Hello. I hope everyone is doing well. I have been busy so have been away from the blog for awhile. I was reffing the junior provincial tennis tournament all of last week for 12 to 18 year olds and there were so many matches, day and night. I’m lucky to be still standing, but it seemed to go well. And now it’s over and I can go back to life on the farm, full of gardening, house chores, dogs, reading, and summertime fun. Yay.
We have been in the new place now almost six months. It’s hard to believe but true. There’s still some things left to unpack. And I finally set up a new bookcase in my soon-to-be office. I have put fiction on one side and nonfiction on the other. And I just ordered a desk and chair from Pottery Barn to go with it. So I’ll see how that looks once it comes. Slowly but surely we’ve added some furnishings to what we already had. It’s a work in progress, LoL.
And now I’ll leave you with reviews of what I finished lately.
The Postcard by Anne Berest / Europa / 464 pages / 2023
3.7 stars rounded up. The story of various generations of the Rabinovitch family is heart-wrenching and moving about how present-day Anne in Paris is trying to piece together who sent her a postcard with names of her grandparents and an aunt and uncle on it —who perished during WWII. So part of the tale is a mystery of Anne investigating how she and her mother came upon this postcard decades later, and then other parts are of her relatives lives in the past during the war, and also how her mother came to survive those days. Along the way Anne comes to find and learn about her Jewish heritage and identity.
It’s an ambitious tale with various threads and at times I found it was trying to do too much and was a bit stretched. I also found the execution of the tale a bit uneven. Some parts breeze over the years in fast succession and I wanted to get a bit more into her relatives’ lives or closer. Still there are details and facts about Occupied France and a sketch of what happened to them that kept it compelling. It’s a tragic story and one where you wish her grandfather had gotten them out long before.
I appreciated that this was a personal story based on the author’s family and she seems to pour much of herself and heart and soul into it. In the end, the mystery over the postcard takes Anne on a journey finding out pertinent things about her family’s lives and her heritage. While good, I think others might have liked the novel a bit more than I did as it is very popular right now.
Chain-Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah / Pantheon/384 p /2023
3.5 stars. This novel wasn’t really for me, but I made it through the audio with avid persistence. Still the novel gets its points across effectively about how bad the U.S. prison system is in general — particularly toward African Americans — and how crazy our love is for violent action sports.
Still I liked the two main characters of the book and their love story: Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx,” which I was impressed with coming from a male author. I think they were the best part of the story along with Hendrix, the singer, character. All three are criminals in a prison system where you can opt to fight gladiator-style to try to gain your freedom, which is televised by an action sports franchise. After so many matches, if you survive, you can gain your freedom. I guess it’s a bit like the Hunger Games for criminals.
I found parts of the novel well done and written, getting its points across: as prison is often no place for reform and justice is so frequently abused. But other parts I found a bit repetitive and the two main characters weren’t given enough material to do enough. I definitely wished for their escape so they could move around more. The chapters jump to and fro among many characters and I found some a bit hard to track or care for. The story felt long and the lead-up to the fight at the end of the book seemed to take a good while. I wanted to see what would happen, which is quite tragic, but I almost didn’t make it. Others are liking this book more.
On Hitler’s Mountain: Overcoming the Legacy of a Nazi Childhood by Irmgard A. Hunt/ Morrow / 288 pages / 2005
4 stars. This is an affecting memoir about growing up in the mountain village of Berchtesgaden, Germany, where the Nazi elite made their retreat and built Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. The author Irmgard was born in 1934 and her parents were supporters of the Nazis and as a young child she was indoctrinated as everything there was under Nazi rule. She even was dawdled by her parents on Hitler’s knee. Then early in WWII her father dies in France when she is 6 and her world is shattered. She takes part in the Hitler youth, and later just wants the war to end. After the Americans come to town, she learns a new way of life.
This is a pretty fascinating tale about a family behind enemy lines and a warning about how this happened to them. It’s a look at their daily life in the mountains at a dark time in history. It’s a bit of a chilling tale and the author was a young pretty powerless girl growing up under Nazi rule and indoctrination. She describes how life changed as the war went on and what happened at various points along the way. As it wound down, they were without much food and necessities. Later she details when the Americans entered her village in 1945 when she was 11 and what happened post-war.
This book was written in 2005 and I couldn’t help but be on full alert to see whether these many decades later the author seemed to be whitewashing the Nazi experience in any way about what she knew and when the people there knew it. She says they didn’t know about the Jewish people’s plight or all the victims of the Nazis until after the war. She heard rumors at some point of secret trains but didn’t know more. She isn’t easy on the Nazis, her family, or the other villagers in the book for their support of the regime and it seems she doesn’t make excuses. In the end it becomes a warning in ways about following such a dictator and regime and to never letting it happen again.
