Book Nook Cafe discussion

Share with us what you read in June 2015 !

Please provide:

~ A GoodReads link
~ A few sentences telling us how you felt about the book.
~ How would you rate the book

Small reading month for me. Seems there was just too much to do outdoors.

Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison : The novel that Soylent Green is based on. A decent enough NYC novel, more like a year in the life of a policeman than any of the eat-the-poor conspiracy that was in the movie. That's right, in this one soylent is "Soy + Lentil", and not long pig. For that, you'll have to read the (much better) Burgess novel The Wanting Seed. I am familiar with Harry Harrison mostly for the Stainless Steel Rat novels I read as a kid., which were quite fun. This one had very strained attempts at humor, and was overall pretty badly written. Well, it was early in his career I guess. Two stars.

Short Cuts: Selected Stories by Raymond Carver. This came with the Criterion Collection DVD of the Altman film, and I've been meaning to read it for about a decade now. I'll admit that I was heavily swayed by the need to report more than one book this month, and knew I could get through this one over the weekend. The stories are unrelentingly poignant, as one comes to expect from Carver. There were stories in the film that weren't in this book, and stories in this book that weren't in the film: quite a puzzle there. Still, good solid reading. Four stars.

I think that 900-page Hungarian novel I've been reading (and even more, putting off reading) has reduced my productivity, novelwise.

I appreciate you starting us off this month, Mkfs!

A 900 page novel would take me forever to finish. I find my attention span prefers shorter books. Even if the book is terrific, I tend to shy away from huge books. It's sill really.

JUNE 2015 READS . . . 11 books this month!




✔ 1. The Echo Maker by Richard Powers-(2006)--451 pp.; 4 stars.
Review: Mark Schluter, a 27 yr. old beef-processing plant worker, becomes involved in a car crash outside Kearney, Nebraska, the focus of this novel. The car crash---on February 2, 2002, a date that the author (Richard Powers) wishes to impress the reader as one that seems too numerically mystical (02/02/02), to be co-incidental--clearly has mysterious elements about it since it occurred far outside town on desolate flat country roads and amidst the tire tracks of another car. Found in the truck is . . . . I am No One; but Tonight on North Line Road; GOD led me to you;
so You could Live and bring back someone else.
Just after Mark is hospitalized, he is diagnosed with a head injury. His only sister, Karin (31), quits her job so she can be by his side in the hospital, unfortunately Mark (diagnosed with Capgras syndrome- a disconnect between the visual ability to recognize family faces, and emotional response). Mark fails to recognize his sister and states that she is an impostor. Out of desperation, Karin emails a request to Gerald Weber, a famous cognitive neurologist-author. Echo Maker is a novel about identity and selfhood--themes on every page and related to every character and event. It is about how one views one's own identity; how others, especially your closest others, view your identity; and the false sense of stability we generally ascribe to such views.

✔ 2. The House on Nauset Marsh: A Cape Cod Memoir by Wyman Richardson-(1947)--223 pp.
Review: Excellent memoir!! Set on Cape Cod, Dr. Wyman Richardson leaves his busy life in Boston, and returns to the beauty of nature, and of his precious home on Nauset Marsh. Everything here is highly valued-- looking at his observances of dense fog, deep thoughts, bird tweeting, and a mild wind with a sweet breeze. Little could escape Wyman Richardson's gaze in his activities and the reflecting on the shifting moods of land and sea, the denizens of salt marshes and woods, and the personalities and stories of the Cape Codders of a gentler time. I truly enjoyed it immensely.

✔ 3. In America by Susan Sontag--(2001)--387pp.
Review: I didn't write this review, it was so beautiful, I just had to post it here.
In America is a kaleidoscopic portrait of America on the cusp of modernity. As she did in her enormously popular novel The Volcano Lover, Susan Sontag casts a story located in the past in a fresh, provocative light to create a fictional world full of contemporary resonance. In 1876 a group of Poles led by Maryna Zalezowska, Poland's greatest actress, emigrate to the United States and travel to California to found a “utopian commune.” When the commune fails, Maryna stays, learns English, and—as Marina Zalenska—forges a new, even more triumphant career on the American stage, becoming a diva on par with Sara Bernhardt. In America is about many things: a woman’s search for self-transformation; the fate of idealism; a life in the theater; the many varieties of love; and, not least of all, stories and storytelling itself. Operatic in the scope and intensity of the emotions it depicts, richly detailed and visionary in its account of America, and peopled with unforgettable characters. Sontag page:

