pontalba's 2012 Reading List

[pontalba]

I finished Fifty Shades Freed tonight, and have to say it is the best written, best plotted of all of the trilogy. I only wish that the beginning had equalled the end, because I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that many of the readers of the first book will throw their hands up and say, no more! Darned shame that.

 

Yes, there is lots of sex, but that isn't all there is to the books. In-between the sex there is much emotional upheaval, dire plots, life threatening, harrowing escapes and finally.........heart rending redemption. Honest to God, true to life redemption of a man that would have been, could easily have been lost, except for a woman that loved, and saw through all the barricades he'd erected. Personally, I consider this trilogy to be one heck of a Romance.

[poppy]

I finished Fifty Shades Freed tonight.

 

Thank goodness for that Pont .....now onto some other books

[pontalba]

Thank goodness for that Pont .....now onto some other books

Well.....I hafta tell ya Poppy, I'm hoping for a sequel. That last book of the trilogy really made me care about the characters, and want to know What Happens Next.

[poppy]

Oh man, I didn't think of that!!!

[pontalba]

Due to some here being so enthusiastic about Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children I ordered it, and have received it, and boy, oh boy! I am certainly enjoying it, no end! Almost halfway through, and simply can't wait to read more.

 

Thanks Kylie, Sophia and chaliepud!

[julie]

Pontalba

The Shelby Foote novel sounds really good ! Thanks for reminding me of him . I used to run an online book club back in the days ... maybe the early 90's ,that was on AOL . Our book group was called Southern Writers ,and I do believe Shelby was on our "nominated" list, though never got voted in . Gonna have to hunt me up one sometime. It sounds really interesting .

[pontalba]

Julie, I am totally enamoured of Shelby Foote now! The first one was an accidental find at the Symphony Book Fair, but I've purchased several more through Amazon Marketplace. I had no idea he wrote fiction!

It's funny, when I was younger I wasn't interested in reading Southern authors too much, but age has taught me to value my heritage, so I'm trying!

 

When I read Absalom, Absalom! I swear the first few pages about Miss Rose could have been written about my paternal Aunt! Truly.

[Sofia]

Due to some here being so enthusiastic about Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children I ordered it, and have received it, and boy, oh boy! I am certainly enjoying it, no end! Almost halfway through, and simply can't wait to read more.

 

Thanks Kylie, Sophia and chaliepud!

 

told ya so

 

very glad you're enjoying it :)

[julie]

Pontalba

You talked me into it. Just now purchased Follow Me Down, plus Love in a Dry Season ,both for my kindle .

You are so very lucky to be from the South. A treasure trove of writers from there. They know how to tell a story like no one else can .

[pontalba]

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs was a totally unexpected delight. A wonderful combination of mystery and fantasy kept me glued to the book for a good part of the day, until I finished. Quest novels are always interesting to me, and with the mysterious beginning, it grabbed me right away. Jacob is the only one in the family that seems to connect with his seemingly paranoid grandfather, but is discouraged by his parents to feed what they consider the grandfather's fantasies and beginning Alzheimer's. But when the grandfather is horrifically murdered, Jacob knows that his grandfather was totally in his right mind. The twists and turns in the story finally lead to the old man's beginnings which leads to the fantastical island. Anymore, and I'd give away too much of the plot, but all I can say is "peculiar" is both fascinating and appealing. Jacob discovers himself and his own unique talents and for the first time in his life is comfortable in his own skin.

 

The book has a wide open ending for a sequel, or many perhaps. I certainly hope that is the case. Even so, the ending is satisfying.

 

Highly recommended.

[julie]

Pontalba

Great review. I read it when it first came out. I'm not a big fantasy fan,so it was a little hard for me to really get into,but I must say it is one of the neatest -looking books ever. I LOVE old pictures and the insides of the book with the old fashioned looking paper that looked almost like wallpaper ? That was so cool. I love old looking antique type things anyhow,so I was sold on the "look" of the book most of all .

I'm pretty sure there will be a part 2 to this one .

