Hi all. How are you doing? March is going by rather quickly, eh? Though overall it’s felt like a very long winter. Will it ever end? I think it’s felt interminable in part because we haven’t gone to California like a snowbird this season due to my knee recovery and our old dog Stella who isn’t up for travels.
So here we’ve been like other Canadians not going south. And now with gas prices shooting up (due to the war) are people really traveling that much? We will hold off for a while. Meanwhile it’s been another cold week here, but it might hit the 60s this coming week! And in good luck, I saw this bald eagle (not a wild swan) sitting in one of our front trees. Baldy has been flying around lately and I’m glad he took a break to rest so I could spy on him for a while.
In book news this past week, I was sorry to see an obit in the NYT about the passing of author Dan Simmons, at age 77, who wrote an array of novels (more than 30!) that bordered between such genres as sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and historical fiction.
Perhaps his most well known was his 2007 novel The Terror that fictionalized the lost Arctic expedition of John Franklin’s in 1845 whose crew in the book is stalked across the landscape by an unusual monster. We enjoyed watching the adapted TV series on AppleTV+ that ran in 2018. It was good and eerie. Despite the sad loss of Simmons, thankfully his novels live on and there are many more to read.
Also this week I finished another nonfiction book with Jung Chang’s new memoir Fly, Wild Swans. I’m not sure why but my winter has involved more nonfiction than usual. Usually I’m a fiction nut true and blue, but lately a few memoirs and a couple histories (pictured below) have found their way into my reading. They’ve been excellent though they usually take me longer to read as I absorb all the facts. I’m just giving another spotlight to those here below along with a briefer description for those interested. They count for the Nonfiction Reader Challenge that I’m doing this year at Book’d Out.
A Backward Glance by Edith Wharton — 3.75 stars. Wharton was a fascinating, complex lady born in NYC and fluent in various languages. She was a gifted writer, an avid traveler, a dog lover, an adventurer, a gardener, and aide worker in WWI, and also very socially connected to her intellectual friends. I hoped to know all about her with this autobiography but much of it was lists of friends and acquaintances and little anecdotes mostly about her travels. She writes a lot about her friend author Henry James. Still there’s small nuggets of info I gleaned along the way: Edith’s years up until WWI, where all she lived, and how she started her literary career. There’s little about her husband but that his nose-diving health affected their lives together. She moved to France permanently after their divorce. It’s amazing all what she did, but reading a biography of her would likely be better.
Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton — 5 stars. This lovely true story lured me in as it went on. You might not think too much towards the beginning with its history of hares and descriptive parts about the baby wild hare who the narrator comes to raise in the English countryside, but before you know it – the story becomes hard to put down as it pulls at your heartstrings. You get inside the author’s and hare’s transformation in their journey together. I very much enjoyed the audio version read superbly by Louise Brealey. In dark times, we need more people keen, observant, and caring as this woman becomes towards the hare and the natural world. The memoir is quiet dynamite.
The Typewriter and the Guillotine by Mark Braude — 4 stars. This is an interesting look into the life of journalist Janet Flanner who wrote the Letter from Paris column for The New Yorker starting in 1925 and focuses on her years in Paris in the run-up to WWII and after the war. I enjoyed finding out about her remarkable career and personal life story. She seemed a trailblazer of sorts in her work for the magazine. The other alternating aspect of the book describes the story of serial killer Eugen Weidmann who went on a terrible crime spree in 1937 and whose trial Flanner covered in 1939. The book gives good atmosphere into the period in Paris between WWI and WWII. You get a sense of the run-up to war in the 1930s, the rise of fascism, and what was happening during those dark, unstable days.
Joyride: A Memoir by Susan Orlean — 4.5 stars. I’m an Orlean fan. I think it was her Library book and love of animals that sealed it for me over the years, and her candor too. This memoir about her life’s projects and writings interested and entertained me throughout. It made me laugh in parts too. I listened to Susan Orlean read the audiobook and liked hearing about her tips on nonfiction writing and the ins and outs of her career at publications like The New Yorker mixed in with her personal life. If you’ve been a journalism junkie in life, this is like catnip.
Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself, and China by Jung Chang — 4.5 stars. This memoir is a worthy, admirable follow-up to her mega-bestselling memoir Wild Swans from 1991 and brought me up to date on her personal life story and her family’s in China from long ago till today. During the Cultural Revolution, Jung Chang lived to tell the tale of her parents (and her father’s and grandmother’s deaths) during those very dark days and later rose to distinction through her studies. She showed great courage leaving the country to study and live abroad in Britain and later to research and write her first memoir. Then later she wrote a biography of Mao (with her husband) all the while traveling back and forth to China. She does her utmost to get out the truth about what happened under the Maoists and her being under surveillance from the current regime. The memoir is also a moving portrait of her bonds with her mother and the role model her mother was and it’s a great tribute to her. I learned quite a bit from this book about China.
I was going to write a fuller review of Fly, Wild Swans but might do that next week. Time has gotten away from me today. If you follow the Academy Awards, they are on tonight. Enjoy the Red Carpet. I have not seen too many of the films, but I have seen Hamnet (4 stars), Marty Supreme (3 stars), Sinners (3.5 stars), and the pleasing Song Sung Blue (4 stars). Have you liked any of the nominated movies?
That’s all for now. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and the week ahead and happy reading.
I really do need to read “Raising Hare.” I’ve been thinking about it for a long while but the stack is so tall! And the Flanner book too!
Hi Jeanie, it’s okay the books will be there whenever you get to them. I have a large pile too … and I sort of shuffle them around, but some never get read, alas. Hope you’re having a great week.
I hear you on gas prices and traveling! We were going to take a short RV trip next week, but cancelled due to my mom’s fall/recovery. It wouldn’t have been too expensive to drive a couple of hours north, but we can save that $$ for our trip in May. Again, we’re not going super far (Port Townsend and Quinault Lake areas) so it’s affordable. Glad we weren’t planning a trip to Canada or even to the Tetons this year. We’ll see how things look in the fall for a longer trip…
I wonder if your bald eagle has a mate and nest nearby. Fun to watch those guys, isn’t it? We have a few in the trees near our little cove. I can hear them every once and a while when I walk down to the water.
I’m looking forward to borrowing a friend’s copy of Raising Hare. She and another one of our friends loved it, so I have high expectations.
We haven’t seen any of the nominated movies, but will get to them eventually. We prefer to watch at home, so maybe after the Oscars the streaming costs will drop a little bit.
Have a good week, Susan. Hope the sun and warmer temps arrive soon for you!
Hi Lesley, that sounds like a nice trip in May to the Olympic Peninsula area. And fall seems a good idea for a longer trip. We usually stay put in summer too. But I might get away for a week in late April, yay.
Right now the bald eagles have been plentiful to see around this area. So I’m keeping my eyes peeled. I hope you are seeming them now too at the cove.
I’ll be interested to see what you think of Raising Hare … it’s one of those books that I didn’t think too much of until it snuck up on me towards the end. So maybe temper your expectations just a small bit … for a better experience, lol.
Thanks it’s a warm week here and the snow will be gone soon. Hope your week is nice too.
Too bad the eagle picture wasn’t a close up. I love those guys! You’re on a roll with those nonfiction books; most have been 4* or more. I didn’t have time to watch Marty Supreme, Sinners, F1, If I had legs…, One Battle…, or The Secret Agent, though I have them rented waiting to be seen, but watched a few of the others and liked most of what I saw. For a few years it has felt like homework to watch most nominees and I feel under pressure when I don’t, so I’ve been procrastinating since last year cutting myself some slack. Hopefully there’ll come a time when it won’t feel like homework. Once upon a time I watched most of them without any problem. Now not so much. Vigil is proving a chore to read. I will finish either today or tomorrow. I hope you enjoy it more than I did. Happy reading this upcoming week!
