Book Beginnings: Snow

Snow,

by John Banville

(October 2020)

Opening Lines

WINTER, 1957

I'm a priest, for Christ's sake -- how can this be happening to me?

About the Book

Following the discovery of the corpse of a highly respected parish priest at Ballyglass House — the Co. Wexford family seat of the aristocratic, secretive Osborne family — Detective Inspector St John Strafford is called in from Dublin to investigate.

Strafford faces obstruction from all angles, but carries on determinedly in his pursuit of the murderer. However, as the snow continues to fall over this ever-expanding mystery, the people of Ballyglass are equally determined to keep their secrets.  (Description from GoodReads)

Initial Thoughts

 
I was definitely intrigued by that first sentence, and by the book's description. I've been intending to read something by John Banville for years now, so I was happy to get an ARC of this one (yes, I'm a little late getting it read). So far, I'm liking it a lot — Inspector Strafford is really an interesting character, and as yet I don't have any idea "whodunnit." I like that. 

Hope to get it finished up tonight or over the weekend, if all goes well.

Have a good weekend, everyone.
Stay safe. Stay calm. And happy reading!

Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Friday As she says, the idea is to post the first sentence (or so) of the book you're currently reading, along with any first impressions or thoughts you have about the book, the author, etc.  It's a wonderful way of adding new books to your must-read list, and a chance to connect with other readers and bloggers.

 

Banned Books Week

To kick off this year's Banned Books Week (Sep 27 - Oct 3), the American Library Association has published a list of the Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books of the Past Decade. 

It's an interesting list, with a few of my all-time favorites among the titles (Huck Finn, Lolita, 1984, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Also many titles I've never even heard of and lots I haven't read (and probably won't, at my age). But I'm intrigued, just the same. Here's the list, with the books I have read in bold typeface.

1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
2. Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey
3. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
4. Looking for Alaska by John Green
5. George by Alex Gino
6. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
7. Drama by Raina Telgemeier
8. Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James
9. Internet Girls (series) by Lauren Myracle
10. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
11. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
12. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
13. I Am Jazz by Jazz Jennings and Jessica Herthel
14. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
15. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
16. Bone (series) by Jeff Smith
17. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
18. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
19. A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss
20. Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg
21. Alice McKinley (series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
22. It's Perfectly Normal by Robie H. Harris
23. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
24. Scary Stories (series) by Alvin Schwartz
25. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
26. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
27. Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin
28. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
29. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
30. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
31. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
32. It's a Book by Lane Smith
33. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
34. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
35. What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
36. A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer
37. Bad Kitty (series) by Nick Bruel
38. Crank by Ellen Hopkins
39. Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
40. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
41. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby by Dav Pilkey
42. This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman
43. This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki
44. A Bad Boy Can Be Good For A Girl by Tanya Lee Stone
45. Beloved by Toni Morrison
46. Goosebumps (series) by R.L. Stine
47. In Our Mothers' House by Patricia Polacco
48. Lush by Natasha Friend
49. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
50. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
51. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
52. The Holy Bible (well, I've read a lot of it)
53. This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
54. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
55. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
56. Gossip Girl (series) by Cecily von Ziegesar
57. House of Night (series) by P.C. Cast
58. My Mom's Having A Baby by Dori Hillestad Butler
59. Neonomicon by Alan Moore
60. The Dirty Cowboy by Amy Timberlake
61. The Giver by Lois Lowry
62. Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
63. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
64. Draw Me a Star by Eric Carle
65. Dreaming In Cuban by Cristina Garcia
66. Fade by Lisa McMann
67. The Family Book by Todd Parr
68. Feed by M.T. Anderson
69. Go the Fuck to Sleep by Adam Mansbach
70. Habibi by Craig Thompson
71. House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
72. Jacob's New Dress by Sarah Hoffman
73. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
74. Monster by Walter Dean Myers
75. Nasreen’s Secret School by Jeanette Winter
76. Saga by Brian K. Vaughan
77. Stuck in the Middle by Ariel Schrag
78. The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal
79. 1984 by George Orwell
80. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
81. Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher
82. Awakening by Kate Chopin
83. Burned by Ellen Hopkins
84. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
85. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
86. Glass by Ellen Hopkins
87. Heather Has Two Mommies by Lesle´a Newman
88. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
89. Madeline and the Gypsies by Ludwig Bemelmans
90. My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis
91. Prince and Knight by Daniel Haack
92. Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology by Amy Sonnie
93. Skippyjon Jones (series) by Judith Schachner
94. So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins
95. The Color of Earth (series) by Tong-hwa Kim
96. The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter
97. The Walking Dead (series) by Robert Kirkman
98. Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
99. Uncle Bobby’s Wedding by Sarah S Brannen
100. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

