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 It’s 1941. Frankie Bard, a rare female radio personality, reports from London every night on the state of the burgeoning war in Europe, trying desperately to convince Americans that the time has come to intervene and stop Germany. In Franklin, Massachusetts, both Emma Fitch, the doctor’s new wife, and Iris James, the town’s postmistress, listen to Frankie from the comfort of a small town in Cape Cod. But the war can’t stay out forever and these three women will find their lives intertwined as the question of who delivers the news becomes paramount in all of their lives.
I’ve heard a lot of hype lately about The Postmistress. It seems that everyone who reads it enjoys it. I’m not an exception – I didn’t love it, but I did enjoy reading this. It’s a smooth read, very well-written, with some fantastic imagery. I loved in particular Frankie’s radio stints. I could almost hear her voice in my head, especially when the other characters described how she sounded – like she was smiling, or if she sounded tired or angry. I almost never listen to the radio personally, but it always strikes me as an essential part of twentieth-century history.
In fact all around Frankie was my favorite, but I also appreciated the contrast between war-time Europe and sleepy Cape Cod. It seemed amazing to me – as it did to Frankie – that throughout so many European countries people were regularly exiled from their homes, shipped off to concentration camps, or trapped in hiding while Americans did nothing even though they knew precisely what was happening. The contrast seemed strikingly relevant to the present day as well, where there are plenty of war-torn countries while we sit comfortably in our homes and hardly ever have to worry about our safety when we go to the grocery store. I have no solutions, but the book certainly brings up plenty of questions that are still relevant to our lives.
For some reason, though, this never became a book I loved. Maybe because of the ending, which I found a little on the unnecessary side, or maybe just because the whole book was full of secrets. I know others feel more strongly about it than I do, but I don’t think it’s one I’ll need to revisit. I’d probably still recommend The Postmistress to someone looking for fiction about the Second World War with a female focus.
I am an Amazon Associate. I purchased this book.
 Etienne Lantier is unemployed and desperate. Economic conditions are bad and no one wants to take on new workers. As he wanders, he finally comes across a coal mine where he is hired on. If possible, though, working down the mine is even more difficult than starving to death and Etienne has a hard time adjusting. Whole families work in the mine – elderly people who can still manage it, mothers, fathers, small children – and people are injured and sicken under Etienne’s very eyes. When the managers attempt to lower wages, Etienne’s vast amount of reading kicks in and he riles the rest of the workers to protest their poor conditions and lack of adequate pay.
Germinal is very much a political book and that’s not really what I’d expected of it – probably because I’d only read The Ladies’ Paradise and I wasn’t quite prepared for a book so unrelentingly dreary. I know some books like that can be great but this one dragged on for five hundred and thirty-two long pages.
I found the writing to be strikingly evocative of the mine and I’m sure the fact that I felt so very sorry for these people made the book that much harder to read for me. The darkness was pervasive and it just got worse. Even when the people began to strike, they also began to starve and made almost no progress in their strike. It was hard to bear, especially when they were contrasted with the wealthier mine owners. One of the managers even envies the poor people their freedom as compared to his restricted aristocratic lifestyle – I don’t think he quite understood the situation.
I was amazed throughout at the violence of all the characters, which I think prevented me from getting attached to any of them. All the men beat their wives and sometimes their children as well. Everyone is valued only for the wages they can bring in; small children who are not yet old enough to work are almost nothing but a burden. There are some glimpses of maternal love through La Maheude, the main motherly character in the book, but she still often feels anger towards her children for eating and not earning.
The book is very political and much of the workers’ revolution felt like a cry out for socialism. Etienne has read all the big names and attempts to get all the workers to join an organization. I thought in this respect it was an interesting picture of its time; I have a hard time imagining any workers to ask for socialism these days even though the wage gap is still very much in evidence. But somehow Zola creates a bit of sympathy for the managers as well, so the true solution is unclear (as history proved anyway).
