Steve’s books on Goodreads (1,427 books) (original) (raw)

The Big Books of Summer 2025

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| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- | ------------------------- | ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | | ------ | | | checkbox | position | cover Conversations with Friends | title Conversations with Friends | author Rooney, Sally * | isbn 0451499077 | isbn13 9780451499073 | asin B01M6XMA62 | num pages 304pp | avg rating 3.74 | num ratings 569,048 | date pub May 25, 2017 | date pub edition Jul 11, 2017 | Steve's rating | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review None | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Jun 29, 2025 | date read not set | date added Jun 29, 2025 | owned | format Kindle Edition | actions view | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Time Out of Mind | title Time Out of Mind | author Bell, Ian | isbn 1605986283 | isbn13 9781605986289 | asin 1605986283 | num pages 574pp | avg rating 3.91 | num ratings 194 | date pub Aug 01, 2013 | date pub edition Oct 15, 2014 | Steve's rating | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review None | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Jun 26, 2025 | date read not set | date added Jun 26, 2025 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Disgrace | title Disgrace | author Coetzee, J.M. | isbn 0143036378 | isbn13 9780143036371 | asin 0143036378 | num pages 220pp | avg rating 3.86 | num ratings 113,766 | date pub 1999 | date pub edition Aug 30, 2005 | Steve's rating it was ok | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review None | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Jun 17, 2025 | date read Jun 20, 2025 | date added Jun 17, 2025 | owned | format Paperback | actions view | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Intermezzo | title Intermezzo | author Rooney, Sally * | isbn 0374602638 | isbn13 9780374602635 | asin 0374602638 | num pages 454pp | avg rating 3.86 | num ratings 250,353 | date pub Sep 24, 2024 | date pub edition Sep 24, 2024 | Steve's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Naomi rocks! That said, Sally Rooney's fourth novel, Intermezzo , is both her longest and most accomplished novel. What a strange Rooneyesque reading Naomi rocks! That said, Sally Rooney's fourth novel, Intermezzo , is both her longest and most accomplished novel. What a strange Rooneyesque reading trip is has been for me. I (probably unfairly) savaged her Normal People. Oh, I had some good reasons for doing so, but even then I noted the high quality of her writing. I may have pooh-poohed the ridiculous "voice of a generation" stuff that a local reviewer was proclaiming, but nevertheless I sensed a young writer's writer in the making. I can't remember when I've so liked the quality of the writing while at the same time disliking the story and the people in it.Then along came Beautiful World, Where Are You, which I liked much better (both story and people). The writing was precise, effective, and sometimes poetic in a controlled sort of way. Rooney knows when to pick her poetic shots. In some ways it was a slight book, but I sensed literary ordering taking place. The God stuff was a total surprise. And now Intermezzo, Rooney's first truly major novel, and it's a good one. I had to overcome a few obstacles before even starting it. A novel that starts out with an epigram from Wittgenstein, and a book jacket that tells me this is a story about two brothers not named Karamazov who fall out after the death of their father, is not exactly going to turn my crank. Further details, such as the younger brother being a chess master, and the older a sometimes arrogant, often drunk, asshole, is just not what I would call read-me traction. But it is, because once you start to read those sentences, the interior raving and musing of various (but not all) characters, the dialogue, the descriptions, which I find when it comes to Rooney to be so precise. Not austere, but precise AND considered. This is a writer who weighs every word. In Intermezzo you have the usual Rooney-like characters, smart, bookish, sexually active. My favorite was Naomi, a college student and a sometimes online pornographic performer of sorts (college is expensive). She's a more likable version of Beautiful World's Felix. She's also beautiful, hip, and the sometimes girlfriend of Peter, a lawyer, and seriously tormented soul. Peter is torn between the much younger but lots of fun Naomi, and his former lover and friend Sylvia, who is a literature professor. Sylvia was badly injured in an accident, and can no longer have "relations" due to pain. This part of the story struck me initially