 
So here we are at the end of another month, and now it's autumn! Not my favorite time of year, but at least it's usually a pretty good reading season for me. This year, though, I seem to be getting off to a slow start — in the last couple of weeks, I've only finished two books:

The Virgin Suicides, by Jeffrey Eugenides

and...

 

The Suicide House, by Charlie Donlea

The suicide theme there is just a coincidence, not something I planned. At least, not consciously!

Right now, I'm reading:

 

Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage,
by M.C. Beaton

And this week, I'm also hoping to get back to another book I've got started:

 

The Talented Miss Farwell,
by Emily Gray Tedrowe

After I get those finished up, I need to start on a couple of recent ARCs:

 Snow, by John Banville

 The Lost Village, by Camilla Sten

Definitely enough to keep me occupied as October gets underway! Happy reading, everyone!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. If you want to let the world know what you're going to be reading this week, head on over to her blog and leave your link. It's also a great way to discover new books and new blogs.

Book Beginnings: The Virgin Suicides

Is anyone else having problems with this new version of Blogger? I'm having loads of trouble getting this post together, so please excuse any weird glitches. I'm sure I'll work it out eventually, but right now WordPress is looking better and better. 

 

The Virgin Suicides,

by Jeffrey Eugenides

(First published 1993)

Opening Sentence

On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide — it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese — the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope.

About the Book

... [The Virgin Suicides] is the story of the five Lisbon sisters – beautiful, eccentric, and obsessively watched by the entire neighborhood.

The boys that once loved them from afar are now grown men, determined to understand a tragedy that has always defied explanation. For still, the question remains – why did all five of the Lisbon girls take their own lives?

This hypnotic and unforgettable novel treats adolescent love and death with haunting sensitivity and dark humor, and creates a coming-of-age story unlike any of our time. (Description from GoodReads)

Initial Thoughts

Well, my first thought when I read that opening sentence was "Wow, that's very disturbing." I still think so. 

I've actually just finished reading this one, and LOVED it. Not sure why it took me so long to find it. I remember that it caused a huge stir when it was first published, but somehow I've managed to miss it until now. I definitely regret that, because it's one of the best books I've read in years.

It was apparently made into a successful motion picture, too —which I also missed out on. I notice it's available from Netflix, so I might have to watch it one of these days. But films made from your favorite novels are generally let-downs, aren't they? So I'll think about that a bit.

Anyway.... Here's another version of the cover — this is from the original hardcover edition.

Have a good weekend, everyone.
Stay safe. Stay calm. And happy reading!

Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Friday As she says, the idea is to post the first sentence (or so) of the book you're currently reading, along with any first impressions or thoughts you have about the book, the author, etc.  It's a wonderful way of adding new books to your must-read list, and a chance to connect with other readers and bloggers.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's been a while since I checked in with a Monday update. And here we are, a whole week into September! I started the summer off with a bit of a reading slump. But in the last couple of months things have picked up and I've actually managed to finish a few books. Here's the list:

A Death Long Overdue

(A Lighthouse Library Mystery),

by Eva Gates

Kill Your Darlings (Mallory #3),

by Max Allan Collins

The King's Justice

(a Maggie Hope Mystery),

by Susan Elia MacNeal

Knot of This World

(a Quilting Mystery),

by Mary Marks 

The List of Things That Will Not Change,

by Rebecca Stead

Also read a couple of classic children's books:

Beezus and Ramona

(Ramona Quimby #1),

by Beverly Cleary

The Happy Hollisters on a River Trip 

(second book in that series),

by Jerry West

Right now, I've got several books going (as usual). This week I'm hoping to finish up these two:

The Talented Miss Farwell, by Emily Gray Tedrowe

The Virgin Suicides, by Jeffrey Eugenides

And after that....who knows? Maybe one of the two or three thousand books on my ever-expanding "TBR" list.

