Curiosities of Literature – John Sutherland
Summary*: When did cigarettes start making an appearance in English literature? Which author’s heart was purportedly eaten by a cat? One of our best-known and best-loved literary critics turns his attention to the more bizarre areas of literature in this miscellany of fact and trivia. Which author had the heaviest brain? What was the original title of 1984? Who made the first bouillon soup? What do 12 percent of all winners of the Booker Prize have in common? What didn’t happen on Thomas Carlyle’s famous wedding night? And, while we’re at it, who wrote the first Western, and is there any link between asthma and literary genius? Sutherland’s irreverent literary masterpiece illuminates every topic imaginable from author advances to Civil War literature to Victorian sex to odd things eaten by literary characters (think Patrick Bateman’s girlfriend in American Psycho). Other fascinating insights include the fact that the number one title among American Civil War soldiers was Les Miserables. This is the ideal anthology of fascinating information and trivia for all book lovers.
My grade: B // If you’re a book lover, this is an entertaining trivia collection. Random historical facts are my jam.
Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales – PD James
Summary: It’s not always a question of “whodunit?” Sometimes there’s more mystery in the why or how. And although we usually know the unhealthy fates of both victim and perpetrator, what of those clever few who plan and carry out the perfect crime? The ones who aren’t brought down even though they’re found out? And what about those who do the finding out who witness a murder or who identify the murderer but keep the information to themselves? These are some of the mysteries that we follow through those six stories as we are drawn into the thinking, the memories, the emotional machinations, the rationalizations, the dreams and desires behind murderous cause and effect.
My grade: A // PD James is one of my favourite crime authors, and these are 6 short stories (new to me) that are very much her style so highly enjoyable.
Ambition and desire: Napoleon’s Josephine – Kate Williams
Summary: Their love was legendary, their ambition flagrant and unashamed. Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife, Josephine, came to power during one of the most turbulent periods in the history of France. The story of the Corsican soldier’s incredible rise has been well documented. Now, in this spellbinding, luminous account, Kate Williams draws back the curtain on the woman who beguiled him: her humble origins, her exorbitant appetites, and the tragic turn of events that led to her undoing. … Gripping in its immediacy, captivating in its detail, Ambition and Desire is a true tale of desire, heartbreak, and revolutionary turmoil, engagingly written by one of England’s most praised young historians. Kate Williams’s searing portrait of this alluring and complex woman will finally elevate Josephine Bonaparte to the historical prominence she deserves.
My grade: A- // A very enjoyable biography. I had read books about Napoleon and the women of his court before, but never one so focused on Josephine specifically, and I enjoyed the author’s approach, insights, and writing.
The Europeans: Three Lives and the Makings of a Cosmopolitan Culture – Orlando Figes
Summary: The nineteenth century in Europe was a time of unprecedented artistic achievement. It was also the first age of cultural globalization―an epoch when mass communications and high-speed rail travel brought Europe together, overcoming the barriers of nationalism and facilitating the development of a truly European canon of artistic, musical, and literary works. By 1900, the same books were being read across the continent, the same paintings reproduced, the same music played in homes and heard in concert halls, the same operas performed in all the major theatres. Drawing from a wealth of documents, letters, and other archival materials, acclaimed historian Orlando Figes examines the interplay of money and art that made this unification possible. At the center of the book is a poignant love triangle: the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev; the Spanish prima donna Pauline Viardot, with whom Turgenev had a long and intimate relationship; and her husband Louis Viardot, an art critic, theater manager, and republican activist. Together, Turgenev and the Viardots acted as a kind of European cultural exchange―they either knew or crossed paths with Delacroix, Berlioz, Chopin, Brahms, Liszt, the Schumanns, Hugo, Flaubert, Dickens, and Dostoyevsky, among many other towering figures.
My grade: C // I enjoyed the author’s previous work, The Whisperers (about Stalinist Russia), but this one was a slog. I thought it would be right up my alley with its sweeping view of 19th century culture, but no. It lacked spark.
The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet – Colleen McCullough
Summary: Readers of Pride and Prejudice will remember that there were five Bennet sisters. Now, twenty years on, Jane has a happy marriage and large family; Lizzy and Mr Darcy now have a formidable social reputation; Lydia has a reputation of quite another kind; Kitty is much in demand in London’s parlours and ballrooms; but what of Mary? Mary is quietly celebrating her independence, having nursed her ailing mother for many years. She decides to write a book to bring the plight of the poor to everyone’s attention. But with more resolve than experience, as she sets out to travel around the country, it’s not only her family who are concerned about her. Marriage may be far from her mind, but what if she were to meet the one man whose own fiery articles infuriate the politicians and industrialists? And if when she starts to ask similar questions, she unwittingly places herself in great danger?
