What are you reading?

[southernhybrid]

I read "Really Important Stuff my Cat. has Taught me" yesterday to my peeps where I volunteer. This silly book was great as it taught us a lot of things. For example, Mark Twain was big fan of cats, as well as many other famous people. One of them had something like 30 cats in his house. The book also includes quotes from these famous cat lovers and two stories about cats who walked extremely long distances to get back to their homes. Plus, I learned that cats are also used as emotional support animals and one cat in a nursing home could detect when someone was close to death, so he'd snuggle up next to the person to comfort them, as well as alerting the staff that the time was near. If the person had no family, it was very nice to have the cuddly, loving cat next to them as they progressed through dying. Oh, the books was written by Cynthia L
Copeland and this time I purchased the paper back edition because it was on sale and has lots of beautiful photos in it to show the people who join my little volunteer activity. Cat lovers would love this book.

 

[laughing dog]

Finished two excellent books. First, Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. The fictional tale of Willie Lincoln's death and internment is told via snippets from sourced accounts and from the ghosts in the graveyard. Abraham Lincoln's grief is devastatingly depicted. The ghosts (including Willie Lincoln) are also in the "bardo" - between heaven and hell. The novel slowly reveals parts of their lives while building up to the climax and resolutions. I recommend the book but it takes a little getting used to since it is composed of snippets from multiple sources and lots of dialogue that is also clearly sourced. For those who these things matter, it won the Man Booker Price for Best Novel in 2017.

Second, is History on Trial by Deborah Lipstadt which recounts her trial for allegedly libeling the WWII historian and Holocaust denier David Irving. In Great Britain, defendant in such trials must prove they published the truth. It is a pretty detailed account of the trial. The book was made into a good movie (Denial with Rachel Wiesz). The movie is entertaining and more dramatic than the book, but the book goes into much more detail into the actual trial and facts. If you haven't seen the movie or read the book, I'd recommend reading the book and then seeing the flick.

 

[Mediancat]

A new history of the Lewis and Clark expedition, This Vast Enterprise. Interesting so far, and doesn't stint on criticizing them where appropriate.


Rob

 

[spikepipsqueak]

Finished two excellent books. First, Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. The fictional tale of Willie Lincoln's death and internment is told via snippets from sourced accounts and from the ghosts in the graveyard. Abraham Lincoln's grief is devastatingly depicted. The ghosts (including Willie Lincoln) are also in the "bardo" - between heaven and hell. The novel slowly reveals parts of their lives while building up to the climax and resolutions. I recommend the book but it takes a little getting used to since it is composed of snippets from multiple sources and lots of dialogue that is also clearly sourced. For those who these things matter, it won the Man Booker Price for Best Novel in 2017.

Got this from the library.

Took me a couple of pages to figure out what was going on, I clearly didn't retain all of your post when I read it.

 

[laughing dog]

Finished two excellent books. First, Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. The fictional tale of Willie Lincoln's death and internment is told via snippets from sourced accounts and from the ghosts in the graveyard. Abraham Lincoln's grief is devastatingly depicted. The ghosts (including Willie Lincoln) are also in the "bardo" - between heaven and hell. The novel slowly reveals parts of their lives while building up to the climax and resolutions. I recommend the book but it takes a little getting used to since it is composed of snippets from multiple sources and lots of dialogue that is also clearly sourced. For those who these things matter, it won the Man Booker Price for Best Novel in 2017.

Got this from the library.

Took me a couple of pages to figure out what was going on, I clearly didn't retain all of your post when I read it.

I took me about 20 pages to get into the swing of things. Fortunately, that wasn't a lot of text.


Just finished Hard Times by Charles Dickens. One of his shorter books (the Penguin edition is 288 pages of text). The style leant a little heavier on the caustic satire which reminded a bit of Mark Twain. It's the story of the Grangrinds, Josiah Bounderby, Sissy Jupe and Stephen Blackpool. It is social commentary on political economy, clash between the plight of the working class and capitalists. I guess because of the length, Dickens got into the story much more quickly than usual, which I find helpful.

BTW, I read the Penguin editions of Dickens because they include good footnotes on the idiom and (now) obscure references.