✔ 4. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger--(2009) --- 406 pp.- 2 stars.
Review: True Torture! Sad to say that "It lost its way long before the weak ending."Sadly Novels with unsympathetic characters need to offer the reader something else: a gripping plot, intellectual gravitas, stylistic delights, something to compensate for making you read 400 pages about people whom in real life you would cross the street to avoid. With the honourable exception of Martin, who emerges as a moving study of agoraphobia and OCD. Despite the fact that the narrative spends a great deal of time inside Valentina's head and we never witness a single suicidal thought. Nevertheless, the novel's entire resolution depends on the reader believing this abrupt announcement.

✔ 5. I'll Take You There by Joyce Carol Oates-(2002)--301 pp. -- 5 stars.
Review: PART ONE: A poor young girl, Anellia (not her name), from a migrant, blue collar family from Strykersville, in upstate New York. She describes her experiences as an outsider; set in an "a sorority" in Syracuse, New York; PART TWO: On campus, she falls in love with an African American young man. She's a virgin, stalks him until he gives in, they begin a sexual relationship, later discovers he is married: left his wife and children; PART THREE: Anellia learns of her father's illness (throat cancer), by a woman in Cresent Utah. Her brothers (Dietrich, Fritz, and Henrick) refuse to see him; she goes alone, in her beat up car, and drives to Utah. After her dad's death, she receives his money; instead she gives the money to his mistress. (Bildungsroman.)

✔ 6. Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet by Xinran--(2004)--201 pp.
Review: A love story about Shu Wen's search over 30 years for her husband in Tibet. Shu Wen was only married to her husband for 3 weeks, when called up to serve as a doctor in the People's Liberation Army.

✔ 7. The Pursuit of Mary Bennet: A Pride & Prejudice Novel by Pamela Mingle--(2008)--320 pp.
-2 stars.
Review: Mary Bennet is the shy 'middle' sister. Despite her improvement with the piano sheet music, Mary is just beginning to talk with men, in order to find someone she is interested in. But in my opinion, author Pamela Mingles' Mary is flat, lacking depth.

✔ 8. The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough-- 2 stars.
Believe it or not, there are two books regarding Mary Bennet's future. Well I read it and this one was just a tiny bit better than the first. IMO they both lacked a great deal!

✔ 9. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng--(2014)--292p. --4 stars.
Review: This is a tragic story about parents whose family-life is so abusive to their children, that the parents cannot even see it themselves. Set in 1970 small-town Ohio, Marilyn (mom, trying to become a doctor; leaves one day with no destination, and later she failed as a doctor and returns home); and her husband, James (dad, feels as an outsider to his race). Both parents are determined that 16 year old daughter, Lydia, will fulfill their dreams that they were unable to pursue. Sadly, Lydia she has drowned in the local lake. Their other children are on-their-own, far from being a family. After supper, the mother goes to watch TV, while her husband closes the door to his office. Their son, Nathan, is Harvard bound; and young Hannah is stuck at home.

✔ 10. Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses by Bruce Feiler-- (2005)--451 pp.--5 stars.
Review: I have to say that I was hooked on this book. First of all, since I was little I would go to art museums that had mummies, etc. My dad was a subscriber to National Geographic and he gave me the 1963 issue (I was only 3 yrs. old) which I still have. Amazing photos, landscapes, etc. I always wanted to be an archeologist but developed an autoimmune disease which prevented me from being in the sun. : < I will write more when I get it all online. Excellent Read!!

✔ 11. Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates- (154 pp.)-3 stars.
Review: This is the story of Kelly Kelleher, a young woman who meets a US Senator at a friend’s Fourth of July party. Only known as “The Senator,” a thinly veiled version of Ted Kennedy, Kelly finds herself in his car on the way to a romantic interlude. Kelly is an analogue for Mary Jo Kopechne, the woman at the heart of the Chappaquiddick Scandal. A car accident thrusts the potential lovers into a swamp, into the titular black water. The Senator breaks free. Kelly is left trapped in the car as the water rises.

Alias Reader wrote: " I find my attention span prefers shorter books. Even if the book is terrific, I tend to shy ..."
I have the same problem Alias. Eventually I start to lose interest because it is taking too long.

June was a slow reading month for me. I finished 2 books and have 2 more half-read (guess they will add to July's totals. LOL!)

