Frankie reads 2013

[Karsa Orlong]

 

Dear Lord that's scary

[Kylie]

A trilogy is a series of books, that will end with the third novel. It's quite easy actually. Look it up in the dictionary.

 

Good burn, Frankie!

[frankie]

#3

 

Molli, maailman viisain koira

('Molli, the smartest dog in the world')

by Yrjö Kokko

 

 

 

 

Yrjö Kokko was a Finnish vetenarian and an author, and this is his book about his dogs and some of the dogs he encountered during a certain period of his life. I enjoyed reading about how he adopts this dog Molli which according to its previous owner is beyond help: it can't be trained and it's a real loony. Kokko makes fine progress with his dog raising methods and triumphs. However, there was a bit too much of history of dogs and how dogs are used for hunting different animals. And I certainly, majorly, disliked the fact that Kokko trimmed his dogs' tails off. Not nice, not cool at all!

 

A few anecdotes that made me giggle:

 

The dog that Kokko adopted was called Molli. A good, fine dog. One summer Kokko's daughter got a tortoise from a friend to take care of for some months. Molli didn't much like the tortoise: it would conquer one of the corners in the daughter's room while the daughter insisted that Molli sleep in the other corner. When the evenings got chillier as the autumn arrived, the tortoise realised that it was nicer and warmer next to Molli and it would come over and try to crawl under Molli. Molli didn't like it, because the tortoise's nails would be scratching her and digging into her belly. Molli was also annoyed when during the days the tortoise would creep over to the one spot on the floor where the sun shone and which was nice and warm and nice to lie on. It was after all Molli's favorite spot!

 

But then Molli got preggers and her whole attitude changed. She would start babying the tortoise, and she would allow him in the sunny spot with pleasure. He was also allowed to climb on top of Molli's belly. Molli didn't resent him anymore, one could see in her eyes how happy she was to look after the tortoise. And if the family had guests over, she would start shepherding the tortoise so that the guests would mind him and not trip over him or anything like that.

 

Then one night, Molli went into labour. Kokko heard whining from the bedroom and went in to see Molli lie on the floor as small as she could, and she had the tortoise in her arms and was looking sad, embarrassed and alarmed. There was a baby doggy abandoned in the middle of the room! Kokko believed Molli had misinterpreted the situation and had thought she had had an accident on the floor and was really embarrassed, especially when the accident was of a whining, whistling sort! Oh poor Molli... Kokko took the baby doggy and cleaned it up good and showed it to Molli and told her it was her baby. Then Molli understood what had happened and took the baby in and started mothering it. A very happy ending! She had a good friend in the tortoise now and also had a real baby of her own.

 

The other anecdote is something that Kokko's friend told him, it was about his dog Metu. Metu was prone to taking offence. I guess if I quoted the Penney book I reviewed yesterday, Metu "takes offence like it's going out of fashion". Anyhow, Metu was on a fishing trip with his owner. It was time for a snack and the man had some bread with butter and toppings, and Metu started asking for a snack for himself. The man had taken out a piece of bread and had thrown it on the ground for Metu. He'd also forgotten to put some butter on the bread. Metu felt deeply insulted as this was not the custom and also because the man wasn't nice enough to hand the bread to him from his hands. Greatly offended, Metu refused the snack and took off, and went home, leaving the owner behind To get home, he'd had to go around a few lakes, swim across a few rivers and walk maybe 6 miles. That takes character, wouldn't you say?

 

 

2/5

[frankie]

#4

 

The Secret Life of Bees

by Sue Monk Kidd

(a Rory Gilmore read)

 

 

 

 

Finnish blurb translated into English by frankie: 14 year old Lily Owens's life is shadowed by the mysterious death of her mother. It's 1964, the period of hate and racial segregation in the southern states of the United States. When Lily's beloved nanny Rosaleen gets into trouble because of the color of her skin, Lily decides to flee from her mean father with Rosaleen, and to discover the secret of her mother's death. Together the girl and her nanny come to discover the intriguing world of bees, honey and the Black Madonna.

The Secret Life of Bees is a story of friendship, freedom and yearning for love. Sue Monk Kidd masterfully depicts a young girl's need to find her mother and eventually herself.