In the end, my feelings toward Germinal are mixed. There’s no way to deny that it took me a week to read and at times I avoided it because I didn’t want to deal with the miners’ lives any longer. But as a political novel, as a picture of its time, it’s invaluable and it left me with a lot to think about. It’s not cheerful in any sense but it’s surprisingly easy to read with lovely prose that’s truly evocative of the imagery within – whether underground or above. It’s a piece of literature that I think has held quite a bit of value, and for those reasons it’s worth reading even if it does go slowly.
I am an Amazon Associate. I borrowed this book from my local library.
 I haven’t done a Library Loot post in a really long time. I moved and then it took me a couple weeks to find time to join the library, plus I haven’t been reading as much so a little part of me wondered whether I should stick to my own books for now.
Of course that didn’t happen; I am now a proud member of my latest library with a good number of books checked out. We actually plan on joining another library system nearby (I know, it’s an addiction) because they have a greater selection, but we’ll have to go on the weekend and we’ve only spent one weekend here so far and aren’t likely to stay for a couple more.
So! I bring you what I have taken out so far:
- Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld – I’ve been wanting to read this since it came out, and I actually already have but neglected to review it. I will probably include it on a mini-review post soon.
- Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher – Random Read-a-Thon selection. Again, no review; it was okay.
- Edith Wharton, Hermione Lee – I am still in the middle of her Virginia Woolf but I knew I wanted to read this one next, so I went and got it out. I love Edith Wharton; I know I may find some unpleasant truths in her biography but I’m willing to take that chance.
- Rumours, Anna Godbersen – I wasn’t totally in love with The Luxe but I really need some relaxing YA. Plus my library has all of this series, so I might actually be able to read it all.
- Dreams from My Father, Barack Obama – I’ve been wanting to read this for a long time.
- My Name is Red, Orhan Pamuk – I thought this sounded awesome. It’s set in 16th century Istanbul and billed as a thrilling murder mystery with meditations on love, artistic devotion, and tensions between the East and West. And I’m sure I’ve seen positive reviews somewhere.
- Then We Came to the End, Joshua Ferris – Another wishlist book.
- Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell – I’ve been wanting to read this one for a long time too. My mom also just let me know that David Mitchell’s new one has arrived to their address for me, so I decided I should read this first.
- The Boy Who Loved Books, John Sutherland – How could I not want to read a book about a boy whose life was saved by books twice? This is a memoir and I hope it’s as good as it sounds.
- Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Jen Mah – I tend to browse the Chinese history section each time I go in and this just caught my eye.
- Chains, Laurie Halse Anderson – I’ve been wanting to read another of her books since Speak and this is the one they had in!
Sorry for the lack of pictures/links – I’ve meant to post this since Monday but can’t sustain the energy to do more than write it out. You don’t want to know how many reviews I have waiting to be written, either. I’m definitely still adjusting to this work thing even though it’s been a month. I’m not complaining, this is what I wanted, but I still find it hard to believe I have to go there every day! On the bright side, I have managed to start commenting a little on breaks – I just need to figure out how to work in writing for my own blog. I decided a post without links and pictures was better than no post at all.
Thanks as always to the fantastic Eva and Marg for hosting this meme!
 Patrick’s life could rightly be called a disaster. He failed out of university, his fiancee dumped him, and he’s severely lacking focus. He decides that he needs a break and takes a job in a seaside town. Patrick has hopes for his new place and sometimes even gets along with the widowed owner of his boardinghouse. But for the most part, he struggles to fit in and feels misunderstood almost constantly. Eventually, the misunderstandings become insurmountable and Patrick accidentally commits an act he’ll regret for the rest of his life.
I read this book a week ago now and it still hasn’t left my consciousness. Sometimes I find myself really connecting with bleak books that expose the grittiness of a harsh life I hope never to live personally (and trust me, I won’t be living this one). And this book is very, very bleak. Patrick’s life is never easy and he never gets a break. Not once. But somehow there was still so much that was great about it, perhaps because I went into it with incredibly low expectations – I’ll try to explain.