My grade: ?? // This one was a doozy. It’s just bonkers balls. How much you love or hate it will have to do with how much of an Austen purist you are. I love Austen but I don’t mind “sequels” that take liberties with the characters; my gripe with most Austen-inspired books is that they’re not nearly as charming and delightful as the originals. This one is … imaginative, for sure. But, the liberties it takes – oh my!
Six Suspects – Vikas Swarup
Summary: Seven years ago, Vivek ‘Vicky’ Rai, the playboy son of the Home Minister of Uttar Pradesh, murdered Ruby Gill at a trendy restaurant in New Delhi simply because she refused to serve him a drink. Now Vicky Rai is dead, killed at his farmhouse at a party he had thrown to celebrate his acquittal. The police cordon off the venue and search each and every guest. Six of them are discovered with guns in their possession and are taken in for questioning. Who are these six suspects? And what were they doing in the farmhouse that night? In this elaborate murder mystery we join Arun Advani, India’s best-known investigative journalist, as the lives of these six suspects unravel before our eyes: a corrupt bureaucrat; an American tourist; a stone-age tribesman; a Bollywood sex symbol; a mobile phone thief; and an ambitious politician. Each is equally likely to have pulled the trigger. Inspired by actual events, Vikas Swarup’s eagerly awaited second novel is both a riveting page-turner and an insightful peek into the heart and soul of contemporary India.
My grade: A- // The plot is bonkers, very much “everything and the kitchen sink”, and at times it’s so over-the-top, it’s almost picaresque. But I enjoyed every minute of it (or almost) and was very entertained. The murder mystery borrows from 2 classic Agatha Christie stories, but the book isn’t really a whodunit so much as a portrait of contemporary India.
The Westing Game – Ellen Raskin
Summary: A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing’s will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger—and a possible murderer—to inherit his vast fortune, on things for sure: Sam Westing may be dead…but that won’t stop him from playing one last game!
My grade: A // I picked this up without knowing it was a kids’ book, and had a rollicking good time with it. Such a fun mystery – if you love Clue (the book and the movie), you’ll enjoy this.
Wives and Stunners – Henrietta Garnett
Summary: Essentially a domestic biography whose main concern is the tragicomedy of manners enacted by a closely knit group of friends and lovers, Wives and Stunners tells the story of Janey Morris, Georgie Burne-Jones, Lizzie Siddall, Effie Gray and less well-known, Marie Spartali, Aglaia Coronio and Mary Zambacco. These women were the wives, mistresses andmuses, of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, the inspiration behind the work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones and John Millais. Set against the background of mid-Victorian bohemian England, Henrietta Garnett vividly evokes the world they inhabited and the lives they lived. She recounts the romances and friendships between the artists and the ‘stunners’ in a lively and original way and her book will appeal to anyone interested in Victorian England, the history of the Pre-Raphaelites and, significantly, to everyone who wants to read a spellbinding story of a bygone era.
My grade: B+ // This was well written and very interesting, but the author’s choices in narrating the various biographies were weird – for example, a good third of the book is devoted to Effie Gray’s life up to her marriage to Millais, and then her story is completely dropped. So I felt like there were gaps in the information I was getting which left me wanting to read more complete biographies of the various women.
Living in Squares, Loving in Triangles – Amy Licence
Summary: Sisters Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf have long been celebrated for their central roles in the development of modernism in art and literature. Vanessa’s experimental work places her at the vanguard of early twentieth-century art, as does her role in helping introduce many key names – Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso – to an unsuspecting public in 1910. Virginia took these artistic innovations and applied them to literature, pushing the boundaries of form, narrative and language to find a voice uniquely her own. Yet their private lives were just as experimental. Vanessa’s marriage to art critic Clive Bell was shaken early on by his flirtation with her sister, and Virginia’s marriage to Leonard Woolf placed him more in the role of carer than husband as he tried to meet the needs of his wife’s fragile mental health. However, forming the core of the Bloomsbury Group, they welcomed into their London and Sussex homes a host of their talented peers, and caused speculation and scandal by following their hearts, not society’s norms, in their continued pursuit of love. In Living in Squares, Loving in Triangles, Amy Licence explores the brave, passionate and innovative lives these remarkable women lived, and discovers where their strength and talent came from.
My grade: A- // I became obsessed with the Bloomsbury Group after watching the British drama series based on this book. If you like gossipy biographies, this group of artists is perfect subject matter. This book is a good intro, focused primarily on the Stephens sisters (Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf).
