Book reviews

[iris lilies]

Iris Lilies, I did part of my dissertation on Trollope. The Small House at Allington--absolutely stunning; I think you would like it. It's part of the Barchester series, like Barchester Towers and The Warden.
Joanna Trollope is also wonderful--my favorites are The Rector's Wife and The Men and the Girls.
Jane Austen is fine, of course, but give me Trollope any day--as my best friend said, "There's never enough Trollope."

And my 87 year old dad loves him, too.

Ah, that is great! Of Trollope's 47 novels, next on my list is Small House at Allington because it seems to be universally recommended as his best. I ran into a critical piece about Trollope being a lesser Dickens and being very predictable, and I don't like Dickens so I thought that was an unfair comparison.

I've read The Rector's Wife, that's the one that got me turned on to J. Trollope. And it's a wonderful TV production. I'm pretty sure I've read The Men and The Girls. I am currently finishing Daughter in Laws and remember why I gave her up--it drags on and on, people acting rather badly. Or acting without insight into themselves.

Need to get back to Pym novels. It's been a decade since I read a new Pym. Toward the end of her publishing period I did not read all of her stuff so have that to explore.

Florence--That book about Detroit is perfect for me, I've now got it on hold at the Library. You gave a great summary of it!

Jane--I'll try that true crime book. I O'd on those years ago, but that one might be good.

[Lainey]

Interesting, Florence. I've heard a suggestion, half-jokingly, that we offer Detroit to illegal immigrants and let them make a go of it. Who knows? The quick slide into collapse couldn't be any worse.

[Gardenarian]

Another Trollope fan here. He wrote so fast that all his stuff is riddled with errors, which I find weirdly endearing.

I'm also a fan of Alexander McCall Smith, but when you read all of his series his characters start to sound strangely alike.

I recently read The Painter by Peter Heller and thought it very good - not as good as his Dog Stars, but definitely worth reading.

[iris lilies]

Another Trollope fan here. He wrote so fast that all his stuff is riddled with errors, which I find weirdly endearing.

I'm also a fan of Alexander McCall Smith, but when you read all of his series his characters start to sound strangely alike.

I haven't read any of his series other than the Botswana Detective series. I did try the Edinburgh mystery series, but lost interest.

[IshbelRobertson]

His Scotland Street series is great. It started life as a newspaper column in The Scotsman, just like Dickens did before him.
I love his Edinburgh based books, particularly because I could almost name people on whom his characters are based!

[Lainey]

"The Girls Guide to Homelessness" by Brianna Karp. A memoir of her life after she lost her job in 2008, through about 2012. An abusive childhood too. Some people really get kicked around in this world.

[Lainey]

"Flight 232" - a non-fiction account of the Sioux City, Iowa crash in 1989. (I think many of us here recall the crash which was one of the first major commercial jet crashes ever caught on videotape.)
Now that it's the 25th anniversay, this book provides a "360 degree look" at all aspects. If you ever wanted to know about aircraft accident investigation, this book dives into every aspect including interviews with rescuers, government and manufacturing investigators, and survivors, and a review of the NTSB's final probable cause report. Makes for a fascinating read.

[awakenedsoul]

I just finished Going Solo The Extraordinarty Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone by Eric Klinenberg. I picked this up at the library, and it was a great read. At times I laughed so hard I had to put the book aside and just sit for a moment. The author is now married and has twins. He did a terrific job with this book. It really got me thinking...especially about my future.

[pinkytoe]

Just finished Gone Feral by Novella Carpenter about a young woman who tries to locate and understand her mountain man father. Her previous book was about her inner city farm in Oakland which I enjoyed. Although the writing is a little clunky and a bit too personal I think, I found the story fascinating as I too grew up with parents who kept their secrets to themselves. Some eternal truths within.

[iris lilies]

"Flight 232" - a non-fiction account of the Sioux City, Iowa crash in 1989. (I think many of us here recall the crash which was one of the first major commercial jet crashes ever caught on videotape.)
Now that it's the 25th anniversay, this book provides a "360 degree look" at all aspects. If you ever wanted to know about aircraft accident investigation, this book dives into every aspect including interviews with rescuers, government and manufacturing investigators, and survivors, and a review of the NTSB's final probable cause report. Makes for a fascinating read.

Sure, I remember that one, being from Iowa. I think Sioux City recently invited the pilot back to the city and there was a celebration. "Recently" probably means 5 years ago, time flies for me and that would have been the 20th anniversary of that successful plane crash.