Hi all. I hope you’re having a pleasant fall. It’s been nice here and warm conditions make it feel like it’s an Indian summer, but I know others far away are on the run from Hurricane Milton so hopefully they can get out of its path in Florida. What’s being predicted doesn’t look good. What a worry for the state’s Gulf side.
Meanwhile next week the city’s book festival is going on here along with a Challenger pro-tennis tournament, so I’ll be driving back and forth to those events. At the festival, I’ll be seeing authors Roddy Doyle, Anne Enright, Robyn Harding, and Rachel Kushner speak about their new novels. I sort of want to see Nita Prose and Alice Winn too, but I’m not sure I will get there since we live a ways away. I will report back on what happens.
Also my husband and I recently saw British nonfiction author Ben Macintyre talk about his recent book The Siege, which gives a suspenseful account of the 1980 hostage crisis that took place at the Iranian Embassy in London.
Whoa, I don’t recall much about it at the time — perhaps since the other Iranian hostage crisis was going on and I was in high school — but it was a very tense, dangerous situation. Macintyre’s books are all very good, especially his 2014 book A Spy Among Friends about British spy Kim Philby. It was great to see him and he gave a great talk about his new book, which sounds like a page-turner.
Now let’s check out the various books I picked up from the library recently. Here’s my library loot at left. Have you read any of these? They all look pretty good, but I might not get to many this time around, since I signed up for Ti’s October read-along of Of Human Bondage, which I need to start pronto. I just finished a novel for PW, so that distracted me for a bit. Now I’m back to pick up Somerset Maugham’s 1915 classic, which seems like it’ll be terrific. Yay.
And now I’ll leave you with a couple reviews of novels that I finished lately.
I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger / Grove / 336 pages / 2024
4 stars. It’s been years since I read author Leif Enger back when he wrote his lovely debut Peace Like a River, which actually was published on 9/11/2001 — not a good pub date! But here I was 20 years later reading his newest tale, which I couldn’t resist —set along Lake Superior in the not so distant future, where much has closed, violence is out there, and people are barely getting by. Groups of people have been opting out by taking a suicide drug known as Willow.
But bar-band bass guitarist Rainy is doing his best with his beloved wife Lark, who owns the bookstore in town and seems like the coolest, poetic person on earth. But when a boarder (Kellan) comes to stay at their place — little do they know that he’s being pursued by bad guys who want the drug stash he stole from them. As Kellan flees, the bad guys descend upon the house while Rainy is out and cause heartbreak for him to find.
Rainy takes to a sailboat to escape and to try to find Lark’s spirit amid the Slate Islands where they once sailed together. Along the way he stops in various coastal towns for supplies and finds he’s being shot at and pursued. Meanwhile out on the lake, he meanders his grief and learns how to manage the boat under tough storm and lake conditions. It’s dicey trying to stay alive out there on so little rations and he meets one couple onshore that help. Later at another stop, he helps a young girl (Sol, age 12) get out of her harsh predicament and she becomes a passenger on his boat. Eventually the bad guys catch up and things play out on a large medicine ship.
Much of the story is vividly and movingly rendered like the misty fog on the lake and Rainy’s feelings onboard, and other parts get a bit slow, weighed down and long. But still you keep on to see how it will play out and how Rainy will fare. The ending with the bad guys gets a bit suspenseful — and afterwards I felt like I had been through the ordeal and I thought about the book for quite a while. Kudos to Enger for this dystopian tale and its chilly lake setting.
The Women by Kristin Hannah / St. Martin’s / 471 pages / 2024
4+ stars. The first half of this novel I liked best about young American nurse Frankie McGrath’s time helping the wounded in Vietnam circa 1966-1969 and the friends (Barb, Ethel, and doc Jaime) she meets while there. She follows in her brother’s path to Vietnam. The first half is fast paced and really details how tough it was and the contributions the nurses made, and how young they were. Innocent Frankie comes into her own there as time goes on and she finds she’s good at being a nurse and helping save the lives of soldiers torn apart.