Hi Carmen, yeah I’m still hoping for a closer eagle photo. We’ll see.
Like you — I watch a lot less of the nominated films than I once did. Sometimes I think it’s because some of the *weirder* or more *modern* films or ones with senseless violence are ones I don’t really want to see. I just want a good story, well told, lol. And I don’t need a lot of CGI or special effects, ha. Some years there seems less great films than other years. And I only saw 4 this time. But I also saw H Is for Hawk (3.7 stars) which I think was nominated for a BAFTA award. We might watch Sentimental Value (foreign film) and Frankenstein. (I think you saw that.) So those 2 are still on our radar.
Too bad about Vigil … but I’m glad for your report on it. I will move it down for me. Hope you finish it. And can read other stuff.
Most of your books are on my mental list of books I want to read soon. Very appealing list!
Thanks Mae, Good to know. I hope you like a few of these. Now I’m trying to move back to fiction and leave nonfiction behind for a bit. We’ll see. Happy reading.
Nice photo of the eagle. We used to see them at St George Island when we camped there. The nests are huge!
Gas prices here have skyrocketed and we are doing less driving. When we lived rural last year I was filling up every 6 days so this would have hurt even more. What a great adminstration we have (please note sarcasm 🙂
You have me wanting to move Raising Hare and Joyride up on my list after the buddy reads. So many good titles I want to get to…I’m thinking of revisiting my reading plans and listing books I absolutely want to read before the end of April.
Hi Tina, interesting about St. George Island having eagles … I didn’t know that. I have not been in that area … but it sounds cool.
Yeah great war idea and well thought out …. right? More chaos is what we need.
These memoirs were appealing … now I’m ready to get back into fiction. But I agree with you … I need to make a list of books to read by the end April. Good idea … because the piles are accumulating. Have a good week, chat later!
Thankfully we booked our spring break tickets months in advance.
It has gotten cold here again as well.. the wind is howling outside as I type this.
I have lost my interest in movies. I much rather watch a tv show.
Hi Hena, I look forward to seeing where your spring break takes you. I hope it is somewhere nice & warm and scenic. And good point about movies … we have been watching more TV series as well. Some of the movies just don’t seem very good. Cheers, have a good week.
I hadn’t heard about Dan Simmons. I loved The Terror but hadn’t read anything else from him.
Have a great week!
Hi Marg, yeah apparently Dan Simmons passed in February from a stroke and the NYT just ran an obituary on him in March. A bit weird. Glad you liked his novel The Terror … his novel The Abominable (2013) … also looks pretty fun and scary. Cheers. Enjoy your week.
I always appreciate a bunch of shorter reviews! And the bald eagle; they are so wonderful to see in the wild. I remember being in Alaska and hoping I’d see one. On a walk one day, about 20 were flying around; it was amazing!
Hi Helen, thanks. I like making a list of these brief reviews so I don’t forget them later. It’s great you got to go to Alaska … and that you saw so many eagles, yay! I think taking a trip to Alaska will be on our bucket list … not sure yet if on a boat cruise or by a hiking trip. But a combo would be nice! Have a great week.
Great reviews and Wild Swans has been on my radar since it first came out. One of those books we tell ourselves we are going to read but we never get around to. And though I am tempted to read the follow up first maybe this is the year I must read Wild Swans from 1991. The Typewriter and the Guillitine also sounds like a must read.
Hi Kathy, yeah for some reason back in the 1990s I didn’t hear about her first memoir Wild Swans … so I’ll still have to go back and read that one. But this new one appealed to me since I’ve long had a curiosity about the Cultural Revolution and how devastating it was. So now I’ve read Jung Chang’s and Nien Cheng’s accounts of surviving those dark days. It’s eye-opening and staggering. See what you think when you get to it. I’m sure the first one is pretty quick reading. Cheers!