 

 

Thoughts: According to my book lists, I bought this book in the summer of 2007, which was a year before I joined this forum. I hadn't heard of the book beforehand, but I liked the title and the blurb sounded interesting. And I also believe it was on sale. I have started reading the book a couple of times before now, without much success: I've dropped it in frustration after 10 pages or so. I didn't understand about the bees and I was somehow very confused and I didn't take to the characters. After that the book has spent many years on the shelf, with me glancing at it from time to time, rolling my eyes.

 

I know many of you have read the book and I've only heard great things about it. I had been thinking about giving the copy away, but as it was a Rory book and as I thought I shouldn't just abandon it because so many of you can't simply be so wrong, I decided it was about time I gave it another go. Especially as I've decided to read some of the books off my TBR pile which have been on my bookcases the longest.

 

I have no idea what my problem was on those previous occasions, because this time I fell completely in love with the book and couldn't finish it fast enough, eventhough I wanted to savour it. And I finally got the bees, too It was such an endearing book, although that is not to say it was all jolly good and well, because there were some really serious issues discussed in the novel. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all be like Lily, unprejudiced, curious and courageous, and go out into the world and take people as they come.

 

I think this would make a great reading for a lot of people, in a way I think this could be made into a recommended if not obligatory reading for kids in schools.

 

I think this would make a really nice movie, and I recently found out that the movie's actually been made already, but I'm not hot on Queen Latifah. I don't mind her acting, but I think she's a very high profile actor and I would've liked to see some new faces for this movie. Ah, the cast also includes Alicia Keys and Jennifer Hudson, I didn't recognise them from the DVD cover. Has anyone watched the movie, how is it?'

 

5/5

[frankie]

#5

 

Uncle Tom's Cabin

by Harriet Beecher Stowe

(1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die -challenge read, a Rory Gilmore read)

 

 

 

 

 

From Amazon: This is one of those books that everybody has heard about but few people these days have actually read. It deserves to be read - not simply because it is the basis for symbols so deeply ingrained in American culture that we no longer realize their source, nor because it is one of the bestselling books of all time. This is a book that changed history. Harriet Beecher Stowe was appalled by slavery, and she took one of the few options open to nineteenth century women who wanted to affect public opinion: she wrote a novel, a huge, enthralling narrative that claimed the heart, soul, and politics of pre-Civil War Americans. It is unabashed propaganda and overtly moralistic, an attempt to make whites - North and South - see slaves as mothers, fathers, and people with (Christian) souls. In a time when women might see the majority of their children die, Harriet Beecher Stowe portrays beautiful Eliza fleeing slavery to protect her son. In a time when many whites claimed slavery had "good effects" on blacks, Uncle Tom's Cabin paints pictures of three plantations, each worse than the other, where even the best plantation leaves a slave at the mercy of fate or debt. By twentieth-century standards, her propaganda verges on melodrama, and it is clear that even while arguing for the abolition of slavery she did not rise above her own racism. Yet her questions remain penetrating even today: "Is man ever a creature to be trusted with wholly irresponsible power?

 

Thoughts: After finishing The Secret Life of Bees I thought this would make a logical next read, the books discussing some of the same topics. UTC is a classic I've been meaning to read for a long time, and I always regretted it that I never managed to start it after reading Gone With The Wind, as was my plan at the time. The book is also one of those that has been on my TBR pile the longest, I acquired my secondhand copy in 2007.

 

I got into a great start with the novel. In the beginning we witness a scene where a gentleman is talking to a slave trader and they are talking business. The gentleman is in a financial distress and has to sell a few of his slaves in order to make ends meet. Later on when the slave trader comes to collect his new 'purchases', the mother of the little boy who was being discussed as an item to be sold takes off with his son and the slave trader starts to pursue them. The other slaves do their best in distracting the man and this is actually quite hilarious to read. The wit of men who take advantage of their status as lowly human beings and play dumb in order to blindside the evil men! I laughed out loud a couple of times.

 

After maybe the first hundred pages the book started to drag a bit. There was also a lot of political talk which I don't mind per se, but as it was something I have already read about and heard of before, it seemed a little dated, but that is of course to be expected as this is a novel from 1852. What was more, there was a lot of talk on religion and God and I don't mean to offend anyone but I'm not one to keenly listen to or read on things about religion.