Everything Asian – Sung J Woo
Summary: A funny and incisive Korean family coming-of-age novel in stories about a 12-year-old boy who moves with his mother and sister from Korea to work at their father’s Asian gift shop in a New Jersey strip mall–and the growing pains that ensue. You’re twelve years old. A month has passed since your Korean Air flight landed at lovely Newark Airport. Your fifteen-year-old sister is miserable. Your mother isn’t exactly happy, either. You’re seeing your father for the first time in five years, and although he’s nice enough, he might be, well–how can you put this delicately?–a loser. You can’t speak English, but that doesn’t stop you from working at East Meets West, your father’s gift shop in a strip mall, where everything is new. Welcome to the wonderful world of David Kim.
My grade: B+ // This was a cute book, very much read like a novel version of a TV family drama. My main complaint is that the book started off with the Kim siblings as grown ups, but then never returned to that so we could get a sense of who they became after the events covered in the story. It left the book feeling incomplete to me.
Rules of Civility – Amor Towles
Summary: This debut novel presents the story of a young woman whose life is on the brink of transformation. On the last night of 1937, twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent is in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker, happens to sit down at the neighboring table. This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a year-long journey into the upper echelons of New York society—where she will have little to rely upon other than a bracing wit and her own brand of cool nerve. With its sparkling depiction of New York’s social strata, its intricate imagery and themes, and its immensely appealing characters, Rules of Civility won the hearts of readers and critics alike.
My grade: B- // Did not enjoy this as much as Towles’ A Gentleman In Moscow, which was perfect. I did not relate to either Katey or Tinker, or their myriad other friends and acquaintances. It seemed to me like the book was aiming to be a kind of Breakfast At Tiffany, but lacked the zest and zing of the original.
The City We Became – NK Jemisin
Summary: Three-time Hugo Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author N.K. Jemisin crafts her most incredible novel yet, a “glorious” story of culture, identity, magic, and myths in contemporary New York City. In Manhattan, a young grad student gets off the train and realizes he doesn’t remember who he is, where he’s from, or even his own name. But he can sense the beating heart of the city, see its history, and feel its power. In the Bronx, a Lenape gallery director discovers strange graffiti scattered throughout the city, so beautiful and powerful it’s as if the paint is literally calling to her. In Brooklyn, a politician and mother finds she can hear the songs of her city, pulsing to the beat of her Louboutin heels. And they’re not the only ones.
My grade: B+ // I loved the premise of this book, which is wildly imaginative, but it took me forever to get into this book. I almost gave up. I’m glad I stuck with it because the last 1/3 of the book was excellent and engrossing, but getting there was a bit of a slog. I think a big part of it, for me, was that I’m simply not that interested or emotionally invested in New York City, which is the literal centre and subject matter of the book.
When We were Orphans – Kazuo Ishiguro
Summary: Born in early-twentieth-century Shanghai, Christopher Banks was orphaned at the age of nine after the separate disappearances of his parents. Now, more than twenty years later, he is a celebrated figure in London society; yet the investigative expertise that has garnered him fame has done little to illuminate the circumstances of his parents’ alleged kidnappings. Banks travels to the seething, labyrinthine city of his memory in hopes of solving the mystery of his own, painful past, only to find that war is ravaging Shanghai beyond recognition-and that his own recollections are proving as difficult to trust as the people around him. Masterful, suspenseful and psychologically acute, When We Were Orphans offers a profound meditation on the shifting quality of memory, and the possibility of avenging one’s past.
My grade: B+ // I was super intrigued by the premise (famous detective looking back on his life and the mystery of his parents’ disappearance) but the book ended up going in different directions than I was expecting. I love the atmosphere, but found the last 1/3 of the book somewhat mystifying.
Vanessa Bell: Portrait of the Bloomsbury Artist – Frances Spalding
Summary: Vanessa Bell is central to the history of the Bloomsbury Group, yet until this authorised biography was written, she largely remained a silent and inscrutable figure. Tantalising glimpses of her life appeared mainly in her sister, Virginia Woolf’s, letters, diaries and biography. Frances Spalding here draws upon a mass of unpublished documents to reveal Bell’s extraordinary achievements in both her art and her life. She recounts in vivid detail how Bell’s move into the Bloomsbury Group and her exposure to Paris and the radical art of the Post-Impressionists ran parrallel with an increasingly unorthodox personal life that spun in convoluted threads between her marriage to Clive Bell, her affair with Roger Fry, her friendship with Duncan Grant and relationship with her sister.
My grade: A // As I mentioned above, I’ve been reading up on the Bloomsbury Group and, to me, the most intriguing member was Vanessa Bell. I really enjoyed this biography of her, and found it comprehensive, fair, and well written.
* All summaries taken from Amazon