Along the way, I didn’t doubt Frankie made close friends and fell for a couple men over there during such intensity. But when she gets back to the States after her service, so much goes wrong at each turn that it’s a heavy dose of drama. Though I don’t underestimate that Veterans struggled to acclimatize when they returned from the war and were looked down upon by a society that had turned against the war. Many did and became dependent on drugs and alcohol to ease their nightmares and pain.
Frankie’s struggles with her parents and how the country perceived Vietnam nurses as pretty much invisible and like non-veterans seems well described. But later the twists that come with the relationships she has (one in particular with a Navy officer) goes sort of overboard. It gets a bit drippy. Yet still all the research the author obviously did into the Vietnam War and the vet nurses comes through and makes it a worthy respectful story of their contributions and perhaps is her best book yet … though I have only read her novel The Nightingale. I listened to The Women on audio narrated movingly by Julia Whelan.
That’s all for now. What about you — have you read these and what did you think?
These all look so good.
Good thing OHB is so readable. Really surprised me, actually. Very easy to dive into.
Hi Ti, that’s great to hear, so hopefully I can catch up on OHB. I think Maugham is very readable as I read his novel The Razer’s Edge long ago and was captivated by it. So I’m keen to read OHB. Enjoy your week.
Beautiful pic! The Siege piqued my interest but I don’t read as much nonfiction as I would like to because I find it more time consuming than fiction. As you know, I read three out of your library stack—Held, Orbital, and Enlightenment. Each has its pluses and minuses, though Enlightenment was my favorite of the three; it was a case of right book at the right time. I enjoyed its Gothic atmosphere a great deal. Held will be the most impactful of the three. The big reveal is subtle, but whacks you in the head nonetheless; it’s so unexpected…Anyway, I hope you enjoy the library bundle regardless of how many you read. Enjoy all the upcoming events and come back to tell us all about them. 🙂
I was so focused on the library bunch that I forgot to comment on your reads. I agree with your assessment of I Cheerfully Refuse. I downgraded from 4* to 3.5* for the heavy navigation lingo but otherwise I enjoyed the story overall.
ps. I think I saw your Leif Enger review and agreed with it. The story bogs a bit but still liked it. Took me a while to read but nice to read an author I hadn’t read in so long. It made me imagine large Lake Superior and the sailing on it. 🙂
Hi Carmen! Thx for your note as always. I agree with you about nonfiction being more time consuming generally. I sort of want to read the Giles Milton book called The Stalin Affair. But now that I’m starting Of Human Bondage, it’s likely that I’ll have to return much of my library loot. Darn. But we’ll see. I’ll try to get it back again. And I’m glad for your thoughts on all three books. Very helpful. Did you read these as ebooks or print copies? Just wondering. I mostly read print from the library but I sometimes get ebook deals at $1.99 … like I did with OHB. Have a great week.
I read Kindle copies. Held and Orbital are in the low 200+ page mark, so you could easily squeeze them in, though I wouldn’t necessarily say they are easy reads, especially Orbital.
Yeah I thought you read on Kindle. I should read these short books but things are a bit crazy busy right now … so we’ll see when I can back on track. Oct. is busy, who knew? Enjoy your reads.
Oh, a book festival! I would love that and especially to see and hear Roddy Doyle and Ann Enright. Please do tell us about that and maybe some photos? 🙂
The Siege is certinaly going on my list, I want to read that one. You are my book enabler and happy of it. haha. I read The Women and thought it portrayed how women in the militarry were treated as accurate. Thought it was good book and was so mad at her parents for ow she was treated. The PTSD was well written in and how she was turned away from men’s groups.
We are a week out from our Nebraska trip and I am excited about it. Milton is to our south but my brother-in-law is in Tampa so we will see how that works out. Helene delivered an almost fatal blow only 12 days ago. It’s sad.
Hi Tina, it’s very worrisome this hurricane so close after Helene. Ugh. Thinking of you there and the people in its path. I didn’t realize you’re headed on a trip soon … terrific! And good timing to get away.