 

The novel started out as a 5/5 read, but then I had to reduce it to 4/5, and after a while it got down to 3/5, from which it never recovered.

 

I liked the Finnish introduction to the novel, where it said that Harriet Beecher-Stowe had enjoyed writing stories already at an early age and loved her English classes where she could write. Living in the times she did, she witnessed all kinds of things to do with slavery and slave trade, and the humanity and inhumanity of it all. A lot of the things on the novel are true stories, ones that happened to people she knew or they were stories she heard as true stories from her family and friends. She was very distraught by everything and felt helpless because there was nothing she could do. Apparently her brother wrote to her at some point and said that if he could write like Harriet can, he would write about slavery so that the whole nation would come to know what an abominable business the whole slave business is.

 

3/5

[bobblybear]

Great reviews, Frankie. I've heard loads about The Secret Life of Bees but never actually knew what it is about. Uncle Tom's Cabin is also one I heard mentioned, but I always thought it was something to do with Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. I've just downloaded it onto my Kindle as it's free (and so naturally doesn't count towards my yearly limit on book purchases ).

 

Love the story of Molli and the tortoise, but I too would struggle to read about the dogs' tails being docked.

[Inver]

Oh I loved The Secret Life of Bees. I remember it was one of those books I let my imagination run riot trying to imagine what the characters looked like. I wasn't aware there was a film for it either, would love to see it.

[julie]

Secret Life of Bees was a great book. I didn't see the movie,so can't comment on it .I like Queen Latifah ,( just by seeing her interviewed on tv shows)

 

 

Frankie

Can I ask what the English Title was of the book with the jar on the front cover ? It sounds like a cute book ,but I won't be reading it anytime soon,unless I grow enough brain cells to learn a new language,and that's about as likely to happen asme winning the lottery . I was just curious what the name said on the front .

[Janet]

You obviously have an aversion to wigs and corsets, Janet.  And . . .  people who . . . talk . . . really slowly . . . and then . . . speedupattheendofthesentence.   

Lol!  I certainly do! 

 

I'll have a think and send you a PM if I come up with one   

Thanks again for the suggestions.    I will make an effort to read them some time soon(ish!).

 

Is it bad that I read that with Shatners voice in my head?

Haha – that’s really funny! 

 

Eewww Tom Cruise! They should really make more of an effort to keep him out of the movie business. The less I hear of him the better.

I’m with you on that one!  I just don’t see the attraction…  Mind you, I don’t see what women see in George Clooney either – just… ewww!

 

It's actually quite ironic that Janet's review on War of the Worlds made me want to read the book, seeing as Janet is not at all into

sci-fi/fantasy

I can’t remember if you actually did read it or not in the end?

 

I know what you mean, I'm definitely not one to pick up books with anything to do with space and spaceships, not voluntarily! And yet I read The Stars My Destination last year and I actually liked it. I'm still not keen on picking those kinds of books up but it was odd to think that I could actually manage to read something like that and maybe even enjoy it. I'm not saying that because I did it, so should you, no sirree. Like I said, I'm quite sure you have enough books to read as it is and can well go ahead on avoiding books you just don't feel like reading.

Steve has sent me a couple of suggestions – both relatively short.  One is sadly not available from my library authority but the other is so I’ll probably go with that one.  I can’t remember what it was called now but I’ve posted in my reading log so I don’t forget altogether!

 

 

 

 

 

[pontalba]

Excellent reviews Frankie.  I'll be buying The Tenderness of Wolves for sure.  Thanks.  I'd heard of it, but not followed up on anyone's review before.

 

I've read The Secret Life of Bees.....but it's been a long time, I did enjoy it.

[frankie]

Great reviews, Frankie. I've heard loads about The Secret Life of Bees but never actually knew what it is about. Uncle Tom's Cabin is also one I heard mentioned, but I always thought it was something to do with Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. I've just downloaded it onto my Kindle as it's free (and so naturally doesn't count towards my yearly limit on book purchases ).

 

I would definitely recommend The Secret Life of Bees if you are curious about it even the tiniest bit! I don't think I've come across with anyone who's actually not liked the novel.