as a bit weak, at least until I started to realize that Rooney was giving readers a story that was focusing on the various kinds of love, with Agape (sacrificial love) being the gold standard. Understanding Agape's preeminence and practicing it are of course two different things. Desiring it while seeing two completely different women (the earthy Naomi and the nearly virginal Sylvia), wis ripping Peter to pieces. Compounding this is Rooney's use of Christ and the Gospels (see page 127). I felt this was skillfully done, and expanded on the religious hints (Mass going Simon) found in "Beautiful World." Rooney may be evolving into our first post-Catholic Catholic novelist. I don't think this is an overstatement, but the novel operates at times (depending on the character) as one long examination-of-conscience. Especially so when dealing with the two brothers and their differences.Which brings me to brother number 2, Ivan. Ivan is 22, socially awkward but idealistic (he refuses to fly because of pollution, and only wears second-hand clothes). In Peter's eyes he's a loser. Ivan gives a chess performance at a local arts center, where he meets the 36 year old administrator, Margaret, who is separated from her alcoholic husband. An affair results, with Ivan declaring his love for Margaret, and Margaret tentatively saying "Me Too." Peter has his doubts once he finds out, and a feud erupts. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but Rooney makes the emotional back & forthing worthwhile. The ending is surprisingly happy, like the ending of War and Peace, though there is fragility and possible darkness up ahead. But Love is Love, however improbable the characters and situations and moment, and I think that's where Rooney is headed with this one. The true enemy to Love, it seems, and this embraces all of the fiction I've read by Rooney, is the need to be "Normal." It's a box, a definition, a trap. Love is not bound by such boundaries. And Love is Rooney's great and considered theme. It was also Tolstoy's. Rooney is breathing the same air.One note: I can't believe Intermezzo didn't even make the Booker Long List. It's clearly a first-rate novel, and her personal best. Maybe it's Rooney's religious musings, or she's not messaging enough for the In-Crowd. I would love to see the Booker return to the Art itself. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 1 | # times read 1 | date started Jun 09, 2025 | date read Jun 16, 2025 | date added Jun 09, 2025 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover I Am the Arrow: The Life and Art of Sylvia Plath in Six Poems | title I Am the Arrow: The Life and Art of Sylvia Plath in Six Poems | author Ruden, Sarah | isbn 1598538136 | isbn13 9781598538137 | asin 1598538136 | num pages 128pp | avg rating 4.05 | num ratings 22 | date pub unknown | date pub edition Mar 25, 2025 | Steve's rating it was ok | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Didn't exactly turn my crank. Ruden makes some good points in her intro regarding Plath's late poetry output (explosion?), saying that's it's a disser Didn't exactly turn my crank. Ruden makes some good points in her intro regarding Plath's late poetry output (explosion?), saying that's it's a disservice to Plath and her genius to attribute her breakup with Hughes for the transcendent fire in the poems. In other words, Plath's voice had been evolving all along. But then Ruden concedes it's hard to distinguish actual real life events from art making. That seems a bit circular, though I found myself agreeing with her. The poems selected for asserting Plath's myth making seemed an odd gathering to me, but that's probably because I'm thinking "Greatest Hits." With that in mind, only The Applicant would have made my personal list. Whatever. I was pretty distracted while reading this, with a bathroom being renovated, and an anxious dog to comfort with all the banging and sawing going on. I might give this book another go since I like Plath related stuff (and it's pretty short), and respect Ruden's work as a classicist. I did think that Ruden's analyses were strained and overreaching. Sometimes it's better to just read the poems and let your imagination go. It was good see that Ruden used The restored version of Ariel and not the deliberately sabotaged one that Hughes would release. Even then, Hughes couldn't hide Plath's brilliance. