TSS Week in Review

The Sunday Salon appears here.

I've read a great deal in the past week or so. Here are my opinions about some of them:

84.The Mysteries of Glass***** by Sue Gee (UK) 2004 (346 pages)

I loved it. A perfect Victorian novel about a young assisting minister who finds himself emotionally attached to a woman he cannot have or even show affection toward, and the crisis of faith that ensues. Very smooth writing with the natural elements so well described, it put me in mind of Hardy's Return of the Native. I must read more by this author. Highly recommended.

86.Shipwrecks***** by Akira Yoshimura (Japan) 1982 (180 pages)

Translated from the Japanese. A very good story about a small Japanese fishing village whose dangerous secret is that it takes advantage of its rocky coast to lure ships inshore to sink. They retrieve the cargo, usually foodstuffs, and it keeps them from starvation. But one day they take something from a wrecked ship that brings retribution and terror to the people of the village. Well written, an excellent story with a strong Gothic sense. Highly recommended.

87.This is How**** by M.J. Hyland (UK) 2009 (377 pages )

I read Hyland's previous novel Carry Me Down****, about a troubled boy, which was nominated for several literary prizes. I really enjoyed her psychological insights into human behaviour and wanted to read more by this author. This Is How is narrated by a man who inadvertently (so to speak) commits a crime and goes to prison. It's an odd story about a not entirely likable bloke, which I found interesting and well written, but am not certain that I actually enjoyed the experience. I suspect that the failure lies with me. I'm not very sympathetic toward young people (he's 22) who expect everything in life to go their way. Other opinions on this book will help you decide if it's for you.

88.The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly***** (France) 1997 (157 pages)

Translated from the French. A true story told by a paralyzed writer and editor who could move only one eyelid after a massive stroke. A remarkable memoir that is touching and as life-affirming as it gets. Highly recommended.

89.The Sign for Drowning****+ by Rachel Stolzman 2009 (194 pages)

Four and a half stars. About a single woman who adopts one of the deaf children she teaches. This woman saw her sister drown when she was a child and first learned sign language in order to (in a child's way of thinking) talk to her dead (silent) sister. The story steps back to show us the tragedy and the lives of her family in trying to recover from it. She wonders if she is right to adopt this child as she herself is a hearing person. Self doubt persists as she encourages the girl in her education and continues to face her own past. A very enjoyable read. Highly recommended. A fuller review will be posted soon.

90.Conceit***** by Mary Novik (Canada) 2008 (403 pages) The best historical fiction I've read for quite a while. Highly recommended. A brief review appears here in a new feature. A fuller review will be posted soon.

Today I'm reading Silver Birches by Adrian Plass (UK) 2009, previously published as Ghosts in 2002.

How are you spending your Sunday?

Comments, questions, opinions, reading recommendations, or links to reviews are always welcomed. I'd love to read them. No Spoilers though please.

TSS Books Read This Week

A very bad week for me in all regards but one-reading. I couldn't even put a sentence together, thus the lack of posts. But here's what I read:

Sunday Salon can be found here.

We Need to Talk About Kevin***** by Lionel Shriver

Fiction, HC 400 pgs.

The best thing I've read this year. Before you scoff, I've read fifteen books so far and all but two are four or five star reads. I expect this story to be among my top three of the year. I resisted reading it because of the subject matter but I was mistaken. A woman whose son has killed schoolmates in a shooting spree writes to her husband after the trial is over. Her feelings as a mother and about their marriage as well as everyone's reactions toward her are discussed in those letters. This story is one of a kind and should not be missed. Don't read full reviews of it or talk about it with those who've read it until after you have yourself. Trust me and get thee to a library.

And I now want to read more of this author's work. Lionel Shriver is a woman by the way.

The Seamstress****+ by Frances de Pontes Peebles

Historical fiction, HC 646 pgs.

