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This fascinating family history of author and artist Edmund de Waal reached out to me from the library's Recommended Reads display and I added it to the top of my stack, wondering how I would fit in all the readings. I am glad it did.
This isn't your typical family history. Edmund's family story begins with his predecessor Charles, a younger brother to 19th-century Jewish financiers who made his home in Paris to become a patron for the Impressionists and inspired Proust's Swann.
Edmund inherits a collection of Japanese netsuke (miniature carvings) Charles collected in Paris, and determines to find the history behind the pieces, since they came to his family. Part One explores Charles' Paris, and Part Two takes him to Vienna, where they were gifted to Charles' younger cousin and his new bride.
Ten Years of Exile, Germain de Staël. Part autobiography, part polemic, this is the work of a woman who became a well-known, and hunted, enemy of Napoleon.
Since the library does not have Pillars of the Earth right now, that so many of you recommended, I checked out the recent Fall of Giants, also by Ken Follett. Book one in his new Century Trilogy...already I am hooked!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DandJ
It's in my "to read" pile. I would never have thought to get it -- like your wife, I'm not interested in war-related anything -- but based on recommendations from folks on this forum, I thought that I'd really be missing out on something special if I never read it. I don't know when I'll get to it, but I'm happy to have it there waiting for me. I'm glad to hear another person is giving it props.
I just finished Please Look After Mom by Kyung Sook-Shin (translated from Korean). I actually have to write a review for our local paper, and for the library newsletter... so I'm trying to think of what to say! Probably something like: This is a book that is not incredibly fast-paced, but very beautifully written and insightful. When an elderly Korean mother/grandmother mysteriously vanishes at the Seoul train station, her family begins to reflect on how they've treated her, and what they might have overlooked along the way. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different family member, and you truly feel involved in their lives by the end. Highly recommended!
Now I just have to figure out what to read next... wanting to read The Help, but it's on hold for a bunch of people at my library (we only have one copy). I also brought home a new teen book called The Musician's Daughter, so maybe I'll read that in the meantime.
I finally finished Joker One by Donovan Campbell, the story of a Marine platoon. I have no idea why it took me so long to finish it but it is unlike any other military memoir I have read. Usually military memoirs are full of braggadocio, and not particularly well written. This is the memoir of an officer Marine who actually has the intelligence to put his actions and the actions of his men into a wider context.
It was very touching, very humbling. Hubby is reading it now.
I finally finished Joker One by Donovan Campbell, the story of a Marine platoon. I have no idea why it took me so long to finish it but it is unlike any other military memoir I have read. Usually military memoirs are full of braggadocio, and not particularly well written. This is the memoir of an officer Marine who actually has the intelligence to put his actions and the actions of his men into a wider context.
It was very touching, very humbling. Hubby is reading it now.
I read this a while back and really liked it. This was my first military memoir and I thought it was very touching and humbling too. Got me teary a bit.
Just rushed to the library to get Stieg Larsson's "Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest". I just finished the second of the "Dragon Tattoo" trilogy, and couldn't put it down. Normally, it takes me two weeks to read a 3-400 page book, but I read "Girl who Played with Fire", 500 pages, in three days. Instead of reading in my spare time, I was taking breaks from reading to do things like eat. It's been many years since I've read a book that was so engrossed in.
Just rushed to the library to get Stieg Larsson's "Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest". I just finished the second of the "Dragon Tattoo" trilogy, and couldn't put it down. Normally, it takes me two weeks to read a 3-400 page book, but I read "Girl who Played with Fire", 500 pages, in three days. Instead of reading in my spare time, I was taking breaks from reading to do things like eat. It's been many years since I've read a book that was so engrossed in.
Just imagine if Larsson had not died. He planned a series of 12 (I think that is the number) books in the series.
Just rushed to the library to get Stieg Larsson's "Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest". I just finished the second of the "Dragon Tattoo" trilogy, and couldn't put it down. Normally, it takes me two weeks to read a 3-400 page book, but I read "Girl who Played with Fire", 500 pages, in three days. Instead of reading in my spare time, I was taking breaks from reading to do things like eat. It's been many years since I've read a book that was so engrossed in.
I'm going to have to go get my library card in order to read this one - I have not found it on walmart or target book shelves and I refuse to pay B&N prices. I loved The Girl who Played with Fire and finished it inabout 3 days also.
I found a book by Jo Nesbo, The Redbreast - Liking it so far - another Norwegian translated book.
Since the library does not have Pillars of the Earth right now, that so many of you recommended, I checked out the recent Fall of Giants, also by Ken Follett. Book one in his new Century Trilogy...already I am hooked!
I love these books so much. Book 2 of the trilogy is Winter of the World. It will feature the children of the characters in Book 1 as they move through the Depression and the 2nd World War. I can't wait! Unfortunately, it won't be out until the latter part of 2012.
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