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 5 | # times read 1 | date started Jun 04, 2025 | date read Jun 06, 2025 | date added Jun 04, 2025 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover The Hard Crowd: Essays 2000-2020 | title The Hard Crowd: Essays 2000-2020 | author Kushner, Rachel * | isbn 1982157690 | isbn13 9781982157692 | asin 1982157690 | num pages 272pp | avg rating 3.86 | num ratings 2,015 | date pub Apr 06, 2021 | date pub edition Apr 06, 2021 | Steve's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review None | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Jun 02, 2025 | date read Jun 12, 2025 | date added Jun 02, 2025 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view | | | | | checkbox | position | cover War | title War | author Woodward, Bob | isbn | isbn13 | asin B0DC6YWMM6 | num pages 448pp | avg rating 4.24 | num ratings 11,200 | date pub Oct 15, 2024 | date pub edition Oct 15, 2024 | Steve's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Riveting stuff, probably more so since many of the events described in the book (Ukraine, Gaza, etc.) are still in play. Woodward is not the most colo Riveting stuff, probably more so since many of the events described in the book (Ukraine, Gaza, etc.) are still in play. Woodward is not the most colorful writer, and I often his writing dray and drab. But that is not the case here. If one is looking for an effective vaccine for the Jake Tapper drive-by ("Original Sin") on Biden, this should do. (I actually no real animus toward the Tapper book until I saw him shilling on Piers Morgan ("Worst than Watergate!" WTF happened to you, Jake?) I have no idea whether Woodward knew of the upcoming Tapper book, or its direction, but it works that way. The Biden in these pages is a mostly masterful one, effectively juggling multiple foreign crises (Ukraine, Russia, Gaza, Israel, Iran, etc.) as well as domestic and personal ones (Trump, anguish over Hunter Biden, age).Woodward doesn't duck Biden's health, and reports Biden's of alarming performance at a West coast fundraisers as early as June of 2023 (though Woodward was unaware of this until the following June). But on the same trip, after some rest, Biden was himself again. That said, the "bad days' or hours were starting to increase, though his excellent cabinet (in particular Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, noticed no drop off when things mattered). That said, everyone saw Biden's growing public frailty, which culminated in his disastrous debate performance in Atlanta. Through Woodward's eyes he sees this as truly tragic, but is hopeful that History will see the greatness of Biden, especially during such dangerous times. The "War" of the title is indeed about War, but also about Biden's skill at managing and diminishing its escalation. On the other hand, Woodward has few illusions about Donald Trump, who he has now written three books about. At book's end, Woodward sums up Trump in a few chilling lines:Donald Trump is not only the wrong man for the presidency, he is unfit to lead the country. Trump was far worse than Richard Nixon, the provably criminal president. As I have pointed out, Trump governed by fear and rage. And indifference to the public and national interest. Trump was the most reckless and impulsive president in American history and is demonstrating the very same character as a presidential candidate in 2024. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 1 | # times read 1 | date started May 25, 2025 | date read May 31, 2025 | date added May 25, 2025 | owned | format Kindle Edition | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation | title The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation | author Thich Nhat Hanh | isbn 0807012394 | isbn13 9780807012390 | asin 0807012394 | num pages 140pp | avg rating 4.19 | num ratings 38,073 | date pub 1975 | date pub edition May 01, 1999 | Steve's rating it was ok | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Meh. A grab bag of mindfulness tips in the form of a long letter. Some of it broke through to me, but much of it was too delicate for me to grasp. Lat Meh. A grab bag of mindfulness tips in the form of a long letter. Some of it broke through to me, but much of it was too delicate for me to grasp. Late in this very short book Hanh spent several pages discussing a Tolstoy short story, which at least gave me something more concrete to wrap my mind around. That said, why not just read the Tolstoy story? I'm sure there are some profound wisdom things I'm missing, but it's just wasn't in my wheelhouse at this time. