September 2019 Reading

Another good reading month, mostly from public libraries. (Ma Bole's Second Life is from my collection.) No review copies in this bunch.

Fiction:
5 stars 
Quichotte by Rushdie, Salman
Ma Bole's Second Life by Hong, Xiao; Goldblatt, Howard (Translator)
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Harrow, Alix E. 
The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai by Anyi, Wang; Berry, Michael and Egan, Susan Chan (Translators)

4 stars
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Khorram, Adib 
The Body in Question by Ciment, Jill

3 stars
This Tender Land by Krueger, William Kent
Sing to It: New Stories by Hempel, Amy

A Single Thread by Chevalier, Tracy

Nonfiction: 
London in Fragments: A Mudlark's Treasures by Sandling, Ted
Bagehot: The Life and Times of the Greatest Victorian by Grant, James 
Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World  by Druett, Joan 
Five Days Gone: The Mystery of My Mother's Disappearance as a Child by Cumming, Laura Freestyle Embroidered Mandalas: More than 60 Stitches and Techniques in Inspiring  Combinations by Blomkamp, Hazel

Online:

Community Plumbing: How the hardware store orders things, neighborhoods, and material worlds by Shannon Mattern

The Hooker Family of Kew by Judith M Taylor 

From Project Gutenberg:
The Sisters Rondoli and Other Stories by Maupassant, Guy de; Boyd, Ernest (Translator)



Oregon the Picturesque: A Book of Rambles in the Oregon Country and in the Wilds of Northern California; Descriptive Sketches and Pictures of Crater and Klamath Lakes, the Deschutes River Canyon, the New Columbia Highway, the Willamette and Rogue River Valleys and the Cities and Towns of Oregon; also of the little-known Lakes, Rivers, Mountains, and Vast Forests of Northern California, to which is added a trip to the Yosemite and to the Roosevelt Dam and the Petrified Forest of Arizona, by Motor Car. by Thomas D. Murphy; illustrated with paintings, photographs, and maps;  Page Company, 1917.

A LACK OF BALANCE.

A Wheel Within a Wheel:  How I learned to ride the bicycle, With some reflections by the way
By Frances E. Willard;  Illustrated with photographs; Fleming H. Revell company, 1895.

Frances Willard  (1839-1898) was an educator, temperance reformer, and suffragist.

August 2019 Reading

Fiction 
these I gave 5 stars out of 5
When the Plums Are Ripe by Nganang, Patrice; Transleted from the French by Reid, Amy Baram
  Giveaway Goodreads
Bright by Pimwana, Duanwad; Translated from the Thai by Poopoksakul, Mui
  From my collection 
From the Shadows by Millás, Juan José; Translated from the Spanish by Thomas Bunstead, Thomas and Hahn, Daniel
  Giveaway from LibraryThing 
Tales of Japan: Traditional Stories of Monsters and Magic by Chronicle Books
   Giveaway from LibraryThing

these got  4 stars 
Blood Ties by Fradkin, Barbara
  Giveaway from LibraryThing
Illuminations on Market Street: a story about sex and estrangement, AIDS and loss, and other preoccupations in San Francisco by Shepard, Benjamin Heim
  From public library
Hunter's Moon: A Novel in Stories by Caputo, Philip
  From public library 
Chances Are... by Russo, Richard   
  From public library 
The Hotel Neversink by Price, Adam O'Fallon
  From public library

these got 3 stars
Who are You, Calvin Bledsoe? by Clarke, Brock
  Giveaway from LibraryThing
The Century World's fair book for boys and girls: being the adventures of Harry and Philip with their tutor Mr. Douglass at the World's Columbian exposition by Jenks, Tudor
  From Project Gutenberg 
The Lightest Object in the Universe by Eisele, Kimi
  From public library

Periodical  
 5 stars
Two Lines 30 edited by Evans, Cj
 From my collection 

Nonfiction
these two got  4 stars
Schumann: The Faces and the Masks by Chernaik, Judith
  From public library 
Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War  by Matzen, Robert
  From public library
 
this one got only 2 stars (boring)
Hungry: Eating, Road-Tripping, and Risking It All with the Greatest Chef in the World by Gordinier, Jeff
  From public library

Some online reading

Gertrude Jekyll - Sedate revolutionary By Judith Taylor
Colour in the flower garden by Gertrude Jekyll
 and then there's this place where we went on a day trip in June The Glebe House Museum and Gertrude Jekyll Garden.