I saw that the author Irmgard Hunt recently passed away in May at age 88. Here is her obit. She had a long career in the U.S., where she became a citizen after the war. Her book is one of the only memoirs I’ve read from the enemy side in WWII, which made it a rather eye-opening account.
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin / Dial Press / 224 pages / 1956
4 stars. Baldwin’s second novel is expertly read for the audiobook by Dan Butler, who seems to have the perfect voice and diction as David, the main character and protagonist.
Though at first I wasn’t taken with the story of David, an American who goes to Paris in the 1950s and struggles with who he is and his sexuality, drinking, and shortness of money. He has a relationship with a woman named Hella, though while she’s on a temporary trip to Spain, he meets a beautiful male bartender named Giovanni who he’s drawn to despite of himself. Soon he is spending nights in Giovanni’s Room, his lover. But when Hella eventually returns, David has to decide whether to tell Hella about Giovanni or whom he wants to be with. Later Giovanni gets involved in a murder case that is in all the Paris papers.
It’s a tragic story about a gay-closeted man that gripped me towards the end because of the charged matter and power of Baldwin’s writing. His writing marks him as a natural, so good he can transport you geographically and in feeling in a short amount of lines. I will continue to read his large canon of works. So far in addition to this, I’ve only read his novel If Beale Street Could Talk, which was also good.
That’s all for now. What about you — have you read these and what did you think?
Glad the tennis tournament you helped ref went well. And your new bookcases are so lovely. Every house should have bookcases! And I think that book On Hitler’s Mountain would be an interesting read…though it does make you wonder how much people really did know back then…and how much they knew, but didn’t want to think about or admit to knowing.
Thanks Lark. It’s good to come up for air now, and I’m enjoying the new bookcase. The memoir is quite a worthwhile book … and she seems pretty damning of the Nazis post-war, so perhaps I believe most of it. It offers an insightful warning book about dictators etc. Enjoy your week.
Sounds like you’ve had a busy time! Did you have time to watch Wimbledon as well, or did the junior provincial tennis tournament provide all the tennis you could cope with this summer.
It was interesting to read your review of Chain-Gang All Stars. Seems very hyped at the moment and I’ve mostly seen positive reviews. Not sure, it is for me, though. Interesting premise, but the many characters would probably make it difficult for me to engage. Giovanni’s Room, on the other hand, is definitely on the TBR.
Hi Stargazer, yeah I still enjoyed some of Wimbledon, especially the finals which were awesome. Love the tennis there.
And I was lured to Chain-Gang All Stars by all the hype … but I pretty quickly found that it wasn’t for me. I liked the two main female characters and the idea of the plot but the execution of it wore me out perhaps. See what you think.
The new audio edition of Giovanni’s Room on Audible is worth checking out too. I didn’t realize what it’d be about — but some of the writing and voice of Baldwin made it worthwhile. I wish Baldwin was still writing today. Have a great week.
The house is looking good, and you are still finding time to read? Amazing!
Thanks Dorothy. Much to do at the house. My reading has been hit & miss. Some print reads and some audios. I need to catch up a bit behind. Hope your reading is great. Happy July.
Nice shelves you got there. Don’t forget to post how the office looks once all the furniture is in. 🙂 I’ve had my eye on The Postcard. I considered buying Chain-Gang…but I read the synopsis and desisted. I recently bought Giovanni’s Room, which I thought I could squeeze in since it’s relatively short, but suddenly it seems I’m biting more than I can chew, reading-wise. The memoir sounds really interesting. It baffles me how people saw Jews being rounded up all over Europe never to be heard of or seen again and yet people claim they didn’t know something fishy was going on. I get if they admit they were afraid of retaliation or repercussions of any kind, but lack of suspicion…? Anyways, I say your reading was very good overall despite the unevenness in two of the reads.
Thanks Carmen. So far the books on my summer list haven’t been as great as I had hoped: Maame, Chain Gang, and The Postcard but as you predicted I am pretty much loving Yellowface on audio now. It’s a bit diabolical and funny too. I hope to be done with it perhaps today, thanks for suggesting it!
The Irmgard memoir was interesting … and I don’t think her family knew of any Jewish people in her mountain village so they didn’t witness the horrors of big cities etc. But it is a bafflement if many in the country relied on the ‘didn’t know’ defense. Hmm.
Hope your reading roll is continuing. I hope to get mine back. Not sure what is next after Yellowface. Have a great week.