First off, the atmosphere. I could palpably sense the desperate feel of the town, down on its luck, and the setting was perfect for this type of book. I was amazed to find that I couldn’t put the book down and I found it amazingly easy to read no matter what else was going on. It was that absorbing. I remember actively avoiding other books that treated characters this badly, so this was truly unusual. I did keep hoping for Patrick, hope that wasn’t realized, but I thought it quite remarkable that Hyland could create sympathy for such a disturbed character.
And he is disturbed; it isn’t all his fault, of course, that he’s always felt second best and rejected. He’s intelligent but never manages to make good on that intelligence. Instead he is awkward, unsure of the correct course of action most of the time, completely unable to judge what’s appropriate and what isn’t in social situations. He tries, but he often tries too hard. I was left wondering if he had an undiagnosed mental disorder and I felt for him because I wanted him to succeed, have people see past the creepy exterior.
One of the biggest criticisms I’ve seen of This is How is that it’s too dark, that the ending doesn’t offer any hope, just continued suffering. I don’t know if I agree. I thought that most of the second half of the book was Patrick’s struggle to accept his crime, and I thought that at the end he did – that he finally began making the best of one of life’s worst situations even though he is still suffering. No, nothing in this book is cheery or happy – but somehow I was completely drawn into it and it was arguably one of the more compelling books I’ve read this year. I’m not going to list it one of my favorite books of all time, but I do think it earns its spot on the Orange Prize longlist.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free from the publisher for review.
 These two novellas are bound in one volume for me. The summaries are short because the stories are; I don’t want spoilers!
In The Hundred and Ninety-nine Steps, Sian is working on an archaeology dig at Whitby Abbey, working to bury her dark dreams even as she exposes history to the light. By accident one day she meets a man with a charming dog who gives her a bottle. Inside is a century-old manuscript with the link to a hidden murder.
I really enjoyed this novella, but I have to admit that I think the cover sold it as a little more exciting than it actually was. I wouldn’t call it a thriller – more a woman’s discovery about herself and about the world after it had brutally betrayed her. There is some mystery too, but I wasn’t precisely on the edge of my seat waiting to find the truth. That’s not a bad thing – I was fine with it the way it was. The book is also something of a love story – but whether it’s between Sian and Mack, the man she meets, or between her and the dog Hadrian (who could not love a dog named Hadrian?) is a choice left up to the reader! I loved the descriptions of the archaeology and I wanted to be there digging in Whitby Abbey; Michel Faber is a fantastic writer.
The Courage Consort is about a group of singers, through the eyes of Kate Consort, and their week in a remote European retreat. Away from everyone else, they attempt to learn a new and revolutionary piece of music, but what they learn instead is about their relationships with each other.
Even though this one takes a less prominent place on the cover of the book, I loved it and it was by far my favorite of the two. Kate was just such an interesting heroine. Similarly to Sian, she goes on a journey of self-discovery, from paranoia and depression to a surprising peace with herself and the world. She steps out from her husband’s shadow and I really love reading about women who discover their own independence, when it’s okay to rely on someone and when it’s not.
And as anyone reading my blog should know by now, I love stories based around relationships and that’s exactly what this was. The characters all really came to life for me and their interactions felt real and true. There isn’t much of an actual plot, but everything does come to something of a conclusion at the end and a surprising one at that. I can’t say much more than that, but it was really great and I was totally caught up in these people’s lives.
Both of these novellas come highly recommended by me, but if you choose one, choose The Courage Consort.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free from the publisher for review.
 Celia’s mother died giving birth to her, so Celia grew up under the eye of her Aunt Tassi and, unfortunately, her Uncle Roman in Black Rock, Tobago. Roman is Tassi’s second husband and a sly alcoholic, planting lies about Celia and getting uncomfortably close to her on a constant basis. Celia is a clever girl and wants one day to go to university, but after her uncle proves his horrible nature correct, Celia can’t stay to be in the same room with him. So she flees to Trinidad, to her aunt Sula, to get away from the horror that had previously been her life.