 

Don't be embarrassed about the Huckleberry Finn & Tom Sawyer connection! It's not something I thought of but now that you mention it, it doesn't sound too curious a connection. All of the book were published in the latter half of the 19th century, and I think all had something to do with the South and slaves. I've not read HF or TS, but I think they have those things in common with UTC Hahah, good thinking on getting UTC on Kindle. It's free, doesn't count towards your tree TBR pile, and you won't be suffering financial problems and therefore massive irritation if you don't like the book

 

 

 

Love the story of Molli and the tortoise, but I too would struggle to read about the dogs' tails being docked.

 

I know, I was shocked when I read that Kokko did that, being a veterinarian and an animal lover! Not that it's any real excuse in my opinion, Kokko graduated from the vet school in 1930, and maybe tail docking was customary in those days and no one had ever considered it's just so unnecessary and (in my opinion) brutal. (Thanks for teaching me the word 'docking', by the way! Always happy to learn new words )

 

 

Oh I loved The Secret Life of Bees. I remember it was one of those books I let my imagination run riot trying to imagine what the characters looked like. I wasn't aware there was a film for it either, would love to see it.

 

If you watch it, let us know how you liked it! I hope it's good.

 

Secret Life of Bees was a great book. I didn't see the movie,so can't comment on it .I like Queen Latifah ,( just by seeing her interviewed on tv

shows)

 

 

Frankie

Can I ask what the English Title was of the book with the jar on the front cover ? It sounds like a cute book ,but I won't be reading it anytime soon,unless I grow enough brain cells to

learn a new language,and that's about as likely to happen asme winning

the lottery . I was just curious what the name said on the front .

 

 

Oh yes, of course, I forgot to translate the title into English for you guys. The literal translation is 'Little Potency Boutique' Who knows, maybe you'll win the lottery next week and will pay for classes in Finnish (or Swedish, it's a Swedish original after all)

 

 

 

 

I’m with you on that one!  I just don’t see the attraction…  Mind you, I don’t see what women see in George Clooney either – just… ewww!

 

I think you are my long lost twin sister: I can't see the attraction in George Clooney, either! He's so overrated. I'd have David Mitchell over him any time

 

 

I can’t remember if you actually did read it or not in the end?

 

 

 

In the end, I didn't. I think I went to the library to see if there were any copies available at the time but the English copy was borrowed and I wanted to wait for it. I've forgotten all about it ever since then, silly me!

 

 

 

Steve has sent me a couple of suggestions – both relatively short.  One is sadly not available from my library authority but the other is so I’ll probably go with that one.  I can’t remember what it was called now but I’ve posted in my reading log so I don’t forget altogether!

 

 

I'm sure he will remind you if you manage to forget...

 

[frankie]

Excellent reviews Frankie.  I'll be buying The Tenderness of Wolves for sure.  Thanks.  I'd heard of it, but not followed up on anyone's review before.

 

I've read The Secret Life of Bees.....but it's been a long time, I did enjoy it.

 

Thanks pontalba, I hope you enjoy The Tenderness of Wolves!   I think with The Secret Life of Bees, you can re-read it over and over, it's one of those books I think. I'm certainly thinking I'll keep my copy, I don't think I could part with it

[frankie]

I have some serious confessing to do

 

I wasn't to buy books this year til July. I bought the one Harry Potter book because I'd already read it and it was cheap and it was going on my permanent collection without giving me trouble with me TBR pile....

 

Then I went to Nurmes and I asked my parents if we could visit the library... The book sale system there has been really useless for the last 6 months or so and I thought I was going to be safe... But I wasn't!

 

So I bought five books. Yes, five. However, this is not going to mess up my TBR pile too much. Three of the books are about relaxation, stress release related feel-good books and I'm not going to read them cover to cover like normal books, and therefore they don't go on my TBR pile. And one of the books was from this Swedish YA series I collect, and I've already read the book. So it's not going on my TBR pile, it's only going on my permanent collection pile.

 

The only book that I haven't read before and which I'm going to have to add to TBR pile is a sort of a literary studies book. It's a Finnish book on lesbianism and lesbian 'culture' from the points-of-view of art and culture studies.

 

There. I've confessed! And will get back in line, back in control.

[Brian.]