You’re welcome! Yellowface is pure guilty pleasure. From your Summer List I have also read Lone Women and Symphony of Secrets, which were mixed bags for me, but can recommend Small Mercies, which hopefully I’ll finish tonight before starting Daniel Silva’s latest. If you want, you can apply a tip that has helped my reading so far this year: search for the # of pages of the books in your list and pick to read the shortest one first. 😉
Ha. Sounds like a good tip. It seems you’re reading those on my list, which is good help for me. I just started Go as a River which is stylistically the opposite of Yellowface but I will see where it goes. I liked Yellowface and heard good things about Small Mercies. It seems you liked the Cosby book better than Lone Women or the Symphony of Secrets right? Have fun with the Silva book.
Yes, the Cosby book was off the charts good but it’s veeeery dark, so beware. That’s as far as I‘ll go near your summer list. Oh, hopefully I’ll get to read The Biography of X this fall. I’ve heard that The Last Animal is good, so maybe that one next? Have fun reading!
It must feel really good to get furniture (especially bookshelves) into your rooms. I always think book warm up a room.
I was a German Studies major in college and asked one of my professors (who was a child during WWII) how they could not have known about the Holocaust. Her answer was interesting: she lived in a small town, and there were only a couple Jewish families. They went away on different days and when the kids asked, they were told “they moved.” Later when I was a teacher, I realized that I had students leave quite often and when I asked where they went, I was told no one knew or “they moved” and I didn’t think anything more of it. It really made me think. I am certainly not excusing what happened by any means, but it made me realize that “regular” people in small towns could easily not have known.
Yeah Helen, I’m learning that some of these small towns were pretty isolated from what was going on. Thx for sharing this experience and what your prof said. I didn’t realize you were a German studies major, how interesting. I took German language for about 5 years in school. I’d like to relearn it sometime.
You might be interested in the memoir. Hmm. I think it’s a brave book since not many have been written from the enemy side.
Goodness, the time has flown! It’s hard to believe that you’ve been in your new place for six months, but then again, it’s hard to believe we’re halfway through July. As you know, we were gone for 6 weeks and obviously time didn’t stand still while we were enjoying our time in Canada! 🙂
I love your bookcases and will be eager to see how your “office” turns out after you get the furniture from Pottery Barn. We had two large, white bookcases in our house in Nebraska and they were from Pottery Barn. I was sorry to leave them (with my brother and sister-in-law), but there just isn’t space where we are now.
I added The Postcard to my TBR list after reading JoAnn’s review, but we’ll see if I get around to actually reading it. I may look for it at the library. On Hitler’s Mountain is one that I used to shelve repeatedly when I was working at Barnes & Noble. It always caught my attention, but I never got around to reading it. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Maybe another to seek out at my library.
Thanks for the email. I’ll respond once I come up from air after all our visitors have left. 🙂
Hi Lesley, time has flown indeed. These bookcases shown are actually IKEA (lol, I should have mentioned that) but the desk & chair coming are from Pottery Barn. I will take a picture once they arrive. Too bad about the bookcases in Neb. They sound gorgeous.
The Hitler memoir is a doozy, like you can’t turn away. And the Postcard was a bit of a mixed bag, though i’d be curious what you thought.
Good luck with your company! Enjoy the Cove.
Hi Susan, Love your bookshelf and the way you have arranged it. And the great thing about having a bookshelf rather than books stuffed in drawers is that you can look at your shelf any time you like and see exactly the books you have and you can arrange them in so many ways.
I have read Baldwin’s non-fiction The Fire Next Timec and his novel Go Tell It On The Mountain which is outstanding
On Hitler’s Mountain sounds like an important read and as you say a warning for today and following dictators and authoritarians. It doesn’t end well.
Thanks Kathy, there’s many books in the bookcase I still need to read so arranging them enticed me to get to some of these older books, which I’ve kept for years. Hmm. Not sure when that will be but sometime.
I need to get to Baldwin’s nonfiction, which he’s probably more famous for. So far I have liked his novels. And the Hitler memoir sort of reminded me about the dictators of today — so it did seem important. Like it could happen again, which is the scariest thought of all.
I hope you are having an enjoyable summer. Happy reading.
Very interesting book selection! A number of German memoirs of the war were published, especially soldiers’ memoirs, but aren’t that well known. Sebastian Hafner’s book “Defying Hitler” is interesting — covers the early Hitler years until 1933. There are also a number of novels like “The Tin Drum” and “Stones from a River.”
best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Thanks Mae, good suggestions. I think I read Stones from a River in the 1990s but I don’t really remember it now. I think it was strange right? It could be good for a reread. & thanks for the other titles. Have you ever seen the movie A Hidden Life ? – I think it’s from Terrence Malick. Man that sort of tore me apart. I think I’ve seen it twice. It’s worth seeing. Have a great week.