I was actually amazed by how very much I enjoyed this book. It sounded good but the beginning was very dark. I knew what was coming almost from page one, and I truly skimmed that particular section as much as possible. But then Celia escapes to Trinidad, and even though her life wasn’t wonderful, I just completely fell in love with the book. I loved the way that the author made this country I’d hardly ever heard of come to life for me through her descriptions. I adored Celia’s voice and even as I longed for the best for her I could completely understand her choices, even when they weren’t choices I would have made myself.
I think what really got me about this book was that even though there is a lot of bad in Celia’s life, there is also hope. She is vividly alive from page one and she almost constantly is fighting for that life, retaining her spark even when she thinks she’s lost it. She made the book for me. I also loved the tensions between all the characters in the novel, at least after that beginning; how love and desire develop, for example, and how they don’t, and Celia’s relationship with her Aunt Sula, who she barely knows. It prodded at the stigma of the relationship between the white English master and the black servant girl in England’s colonies, as well, and how easy it was for the master to blatantly use his beautiful young employees. It may be a familiar theme, and we all know how wrong it was, but it doesn’t make this story any less affecting. Celia’s slow rediscovery of herself and what she wants to be is magnificently done, too, and I loved the ending. It made perfect sense.
Honestly, Black Rock was a fantastic read. I am so pleased that I read it and I definitely recommend it.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free from the publisher for review.
 Orphan is just that – an orphan. But he loves his girlfriend, Lucy, and he has his mentor, Gilgamesh, to guide him through his Victorian world. But when Gilgamesh disappears and Lucy is killed in a terrorist attack, supposedly committed by the Bookman, Orphan longs for revenge and a way to get Lucy back. The Bookman offers him this, but soon Orphan realizes that nothing is as simple as he thinks, and that perhaps everyone is lying to him.
This was a very interesting read. It’s set in a steampunk world where the ruling family of Britain are Les Lezards, in short not human at all, and there are automatons and other various mechanical elements sprinkled about. It made sense to me internally, which was good, and I liked seeing how the author chose to mix actual British history with fictional history. I really liked the origins of the mechanics, how the author used real historical figures as inventors. I also liked when they popped up in the narrative. Jules Verne makes a nice lengthy appearance.
As far as the story was concerned, I was less engaged than I should have been. Whether this was the book’s fault or mine I’m not entirely sure, but I had trouble really immersing myself in the book. I was mildly interested in Orphan’s plight but I think it was all just a little too much to take in. Orphan was constantly learning new things and going new places – there is no time for a reader’s brain to rest. Plus, part of it took place on a ship, which we all know doesn’t really work all that well for me. I struggled to really care about Orphan. I felt like I didn’t have much of a chance to know him before his life got chaotic and the plot took the story away. The story had a lot of twists and turns and I actually didn’t predict the big surprise, but I think someone who is more accustomed to actually guessing the ends of books would have more luck!
The Bookman is definitely a good read for anyone who is interested in trying steampunk or has a lot of experience with it. For the rest of us, I think it’s best to take it a bit more slowly than I did and let the world sink in even though you want to race through and see what happens next.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free from the publisher for review.
 My Read-a-Thon went out with a whimper. I got halfway through The Brontes Went to Woolworths before I started feeling nauseated from not eating in good time this morning – my husband was still sleeping or I’d have sent him. I need to remember to keep food in the bedroom next time! Needless to say, I couldn’t really focus on it or the computer, which is why this wrap-up is so late. I stopped reading well before the last hour.