[poppy]

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs was a totally unexpected delight. A wonderful combination of mystery and fantasy kept me glued to the book for a good part of the day, until I finished. Quest novels are always interesting to me, and with the mysterious beginning, it grabbed me right away. Jacob is the only one in the family that seems to connect with his seemingly paranoid grandfather, but is discouraged by his parents to feed what they consider the grandfather's fantasies and beginning Alzheimer's. But when the grandfather is horrifically murdered, Jacob knows that his grandfather was totally in his right mind. The twists and turns in the story finally lead to the old man's beginnings which leads to the fantastical island. Anymore, and I'd give away too much of the plot, but all I can say is "peculiar" is both fascinating and appealing. Jacob discovers himself and his own unique talents and for the first time in his life is comfortable in his own skin.

 

The book has a wide open ending for a sequel, or many perhaps. I certainly hope that is the case. Even so, the ending is satisfying.

 

Highly recommended.

 

This sounds great !! *goes off to check if it's in the library* Sigh, 169 days wait. They only have one copy in our WHOLE area!!

Oh well, gives me a chance to read some of the other books on my ever increasing list

[pontalba]

Pontalba

Great review. I read it when it first came out. I'm not a big fantasy fan,so it was a little hard for me to really get into,but I must say it is one of the neatest -looking books ever. I LOVE old pictures and the insides of the book with the old fashioned looking paper that looked almost like wallpaper ? That was so cool. I love old looking antique type things anyhow,so I was sold on the "look" of the book most of all .

I'm pretty sure there will be a part 2 to this one .

 

Thanks Julie. Actually, the cover kind of put me off the book at first, I thought it was going to be one of those books on spiritualism, and I don't care for that. I was happily mistaken. I liked the pictures though after I got the context.

 

This sounds great !! *goes off to check if it's in the library* Sigh, 169 days wait. They only have one copy in our WHOLE area!!

Oh well, gives me a chance to read some of the other books on my ever increasing list

 

RATZ!!!

[Kylie]

Great review, Pontalba. I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did.

[pontalba]

Thanks Kylie. That's one off the TBR pile, although it only resided there for a couple of days...unusual for me.

[karen.d]

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs was a totally unexpected delight. A wonderful combination of mystery and fantasy kept me glued to the book for a good part of the day, until I finished. Quest novels are always interesting to me, and with the mysterious beginning, it grabbed me right away. Jacob is the only one in the family that seems to connect with his seemingly paranoid grandfather, but is discouraged by his parents to feed what they consider the grandfather's fantasies and beginning Alzheimer's. But when the grandfather is horrifically murdered, Jacob knows that his grandfather was totally in his right mind. The twists and turns in the story finally lead to the old man's beginnings which leads to the fantastical island. Anymore, and I'd give away too much of the plot, but all I can say is "peculiar" is both fascinating and appealing. Jacob discovers himself and his own unique talents and for the first time in his life is comfortable in his own skin.

 

The book has a wide open ending for a sequel, or many perhaps. I certainly hope that is the case. Even so, the ending is satisfying.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Great Review! This sounds a very intriguing book.

[pontalba]

Thanks! I enjoyed the twists and turns in it.

[pontalba]

I finished and she was by Alison Gaylin, a new author for me. The premise is an interesting one, the female protagonist suffers from an extremely uncommon affliction. At least it is somewhat of an affliction, Hyperthymestic Syndrome. She cannot forget anything, not the smallest detail, of any minute, hour or day, ever. Triggers can set her off into the past, to relive moments, a smell, a person, a voice....almost anything. Wonderful for a detective, miserable for her as a person. She was not born that way, it was triggered by a traumatic event. Her older sister got into a strangers car one day, and disappeared off the face of the planet.

 

The case she is working on has partially to do with a disappeared child, a murder, several in fact before it's over, and many unexpected twists and turns. This is first of a series, so there is the inevitable set-up, but it still moves along nicely.

 

Recommended.

[pontalba]

The Custom of the Army by Diana Gabaldon is a short story, although knowing Gabaldon as we do, nothing by her is actually short! More a novella.

It's a Lord John story, and covers a short time of his in America during the French Indian wars. The taking of Quebec actually. He is called there by an old friend to bear witness for him as the friend has been accused of failing to prevent a rebellion. An unusual charge, and one that must be defended. As per usual, there are many twists and turns in this satisfying story.