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 1 | # times read 1 | date started May 17, 2025 | date read May 20, 2025 | date added May 17, 2025 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover The Bee Sting | title The Bee Sting | author Murray, Paul | isbn | isbn13 | asin B0BBC9K8C3 | num pages 658pp | avg rating 3.89 | num ratings 109,928 | date pub Jun 08, 2023 | date pub edition Jun 2024 | Steve's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Hoo-boy. I may need some lighter reading fare after this. Those complaining about the ending of this book, need to go back to the first page. Murray c Hoo-boy. I may need some lighter reading fare after this. Those complaining about the ending of this book, need to go back to the first page. Murray certainly telegraphs things clearly enough. What to say? A series of unfortunate events (a lingering recession, Biblical stuff, as in droughts, floods, Sins of the Fathers, etc.) surrounding the Barnes' family (Dickie, Imelda, Cass (Cassandra) , and PJ). There are other characters of course, and at 645 very fast reading pages, Murray has plenty of room to flesh them all out. That said, looking back, one might even call it a "Catholic" novel, though evidence is admittedly slight. Being Ireland, the Church is always sort of there, but in a way that suggests just more material clutter, with Mass going, the Virgin Mary, and occasional passing mention of a priest. What gets my bell ringing is a demonic character, a Polish mechanic, with an interesting tattoo on his behind, that suggests "Dis," clearly a tempter-type, especially for the Barnes' family (though I think Murray is having some fun with this). More seriously, late in the novel, Cass, as a college student in Dublin, befriends a German theology student who has a love for Heinrich Böll's diary, which was written while living on the coast of Ireland (Böll was a liberal Catholic). Given the novel's constant texting and partying and everyday modern day anxiety filled bullshit, such a character as the German theology student and the Böll reference, stands out startlingly given the flow of things, suggesting other possibilities. Cass likes the student, but fails to follow through with establishing a more lasting friendship. She doesn't call her back, and in this novel its the little things that add up.The other "Catholic" moment involves "Dickie," husband and father and a holder of secrets that are tearing him apart. Late in the novel he wonders how he got to such a dire place in his life. He asks himself:_How long has it been since you kneeled? Knelt? It reminds you of going to Mass when you were a child, gazing up in wonderment at the Cross behind the altar, the magical figure hanging from it who with his impenetrable sorrow and effortless miracles seemed to represent the mysteries of adult life."_But whatever Hope and Light those memories once represented, have been replaced by Fear. That Fear or Fears (both personal and worldwide (ecological collapse) is represented by the "Bunker" Frank is building on his property. With Hope removed, however artificial (or not), Frank's existence is exposed (as it is for most of the characters in the book, as an artificial and superficial one. And for the Barnes' family in particular, events become inexorable as one bad choice after another moves the needle toward Tragedy. Each of the main characters is given a long section for their voice. Much of this is funny, but with darker suggestions as to things yet to come. After those character sections are completed, Murray starts to ratchet things up, with shorter sections for each character as their predicaments narrow or tighten. The final section, at least in appearance, takes on the look of a play. Shakespeare, Macbeth? Lear? Aeschylus, Media? and some Stephen King with a bit of Pet Semetary. You have a storm blasted heath after all, with characters trapped in both outer and inner darknesses. All of that said, I find it amazing that this book didn't win the 2023 Booker Prize. The winner, Paul Lynch's "Prophet Song," a warning against the rising tide of Authoritarianism in the West, was, to my mind a flawed novel. There is no way its literary merit remotely approached Murray's "Bee Sting." A good cautionary example as to why literary prizes would do better to focus on a novel's literary merit rather than (no matter how urgent) its political messaging. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 1 | votes 3 | # times read 1 | date started May 10, 2025 | date read May 24, 2025 | date added May 10, 2025 | owned | format Kindle Edition | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Jesus of Nazareth, Part Two: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection | title Jesus of Nazareth, Part Two: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection | author Benedict XVI, Pope | isbn 1586175009 | isbn13 9781586175009 | asin 1586175009 | num pages 384pp | avg rating 4.61 | num ratings 3,262 | date pub Aug 10, 2011 | date pub edition Mar 15, 2011 | Steve's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review None | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started May 05, 2025 | date read May 13, 