Happy reading, everyone!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. If you want to let the world know what you're going to be reading this week, head on over to her blog and leave your link. It's also a great way to discover new books and new blogs.

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XV

Now that September's here (amazing, but true!), it's time for the annual R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril (RIP) reading challenge/event. This is the fifteenth year for RIP, and I've participated in eleven of those years. I always look forward to it.

It's very informal this year — there's no sign-up, and you can read as much as you want from any of the mystery, suspense, thriller, horror, Gothic, or other "dark lit" genres. Then if you're into Instagram or Twitter, you can join in the discussions there (tags are @PerilReaders and #ripxv). I'm not a huge social media fan, but I might pay an occasional visit. Or maybe not. Either way, I'm still looking forward to doing some spooky reading for the event.

Don't have a specific list of reading to do, but I've got a few things in mind:

• The Lost Village, by Camilla Sten (English edition to be published early in 2021. This one has been called "relentlessly creepy" — which sounds perfect for me and for RIP!) 
• Plain Bad Heroines, by Emily M. Danforth (To be published in October. This one is getting lots of advance hype and sounds really intriguing, but it's much longer than the books I generally choose.)
• Snow, by John Banville (Also coming in October. This will be my introduction to Banville, but I've got tons of his works on my TBR list.)
• The Suicide House, by Charlie Donlea (I'm reading an ARC of this, and I really should have finished by now, since the book came out in July!)

I'll also be watching lots of mystery/horror movies and TV shows, of course. And I'll be keeping track of all my reading and viewing over on my challenge blog (HERE).

So, Happy Fall! And Happy Reading, everyone.

WWW Wednesdays: 19 August 2020

It's Wednesday and that means it's time for WWW Wednesdays! This meme was originally hosted by MizB over at A Daily Rhythm, and then revived by Sam Stevens of Taking on a World of Words. Just three questions, once a week:

1. What are you currently reading?

I've got several books started right now, which of course means that I'm having trouble actually finishing any of them. I'm hoping to finish this one this week:

The Suicide House, by Charlie Donlea

I've also just started reading an advance copy of this one:

Plain Bad Heroines, by Emily M. Danforth

(with illustrations by Sara Lautman)

Emily Danforth's historical novel is due out in October, and it's getting an awful lot of pre-publication buzz. Sounds like an interesting read, but it's a chunkster with just about 600 pages — so it's very unlikely I'll get it read before it comes out.

2. What did you recently finish reading?

I've been reading a lot of cozy mysteries and kiddie lit lately. They seem like good genres for this strange time — sort of comfort food for the mind/psyche/soul. In the last couple of weeks I've finished these:

Knot of This World, by Mary Marks
(Quilting Mystery #8)

A Death Long Overdue, by Eva Gates

(Lighthouse Library Mystery #7)

Beezus and Ramona, by Beverly Cleary

(Ramona Quimby #1)

The Happy Hollisters on a River Trip, by Jerry West

(Second in the Happy Hollisters series, first published in 1953)

3. What do you think you’ll read next?

Well, I'm probably going to be reading those first two for a while. But once I finish those (or possibly abandon them?), I'll most likely be looking for something nice and light, with a little humor. Maybe something like this:

Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage, by M.C. Beaton

(Number 5 in the series, first published 1996)

Or maybe something completely different!

So what about you? Have you been reading more than ever, in quarantine? Or about as much as usual? Or maybe you just can't settle down and read as much as you'd like. That's definitely been my problem for the last few months. I guess I'm still waiting for the new normal to feel ... well, normal.

Anyway, happy reading, everyone! And have a great Wednesday.