March is flying by as is the entire year. This last time change really did a number on me. I am all messed up!
You did really well with your Oscar movie watching. I have not seen any of them! Not trying to ignore them. I’ve just been focused on reading and NOT watching TV or the news. Seems to be working for me.
Our pups are getting up there, huh? Otter Pup is 16 and still hanging in there. Still full of sass but needs help with everything. She seems to figure it out when we aren’t there but if she knows we are there, she makes a little “yip” and asks for assistance. Still eats like a horse!
Hi Ti, March is flying by, argh. But you seem to be reading lots. And didn’t you read Dan Simmons novel The Terror ? …. I was sorry to hear he had recently passed. I might read his novel The Abominable (2013) sometime.
It is hard about our old doggies. I’m glad Otter Pup still eats well … it is amazing she is hanging in there at 16. Stella is faltering at 13.5 years … she has a spinal degeneration condition …. which we are monitoring. She still eats like a horse too. thx for stopping by.
March seems like it is going on forever to me, because we have been working on clearing out some plants and weeds in our front garden beds and we need to finish it by end of March. Combine that with a heat advisory in our area that goes through the end of the week and I am very cranky.
We had not heard about Dan Simmons but both Glen and I have wanted to read books of his. Glen has been wanting a copy of The Terror for a while. I have a mass market paperback copy of Hyperion (1st in a science fiction series) that my son loaned me to read.
Last week, I looked into the two memoirs by Jung Chang: Fly, Wild Swans and Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China. I put Wild Swans on my wish list and may try to read it this year.
Hi Tracy, I heard about the heat dome over California … that sounds awful … to be so hot this early in the year. It must be hard to weed out the beds during such heat. No wonder you are cranky. I hope it cools off soon!
I think people have liked Dan Simmons’ books a lot. He did write across various genres like sci-fi … he seemed a good storyteller. I know about The Terror from the TV series and I might like to read his novel The Abominable (2013) sometime. Though he seemed to like writing long novels, beware!
And I have not read the first Wild Swans memoir … but I think it’s more popular and a quicker read than the new second one. Still the 2nd one is a good read. I hope you find them interesting whenever you get to them. The Cultural Revolution is still hard to fathom … how & why it happened. It had many devastating effects. Wishing you a good week.
Oh no, I didn’t know that Dan Simmons had passed away. I read The Terror recently and wanted to read more of his books, it’s sad to know a new author I love is gone so quickly.
It’s nice to know that Jung Chang has another book out but I haven’t read the first one yet! It’s been on my TBR forever but I just never got around to it. Hopefully knowing the new one is out will motivate me to read the first one sooner rather than later.
Hi Haze, great to hear from you. Yes I knew one blogger had recently read The Terror and now I know it’s you. It is too bad Simmons has passed — he seemed a popular storyteller. Have you seen the Terror TV series too? I might like to read The Abominable (2013) sometime. I like how he blended historical real events with monsters and horror … to make an interesting story.
I think the first Jung Chang memoir from 1991 is a whopper! I still need to go back & read it. I liked her 2nd one … and I think the first is going to be even more unreal & sad. We will see. Cheers!
I saw all but two of the Oscar noms and my favorites were One Battle, Sinners, and Train Dreams. It’s been in the 90s here in Los Angeles so I really miss winter.
Hi Jinjer, that’s awesome you saw so many of the Oscar noms. I still really want to see Train Dreams … though I don’t have Netflix. I need to stop by your site and hear about all the movies etc. Sorry to hear it is so hot there, so early in the year. I heard there was a heat dome, yikes! Head for the hills. I hope it cools there soon. Enjoy the week.
Goodness! What has happened to you, Susan?! lol I don’t think I’ve ever seen you reading so much nonfiction before now.
It has felt like a long winter. Gas prices were up seventy cents a gallon on my trip to East Texas. Of course those price increases hit working people and the poor the hardest.
