The Titanic Survivors Book Club

The Titanic Survivors Book Club by Timothy Schaffert 320 pages

 

Don’t be like me! If you want to read anything about the Titanic, this novel is going to be a major league disappointment.

 

The survivors are not Titanic survivors at all. They are people who were supposed to be on the doomed liner and at the last minute were not able to board. Okay, I can go along with this. Fascinating plot. The survivors, eleven in total, were mostly men, surprisingly. However, the novel focuses on three main characters:  Yorick (who was supposed to be the ship’s Second-Class Librarian), Zinnia (of Japanese descent and a candy-making heiress) and Haze (a photographer who takes shelter anywhere he can). The toymaker, designer of souvenir toys for the liner, brings these survivors together in Yorick’s Paris bookshop.

 

In a book that was supposed to be about books, only a small fraction is about books. The plot mostly centers around Yorick who is in love with Haze who is in love with Zinnia and Yorick who is in love with both men. It should be complicated, but Schaffert does a remarkable job in keeping the three separates while creating a convoluted tale.

 

I must admit that although my hopes were high for an intriguing story, I was bored. The three seem to only scheme how to get their hearts’ desires and constantly try to thwart the other two.

 

The Titanic Survivors Book Club receives 1 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

 

The Library of Lost & Found

 The Library of Lost & Found by Phaedra Patrick  348 pages

Summary from Goodreads: Librarian Martha Storm has always found it easier to connect with books than people - though not for lack of trying. She keeps careful lists of how to help others in her superhero-themed notebook. And yet, sometimes it feels like she's invisible.

All of that changes when a book of fairy tales arrives on her doorstep. Inside, Martha finds a dedication written to her by her best friend - her grandmother Zelda - who died under mysterious circumstances years earlier. When Martha discovers a clue within the book that her grandmother may still be alive, she becomes determined to discover the truth. As she delves deeper into Zelda's past, she unwittingly reveals a family secret that will change her life forever.

And here's what I thought: I liked this story, even though I could predict a few things with the plot. There are realistic characters here, some of them pretty quirky (which I like) and the setting of the library and bookstore added to the story's charm. The stories within this book are a bit sad, so it's an interesting way to tell the story overall, with these smaller stories from Zelda's book, interspersed. What's also interesting is the way that you learn things along with Martha. For example, she's not sure if Zelda is actually who she thinks she is, and then she's discovering what happened (because clearly, Zelda is very much alive).  Enjoyable weekend read.

The Starless Sea

 The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern  498 pages

"Far beneath the surface of the earth, upon the shores of the Starless Sea, there is a labyrinthine collection of tunnels and rooms filled with stories. The entryways that lead to this sanctuary are often hidden, sometimes on forest floors, sometimes in private homes, sometimes in plain sight. But those who seek will find. Their doors have been waiting for them.

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is searching for his door, though he does not know it. He follows a silent siren song, an inexplicable knowledge that he is meant for another place. When he discovers a mysterious book in the stacks of his campus library he begins to read, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, lost cities, and nameless acolytes. Suddenly a turn of the page brings Zachary to a story from his own childhood impossibly written in this book that is older than he is.

A bee, a key, and a sword emblazoned on the book lead Zachary to two people who will change the course of his life: Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired painter, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances. These strangers guide Zachary through masquerade party dances and whispered back room stories to the headquarters of a secret society where doorknobs hang from ribbons, and finally through a door conjured from paint to the place he has always yearned for. Amid twisting tunnels filled with books, gilded ballrooms, and wine-dark shores Zachary falls into an intoxicating world soaked in romance and mystery."

Okay, this is a long summary for a book that while lengthy, doesn't have much story to its story. Which is funny, since it's a story about stories. But it is very, very beautifully written and if you can keep track of who is who, and some of the intertwined storylines, it's a fantastic read. What does the bee mean? The key? Who are these people that Zachary meets and can he trust any of them? The story will shift beneath your feet so don't trust that you can trust anything -- just follow the threads as best you can. I re-read this book for a book group meeting and mentioned that reading this is like listening to classical music where the composer has a line --- a string of notes or a melody -- that you hear and then follow through the entire piece. If it's Mozart or Bach, the notes are sometimes hard to recognize because they may be in a different key or backwards, but part of the pleasure of listening is to try to find them.  And so it is with this book.

Life of Saint Teresa of Avila

The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila: A Biography by Carlos Eire, 223 pages

In the 16th century, as the fires of the Protestant Reformation swept across northern Europe, a remarkable woman rose to prominence in Spain.  A Carmelite nun from the Castilian city of Avila, Teresa of Jesus was a mystic and visionary, and also a tireless foundress and reformer.  Living at a time when the Church had a healthy suspicion of those who claimed to be in direct communication with the Almighty, Teresa's autobiography, the Life of Teresa of Avila, was written both as description and defence, her mystical locutions having drawn her deeper into the Church rather than leading her astray to preach a new gospel.

