What are you reading the week of April 13, 2024?

I read Peter Pomerantsev's This is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality. It is a book that everyone should read, but it was depressing. There are a lot of people in this world who working very hard to make people doubt everything and believe anything. There is nothing specific that they want you to believe just so long as you don't believe the truth (with a small t). The goal isn't to make everyone believe the same thing; it is to keep everyone from believing the same thing.

Now I have started Pomerantsev's How to Win an Information War.

I am about 2/3 of the way through, and very much enjoying, The Mountains Wait. This is a memoir by Theodor Broch, the mayor of a small, far northern Norwegian town about the Nazi invasion and occupation of the area and the shelling during the early days of the occupation when the English were still trying to dislodge the Germans from Norway. A very well-written book, particularly interesting because it was published while the war was still ongoing. The book opens with Broch's escape into Sweden, as the Nazis had put out an order for his arrest, and then the narrative immediately jumps back to Broch's arrival in town with his wife as a young couple some 10 years earlier.

Having knocked off The Tainted Cup, next up is Red Assault. Adventurous Empires and The lost Cause will come later in the week.

This week I concentrated on re-reading old favourites in hopes of improving my mood. I re-read State of Wonder by Ann Patchett and The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A. Quinn.

How to Shoot an Amateur Naturalist by Gerald Durrell arrived in the mail today, and I'm now reading that intermittently while also enjoying deeply the audiobook of My Antonia by Willa Cather. Her writing is so beautiful and her descriptions so perfect.

Ham on Rye
Charles Bukowski
4/5 stars
"In what is widely hailed as the best of his many novels, Charles Bukowski details the long, lonely years of his own hardscrabble youth in the raw voice of alter ego Henry Chinaski. From a harrowingly cheerless childhood in Germany through acne-riddled high school years and his adolescent discoveries of alcohol, women, and the Los Angeles Public Library's collection of D. H. Lawrence, "Ham on Rye" offers a crude, brutal, and savagely funny portrait of an outcast's coming-of-age during the desperate days of the Great Depression." From the Good Reads Book Synopsis 1982

Listening to the second half of this enjoyable book via Libby ~

Finding Margaret Fuller: A Novel
by Allison Pataki

Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong
Katie Gee Salisbury
4/5 stars
This was a wonderfully interesting story about the American Asian actress Anna May Wong. She grew up in America, lived in Los Angeles and worked in her family's laundry business where she was discovered. She starred in the Douglas Fairbanks' film Thief of Bagdad and that started her career. Well written!

The Letter Writer – Dan Fesperman
Digital audiobook performed by David Bendena
4****

After his wife left him and his partner was killed, detective sergeant Woodrow Cain left North Carolina to start over in New York City. But it’s 1942 and the USA has entered the war against Germany and Japan. When a body is found floating in the Hudson River. Cain meets a man named Danzinger. He looks like a “crackpot,” but he speaks five languages fluently and has the manners of a man of means and education. But who is he really? And is Danzinger really helping Cain solve the murder, or ensnaring him in a larger espionage plot?

This was really a great read. Many of the hallmarks of literary fiction, as well as the pace of an espionage thriller. The characters are fully realized, and I liked the way Fesperman wove their relationships together. The writing is atmospheric, and the setting is vividly portrayed. There are enough plot twists to keep the most ardent mystery fan guessing. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading more works by Fesperman.

David Bendena does a marvelous job of performing the audiobook. He’s a talented voice artist and is able to use a variety of accents as required by the eclectic mix of characters.

I've just finished The Mountains Wait, a memoir by Theodor Broch. Broch was the mayor of the far northern Norwegian town of Narvik when the Nazis invaded in 1940. The book begins with Broch getting away over the mountains into neutral Sweden, having escaped arrest for his resistance activities several months after the Nazi's arrival. But then, quickly, we go 10 years back in time to Broch's arrival in the town with his wife. He is a young lawyer intent on starting a practice away from the bustle (and competition) of Oslo. Pretty soon, Broch finds himself on the city council, and then the town's mayor. In the meantime, war clouds are gathering over Europe, though the folks of this sleepy town somehow assume they'll be spared.

