October (first week) 2017 Reads

Finished an Indonesian novel and continued with an Icelandic one. The reading for this week from Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller, was especially challenging.


Another Project Gutenberg find for this week's story.

“Deal Me In 2017!”

Story: The Hermit and the Wild Woman (in The Hermit and the Wild Woman and Other Stories, by   Edith Wharton)
As much as I like Wharton's writing this is not at all my kind of story. I can do without asceticism.




Card: Five of diamonds

The card had to be as plain as possible to go with the story.



 
from my shelves...




Home by Leila S. Chudori; translated from the Indonesian by John H. McGlynn 
Novel of late twentieth Century Indonesian history, set in Jakarta and the exile community in Paris. Another fine book from my Deep Vellum subscription.






and a film...
Tickets [videorecording] / produced for Fandango, Medusa Produziona, and Sixteen Films Ltd. ; written by Abbas Kiarostami, Paul Laverty, and Ermanno Olmi ; directed by Abbas Kiarostami, Ken Loach, and Ermanno Olmi.
A life-changing trip on an Italian train. Three stories, three directors.
from the library

May (second half) 2016 Reads

From the Library

Beauty Is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan, Annie Tucker (Translator)
Indonesian history winds its way through this epic family tale. Plenty of ghosts, love, violence, and more. Fantastic.

The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff
Delightful. Family secrets in Templeton (Cooperstown) NY.

Sudden Death by Álvaro Enrigue, Natasha Wimmer (Translator)
Didn't care much for this acclaimed novel.

Alice in Bed: A Novel by Judith Hooper
Liked this novel based on the letters and journals of Alice James.

Rush Oh! by Shirley Barrett
On Women's Prize for Fiction Longlist (2016). I didn't find it prize worthy. Just ok. I learned a bit about Australian whaling history.

Good Sam by Dete Meserve
Sappy story about a good Samaritan--wish I hadn't bothered.

All the Presidents' Gardens: Madison’s Cabbages to Kennedy’s Roses, How the White House Grounds Have Grown with America by Marta McDowell
Most of the text was familiar to me, but I still enjoyed the book for its illustrations.