As Carlos Eire details in his biography of St Teresa's autobiography, this defence entailed a series of drafts and revisions over the course of decades as Teresa and her spiritual advisors took care to cross every theological "t".  Even so, it was not until after her death that the work was allowed to be widely circulated, and it continued to have its detractors.  Their voices were drowned out, however, by the rapid spread of her cult, and she was canonized a mere forty years after her death, with the Life providing vital testimony to her sanctity.  Nor does Eire's story stop there, for the following centuries saw the book become a defining text of early modern Catholicism, inspire great art (most famously Bernini's sculpture of the transverberation), influence religious movements including the Jansenists, Quakers, and Methodists, and finally be reimagined as a study in hysteria or proto-feminist tract.  As Eire notes, this enduring influence of the Life is itself an undeniable testament to the force of its authors personality as well as the Power that moved her.

The Girl Who Reads on the Métro

The Girl Who Reads on the Métro by Christine Féret-Fleury  175 pages.  I read a galley -- book due to be published in the US October 2019

"Big-hearted, funny, and gloriously zany, The Girl Who Reads on the Métro is a delayed coming-of-age story about a young woman who dares to change her life, and a celebration of the power of books to unite us all."  (from the Goodreads summary)

Juliette leads a very ordinary life in Paris, working at an office job she finds boring, dating some "not-quite-right" men and feeling a little blue about her future. The bright spot in her days are her rides on the Metro to and from work, watching people reading and making up stories to herself about them.  

One morning, avoiding going into the office, Juliette gets off at a different stop and finds herself on a street she's never been on. Seeing a book wedging open a rusty gate, she goes in and discovers a shop filled with books, a man named Soliman and his young daughter Zaide.  Soliman assumes Juliette is there as a passuer, a person he has hired to take books from his shop and into the world, matching books to readers.  Before she can help herself, Juliette agrees to do this, leaving her job and moving into Soliman's story to become a passeur and to take care of Zaide while Soliman is away.

Okay, so what happens then I will leave up to you to discover.  Suffice to say, things happen and Juliette's life is changed forever. 

While I thought this book was okay, I didn't find it funny or big-hearted and definitely didn't find it to be "gloriously zany."  Maybe it is to the readers who first encountered this book in Europe? But I feel like this is a variation on a story I have read before, where there is a mysterious/enchanting/intriguing bookstore, a woman whose life is forever changed by these books . . .

Color me meh on this one.

The Lost for Words Bookshop

The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland  368 pages

I have a weak spot for books and bookstores, or perhaps I should say a bookshop since the setting of this novel is England.  But my love of books is why I picked up Butland’s novel. And I loved the second sentence on the dust jacket: “If you look carefully, you might glimpse the first lines of the novels [Loveday] loves most tattooed on her skin.”

“What a quirky character this Loveday must be,” I remember thinking. “I’m gonna love this book!”  Ah, but once again, I was wrong, so very wrong.  I’ve tried several times to read what others are referring to as “a gem of a novel,” but honestly, I don’t get it.

Loveday has been working at the bookshop for ten tears, since she was fifteen and a product of the foster-care system. She loves books all as much as I do, and like me, prefers books over people. There is a childhood tragedy that she wants to remain hidden from the few people in her life. When trying to find the owner of a lost book, she meets magician/poet Nathan. He saves her from an awkward encounter with her ex-boyfriend, which, to me, seems to really go against the notion that she prefers books to people.

Unwelcome emotions begin to rear when Loveday’s mother’s old books begin mysteriously showing up in the bookshop, and she is forced to confront her past.

I found “The Lost for Words Bookshop” boring and predictable and that is why it receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The year of reading dangerously

The Year of Reading Dangerously: How Fifty Great Books (and Two Not-So-Great Ones) Saved My Life by Andy Miller     352 pages

Andy Miller liked his job. He loved his family.  He liked to read, but he had no time for reading (at least that's what he kept telling himself).  However, he knew there were books he meant to read, books that he had always meant to pick up. Making a determined effort, Andy made a list and worked his way through it, reading all kinds of literature, and embarking upon an odyssey of reading.

I read this book at someone's suggestion and for the most part, enjoyed it. It's interesting to read about someone's take on books that I have not read or read, including ones that are on lists like "books everyone should read."  Sometimes, the book was a little dry.  However, I found the author to be engaging and the book wasn't just about him and his reading, which was nice.

Admittedly, I have not read some classic books. While I studied literature in school, at this point in my life, I read books I want to read.  There are a lot of books out there, so I don't want to spend time reading a book that's on a list, or to say "Oh yes, I've read Moby Dick."  I haven't read Moby Dick. I don't find the story sounds that appealing, I have no problem admitting I haven't read it . . . and I just don't want to.  I have no problem with people who have read that book and absolutely love it --- but I'm not going to read something because I think I should.  I do enough of that at work and if I take a class, so I'd rather read what I like.  Which is one of the nice things about being a grownup -- I may read what I like.  With a glass of wine if I want to and completely ignore the vacuuming for a hour or two.

Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks

Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks: A Librarian's Love Letters and Breakup Notes to the Books in Her Life  by Annie Spence         244 pages

This book is "A Gen-X librarian's snarky, laugh-out-loud funny, deeply moving collection of love letters and break-up notes to the books in her life." 

As a librarian and a reader, Annie Spence comes across books that she loves, as well as books in her library that, well, haven't received a lot of love.  And which need to be weeded.  Spence has no problem talking up the books she loves, but also addressing books that she does not love --- and does this not only at her library, but at home, at parties, etc. In this book, she addresses those books directly, sometimes with sentimentality and sometimes with a big dose of snark (and some of those essays were my favorites). 

The book description says this book is "Hilarious, compassionate, and wise, Dear Fahrenheit 451 is the consummate book-lover's birthday present, stocking stuffer, holiday gift, and all-purpose humor book."  I'd agree with that and can see adding this book to my own shelves and also giving it as a gift.  I'd also put some tape flags in to draw readers to my favorite parts (like p. 163 with a letter to "Dear Magnificent Library Featured in Beauty and the Beast movie).

Check These Out

Check These Out: One Librarian's Catalog of the 200 Coolest, Best, and Most Important Books You'll Ever Read by Gina Sheridan.    256 pages.

"There you are, in the library, head tilted sideways, doing your best to navigate a blur of spines and titles to find one worth reading. Luckily, the hunt is over. Librarian, author, and book devourer Gina Sheridan has sorted through the stacks to compile a list of read-worthy titles you may have skipped over in your search."

Actually, I don't usually  have this problem of trying to find something to read. My problem is too many books and too little time (typical book addict, I know).  However, did my problem of having more than enough books to read stop me from reading this book?  Absolutely not!  And luckily, the book leads you to Gina Sheridan's website, where you can print out a list of the books in this book, so you can find them when you want them (and check them off as you go, if you like to do that).  I printed out the list and kept it handy, so that when a book sounded really good, I could mark it to put on hold for myself (not now, of course . . . maybe in 2 weeks when I've gone through my current book stack).

I appreciated that Sheridan broke down her suggestions into categories like "Daisy Dukes" (short stories), "Reel Good Books," and more.  I also really like that her suggestions are really diverse, pulling together all kinds of stories, writing styles, authors, etc etc.  Each book suggestion has a little summary along with some details about the book or author, and she has a way of making all of these sound great!   I was happy to see some books I've read and enjoyed here, but I've also got a list of some that will be new reads for me.   

The Book That Matters Most

The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood  348 pages

Books about books are nirvana for readers. And this book is one of the next best things to heaven. I could barely put it down.

Ava thought her twenty-five-year marriage to Jim was strong. Then she sees a text on his phone from another woman, a woman Jim claims to be in love with, and her life begins to completely unravel.

For years, Ava has wanted to join the book club at her local library, but membership is held to ten members, and there is a waiting list. However, the librarian is one of Ava’s best friends. She knows that Ava needs the group, so she bumps her to the top of the list.

The book club picks books based on a theme for the year. Each member gets to pick a book based on that theme. The theme for the upcoming year is “The Book That Matters Most.” Each member is to pick the book that has changed his/her life, the book that has had a substantial impact on his/her life.

Hood’s story is broken into chapters, each with an epigraph from that month’s book and the theme for the chapter. The titles range from The Great Gatsby to Pride and Prejudice, from The Catcher in the Rye to Anna Karenina.

Ava’s life is complicated by her rebellious, just-out-of-rehab daughter, Maggie, who has gone to study in Florence. Along with Ava’s story, Maggie also has a section in each chapter that tells of her decent into addiction at the hands of a much older man whom she follows to France.

As Ava tried to come to terms with her new life, a retired detective shows up at her door, wanting desperately to put to the bed, at last, the tragic events of Ava’s childhood that have haunted her.

Ever since I first read this book’s title, I’ve been trying to determine which book matters the most to me in my life. Two of the strongest runners are Jonathan Hull’s Losing Julia or Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind (the book version, not the movie version). But if I had to name just one, could I say, “All of them?”

I loved The Book That Matters Most.  I give it 6 out of 5 stars.

The Uncommon Reader

The Uncommon Reader, by Alan Bennett,  120 pages

The Queen of England is out for a walk, runs across a bookmobile, and realizes she has never really read.  So begins her discovery of books and literature, but can the world handle a Queen who is learning to think for herself?  I don't know about this book- novella, really; maybe it's witty, in a British way?  But it just felt like an endless string of name-dropping authors that sound good on paper to have read.  The ratio of corgis to pages was also dismally low.