2025 | date added May 05, 2025 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Human Acts | title Human Acts | author Kang, Han | isbn 1101906723 | isbn13 9781101906729 | asin 1101906723 | num pages 218pp | avg rating 4.27 | num ratings 59,679 | date pub May 19, 2014 | date pub edition Jan 17, 2017 | Steve's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Profoundly moving book that covers emotions ranging from horror to delicate beauty. I'm not sure I've read anything quite like it. The story at its he Profoundly moving book that covers emotions ranging from horror to delicate beauty. I'm not sure I've read anything quite like it. The story at its heart is the tale of the 1980 democratization uprising in Gwangju, Korea. The uprising was brutally suppressed by the government, killing hundreds if not thousands. Kang tells the story of the uprising, and its aftermath, through through a number voices, concluding with the author's own in the last chapter. They all circle around the death of 15 year old Kang Dong-Ho, who got caught up in the uprising, saw his friend get shot, and, almost as act of penance or witness, helps volunteers with the bodies of the dead, identifying, contacting families, etc. There is courage, but of a deliberate, dutiful kind ("we're all in this together"). The protestors have no chance against the returning army. There is brutality, torture, and long term suffering for the survivors. As individuals they didn't accomplish much, but their voices and actions united into something larger and more enduring. As one character reminds another, despite all the horror, "We are noble." Indeed, and that nobility, which at its best, both selfless and suffering, enhances the "soul." "Human Acts" is not a religious novel, and yet with Kang's delicate references to the individual's soul, and its elevation through suffering, unrealized hopes and memories, both good and bad, made for the some of the most beautiful writing I've read in quite some time. Kang is a Nobel winner of the first rank. Highly recommended. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 3 | # times read 1 | date started May 03, 2025 | date read May 07, 2025 | date added May 03, 2025 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Alexander at the End of the World: The Forgotten Final Years of Alexander the Great | title Alexander at the End of the World: The Forgotten Final Years of Alexander the Great | author Kousser, Rachel | isbn 0062869701 | isbn13 9780062869708 | asin B0C595B2WT | num pages 416pp | avg rating 4.18 | num ratings 742 | date pub Feb 13, 2024 | date pub edition Feb 13, 2024 | Steve's rating liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review None | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Apr 29, 2025 | date read May 07, 2025 | date added Apr 29, 2025 | owned | format Kindle Edition | actions view | | | | | checkbox | position | cover The Moviegoer | title The Moviegoer | author Percy, Walker | isbn 0375701966 | isbn13 9780375701962 | asin 0375701966 | num pages 242pp | avg rating 3.64 | num ratings 30,170 | date pub 1961 | date pub edition Apr 08, 1998 | Steve's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review None | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Apr 21, 2025 | date read Apr 26, 2025 | date added Apr 21, 2025 | owned | format Paperback | actions view | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Exit Opera: Poems | title Exit Opera: Poems | author Addonizio, Kim * | isbn 1324078936 | isbn13 9781324078937 | asin 1324078936 | num pages 112pp | avg rating 4.20 | num ratings 71 | date pub unknown | date pub edition Sep 17, 2024 | Steve's rating liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Better than Meh, but once you've listened to "Roadhouse Blues" 20 or more times in a row, you can get numb to even a great song. All of these poems ha Better than Meh, but once you've listened to "Roadhouse Blues" 20 or more times in a row, you can get numb to even a great song. All of these poems have a surface solidity and an accompanying sharp wit that the reader can appreciate, but preferably, in retrospect, in small doses. (Addonizio can sure deliver a wicked line, even if it's a poem you don't particularly like.) That said, late in the collection, in "Predator Report," Addonizio informs us, in what is now become a predictable bitching about mortality sentiment, that "I am here to report // that one way or another, everything gets torn apart." It was at this point I felt things were just getting too trite. Similar thoughts had shown in nearly every previous poem, but were re-worded or repackaged in more interesting, even darkly funny ways. But I now felt that Addonizio was beginning to cannibalize herself while staring at the bottom of a shot glass at 2 AM with nothing new to say. Interestingly, earlier in the collection, in the lovely "Solace" I held out some hope against hope that some balance, some light, would begin to creep in to these poems. But later, as if reading my mind, in "Cracked Logic," Addonizio rolled out Leonard Cohen's light offering "crack in everything" line, and then dismantled it and then turned out the lights. She has her principles and she sticks to them. Consolations, even at Night gets closer, are at best insubstantial mirages. We all die, disappear, and that's it. "Exit Opera" has No Exit. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Apr 17, 2025 | date read Apr 20, 2025 | date added Apr 17, 2025 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Autocracy, Inc. | title Autocracy, Inc. | author Applebaum, Anne | isbn 0241627893 | isbn13 9780241627891 | asin 0241627893 | num pages 224pp | avg rating 4.21 | num ratings 11,567 | date pub Jul 23, 2024 | date pub edition Jul 23, 2024 | Steve's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Necessary reading in these dangerous time. If there is a fault with the book is that it was released before the most recent presidential election, and Necessary reading in these dangerous time. If there is a fault with the book is that it was released before the most recent presidential election, and thus rendering the last 25 pages with its suggestions and possible solutions moot. The very disinformation tools the U.S. possessed are being gutted or eliminated, and on such a scale that you have to seriously wonder about those rumored Russian "assets" in high places. What's left is a grim 150 pages of where-we-are-now. The implication is that we have been in a kind of war for some time now. Disinformation or murder, pick your poison. The main autocratic players are Russia and China, with the U.S. fast becoming some sort of hybrid threat of its own. The Autocratic nations (Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, others), according to Applebaum, are ultimately out for themselves, but they are willing to provide an assist for each other against their enemy, Democracy, with its dangerous ideas of free elections, freedom of speech, etc. What the future holds, since its strongest champion, the U.S., has become an unreliable and dangerous cypher is anyone's guess. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 5 | # times read 1 | date started Apr 12, 2025 | date read Apr 16, 2025 | date added Apr 12, 2025 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway's Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises | title Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway's Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises | author Blume, Lesley M.M. | isbn | isbn13 | asin B011H55QX2 | num pages 373pp | avg rating 3.99 | num ratings 2,747 | date pub Jun 07, 2016 | date pub edition Jun 07, 2016 | Steve's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Definitely one of the best Hemingway bios I've read. This is in part due Blume's focus on Hemingway's development as a writer up to and through the wr Definitely one of the best Hemingway bios I've read. This is in part due Blume's focus on Hemingway's development as a writer up to and through the writing of "The Sun Also Rises." Blume shows a young Hemingway working hard to make himself a great writer, even a revolutionary one whose enormous influence is still seen today. Blume also shows a man who quickly develops along with his success into a moral monster. Blume isn't out to "get" Hemingway, since his own actions gets himself. I suppose I knew much of this already from longer biographies, but to see him in cruel action and in such tight focus is kind of stunning. Hemingway, great writer that he was becoming, was also a betraying backstabbing son-of-a-bitch. And this included, at one time or another, nearly everyone who moved in his circles. The mental cruelty he put his first wife Hadley through, while he openly courted his soon to be second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer (who he would also betray), is just unbelievable. He would years later rip his friends for encouraging this "evil" activity. That's some serious chutzpah. Fitzgerald would later tell Max Perkins (I think) that Hemingway would probably change women with each major book. That turned out to be accurate. Anyway, I'm spending too much space discussing Hemingway's toxic personality. (And Blume does point out early that one reason this didn't sink him with his friends was that Hemingway was always a real charmer. He could talk, but he could listen attentively.) That aside, Blume really does bring a lot of attention to Hemingway's style of writing and how it came about. Gertrude Stein, yes. Ezra Pound, yes. But also the boot camp-like training he got as a journalist which helped to form that amazing stripped down style that always suggested so much more. Also important was the changing landscape of publishing in fueling Hemingway's success. Hemingway was, eventually, after a few hard years of struggle, a lucky man, soon to be meeting the right people at the right time. Max Perkins would agree. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 7 | # times read 1 | date started Apr 07, 2025 | date read Apr 12, 2025 | date added Apr 07, 2025 | owned | format Kindle Edition | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Cathedral | title Cathedral | author Hopkins, Ben | isbn | isbn13 | asin B085G63G2P | num pages 519pp | avg rating 3.89 | num ratings 1,592 | date pub Jan 21, 2021 | date pub edition Jan 26, 2021 | Steve's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Excellent historical novel about the construction of a cathedral in an fictional town in Germany (near Alsace). It takes place in the 12th and 13th ce Excellent historical novel about the construction of a cathedral in an fictional town in Germany (near Alsace). It takes place in the 12th and 13th centuries, and spans about 120 years. Truth be told, the actual cathedral doesn't really resonate, probably by design, since Hopkins focus on the dozen or more characters' voices (and letters) that span the period. Hopkins' has created quite a cast characters, both Christian and Jewish, clergy, warriors, artists, architects, stone masons, etc., populate the novel. I think I read somewhere that the novel was the rise of the merchant class. That sounds kind of boring. If you like your Medieval tales, have no fear. There are sieges, "heretic" burnings, murder, revenge, drawing and quartering, corrupt Church moments, pirates, and sex. But Foster is also aiming for something more. Due to the spread of the book over time, the reader observes as a backdrop the rise of the merchant class as it gradually replaces the feudal model, and arguably the Church itself as you can the seeds of frustration growing into the Reformation to come. There are also ugly moments such as the periodic pogroms against the Jews, and the brutal treatment of the Cathars and anyone not conforming with the Roman Church. But this is also a deeply human book with richly drawn characters that you grow to care about the years go by. If anything, the "Cathedral," with all its architectural stops and starts but nevertheless vague and incomplete reality, stands as a metaphor for humanity itself. Highly recommended. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 1 | # times read 1 | date started Mar 31, 2025 | date read Apr 08, 2025 | date added Mar 31, 2025 | owned | format Kindle Edition | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy | title For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy | author Schmemann, Alexander | isbn 0913836087 | isbn13 9780913836088 | asin 0913836087 | num pages 151pp | avg rating 4.40 | num ratings 3,370 | date pub Jan 01, 1973 | date pub edition Mar 01, 1997 | Steve's rating liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review There was a time when I was reading a lot Orthodox stuff (history, theology, etc.). I'm Catholic (a weekly, even daily battle), so I was drawn to the There was a time when I was reading a lot Orthodox stuff (history, theology, etc.). I'm Catholic (a weekly, even daily battle), so I was drawn to the mystical beauty of this similarly old church (or churches), as opposed to the Roman Catholic tendency to define and over define things that have no business being defined. There may be agreement between the two churches, but those theological agreements (and differences) remain hazy while yet staying in the same ancient Christian ballpark. Sort of. I guess. With Schmemann's "For the Life of the World," (a book I've had on my Kindle for a while now) it's more of the same. I'm not being dismissive. There are some truly profound insights when it comes to the author's reflections on the Liturgy that left me feeling like I do when reading top drawer poetry. Then there are other times when Schmemann sniffs at modern suburban churches with their "All Welcome" signs. I suppose one could that flip that Exclusive Club outlook by simply reading about the conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26 - 40), or listen to the blind man's "Yes" to Jesus' "Do you believe" question (Matthew 9:27 - 31), and find a preferable clarity to the fantastic smokey arabesques of the ungraspable. There's undeniable beauty in "For the Life of the World," but there's also a lot of unnecessary mist. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Mar 27, 2025 | date read Mar 30, 2025 | date added Mar 27, 2025 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Mother Night | title Mother Night | author Vonnegut, Kurt Jr. | isbn 0385334141 | isbn13 9780385334143 | asin 0385334141 | num pages 282pp | avg rating 4.23 | num ratings 101,979 | date pub Feb 1961 | date pub edition May 11, 1999 | Steve's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review I think this is the second complete Vonnegut book I've read. (The other one was Slaughterhouse-5, which I enjoyed.) There have been two or three other I think this is the second complete Vonnegut book I've read. (The other one was Slaughterhouse-5, which I enjoyed.) There have been two or three other Vonnegut misfires that I've set aside. I just didn't him enough to care. Well, I may have to reconsider reading Kurt after reading "Mother Night." Or maybe, in this age of Trump, Vonnegut's dark eye and black humor has become even more relevant than ever. On surface, you wouldn't think so. Published in 1962, "Mother Night" tells the story of Howard W. Campbell Jr. (told in the first person via short chapters in a memoir of sorts), an American playwright who stays in Nazi Germany, after marrying the love of his life, Helga. He becomes a radio propagandist for the Nazis (much like Lord Haw-Haw), but he's also a spy for the Americans. His broadcasts are filled with information, which are cloaked by the usual Nazi hate-trash. As the war is ending he is captured by the Americans, but before he his hanged, is rescued by his Spy Master and whisked off to New York.Jump forward 15 years and we find Campbell living pretty anonymously in a New York attic. He lives a simple dead-in-life existence until he is exposed by a neighbor (and Soviet agent). Things go pretty insane and off-the-tracks from here on (in a controlled sort of Vonnegut way). For some reason I was reminded of a demented Dylan song. Anyway, American Nazis, fascists, and right wingers seek him out due to Howard's fame (or infamy). Helga reappears (or maybe not), and vengeance seekers are also out Howard's blood. Eventually Howard finds himself in an Israeli jail awaiting trial. (Eichman is right down the hall.) This isn't a reveal since you know Howard is in jail in the first chapter. The novel does not follow a linear path. At the end Howard is faced with a choice in an utterly insane world. How the reader feels about that choice will probably vary with the reader, but it will resonate. "Mother Night" is black comedy at its blackest. But it's also a deeply moral book and an ongoing indictment of the modern predicament. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Mar 21, 2025 | date read Mar 24, 2025 | date added Mar 21, 2025 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Appeasement: Chamberlain, Hitler, Churchill, and the Road to War | title Appeasement: Chamberlain, Hitler, Churchill, and the Road to War | author Bouverie, Tim * | isbn 0451499867 | isbn13 9780451499868 | asin B07DZMD6H6 | num pages 680pp | avg rating 4.36 | num ratings 1,492 | date pub Jun 04, 2019 | date pub edition Jun 04, 2019 | Steve's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Searing indictment of Chamberlain and the appeasers. Bouverie builds his case slowly in what amounts to a granular history of the years, months, and d Searing indictment of Chamberlain and the appeasers. Bouverie builds his case slowly in what amounts to a granular history of the years, months, and days leading up to the World War 2 (and a bit beyond that). Chamberlain was a good man, but also an arrogant and vain one, who was also capable of underhanded pettiness (like bugging Churchill's phone). The now infamous "Peace for our times" proclamation after his 1938 cave-in to Hitler at Munich, was meant (at the suggestion of Chamberlain's wife) to echo an earlier, much more successful proclamation by Disraeli. We know how that worked out. Chamberlain's biggest failure, according to Bouverie, was simply not see Hitler for what he plainly was. His insistence on trying to reach a deal with a dictator who had no intentions of honoring any deal, was blind and damaging. Later attempts to resurrect Chamberlain due to his ongoing (and tepid) rearmament efforts miss the point that Germany was also proceeding full-speed ahead with its rearmament program. It would the end be a very close thing. Anyway, history at its finest. Highly recommended. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 4 | # times read 1 | date started Mar 14, 2025 | date read Mar 20, 2025 | date added Mar 14, 2025 | owned | format Kindle Edition | actions view (with text) | | | |

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