In June I read:

Kafka on the Shore, which I really liked. It's so strange and magical. Murakami is a true storyteller.

The Last Picture Show. I really loved Lonesome Dove by the same author. The Last Picture Show did not disappoint. I have the sequel from the library already, hoping to read it in the next couple of weeks.

Petra wrote: "Kafka on the Shore, which I really liked. It's so strange and magical. Murakami is a true storyteller...."

I liked that book a lot. I had a copy that I put off reading for quite a long time -- I had tired of Murakami's style after South of the Border, West of the Sun, and I wasn't all that wild about Wind-up Bird Chronicle either.

Kafka on the Shore was like going back to the good old days of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and Wild Sheep Chase.

I'm working up the courage to read iq84, but it is hyooooooge.


Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger--(2009)
Wow. Great title.

Mkfs wrote: "I think that 900-page Hungarian novel I've been reading (and even more, putting off reading) has reduced my productivity, novelwise...."

This comment made me LOL. Been there, done that!

My strategies for getting through long books are:
1) Set the goal of doing it in chunks. I aim for 100 pages at a time (not in one sitting, just in terms of marking progress). When I hit 100, I update my progress on GR. Then when I hit 200, 300, 400, etc., I do the same. It satisfies me to see the updates, for some weird reason.

2)I read more than one book at the same time. So I can switch over to something else if the big book is starting to bog me down. I used to read one book at a time... AND I would always finish whatever I started-- which was frustrating because I would feel bogged down by the big book because it was taking so long. So now I intersperse shorter books in between reading the big one. And I also stopped forcing myself to finish every book I start. Life is too short to keep reading something I'm not enjoying!

Petra,
The movie version of the Last Picture Show is scheduled for the Friday night movie on my local PBS TV channel. I remember really enjoying it. Goes back a long way -- It was Cybil Shepherd's movie debut.

I'm never quite sure if the movies shown are on other PBS stations at the same time.

Bobbie57 wrote: "Petra,
The movie version of the Last Picture Show is scheduled for the Friday night movie on my local PBS TV channel. I remember really enjoying it. Goes back a long way -- It was Cybil Shepherd's ..."

Not only aren't they scheduled at the same time, but some PBS programming is unique to that station. This has been immensely frustrating for me because TV Guide print version will list something that is probably on PBS in New York. I then look for it on the online TV Guide site that will tell me when it airs locally, and find that there are no plans to air it on San Francisco Bay Area PBS stations that I get.

Amy wrote: 1) Set the goal of doing it in chunks.

Yeah, I was aiming for 1% every sitting. but at about 30% the book got quite boring. Which is a shame, it had such a good start. The first 200 pages or so are great.

2)I read more than one book at the same time.

I read a dozen or so books at a time. I've been reading a lot of non-fiction stuff (mostly work-related) this past month, which the 900-page novel seems to drive me to.

Last night, I started Breathers: A Zombie's Lament, hoping it will be light enough to lure me back into fiction.

Mkfs wrote: "I'm working up the courage to read iq84, but it is hyooooooge.
..."

This was my first Murakami book. I listened to it on audio and was hooked right away. It's not as long as it looks.

Bobbie57 wrote: "Petra,
The movie version of the Last Picture Show is scheduled for the Friday night movie on my local PBS TV channel. I remember really enjoying it. Goes back a long way -- It was Cybil Shepherd's movie debut.
..."

Thank you, Bobbie! I will check to see if its playing here, too (fingers crossed that it is). I've heard that the movie is terrific and look forward to it. Thanks for the heads-up!

Petra wrote: "Mkfs wrote: "I'm working up the courage to read iq84, but it is hyooooooge.
..."

This was my first Murakami book. I listened to it on audio and was hooked right away. It's not as long as it looks."

Great comment -- it's not as long as it looks. Well whether it is or not, I really enjoyed the ride.

I didn't know there was a book upon which Soylent Green was based. Must mention it to my husband, as he often quotes the ending line of the movie--every time he doesn't like what he's eating!

Due to the cruise, my reading was limited. Well, it was actually my 13 year old nephew/roommate that shortened my reading time.

Never Tell a Lie by Hallie Ephron. Not only was it not particularly creative, i guessed where the "body" was all along. A writer goes down notches when that happens. A long-ago acquaintance of the pregnant main character goes missing.

Pride V. Prejudice: A Claire Malloy Mystery by Joan Hess. This series has held my interest since the first one, read in 1990 (by both me & my daughter). It's a light one but what's not to like about a small town book seller mystery, right?

