Booklog for Charlotte

Books to Read

Gilgamesh by Joan London.  2001 book by Australian writer.  Tony's Book World says, "An incredible journey from the wilderness of western Australia to the wilderness of Armenia told in a blunt and powerful style."  Available at Jefferson-Madision.

Etgar Keret, short story writer from Israel.  Suddenly, a Knock at the Door, short stories, is available as an audiobook, read by a variety of readers including Ira Glass.

Prague Winter by Madeleine Albright.  Available as audiobook read by her.

Manhunt by Peter Bergen. 

Bring Up the Bodies, next in Hilary Mantel's trilogy.

Books to Read

Trilogy by Henry Handel Richardson, pseudonym of Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson, an Australian who lived from 1870 to 1946.  The first book is Australia Felix, the second, The Way Home, and finally, Ultima Thule.  Thanks to Tony, guest writing for Whispering Gums.  At UVa, not Jeff-Madison.

Catherine the Great.  Robert K. Massie.  In Clemons.  

Cleopatra: a life by Stacy Schiff.  Reviewed in NYT, widely praised.  

Revelations by Elaine Pagels.  Reviewed by Ron Charles, Adam Gopnik.

Man Seeks God by Eric Weiner.  Saw him speak at Cville Festival of the Book.  Audiobook.

Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul by John M. Berry.  Review in Washington Post.  Available at Jefferson Madison on 14 cds or in print at UVa.

The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James.  Audiobook, after all the book is a series of lectures he made.

 

Books to Read or Listen to

Amitov Ghosh.  First two books of a trilogy are Sea of Poppies and River of Smoke.  Audiobook and kindle formats.

Little Princes by Conor Grennan.  Recommended by Molly.

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, won the Mann Booker Prize.  Asylum reviewed it and explained the murky ending (in the comments section).

Touch by Alexi Zentner.  Reviewed by Reading Matters and Kevin from Canada

Balzac's Omelette by Anka Muhlstein.

A Stranger to History by Aatish Taseer.  Amazon used book only.

1491 by Charles Mann.  Audiobook, public library.

Leaving Ardglass by William King.  Contender for Reading Matter's favorite book of the year, not at UVa, available for kindle.

Montana, 1948 by Larry Watson.  Kevin from Canada loved it.

Five Bells by Gail Jones.  Set in Sydney, Reading Matters gave it 5 stars.  Not available yet -- can pre-order with Amazon for Feb. 2012.

Three Weeks in December.  Audrey Schulman.  NYT review

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.  An excerpt in the NYT magazine Feb. 19 was great.  Audiobook.

The Road to Ruins by Ian Graham.  Charming archeologist, review in The Atlantic. 

 

Books to Read or Listen to

River Town by Peter Hessler.  Recommended by a guest writer on Reading Matters.  Written by an American journalist who spent two years at a town at the juncture of the Wu and Yangzte rivers. Available at Jeff-Madison, UVa, and as audiobook.

The Greater Journey:  Americans in Paris by David McCullough.  available as an audiobook and kindle.

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks.  Available for kindle and audiobook.

Sacred Trash:  The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza (Jewish Encounters).  Reviewed in the NYT.

Doc:  a Novel by Maria Doria Russell.  Available for kindle and audiobook.

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt.  Audiobook, kindle.  Is on the Booker longlist.

So Long, See you Tomorrow by William Maxwell.  Audiobook, Clemons.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson.  Audiobook.

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom.  Audiobook and kindle

Walker Percy's The Moviegoer

 

 

 

 

Books to Read or Listen to

Paul Auster's new book:  Sunset Park.  audiobook narrated by Auster.

Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman.  Set in Melbourne.  Reading Matters gives it 5 stars.  In the public library.

Steve Martin books are available as audiobooks.

My Brother Jack by George Johnston.  All time favorite book of Reading Matters.  Set in Australia.

MJ Hyland's This is How.  Top 10 lists of Reading Matters and Whispering Gums.

Harp in the South by Ruth Park.  Eminent Australian writer, wife of Nyland D'Arcy.  Available at Jeff-Madison.

The Dream of Reason:  A History of Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance by Anthony Gottlieb.  Audiobook, Jefferson-Madison, Clemons.

In the Valley of the Shadow:  On the Foundations of Religious Belief by James L. Kugel.  Reviewed in the NYT.  Should be a very good book to listen to.

David Malouf:  Remembering Babylon (Jeff-Mad), Fly Away Peter, etc.

Barney's version, mordecai Richler (Steve's reading it now)

Antonia Fraser's The Gunpowder Plot - audiobook

Books to Read or Listen to

Landscape of Farewell by Alex Miller.  I came across this review on Suite101.com, a Canadian company whose descriptive line is "Insightful writers.  Informed readers."  

Audiobooks that sound interesting are two by Ross King (who wrote Brunelleschi's Dome):  Michelangelo and the Pope's Chapel and The Judgment of Paris:  The Revolutionary Decade that Gave the World Impressionism.  Another is Colossus by Michael Hiltzik, about the building of the Hoover Dam.

Four books by Dave Eggers are available on iTunes as audiobooks, including Zeitoun (a Katrina story).

The Widower's Tale by Julia Glass is in audiobook form.

Australian Literature

I met Faye Christenberry who has just completed a bibliography of Australian literature and of course she had lots of recommendations.  Among them:  Tim Winton's Dirt Music, early Kate Grenville (Joan Makes History, I think), Alex Miller, winner of several Miles Franklin awards, especially Journey to Stone Country.   When Tim Winton was in Seattle he cheerfully signed her boatload of his books.  It sure was fun to talk to such a fan.  

Books to Read

I went to the Charlottesville Festival of the Book and heard about these books that just sound wonderful:

At a session called Women in Transition these authors talked about and read from their novels:

Reunion by Therese Fowler; the protagonist is a successful talk show host who gave up a baby as a teenager to avoid her mother's limited life as a single parent.

The Safety of Deeper Water by Tim Poland; a woman who decided at the last moment she would not help in her husband's jailbreak becomes a fly fisherman.

Basil's Dream by Christine Hale; the protagonist in an overdue effort to break out of a smothering marriage, makes a huge mess.

At the memoir session, I picked up The Loveliest Woman in America, which tells about author Bibi Gaston's discovery of the story of her grandmother, niece of Gifford Pinchot and movie star, who killed herself at age 33.

The Country of Pointed Firs by Sarah Jewett, recommended by Corinne.

Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin, 2009 National Book Award winner, highly recommended by Pat.

Books to Read

Paul Auster's Invisible.  The NYT reviewer thinks it's his best.

Richard Flanigan.  An Australian writer, a favorite of Reading Matters.

Karen Armstrong's The Case for God.

The Perfect Heresy:  The Revolutionary Life and Death of the Medieval Cathars by Stephen O'Shea.  Described In the further reading section of A Castle in the Backyard as a short, readable history of the sect and the crusades against it.

The Cave Artists by Ann Sieveking.  Also from the further reading section of A Castle in the Backyard.

Archie and Amelie:  Love and Madness in the Gilded Age by Donna Lucey

Victorian Internet:  The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers by Tom Standage

Books to Read

The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville.  Reviewed in the nyt 9/27.  Fiction based on the life of a British marine who was in the First Fleet and tells of his connection to the Aboriginal culture, checked out (10/23) at UVa library.

The Dairies of Jane Somers by Doris Lessing, recommended by blogger Patience Crabstick.

The Spare Room by Helen Garner, recommended by Reading Matters, set in Australia, available at UVa library, not itunes.

A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark, available at the public library (central)

Australian Voices:  Writers and their work by Ray Willbanks, avail. at Alderman.