it was quite a fete it has not as yet been followed up with a sequel.

A bomb has gone off in the Amsterdam hotel >>> MORE>>>

Jefferson: The Art of Power
by Jon Meacham
biography
2012 / 800 pages
rating:  8

This is coming up on the All-nonfiction list and at the time I stared I thought I’d get a head start.  Took me several weeks anyway.    It seemed quite good from the first several pages,  but I got waylaid and ended up reading several other  >>> MORE >>>

The Round House
by Louise Erdrich
fiction
2012/336 pages
read by Gary Farmer 12h. 39m
Rating:  8  (finished 2/15 or so)

First few paragraphs – is the theme to be survival like the young trees described through the North Dakota winter – this is on the first few pages. The Native American first person narrator, Joe now a middle-age prosecuting attorney, is remembering 1988, when  >>> MORE >>> 

The Dinner
by Herman Koch
mystery / Holland
2013 / 306 pages (Kindle)
Rating:  B+

Paul and Clair Lohman,  a very happily married couple live with their teenage son in some city in Holland.  As the book opens  Paul and Claire meet Serge Lohman,  Paul’s brother,  and his wife  >>>> MORE >>>> 

The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine
by Alina Bronsky
fiction – Russia/Germany
2011 / Kindle 275 pages
Rating:  8

I nominated this book for a reading group – I had read just about enough bleakness for the time being – needed a break.  But that was about 3 months ago so … >>>> MORE >>>> 

Warlock
by Oakley Hallz
fiction/classic/western
1959 / 471 page
Rating:  10

This may be the best book I read all year – it certainly is the best  to date, so…

Excellent,  excellent book – wow,  omg,  yes! >>>>MORE >>>>

The Ice Princess – (series)
by Camilla Läckberg,
2008 / crime / 480 pages
read by David Thorn 15h 8m
rating:  B

The craze for Scandinavian crime novels has not bi-passed me – it’s just that except for Stieg Larsson,  I’ve not been all that impressed.   The Ice Princess has done nothing to change my mind,  although I enjoyed it well enough that I could be drawn into the series – 7 books using a detective >>> MORE >>>

Leonardo and The Last Supper
by Ross King
2012/336 pages
Rating:  7.5 (I just can’t get excited about Leonardo anymore)

Every biographer of Leonardo da Vinci says genius is a word which is over-used and then have no other word for their subject.  And to the right is the >>>>MORE>>>> 

The Monsters of Templeton
by Lauren Groff
2008/ 361 pages
I gave it a fair start but Did Not Finish –

This book may have garnered great critical acclaim,  but I think it’s stupid.  I couldn’t finish.  I got about 60 pages in and so much silliness had happened by that time that … well … I didn’t want to know more. >>>MORE>>>>

A Passage to India
by E.M. Forster
1927 / 362 pages
genre:  classic
rating – 9

This is a reread and as I go along I remember how I enjoyed this book.  I’ve read many books set in India but this is one of the very best  – I think  there’s something about the setting and the history that draws me.  (Imo,  classics aren’t historical fiction, per se,  >>>>MORE>>>> 

Quiet: The Power of Introverts
by Susan Cain
2012 / 352 pages
Read by Kathe Mazur 10h 39m
Rating -8.5

As I was going through the “Best of 2012” lists on various web-sites I noticed the book Quiet by Susan Cain came up quite often.  So I got it – sounds like something I could get into.

There’s lots and lots of information >>>>MORE>>>>