 

I'd swear I've read it before, and actually wonder if it is part of another larger story. Embedded. hmmmmm. Anyhow, read it, it's darned good.

 

Recommended. 4/5

[pontalba]

This was the weekend of the Library Sale around here, and August is usually half price month. Happily, it was in fact, fifty cent day and we bought several boxes of books, all came to 13.50 USD. Can't go too wrong for that, I know some were duplicates, but in a nicer form, for example with a dust jacket as opposed to none, or a hardback instead of a paperback. Haven't unpacked them yet, and don't know all of what my husband found, but I can't wait to do so!

 

A bit ago I finished A First-Rate Madness by Nassir Ghaemi. The front cover blurb says..."Uncovering the links between leadership and mental illness".

It profiles leaders like John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and compares Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill. There is a section on Tony Blair as well that is most illuminating. Ghaemi doesn't call these people "insane", but speaks of personality types for some, and others bi-polar illness, depressions and the like.

 

One of the most difficult sections for me, personally, was the one on General William Tecumseh Sherman, the infamous (American) Civil War General. Sherman's March through Georgia is one of the most brutal campaigns, ever. And, it actually was a forerunner of modern warfare, although it was more a revival of an ancient manner of warfare. Ghaemi brings out the whys and wherefores of Sherman's thinking and reasoning on that matter.

 

There is a fantastic section on Adolf Hitler regarding his particular insanity, and the huge role amphetamines played in his later paranoia etc.

All in all this book opened my eyes to much of the psychology of historical leaders, and why certain people were the best leaders for their times.

 

Highly Recommended 5++/5

[poppy]

That last one sounds fascinating K. What an interesting hypothesis that most leaders have some sort of mental illness. It's certainly very obvious in the likes of Hitler and Mussolini and anyone who is prepared to sacrifice so many people's lives for their cause.

What always astounds me is that such a ridiculous little man like Hitler could be so persuasive. You just have to watch him making his speeches and you see how ludicrous he was.

[julie]

Kat

Just had some comments on some of your last few books. The first,about the girl who can't forget anything ? I wonder if that new tv show that's on might be based on the book ? I think it's called Unforgettable ,and it has Poppy Montgomerry in it ( from Without a Trace ) . I havent watched it ,just seen the commercials .

 

Sounds like you had some good finds at the library sale too !

 

A quick comment on the last one --- First Rate Madness . I knew Sherman was pretty brutal and not well liked by many people. He took things to the extreme at times when he didn't have to . He did some pretty horrendous things, and I realize that when you are in a War ,everyone has to do horrendous things to survive and "win" (although I have a hard time believing anyone WINs when you have a war. Everyone loses . )

I'm with Poppy, regarding Hitler . It seems so hard to believe that a little sawed off runt like him could impress people enough ( in the beginning ) to make them believe he would do good things for their country . Watching the old footage of him or reading about him, you wonder what he ever HAD to convince so many people that he was gonna do good things .By the time he started doing the horrendous things, I think he had so much power behind him (and fear),that people followed his orders or else .

The JFK and MLK ones are surprising to me ,What type of disorders did they have ?

I haven't read much about MLK ,but I'd guess JFK must have suffered from depression possibly ? Just from reading some books about him, it sounds like he had an awful amount of pressure in his life to be the BEST . His father wouldnt settle for anything less . Plus I know he had many serious chronic health problems ,which would be hard to deal with on top of the responsibilities he had in his public life .

Edited August 19, 2012 by julie

[pontalba]

That last one sounds fascinating K. What an interesting hypothesis that most leaders have some sort of mental illness. It's certainly very obvious in the likes of Hitler and Mussolini and anyone who is prepared to sacrifice so many people's lives for their cause.

What always astounds me is that such a ridiculous little man like Hitler could be so persuasive. You just have to watch him making his speeches and you see how ludicrous he was.

 

I agree, but you know what they say about hindsight. 20/20

Too, remember the mindset of the place and times. Germany was being crushed by the terms of the Versailles Treaty, people were starving, literally. They'd have grabbed onto anyone that promised them a bright future, any future at all. I'm not saying that some of the terms of the Treaty were not warranted, but the truth is that a "winner" should not totally crush the subdued enemy, all it does (and did, in fact) was create a bigger and more desperate enemy.