After 53 Years, Athens’ Kentrikon Restaurant Serves its Last Meal By Philip Chrysopoulos
 A bit of nostalgia for me. This was our favorite spot when we stayed in the neighborhoodmany years ago.

How Tree Trunks Are Cut to Produce Wood With Different Appearances and Uses by José Tomás Franco
 This kind of stuff fascinates me.

Croatian Tales of Long Ago by Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic; Translated by F. S. Copeland; Illustrated by Vladimir Kirin
  I haven't read this yet, but the illustrations are super.

Swamp skiing competition held in northern Finland  Photos by Matti Matikainen/Xinhua
 and, closer to home, SEEN: Mud Volleyball Tournament 2019 by Jenna Seward; photos by Lisa Nichols

A Day at the Beach and Some Other Interesting Times at the 2019 Venice Biennale by David Ebony

July 2019 Reading

All good reading for July, with one exception.   

Fiction (in no particular order within the star ratings)

5 stars: 
If Beale Street Could Talk by Baldwin, James (public library)
War, So Much War by Rodoreda, Mercè; translated from the Catalan by Maruxa Relaño and MarthaTennent (my collection)
Hollow Kingdom by Buxton, Kira Jane (Advance Review Copy, Shelf Awareness)
Eight Stories: Tales of War and Loss by Remarque, Erich Maria (translators unidentified) (my collection)
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Lombardo, Claire (public library)
The Imagined Land by Berti, Eduardo; translated from the Spanish by Charlotte Coombe (my collection)
Solovyov and Larionov by Vodolazkin, Eugene; translated from the Russian by Evgenij Vodolazkin and Lisa Hayden (advance review copy, LibraryThing

4 stars:
L'Amour by Duras, Marguerite; translated from the French by Kazim Ali and Libby Murphy (my collection)
The City Where We Once Lived by Barnes, Eric (public library)
The Vagrants by Li, Yiyun (my collection)
San Diego Noir edited by Hart, Maryelizabeth (my collection)

3 stars:
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Lefteri, Christy (Advance Review Copy, Shelf Awareness)
The Quest by Baroja, Pío; translated from the Spanish by Isaac Goldberg (my collection - Amazon freebie)
Smoking Kills by Laurain, Antoine; translated from the French by Louise Lalaurie Rogers(blog win)
The Evenings: A Winter's Tale by Reve, Gerard; translated from the Dutch by Sam Garrett (public library)

1 star
The Skin Is the Elastic Covering That Encases the Entire Body by Rasmussen, Bjørn; translated from the Danish by Martin Aiken
I did actually finish this but did not like it. Yes it was poetic, well written, etc. Best I can say about it is that it is short. (from my collection but I'm not keeping it!)

Nonfiction
 
5 stars:
The Man Between: The Life and Legacy of Michael Henry Heim by Heim, Michael Henry (and others) (my collection)

3 stars:
Memoirs of Gluckel of Hameln by Glückel von Hameln; translated from the German by Marvin Lowenthal (my collection)
On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane by Guendelsberger, Emily (public library)
Fire and Ice by Mingle, Jonathan (Advance Review Copy--from ages ago)
Rough Magic: Riding the World's Loneliest Horse Race by Prior-Palmer, Lara (public library)
 

June 2019 Reading

An enjoyable bunch of books this month, only a couple I didn't much like. Only online reading was the Ibsen play.