Sailing Alone around the World by Joshua Slocum. Reading this book was inspired by a quote Alias shared from Slocum in May. I decided i needed to read it, at last. In 1895 Slocum sailed his refitted vessel "around the world" all by himself. It made me wish i knew about the reasons Slocum maneuvered the parts of the ship in response to winds, etc., but i still reveled in the facts of the story.

Better yet, when he wasn't much needed to guide the boat, he was reading! I wish he'd mentioned more often the books he read but at least he gave fleeting literary references. Plus he met the widow of Robert Louis Stevenson in the south seas & visited the cave where Alexander Selkirk, inspiration for Robinson Crusoe, lived when stranded by his ship.

That's it.

Slow reading month for me.


The Berlin Wall by Christine Zuchora-Walske
nonfiction YA
Rate 4
This is exactly what I was looking for. Simply and straight forward.

Youth by Joseph Conrad
Short story fiction
Rate 3-
I thought this was just okay. It was a re-read for me from my school days.

The Rocking Horse WinnerD.H. Lawrence
Short story fiction
Rate 4
Odd story. It held my interest. Re-read for me from my school days.

Meditation As Medicine: Activate the Power of Your Natural Healing Force by Dharma Singh Khalsa
Non fiction
rate 4
Fascinating book. It's probably a book one should own so you can do the specific situational meditations as the needs arise.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Fiction
Rate 4
Well done but sad story of early on-set Alzheimer.
I particularly found it interesting that it was told from the point of view of the person with this horrible disease.

My reads for June:

FOUR STARS:

1.Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty by John M. Barry: A nonfiction account of the life of Roger Williams, who in 1636 founded the colony of Providence Plantation (Rhode Island) as a refuge for religious minorities. Williams, an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state, is considered to be the first to link religious freedom to individual liberty – which led to America’s creation as the first government and society on earth informed by those beliefs. Thoroughly researched and well written.

2.Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, the Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of a Medical Miracle by Thea Cooper: A nonfiction account of the story of the discovery of insulin --and how the process was nearly derailed by scientific jealousy, intense business competition and fistfights. A good example of narrative nonfiction – reads like a novel.

3.A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki: Read this only because a coworker pressed it into my hands and said, “you have to read this!” And I felt obligated. Didn’t think I’d like it – but I was wrong. Ruth, a novelist living on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest, finds a collection of letters and a diary that have washed onto shore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox. She assumes it is debris from the 2011 tsunami that devastated Japan. As she reads the diary – written by a 16-year-old girl living in Tokyo – she is drawn into the girl’s story about her suicidal father, being bullied by her classmates, and her 104-year-old Buddhist nun great-grandmother. I enjoyed this book very much.

4.Boy's Life by Robert McCammon: I don’t know how this book stayed off my radar until now. Set in Zephyr, Alabama, in the mid-1960s, the story begins when 11-year-old Cory and his father witness a car plunge into a lake. When his father attempts to rescue the driver, he comes face-to-face with a terrible, haunting vision of death. As Cory struggles to understand how the event traumatizes his father, his eyes are slowly opened to the forces of good and evil that surround him in his “idyllic” hometown. It’s a story of growing up and losing your innocence and the magic of childhood.

THREE STARS:

5.Ebola: The Natural and Human History of a Deadly Virus by David Quammen: Self-explanatory from the title. Well written account that brings the history of Ebola from where The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus leaves off up to recent events in 2014.

6.Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America by Steve Almond: A nonfiction account of one man’s search for a much-loved candy from his childhood that leads him on a cross-country tour of the small candy companies that are persevering in a marketplace where big corporations (Hershey’s, Mars, etc.) dominate. Entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny in parts.

7.The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez: A really nice story about the Latino immigrant community in Delaware with special focus on one family who has a child with traumatic brain injury. Well written and a quick read.

8.The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins: This is one of those books that has been billed as “the next Gone Girl.” It was not the next “Gone Girl” (at least in my opinion). Rachel, a divorced, unemployed alcoholic, rides the commuter train every morning. One day, she sees something shocking from the window. And then she gets involved in what happened. The book overall was a pretty slow read, although it did keep me going until the end (even though I did consider dumping it about halfway through). The last 50 pages were the ones that actually had me hooked, and I wish the entirety of the book had been more gripping.