But, of course, they aren't. In April 1940, German destroyers show up in the fjord. The Norwegian Navy ships on hand refuse to surrender, but are almost immediately sunk. Broch describes the Nazi's arrival and occupation of the town, their temporary departure when the English attack, and then their return. He describes well the town's day-to-day life during this time, as well as the dangers and tragedies of the various bombings and naval bombardments that take place. Broch eventually had to flee Norway. He made his way to the U.S. where he was engaged in lecturing and fundraising on behalf of occupied Norway. This memoir was very well written, although, published as it was in 1943, its intent as a propaganda tool is evident. You can find a somewhat longer review on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

Next up for me will be re-read of Harlem of the West: The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Era. The Fillmore District was an African American/Latino/Asian neighborhood that was a hotbed of bebop through the 1960s, when it was deemed blighted and made a victim of urban renewal. Harlem of the West was originally published in 2004. Almost 20 years later, it was updated, expanded and republished. I've read the original edition, and I'm very much looking forward to reading this expanded edition.

The Garden of Evening Mists – Tan Twan Eng
Audible audio narrated by Anna Bentinck
5*****

This is Eng’s second novel, following his Booker-Prize nominated The Gift of Rain. Once again, he sets the work in Malaysia, specifically Penang, Yun Ling Teoh is the sole survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, who now (1951) lives in the Cameron Highlands, where she hopes to find peace. She discovered Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, Aritomo, the exiled former gardener of the emperor of Japan. Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling asks Aritomo to create a garden in memory of her sister, who died in the camp. He refuses, but he does agree to take her on as an apprentice, at least until the monsoon comes, so that she can design the garden herself. World War II is over, but there is still a communist guerrilla war raging in the mountains, and there is considerable danger for the residents of the area. Slowly their stories - how Aritomo came to Penang, and how Yun Ling escaped the camp – come to light.

What a marvelous book! Poetic writing. Complex characters. Atmospheric descriptions. Eng brought right into this world. I felt the peace and serenity of the garden, and the terror of guerilla attacks. I could smell the jungle, feel the humid heat, hear the rain. I was fascinated by the tattoo art.

The story is told in flashback, as Yun Ling is trying to recollect the time she spent as an apprentice to Aritomo. But her memories, and her ability to commit them to writing are hampered by her physical deterioration. She is slowly but inextricably descending into a kind of dementia. Yet she faces her future, as she did her past, with courage and grace. “Before me lies a voyage of a million miles, and memory is the moonlight I will borrow to illuminate my way.”

The audio is narrated by Anna Bentinck. She is a skilled actor, but the accents she used for some of the Asian characters were rather badly done. I almost wish she had abandoned the idea of using different voices and just read it without the accents. I very nearly took away a half-star for her performance, but ultimately felt that the book deserved the full 5-star rating.

I finished Jewels of the Sun, a light, contemporary romance by Nora Roberts; now I'm a third of the way into Slaughterhouse Five, which I thought I probably read in high school, but now I don't think so, lol. Also continuing a chapter at a time with The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story.

From the library: The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann
James Patterson's new non-fiction release. Booksellers and librarians around the country talk about their experiences and the magic of reading.

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares – Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
4****

This is a delightful young adult meet-cute rom-com featuring an implausible quest and two extraordinarily bright teenagers, set in the fabulous city of New York during the Christmas season.

Dash is browsing in his favorite bookstore, when he happens upon a red Moleskine notebook, with a cryptic “clue” written inside. As he follows the prompts, he gets inspired to leave an equally intricate clue for the original writer. Lily isn’t sure what to make of this turn of events, but she’s game and so the dance / game begins.

It’s charming and clever and the two main characters are very likeable. And I loved the literary references. I even forgive the writers for that somewhat “cliff-hanger” ending, because I really DO want to read more of their adventures!

The new thread is up over here.