Fiction 
Exposed; Blondel, Jean-Philippe; translated from the French by Anderson, Alison *****
City of Jasmine; Grjasnowa, Olga; translated from the German by Derbyshire, Katy***** (advance review copy through LibraryThing)
77; Saccomanno, Guillermo: translated from the Spanish by Labinger, Andrea G. *****

A Brightness Long Ago; Kay, Guy Gavriel ****
The Porpoise; Haddon, Mark ****

Lifelines; Diehl, Heidi **** (advance review copy through Goodreads)

Southernmost; House, Silas ***
The Spies of Shilling Lane; Ryan, Jennifer ***
The Electric Hotel; Smith, Dominic ***
All the Ever Afters: The Untold Story of Cinderella’s Stepmother; Teller, Danielle ***

Mistress of the Ritz; Benjamin, Melanie **

Short Stories
The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories; Rubin, Jay, editor*****

Orange World and Other Stories; Russell, Karen *

Play
The Lady from the Sea; Ibsen, Henrik ****  (on Project Gutenberg)


Nonfiction
Madame Fourcade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler; Olson, Lynne ****
1941: The Year Germany Lost the War; Nagorski, Andrew ****
A Foodie's Guide to Tuscany: Places, Flavours, Itineraries, Must Do for the Epicurian Explorer ; 20 Fabulous Recipes; Lepore, Gabriella **   (Kindle freebie)

May 2019 Reading

A lot of reading in May, over twenty books and only a couple of duds.

Fiction
Memories of the Future; Hustvedt, Siri *****
The Dragonfly Sea; Owuor, Yvonne Adhiambo ****
The Vexations; Horrocks, Caitlin (Advance Review Copy) ****
The Great Passage; Miura, Shion; (Juliet Winters Carpenter translator) ****
Old Buildings in North Texas; Waldo, Jen ****

West; Davies, Carys ***
Still Waters (Sandhamn, #1); Sten, Viveca; (Marlaine Delargy and Laura A. Wideburg translators) *** 
Disappearing Earth; Phillips, Julia ***
Hunting Game (An Embla Nyström Investigation #1); Tursten, Helene; (Paul Norlén translation) ***

The Hunting Party; Foley, Lucy *** 
The Order of the Day; Vuillard, Éric; (Mark Polizzotti translation) ***

The Jewel Garden; Pemberton, Marilyn **
Biloxi; Miller, Mary *

Short Story Collections
Evening in Paradise: More Stories; Berlin, Lucia ****
That Time I Loved You: Stories; Leung, Carrianne****

Poetry
A Pushcart at the Curb; Dos Passos, John

Middle Grade Children's Book
To Night Owl from Dogfish; Sloan, Holly Goldberg ****

Nonfiction
The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age; Damrosch, Leo *****
Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution; Zia, Helen ***** 
Ten Innings at Wrigley: The Wildest Ballgame Ever, with Baseball on the Brink; Cook, Kevin *****

Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life; Klinenberg, Eric ***
Autumn Light: Season of Fire and Farewells; Iyer, Pico ***



Gutenberg find
10 Luscious New Cakes subtitle: Made by Spry's amazing new one-bowl method
Spry is a mostly-defunct brand of vegetable shortening that competed with the now-better-known Crisco. Produced by Lever Bros., it was available in the USA from 1936 until sometime in the 1970s. This pamphlet has a note "LEVER Golden Jubilee USA 1895-1945" so it was probably published around 1945.

Add caption

1. Gloria Chocolate Layer Cake
2. Golden Jubilee Cake
3. Orange Upside-Down Cake
4. Gala Party Cake
5. Marbled Spice Cake
6. Peerless Coconut White Cake
7. Filigree Devil’s Food Cake
8. Victorian Applesauce Cake
9. Fudge Bar Cake
10. Cherry Dream Cake