9.Death Come Quickly by Susan Wittig Albert: #22 in a long-running mystery series set in Pecan Spring, Texas. I keep reading them, even though the books are getting a bit tired. There’s something comforting about being able to go back to a world filled with characters that feel like old friends.

TWO STARS:

10.The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas: At a suburban barbecue, a man slaps a child who is not his own. This event has a shocking ricochet effect on a group of people, mostly friends, who are directly or indirectly influenced by the slap. The idea was better than the execution. 2.5 stars.

11.Identical by Scott Turow: The story of identical twins Paul and Cass Giannis. The novel focuses principally on events in 2008, when Paul is a candidate for Mayor of Kindle County, and Cass is released from the penitentiary, 25 years after pleading guilty to the murder of his girlfriend. The plot centers on the re-investigation of the girl’s murder. I had a hard time buying into the premise of this book, which definitely impacted my reading experience. Also, the resolution was much too convoluted, in my opinion.

UNRATED CLASSIC:

12.This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Fitzgerald’s first novel, this is semiautobiographical story of the handsome, indulged, and idealistic Princeton student Amory Blaine. It read more like a series of related essays than a novel and you can tell that Fitzgerald was still fairly unpolished as a writer, but his brilliance and promise still shines through.

Amy wrote: 4.Boy's Life by Robert McCammon: I don’t know how this book stayed off my radar until now. Set in Zephyr, Alabama, in the mid-1960s, the story begins when 11-year-old Cory and his father witness a car plunge into a lake. When his father attempts to rescue the driver, he comes face-to-face with a terrible, haunting vision of death. As Cory struggles to understand how the event traumatizes his father, his eyes are slowly opened to the forces of good and evil that surround him in his “idyllic” hometown. It’s a story of growing up and losing your innocence and the magic of childhood.


I love his books !

Alias Reader wrote: "3.A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki: Read this only because a coworker pressed it into my hands and said, “you have to read this!” And I felt obligated. Didn’t think I’d like it – but I was wrong. Ruth, a novelist living on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest, finds a collection of letters and a diary that have washed onto shore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox. She assumes it is debris from the 2011 tsunami that devastated Japan. As she reads the diary – written by a 16-year-old girl living in Tokyo – she is drawn into the girl’s story about her suicidal father, being bullied by her classmates, and her 104-year-old Buddhist nun great-grandmother. I enjoyed this book very much. .."


Thanks for bringing this book to my attention. I see it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

The library purchased 27 copies. In addition they have various editions (eBook, Audio, paper) They usually do this for books they think will be popular.

I'm putting it on my TBR list. Thanks for the heads-up!

Alias, it's neat to reread classics one had to read in school. Did you like them any more or less? Most i like more, if only because i was really paying attention this time. :-)

Amy, i appreciate the comment on the book about Roger Williams. I have him on a list of people i want to read about when (if???) i finish my Presidential bios and now i have a title.Thank you.

I found the Ruth Ozeki book via this board & some people posting about it. How i treasure the book! It covered much material in a good fashion. Years ago i read her My Year of Meats by Ozeki, which was interesting but nothing that led me to believe i'd like Tale as much as i did.

Alias Reader wrote: "I love his books!.."

Alias, which other books by McCammon have you read and enjoyed? This was my first by him. It kind of made me think of Stephen King -- only better written!

madrano wrote: "Alias, it's neat to reread classics one had to read in school. Did you like them any more or less? Most i like more, if only because i was really paying attention this time. :-)"

The short stories are from a collection that I purchased for either junior high school or high school. The pages have turned yellow. The price on the book $1.95 :)

Best Short Stories of the Modern Age

It fun to see that I had the same practice of personalizing my books way back then. (marginalia, underlining and writing definitions in the book.

As to liking the stories more or less I can see from my markings that I read Youth by Conrad but I have zero recollection of the story. I do recall the story of The Rocking Horse Winner so it must have left a positive impression on me.

I am sure I am getting more out of the stories now then when I was a young teen.

Amy wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: "I love his books!.."

Alias, which other books by McCammon have you read and enjoyed? This was my first by him. It kind of made me think of Stephen King -- only better written!"

Swan Song If you like Stephen King's The Stand you will love Swan Song.

Boy's Life

Gone South I really enjoyed this one.

Mine This is a really wild page turner. If they still have the stupid horror cover just ignore it. I beg people to just try this book and forget the cover. This was the first book of his I read.

