May (first half) 2016 Reads

In Progress:
Mirages of the Mind by Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi; Matt Reeck (Translation), Aftab Ahmad (Translation)
I had a problems with this one. It was long (574p) and it was very good. Not something to read at one or two sittings. Something to read closely and savor--no skimming. Easy to pick up where you leave off because it is a series of events that read like short stories and character sketches. All of this is fine with me EXCEPT--it's not my own book. The library wants it back. I ran out of renewals. So it goes back for a while or I buy my own copy. I'm loving it.

Read:
 From the Library:

Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift
When I read Swift's short story collection England and other stories in October 2915, I was delighted by how much he could say in a short space. This short (177pages) novel is every bit as good--must read more of his work.
 
Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
World War 2, love and war during the blitz in London and the siege of Malta. Book had an unpromising start but got better and better as it went.

What Was Mine by Helen Klein Ross
A kidnapping and its aftermath told from several points of view--the kidnapper, the birth parents, the kidnapped, and other persons involved.

The Green Road by Anne Enright (Kindle edition)
 Man Booker Prize Nominee for Longlist (2015), Costa Book Award Nominee for Novel (2015), Women's Prize for Fiction Nominee for Shortlist (2016). Well, I just didn't think it was that good.

The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell
Shanghai in the late 1930s through the Communist takeover as seen through the eyes of a China born American business man and his daughter. A difficult family story of love and loss and reconciliation. Not the greatest read, but a decent one.

Listening to Stone: The Art and Life of Isamu Noguchi by Hayden Herrera
Comprehensive view of Noguchi's life and work. I was glad it was so thorough because I knew very little about Noguchi.

Jungle of Stone: The True Story of Two Men, Their Extraordinary Journey, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Maya by William Carlsen
More stones--these much older than Noguchi's. Fascinating!

From my shelves:

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
An OK read but I wish I'd spent the time on something better. I'm thinking of avoiding novels about 40 somethings facing mediocre troubled lives in contemporary New York City.
ARC through Goodreads. 

Watched:
The Danish girl (Motion picture : 2015).[videorecording] / a film by Tom Hooper. Universal City, CA : Universal Studios, 2016. (based on the book by David Ebershoff.)
Really liked this story of a transgendered artist and his wife even though it was a bit slow in places. Based loosely on a true story.  Acting was excellent. Library Copy. (Library has the novel, but I don't think I'll read it.)

April (second half) 2016 Reads

The balance of April.

Lab Girl ; Jahren, Hope
Memoir of a botanist. good. Library book.

One Out of Two ; Sada, Daniel; Katherine Silver (Translator)
A fun novella about twin sisters.  Library book.

I Refuse ; Petterson, Per, Don Bartlett (Translator)
A dysfunctional family, broken apart by the father's cruelty, the mother's desertion, and the children being sent to different foster homes. Told from multiple points of view with the friendship of the eldest child (a boy) and a neighborhood boy being central to the story.  Library book.

Salt to the Sea ; Sepetys, Ruta
YA novel follows three young adults fleeing Prussia in 1944-45 as the Russian forces advance. They are headed for the Baltic port Gotenhafen in hopes of being evacuated by sea. There they are aided by a young sailor. Told from four points of view--the three (a Lithuanian nurse, a Polish teenage girl, a [possibly fugitive] German soldier) and  the young sailor. Library book.

The Translation of Love ; Kutsukake, Lynne
Life in Occupied Japan. Library book.

The Method ; Vowler, Tom
Wonderful short stories by one of my favorite authors.


Online 

You Can Never Go Back
 A new short story by Joe Hart. Posted on his web site on April 17, 2016. Also see his guest blog The Adventure of Blending Genres on Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com.