This was recommended to me by Kaye at Pudgy Penguin Perusals as a very good read and she was right. It's a terrific story, set in Brazil in the 1920s and 1930s. Women lives in many different situations are dealt with; poor, orphaned, disabled, marriageable or unmarriageable and why, widows, seamstresses, rich, or rebels, they are all here and so are the societal restrictions and demands put upon them in this culture and time. Richly detailed, the writing is good and the characters as real as they get. Highly recommended. Thank you Kaye.

I really have to join the chunkster challenge now, as this is the second 600 page book I've read this year.

The Bird of Night**** by Susan Hill

Fiction, HC 186 pgs.

This is the author who wrote such books as Mrs. De Winter, the sequel to Daphne DuMaurier's Rebecca; I'm The King of The Castle, studied in UK schools, The Woman in Black, and the Simon Serailler mystery series, of which I've read the current four novels. I've also followed her lit blog since reading the first one. The Bird of Night tells the story of a poet who has serious bouts of mental illness and the man he meets who takes care of him through it all, and tries to protect him from others. The close relationship between intense creativity and insanity are never easy to describe but Hill does a very good job of it. Told with intensity but also with empathy it is a story you won't soon forget.

Full reviews with giveaways to come:

A Mercy by Toni Morrison HC 167pgs.
Jenford: A Short History of Upland by Henrik E. Sadi

Winner of Letters Between Us by Linda Rader Overman announced tomorrow.

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I have several books I am willing to give to anyone who will write a guest review for me when you are finished reading it, preferrably within six weeks of receiving it. Just name the book you're willing to read and review in the comments (so people know it's taken) and email me your mailing address. Just a few sentences on your opinion of the book, as long or short as you like. First come, first served.

From A to X by John Berger PB (TAKEN)
Ex-Cottagers in Love by J.M. Kearns PB (TAKEN)
Pursuit of Light by Sandra Brewer non-fiction HC
The Magician's Notebook by Laura Miller HC (TAKEN)
The Museum Guard by Howard Norman PB (TAKEN)

TSS Books Read This Week

Today's Sunday Salon includes books read in the first 10 days of 2009, I have given them what I call tag reviews.

1.The Madonnas of Leningrad***** by Debra Dean

I loved it. Russia, 1941, siege of Leningrad, WW II, Hermitage Museum (Catherine the Great's Palace), I've been there; museum workers, evacution of artworks, lots of description of real art pieces, many paintings, conditions of cold, starvation, Germans bombing; Marina (main character), fiance is a soldier at the front; she tries to memorize details of missing paintings; parallel story of them in old age, grown children don't know details of the war, their mother Marina slowly succumbing to Alzheimers and says confusing things that make sense to reader because we know her past, but not to family. Great story, highly recommended.

2.What We All Long**** For by Dionne Brand (full review and giveaway upcoming)

3.The Gravedigger's Daughter**** by Joyce Carol Oates 592 pgs.

A Jewish family escapes Germany to America, 1930's, father beomes town's gravedigger, poverty, anti-Semitism, war, immigrants, Germans, murder leaves youngest child orphaned, town unforgiving, she marries and has a child who is musically talented, dicovers unsavory things about husband and makes her escape, new identity, constant fear and mistrust, until she meets some decent people. She tries to re-establish contacts with Jewish relatives who may have survived the war. A very good story.

4.The Museum Guard**** by Howard Norman

Canada, Nova Scotia, Halifax, 1939, nephew and his colourful uncle are both museum guards, art, paintings, radio broadcasts re Europe gearing up for war, anti-Semitism, nephew's girlfriend beomes obsessed by a Dutch painter and takes on personna of the painter's Jewish wife, insisting on going to Europe. Unusual but very interesting story, recommended.

5.Letters Between Us**** by Linda Rader Overman (full review and giveaway upcoming)

Some weeks won't be this good but it was a nice start to the new year. Any opinions or comments are welcomed. What are you reading today?