I think I may have Speaks the Nightbird unread on my Kindle. Books just go into a black hole on my Kindle. I never know what is on there.

Alias, thanks for filling me in on your rereading. Incredible how inexpensive those old paperbacks were, isn't it? I have one book of short stories from my Freshman year in HS. It's full of stories i still well remember, including "A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell and "To Light A Fire" by Jack London.

I think I will give "Swan Song" a try and see how I like it. Thanks!

We'll be eager to read your thoughts on the book, Amy. It's a big one, i see.

madrano wrote: "We'll be eager to read your thoughts on the book, Amy. It's a big one, i see."

Swan Song is a quick easy read.

If you love The Stand by Stephen King you will enjoy Swan Song.

Amy wrote: "I think I will give "Swan Song" a try and see how I like it. Thanks!"

The 19 Best Post-Apocalyptic Novels Ever Written

Alias Reader wrote: "The 19 Best Post-Apocalyptic Novels Ever Written"

How did Riddley Walker not make the list?

Alias Reader wrote: "Amy wrote: "I think I will give "Swan Song" a try and see how I like it. Thanks!"

The 19 Best Post-Apocalyptic Novels Ever Written

-..."


Oh, great list! I have an inexplicable fascination with post-apocalyptic literature. From this list, I've read 6 of the top 10: The Stand; Alas, Babylon; Wool Omnibus; On the Beach; Station Eleven and The Handmaid's Tale. I also have The Passage in my giant pile of TBR books in my bedroom. I've also read several of the "Dark Tower" books by Stephen King, but I haven't finished the series yet. So it's on to Swan Song! I'll have to head to my local used bookstore and see if I can find a copy.

Thanks for the list, Alias. Something about this genre draws me in, too, whether it's on film or in a novel. I particularly like to read the beginnings...how this situation arose. I suppose in some way this is what frustrated many reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

You're welcome ! I enjoy post apocalyptic novels, too.

Though I was disappointed in The Road.

I'll copy the list and put it in our list Folder.

Alias Reader wrote: "Meditation As Medicine: Activate the Power of Your Natural Healing Force by Dharma Singh Khalsa
Non fiction
rate 4
Fascinating book. It's probably a book one should own so you can do the specific situational meditations as the needs arise. ..."


Does this book give scientific explanations for why one type of meditation would work for one specific ailment?

Interesting question, Julie. My sister-in-law has lived with brain cancer for several years now and has meditated for most of that time, beginning a few months after her initial diagnosis. She feels that, if nothing else, the calm it brings her has been a quality-of-life-saver. As she has also dramatically altered her eating (grainless), i can't point to any one thing that has helped with the actual cancer. I can report she is doing well and is relishing her time with her two, under 3 years old grandchildren.

My reads for June:

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant - 4/5 (review on my DL)

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success - 4/5 (review on my DL)

Station Eleven - 4.5/5
A pandemic has wiped out most of the earth's population. This is the story of the before and after for some of the survivors. Despite hopping back and forth through time, this is a fast and gripping read. For some reason I couldn't quite rate it a full 5 stars, but it came close.

Mkfs wrote: "Petra wrote: "Kafka on the Shore, which I really liked. It's so strange and magical. Murakami is a true storyteller...."

I liked that book a lot. I had a copy that I put off reading fo..."

Agreed - Kafka is a fun ride. I love Murakami's dream-like style but I do find I need a break between his books.

Julie wrote: Does this book give scientific explanations for why one type of meditation would work for one specific ailment? "

I don't know about scientific. The book does say that but I am not totally buying that. It's based on Kundalini Yoga. It involves a lot of things such as energy, chakras, mantras, breathing exercises, movement exercises, and meditations. It's very involved and takes a lot of effort and time.

I actually found the section on chakras very informative and copied a lot of notes on it.

I can see it working for ailments that stem from stress and pain management.

Yes, I think meditation helps with stress and pain and overall healthiness maybe because your body can deal with more when you are not stressed. But the book description says "Each Medical Meditation here has a specific physiological effect, targeting afflictions from arthritis to ulcers to cancer" and I am quite skeptical about that one. That's why I asked. As much as I like yoga and yoga-related things, there is a line where I think it turns into BS. :-)

For those who are interested, Zen and the Brain is an excellent book on the neuroscience of meditation. It is a huge tome, so I put off reading it until there was an ebook version.

The author (James Austin) is a neuroscientist who joined a Zen Buddhist monastery during his sabbatical. There's a lot more narrative than most of the neuroscience books I read, so it's a lot more engaging than one might expect.