 

 

 

 

Kay

Just had some comments on some of your last few books. The first,about the girl who can't forget anything ? I wonder if that new tv show that's on might be based on the book ? I think it's called Unforgettable ,and it has Poppy Montgomerry in it ( from Without a Trace ) . I havent watched it ,just seen the commercials .

 

Sounds like you had some good finds at the library sale too !

 

A quick comment on the last one --- First Rate Madness . I knew Sherman was pretty brutal and not well liked by many people. He took things to the extreme at times when he didn't have to . He did some pretty horrendous things, and I realize that when you are in a War ,everyone has to do horrendous things to survive and "win" (although I have a hard time believing anyone WINs when you have a war. Everyone loses . )

I'm with Poppy, regarding Hitler . It seems so hard to believe that a little sawed off runt like him could impress people enough ( in the beginning ) to make them believe he would do good things for their country . Watching the old footage of him or reading about him, you wonder what he ever HAD to convince so many people that he was gonna do good things .By the time he started doing the horrendous things, I think he had so much power behind him (and fear),that people followed his orders or else .

The JFK and MLK ones are surprising to me ,What type of disorders did they have ?

I haven't read much about MLK ,but I'd guess JFK must have suffered from depression possibly ? Just from reading some books about him, it sounds like he had an awful amount of pressure in his life to be the BEST . His father wouldnt settle for anything less . Plus I know he had many serious chronic health problems ,which would be hard to deal with on top of the responsibilities he had in his public life .

 

I'd not heard of that new series, but we don't have outside tv, we only stream a few things, and have DVDs.

 

JFK had Addison's Disease, and almost died from it numerous times. He self medicated to some extent, steroids and amphetamines apparently and that had certain effects as well. His doctors finally got a hold of the situation and toned down his meds and streamlined treatment to help him. All of that affected his mental outlook. Ghaemi suspects that he was bipolar as well, partly because of family history, but was not too extreme because of the Addison's Disease....something to do with low steroids in the body and terrible effects that has.

 

King suffered several bad depressions in his life, as did Sherman.

[poppy]

I agree, but you know what they say about hindsight. 20/20

Too, remember the mindset of the place and times. Germany was being crushed by the terms of the Versailles Treaty, people were starving, literally. They'd have grabbed onto anyone that promised them a bright future, any future at all. I'm not saying that some of the terms of the Treaty were not warranted, but the truth is that a "winner" should not totally crush the subdued enemy, all it does (and did, in fact) was create a bigger and more desperate enemy.

 

 

That's very true, it was just asking for trouble.

 

What amazes me is that leaders with quite severe depression, Churchill was a good example, still managed to do their job. Depression can make it very difficult to function and you have to admire leaders who carry on regardless (albeit that some made very bad decisions)

[pontalba]

Ghaemi claims that it was, in fact, Churchill's depressive personality itself that allowed him to see what Hitler was, and where it was going. Churchill had plumbed the depths, and had a realistic view of humans and human nature. Chamberlain, otoh, had a normal, upbeat outlook on life that was valuable during good times. He wasn't a stupid man according to Ghaemi, just unknowing of that sort of thing, so couldn't imagine anyone would or could act like Hitler.

 

To me the latter is really a form of stupidity, but perhaps that is too an harsh indictment. Probably is. It was, at the least, a stunning lack of imagination.

 

Oh, I couldn't admire Churchill any more that I do. He was a fantastic genius imo. So much heart. This book also gave me a new admiration for Franklin Roosevelt. I was pretty much on the fence regarding him, but I've come down soundly on his side now.

 

As I mentioned in my review, Sherman is simply considered a terrible villian down here, but. While his March was terrible, it has to be taken into consideration that he announced ahead of time exactly what he was going to do. The 'powers that were' at the time discounted him, and refused to surrender. They couldn't believe that would actually happen.

Interestingly enough, I think, that campaign can be looked at in sort of the same light as "tough love". The way the war was going at that point, it could have dragged on for far longer than it did, killing even more people, involving more generations. Sherman cut the heart out, true, but the war ended.

And, truth be told, Sherman cannot be blamed for Reconstruction. That was the thing that truly killed the South.

Sorry, don't mean to go on, but I find it endlessly fascinating.