Who are you trying to convince Sari, us or yourself

 

I can hardly be smug though, I've bought far too many books this year myself.

[frankie]

Who are you trying to convince Sari, us or yourself

 

I can hardly be smug though, I've bought far too many books this year myself.

 

Um... you guys and me But honest, only one book of the five would've counted towards my TBR if I had bought them last year, too, so it's not that much to do with my current challenge

 

You can be smug all you like, because you never said you wouldn't be buying any books til July

 

Oh, btw, do you have a copy of The Remains of the Day, or have you read it already? If no+no, I can send you my copy sometime

[Brian.]

Its a kind offer but I already have a copy, thanks anyway.

[frankie]

Its a kind offer but I already have a copy, thanks anyway.

Ah, okay Well there'll be others to send your way as soon as I get to actually reading them

[Janet]

I've bought 17 books this year - 16 in one go, so I'm in no position to criticise!    Anyway, 1 new 'to read' book is not bad!

[Janet]

I

I think you are my long lost twin sister: I can't see the attraction in George Clooney, either! He's so overrated. I'd have David Mitchell over him any time

In the end, I didn't. I think I went to the library to see if there were any copies available at the time but the English copy was borrowed and I wanted to wait for it. I've forgotten all about it ever since then, silly me!

 

Steve has sent me a couple of suggestions – both relatively short.  One is sadly not available from my library authority but the other is so I’ll probably go with that one.  I can’t remember what it was called now but I’ve posted in my reading log so I don’t forget altogether!

 

 

I'm sure he will remind you if you manage to forget...

 

Yay twinny - another non-GC fan!    I struggled to find a copy of The Descendants that didn't have him on the cover!     Ditto David Mitchell. 

 

If you do get round to The War of the Worlds, I hope you enjoy it.  And yes, I'm sure Steve won't let me forget! 

[frankie]

I've bought 17 books this year - 16 in one go, so I'm in no position to criticise!    Anyway, 1 new 'to read' book is not bad!

17! And 16 in one go?! Bloody hell. I was just in your log to read your latest posts and I didn't see a post on the book haul, did you 'accidentally on purpose' forget to tell us about your purchases

 

I thank you Janet for agreeing with me that 1 bought book towards the TBR pile is really not that bad. And it was a one off thing because I was in Nurmes... I'm soo going to stay away all secondhand bookshops and the like when I'm in Joensuu. And other places too. Yes

[Janet]

I did 'fess up - it was the Dickens set.  If I read two a year it'll take me 8 years to read them all! 

[frankie]

Yay twinny - another non-GC fan!    I struggled to find a copy of The Descendants that didn't have him on the cover!     Ditto David Mitchell. 

 

I've not heard of The Descendants, I'll have to google it. But I'm happy that you persisted and waited til you found a copy that wasn't tainted by GC

 

 

If you do get round to The War of the Worlds, I hope you enjoy it.  And yes, I'm sure Steve won't let me forget! 

 

I've heard other people say good thinks about TWotW, too. But it's just so funny that sci-fi is not your thing and yet you've read that book and enjoyed it We shall see if you'll like Replay. I'm not too surprised Steve suggested that book, I believe it was his favorite read last year, and he sent me a copy of it for Christmas That was very nice (and maybe only a bit own agenda-like) of him

[frankie]

I did 'fess up - it was the Dickens set.  If I read two a year it'll take me 8 years to read them all! 

Oh, sorry! I did catch that post but totally blanked and didn't realise it contained 16 novels!    That's pretty fantastic of you, I know you've said you are moderately new to classics. I hope you enjoy all of the novels

[frankie]

It's time for another

 

Dog and its Author!

 

 

 

 

 

What a beauty!

[Kylie]

Haha. You naughty girl, Frankie! I love that you launched into such a long explanation for why four of the books shouldn't count towards your TBR pile. Yeah...you just keep coming up with those excuses, woman. There is no denying that you bought 5 books when you said you would buy none!  

 

I've bought 17 books this year - 16 in one go, so I'm in no position to criticise!    Anyway, 1 new 'to read' book is not bad!

 

Heehee! Someone has bought more books than I have during the year to date! That doesn't happen often. I wonder if I can find any more bulk book deals to tempt you further. You bought them from The Book People, right?