Mkfs wrote: "For those who are interested, Zen and the Brain is an excellent book on the neuroscience of meditation. It is a huge tome, so I put off reading it until there was an ebook version. ..."

Yikes...that is long for that type of book!

I appreciate the exchange about yoga & the brain. Thanks to all.

Emma, i agree with you on Station Eleven.

Julie wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: " I find my attention span prefers shorter books. Even if the book is terrific, I tend to shy ..."
I have the same problem Alias. Eventually I start to lose interest because it ..."

I've recently come to the same realization. My strategy for attacking this problem is this: I'm always in the middle of one long book, but mostly focus on short ones. Right now, I'm in the middle of Steven Pinker's "The Better Angels of our Nature." I don't care if it takes me all year. Trying to sit down and read it all at once might just kill me. So I'll read a chapter, then go off and read "Lolita." Then I'll read the next chapter, and go off and read "Gilead." And so on.

Victor wrote: "I've recently come to the same realization. My strategy for attacking this problem is this: I'm always in the middle of one long book, but mostly focus on short ones. Right now, I'm in the middle of Steven Pinker's "The Better Angels of our Nature." I don't care if it takes me all year. Trying to sit down and read it all at once might just kill me. So I'll read a chapter, then go off and read "Lolita." Then I'll read the next chapter, and go off and read "Gilead." And so on. ..."

I used this same strategy to get through War and Peace earlier this year. It took me three full months to finish and during the process I read 17 other books.

It's a good strategy. For me when reading huge novels, i lose some characters when i switch to another novel, so i try to keep my shorter works nonfiction. It doesn't always work but it's better than needing to reread the last couple of chapters of the tome to remember what's happened.

Victor wrote: My strategy for attacking this problem is this: I'm always in the middle of one long book, but mostly focus on short ones. Right now, I'm in the middle of Steven Pinker's "The Better Angels of our Nature." I don't care if it takes me all year. Trying to sit down and read it all at once might just kill me. So I'll read a chapter, then go off and read "Lolita." Then I'll read the next chapter, and go off and read "Gilead." And so on.

:) That is a great strategy, Victor.

I sometimes do that because I don't want to carry a big book with me on the subway. So I carry a small paperback of short stories, for example.

I see the Pinker book is a big honker ! It sounds like a fascinating subject. I look forward to celebrating you finishing it and your review. :)

madrano wrote: "It's a good strategy. For me when reading huge novels, i lose some characters when i switch to another novel, so i try to keep my shorter works nonfiction. It doesn't always work but it's better th..."

That's my problem with dragging long books out forever...I forget what's going on when I take too long to read a book. And even if I remember enough, I often still feel like the book doesn't have the same impact on me as ones I read faster.

I don't shy away from the big books but they do not travel well. And sometimes I see a short book that calls to me and I will go there. I recently read "The Last Campaign" by Thurston Clark which is about Robert Kennedy in 1968. Then a few days ago a book by David Halberstam, The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy showed up in my Book Bub suggestions. My first thought was 2 books one after the other?? But it is only 184 pages and I love Halberstam and it is on sale on my NOOK. So, of course, I bought it. And am so very glad I did. It is from a whole other angle and included people who barely appeared in the first book. A good reminder that various perspectives are what history is made of.

That is a good reminder, Bobbie. Sometimes i will not read more than one book on a topic or, even less often a person, because i don't want to handle the repetition. I'm glad to learn about the other angle in your RFK reading.

I just read a review on a new bio on Reagan, Reagan: The Life by H.W. Brands. The comments were positive. Anyone here read anything by Brands? It seems to me that not that long ago his Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt was released...or maybe i just heard of it fairly recently. Anyone here read that? I'm curious, thinking this will be my Reagan bio but at 800+ pages, i don't want an avid Love Fest on the man.

Julie wrote: "That's my problem with dragging long books out forever...I forget what's going on when I take too long to read a book. And even if I remember enough, I often still feel like the book doesn't have the same impact on me as ones I read faster...."

Generally speaking, i agree. Although the novel i spread out the most, Don Quixote pleased me very much, despite its repetitive qualities. Perhaps it was the joy in knowing i'd read such a classic and liked the tales.

deb

Bobbie57 wrote:A good reminder that various perspectives are what history is made of.."

Truer words were never posted !

Thanks for the Halberstam title. I'm going to check it out.