Life on a farm sounds nice and your bookcase is beautiful. Enjoy your books! On Hitler’s Mountain sounds interesting.
Thanks Bookworm. Appreciate you stopping by. Nice to find your blog too. We are enjoying life on the farm. 🙂 Cheers.
I like those book shelves. Hope the room comes together as you want when the furniture arrives.
Thanks Mark. I will likely take a follow-up photo & post once the desk & chair arrive. I’m pleased how many books this bookcase fit. I still have 5 boxes to take to donation. Hmm. Nice of you to stop by. Enjoy your week.
Hi Susan, Sounds like you’ve been keeping quite busy. I’m glad your house and decorating is coming a long as well. I have The Postcard on my TBR as well but, I opted to begin Belle Greene next.
I’ve been updating my 2023 reads on the blog (lot’s fewer than last year thus far) but, haven’t felt like reviewing or blogging. I am keeping quite busy though with friends, lunches out and a new houseplant obsession. Take care and enjoy life.
Wow Diane, thanks so much for stopping by. I’m glad to hear an update and I will stop by your blog. You always read good ones! I hope you are doing all right and interesting to hear about the houseplants. I’m curious to see what you would think of The Postcard. It’s heartfelt but a bit scattered perhaps. See what you think. Cheers. Happy summer.
I really love how your bookcases have legs!!! My bookcases (Ikea Billy) are flush with the floor but I think yours with legs are much cuter!!! And I love how there is a skinny section in the middle.
Thanks Jinjer. I got this bookcase online from Ikea! It’s helpful that it has legs so that it won’t block the heater vent on the floor. We almost got an Ikea Billy but got this one instead. I think it holds a bit more books. The chair & desk I ordered are coming from Potterybarn. I will take a picture when I get them. Thx for stopping by and I hope all is well with your place in L.A. I will stop by your site to see. Cheers.
Love your bookshelves!!!
Thanks Cindy. I appreciate you stopping by. These bookshelves are courtesy of Ikea. Luckily they hold a lot. I still have 5 boxes on the floor opposite that I need to take to donation. Hmm. Cheers.
Susan, it is hard to believe that you have already been in your new house for six months. I like your bookshelves a lot and I bet you will enjoy your room even better when your new desk arrives.
I have Giovanni’s Room on my long list to read, and I’m glad to see how much you liked it.
Thanks Deb. I can’t wait till the desk & chair arrive. I have not been spending time in the room since it has nowhere to sit. But it should be a nice office once it comes together. I will take a photo later to post. The furniture will all be white in the room so we will see. Giovanni’s Room is a bit challenging since the narrator is not always truthful or nice and he knows it, but the story did draw me in as it went along. Perhaps I liked his novel Beale Street a tad more. Still Giovanni’s Room is short & worth a read. Cheers.
I just added Giovanni’s Room to my TBR this week. Is it worth the effort?
Hi Anne: it’s a relatively short book and the new audio of it is fairly good. Not sure if the story will appeal to you — but since it’s Baldwin I think it is worth the effort. See what you think. Cheers.
I’m late getting here, and amazed to hear you’ve been in your new place for 6 months!! It almost feels like I’ve been in a time warp since Hurricane Ian hit… and that will be a year in September.
The Postcard was a solid 5-stars for me. It’s been ages since I read a WWII story and this one struck a chord. It’s interesting that the author chose to frame this as a ‘true novel’ and, listening to an interview, learned she did that out of consideration for descendants of people who live in the same towns as her relatives. She didn’t want them to feel guilt over their ancestors inaction.This book is the current Modern Mrs. Darcy selection and there is a live chat with the translator scheduled later this week. I’m looking forward to it! It sounds like On Hitler’s Mountain could be an interesting follow-up…. and the audio is available on hoopla! You’ve added to my list again!
Hi JoAnn, wow almost a year since the hurricane — that was so awful. I hope Sanibel is coming back and that your place will be okay. We have enjoyed our first six months on the farm. Many renovations done, more to do. Never-ending perhaps. Glad you liked The Postcard. Maybe I’ll catch the live chat. I have heard the author talk about the book — I think on NPR’s book of the Day. France must have chaos at the end of the war – rife with animosities. Her generational tale is a moving look. I think On Hitler’s Mountain would make a good follow-up. It was eye-opening to me. I hope the audio is good, I had the paperback. Have a great week.