I love the photo of the Bald Eagle. It’s a sad day for America when even our national bird has gone to Canada. lol
Ha! Many eagles have crossed the border. The national bird thinks it’s friendlier up here, lol. I’m still trying to get a closer shot of eagles in our area. Stay tuned.
Ha Deb, I know … I’ve never read so much nonfiction in a row! Go figure. Get me back to escape & novels quick!
Gas prices are really high …. I don’t see any end in sight. Isn’t it crazy?
Where will this all lead to? take care & keep reading.
Like you, I was always a fiction reader, then last year, I joined Shelleyrae’s nonfiction challenge and read a few memoirs. Now fully 1/3 of what I read is nonfiction. It’s a slippery slope!
I added Fly, Wild Songs and the book that precedes it to my TBR list.
Hi Olivia, ha, it is a slippery slope! Now I need to get back to fiction … but my head is somewhere else. I’m glad you added the two memoirs by Jung Chang …. I need to read the first one from 1991 …. They are potent. She says in it that: Albania was the only country then that supported Mao’s Cultural Revolution … luckily it has changed so much since then! I hope you are liking your new place. Cheers.
I have Raising Hare on my list, but hadn’t heard about the audio version. That would be fun!
Hi Joy, yes I thought the audio version of Raising Hare was excellent …. you might want to try that route. The narrator is very good. I hope you enjoy it. Cheers! Have a great week.
Dan Simmons died? Oh, that’s sad! I hate to lose favorite authors.
Hi Lark, Yeah it’s terrible to lose an author. I was surprised to see his obit. He lived in Colorado …. and he had quite an imagination. He has a long list of books. Live on Mr. Simmons.
It’s too bad you were unable to take the trip south. I’ve actually read that tourism to the United States is way down since our president’s ill-conceived adventure into war. Understandable.
Kudos to you for breaking out of your reading mold to tackle some nonfiction. I’m the same as you – I read mostly fiction. I could probably benefit by adding more nonfiction to the mixture as well. Maybe I’ll make that my goal for 2026…
Hi Dorothy, thanks, I finally bit the bullet and paid for a flight to Calif at the end of April. So I’ll be back in country for a week, lol. I need to feel some nice weather.
It’s been unusual for me to read so much nonfiction but it has been surprisingly good. I hope to continue on with more nonfiction ahead, but first the novel Buckeye! Hope your reading has been enjoyable. Cheers!
We’ve had a relatively mild winter here even with the snow. It’s unseasonably warm here now in the 80s, but will cool slightly this next week. Hope it warms up for you! I’m going to look up The Terror. It sounds like something I’d enjoy.
Hi Rachel, I think you’d probably like The Terror …. although it is a bit of a long book. Many have loved it. See what you think if you get to it.
It is a bit worrisome it’s been so warm there in Calif so early. I’m already worried about fire season. Fingers crossed rain will come!
I really want to see Song, Sung Blue–I’ve been a Neil Diamond fan for decades. Love his voice.
I decided not to see Hamnet. I loved the book and the atmosphere of the book and I just didn’t want to mess with the feeling I had while reading it. Sort of like being in a trance.
Did you like both movies?
Hi Jane, I hope you love the movie Song, Sung Blue. We thought it was very enjoyable. It’s entertaining and a celebration of Neil’s music. I’ll be curious to hear what you think. Apparently it’s based on a true story about these people in the film. There is a bit of darkness in it … but still worth it. I felt like singing the songs too … it’s sort of fun on the big screen.
And I think it’s okay not to see Hamnet if you want to keep to the book. The movie is a quiet thing and follows the book pretty well. I liked it (maybe 4 stars). But it can’t be the book fully. The two are their own things.
Cheers. Happy April.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on these nonfiction titles.
Hi Shelleyrae … glad you liked them. I tried to be succinct this time around about these. Who knew your Challenge would get me reading many more nonfiction than usual. Appreciate it. Cheers.