My final tally:
| Number of Books |
6 |
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Books Read |
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| Pages Read |
1173 |
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How I Live Now |
Archangel’s Kiss |
| Time Spent Reading |
11:32 |
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On the Edge |
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| Time Spent Blogging |
1:39 |
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Wishful Drinking |
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I finished four and read from two other books which aren’t listed – Germinal by Emile Zola and the aforementioned The Brontes Went to Woolworths.
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Probably Hour 11, when I went to sleep, and Hour 22 when I started to feel sick.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
How I Live Now and On the Edge were both great choices. Wishful Drinking was a fast read but I didn’t like it all that much.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Not for the co-hosts, they did a wonderful job!
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
Everything! I wished I could participate more in the mini-challenges and next time I am determined to be more active on twitter during my breaks. I felt a little isolated even though I had cheerleaders coming to my blog. I didn’t feel that way either of the last times, so I think I need to focus a little more on community and a little less on solely reading. I still don’t really like where my timezone is – things get most exciting after I’ve fallen asleep!
5. How many books did you read?
I finished 4 and read some from two others.
6. What were the names of the books you read?
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh, On the Edge by Ilona Andrews, Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher, and read from Germinal by Emile Zola and The Brontes Went to Woolworth by Rachel Ferguson.
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
Either How I Live Now or On the Edge. Both great books. I think I may have preferred the first one there on second thought.
8. Which did you enjoy least?
Wishful Drinking. It would work better as the stand up act it originally was.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I wasn’t a cheerleader.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I’m 100% likely. Next time I want to sign up for an hour’s cheering for sure. I want to feel more involved and not isolated in my book the entire time, but I still want to get a few books read.
So, I pretty much had a full night’s sleep there. But I woke up again and finished my fourth book. Archangel’s Kiss was okay but I’m beginning to wonder if Nalini Singh’s books are just too racy for me. The last one did not have this much in it. I’ve got another one coming sometime soon so I’ll decide after I read that.
I missed a ton of the Read-a-Thon I’m sure but at least I can enjoy the last few hours! I’ve given up on reading some of Germinal. I might do it later after the Read-a-Thon. I don’t ever seem to burn out on reading as long as I mix up my genres.
| Number of Books |
5 |
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Books Read |
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| Pages Read |
1063 |
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How I Live Now |
Archangel’s Kiss |
| Time Spent Reading |
10:13 |
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On the Edge |
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| Time Spent Blogging |
######### |
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Wishful Drinking |
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I don’t know what’s next – anyone still awake? Or anyone close to my timezone who has woken up again?
I can never remember to stop at the actual hours and post, I tend to just stop whenever I feel like it. I’ve just read Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher for a change from fiction. It was okay and relatively interesting, but I can tell just reading it that it would work much better as stand-up comedy. Still, it only took me an hour.
| Number of Books |
4 |
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Books Read |
| Pages Read |
740 |
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How I Live Now |
| Time Spent Reading |
6:43 |
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On the Edge |
| Time Spent Blogging |
######### |
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Wishful Drinking |
Right now there’s a panty-worthy mini-challenge going on, hosted by Rebecca at The Book Lady’s Blog, who is definitely doing her part to make reading sexy! This one’s easy for me as I’ve had the same panty-worthy author since age 14 or so. Stephen King. He’s a bit, um, old for me, but I have loved his books for most of my life and I’m regularly impressed by the stuff he continues to put out. When he’s good, he’s really, really good. I just ignore the ones that aren’t good!
In the interest of equal opportunities, I would also quite happily choose Juliet Marillier, Jacqueline Carey, or Robin Hobb.
I can’t believe I’ve been reading so long already! I think I’ve given up on my goal to continue reading Germinal in between. Maybe later. Right now, though, I’m heading for Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh, which oh-so-conveniently arrived in the mail yesterday (or maybe the day before – I’m getting bad at entering books into LibraryThing when they show up!).
Oh, and I also wanted to liven up this post with a picture. So here’s the new fish we got this morning before all the reading fun started. We wanted a big fish for the tank and since I can’t have a cat in this apartment, I got to choose:
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