What are you reading the week of April 20, 2024?

As I write this, I have about 30 pages left to go in Peter Pomerantsev's How to Win an Information War: Sefton Delmer, the Genius Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler. The subtitle is a bit over the top, but this is a fascinating history of the German "Research Unit" that broadcast German language propaganda from a radio station in England during the Second World War. Pomerantsev has spent more than a decade reporting on modern propaganda. In this book he mines the fascinating history of the British propaganda efforts in WWII seeking clues for how to combat the misinformation and disinformation with which we are being bombarded. If you have enjoyed books such as Lynne Olson's Citizens of London or Last Hope Island, then I think you will enjoy this book also.

I'm about 2/3's done with Hero of the Air. After that there will come "Bristol’s Buckingham, Brigand and Buckmaster", Alien Oceans, and Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon.

A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci his newest is a stand-alone not part of any of his series. Good so far.

I listened to The Babysitter: My Summers with a Serial Killer which was meh. I also listened to A Very Private School, which is the most heart-wrenching and sad book I've ever listened to.

Now I'm reading The Dutch House, which seems to be good so far.

I'm currently reading "Ordeal: A William Wisting Mystery," by nordic author Jorn Lier Horst. This was given to me by a fellow pickleball player who loves "nordic noir" as much as I do. I'm about halfway through and, while I'm enjoying it, it's not a book I can't put down. For me, this isn't a page turner. Has anyone else read any of the Wisting series books? Maybe I'm missing something.

I’m reading Alison Goodman’s The Benevolent Society Of Ill-Mannered Ladies. It’s fun with great characters, but with some dark goings-on, it’s not as fluffy as I was expecting (and that’s a good thing).

I'm reading I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez for my book club. It's been an interesting story so far.

I finished Harlem of the West: The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Era by Elizabeth Pepin Silva and Lewis Watts

From the 1930s through the late-1960s, the Fillmore district of San Francisco was an ethnically-mixed working class neighborhood, alive with minority-owned businesses, a with a bustling neighborhood feel where different groups got along as a matter of course. Starting in the early '40s, the Fillmore became a hotbed of blues, R&B and jazz clubs where local musicians flocked and famous musicians came to jam after their paid downtown gigs, blowing until dawn in bars and cellar sessions alike. This book contains dozens of short oral histories by the musicians who played in the clubs, as well as pocket histories of many of those landmark night spots, as well as many, many beautiful photographs of the people and places that made the neighborhood jump and the community so vibrant. A reading of this book is a visit back in time to a wonderful era of jazz and inclusiveness in San Francisco history. I've posted a longer summary and review on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

I've got a couple of baseball histories lined up to read next. First will be Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History by Cait Murphy. After that I'll be reading The Miracle at Coogan's Bluff by Thomas Kierman, about the wild National League pennant race of 1951. For the non-baseball fans in the crowd, yeah, I'll see yuz in a while.

I finished The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. It was a splendid tale with a collection of memorable characters and a captivating plot. Definitely a fun read.

All the Ways We Said Goodbye – Beatriz Willliams, Lauren Willig and Karen White
Book on CD performed by Helen Saddler, Nicola Barber, and Saskia Maarleveld.
3***

Subtitle: A novel of the Ritz Paris

Three women are linked by the legend of the talisman of Courcelles. In 1914, Aurelie de Courcelles works with her father at their Picardy estate, leaving her mother in Paris at the Ritz. The chateau is “commandeered” by the occupying Germans, and Aurelie risks all to safeguard her home and her country. In 1942, while the Nazi’s occupy Paris, Daisy joins the resistance efforts, working from a bookshop. And in 1964, Babs Langford receives a letter at her English estate after her husband has died giving her a clue to his activities during the war which haunted him. Her search for the mysterious “la Fleur” takes her to the Ritz in Paris where she meets the American who is also searching for answers to clear his father’s name.

I assume that each author took responsibility for one of these women’s storyline. The book is told from their three perspectives in alternating chapters. I figured out the two main “secrets” almost as soon as they were introduced, but it was interesting to see how the authors chose to reveal them, and the ramifications on Babs of the discovery.

I’m getting tired of the war-time stories and these three authors used many of the tropes common to such historical fiction: quiet, mousy woman blossoms with a new wardrobe and the attention of a handsome man; “enemy” who is really a noble gentleman; danger of discovery for resistance workers; and the aforementioned “secrets” that are hardly surprising any longer.

The audiobook is narrated by three talented voice artists, each taking responsibility for a different main character (though it was never noted which artist voiced which character). This did help to keep the different storylines straight.

Started this audio via Libby ~

The Watchmaker's Hand (Lincoln Rhyme Novel, #16)
by Jeffery Deaver

Finished Slaughterhouse-Five yesterday, which was a bit underwhelming but I warmed up to it in the second half, and have started Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, which I'm really liking so far. Also continuing with The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, a chapter at a time; some chapters are pretty harrowing and most are depressing, but it's an important read.

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan. Just started today.

What Have We Here?: Portraits of a Life
Billy Dee Williams
4/5 stars
This is the autobiography of Billy Dee Williams. He has led a pretty interesting life as an actor. He talks about his family and his movie roles. I enjoyed reading it.

I'm currently reading Edward Kaplan's "To Kill Nations: American Strategy in the Air-Atomic Age and the Rise of Mutually Assured Destruction". My professor recommended it to me yesterday.

City of the Beasts – Isabel Allende
3***

From the book jacket: Fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold has the chance to take the trip of a lifetime. Parting from his family and ill mother, Alexander joins his fearless grandmother, a magazine reporter for International Geographic, on an expedition to the Amazon. Their mission, along with the others on their team – including a celebrated anthropologist, a local guide and his young daughter, Nadia, and a doctor – is to document the legendary Yeti of the Amazon known as the Beast.

My reactions
Allende has crafted a very engaging, fantastical adventure story, with a fair amount of information provided regarding environmental conservation. I did think that Kate (Alexander’s grandmother) was pretty over-the-top, and the anthropologist was little more than a cartoon character. Still, I liked the young people and loved the way that the native indigenous tribes were portrayed. Alexander was just mature enough to be open to new experiences, and young enough to welcome guidance from whomever offered it.

Nadia was a marvelous character, wise beyond her years, brave, resourceful, tenacious, and attuned to the jungle in ways that American Alexander could not possibly be. Their partnership was helpful to both characters, and they complemented one another.

I also really enjoyed the way that Allende re-imagined El Dorado and explained the “reality” of that myth.

Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune
Anderson Cooper
4/5 stars
This is the wonderfully written book on the Astor Family including John Jacob Astor, the founder of the family who settled in New York in 1783, then came the story of John Jacob Aster IV, who perished on the Titanic and their reign finally ended in 2009. A great read!
One Last Ruth Reichl Book and Eight Other Biographies

I just finished Later by Stephen King. This is my favorite of his Hard Case Crime books.

The new thread is up over here.