I’m glad to be a book enabler, ha. And I agree totally with you about The Women …. her parents were terrible when she returned home, good grief! And I think Hannah did a good job portraying the stresses of such service … and how the nurses were not well recognized for it. I thought it might be her best book.
I’m looking forward to the book festival and will go about 3 days and will report back. My only gripe is that I want to see three author events but they’re all at the same time next Saturday so it was a tough choice between which to go to.
Have a wonderful time on your trip.
I wanted to let you know I have not been active blogging but I am still great for our buddy read in a few weeks. Just let me know the date you want to start.
This weekend I will be in Nebraska, next week a few days after we get home we head for Memphis TN. I’ve just had my mind on so much…storms and travel and can’t settle right now on a book. My Brilliant Friend is much anticipated!!
Hi Tina, sorry for the delay. Just saw your message. It sounds like you’ll be traveling a bit coming up. But perhaps we should start our read Nov. 4 (?) and try to finish by sometime in the week of Nov. 18. (I’m giving myself the extra time but you can read quicker if you want.) Perhaps I will email you the particulars and we can discuss. I hope your trips are enjoyable. Talk soon.
Those sound like good dates! My email is tmculbertson AT gmail DOT com. I may use an old aol address to comment on your blog as the gmail was previously attached to a WordPress blog and they always wanted me to sign in.
Anyway, November 4 sounds great!
It’s terrible about Hurricane Milton. I don’t live within the area affected. I am so sorry for the people who do and I hope most got out in time.
I must read Kristin Hannah. I have her novel The Great Alone and hopefully I will get to it before the end of the year.
Have a great time at the book festival and I hope you get to see Nita Prose and Alice Winn.
Hi Kathy, glad you’re out of the way of Milton. You’re in southern FLA right? It already looks terrible — all the damage around the Sarasota area. holy smokes.
See what you think of Kristin Hannah — sometimes she tries to throw in plot twists that seem a bit much — but I thought this Vietnam novel had good research behind it.
The book festival should be fun, thanks. I’ll see what happens.
Enjoy your reading.
Love your red tree–my burning bush is at its peak now too.
I still need to read Peace Like a River, but I Cheerfully Refuse has such a fabulous cover! However, I am not sure I can deal with a dystopian novel right now.
Still on the fence with regards to The Women–I know it will be great, but again, I need to be in the right head space to make it through that book.
Enjoy your October books!
Hi Jane, thanks. I wasn’t sure about The Women either … but then it seemed to go quickly … and perhaps it was a bit better than I expected it to be. Still the relationship stuff gets a bit crazy.
And I sort of want to go back and reread Peace Like a River since I read it long ago pre-blog. I want to see which novel I like better of Enger’s.
I hope you’ll take some pics of your trees there. Would like to see. Enjoy your books too. Nice time of year.
I have to recommend the Hannah book to my husband who is a veteran of the Vietnam War. It’s not a book that he would normally pick up but based on your description, I think he might like it.
Hi Dorothy, the first half of The Women is pretty good …. intense about the nurse days in Vietnam and it moves quickly. I think Hannah did quite a bit of research from nurses who were there … she talks about this at the end of the book. Perhaps your husband might like it. Though the character has hard times when she returns to the States. See what he says.
Enjoy your reading.
I really liked The Women! Seeing the Vietnam War through the eyes of combat nurses was a perspective that I appreciated, and not one that you normally get to see. And I hope you enjoy both the book festival and tennis tournament next week!
Thanks Lark. I agree I liked The Women’s perspective of the combat nurses in Vietnam too. I hadn’t read about it before … but I did watch bits of the show China Beach long ago. Though I can’t recall it too well … and I wonder if it was similar or not really. Did you see it? Have a nice weekend.
I loved China Beach! And parts of this book did remind me a lot of the show. It definitely made me want to go back and watch some episodes of it. 😀
Yea! Gosh we’re dating ourselves. China Beach! It reminded me too. I wonder if you can find that show anywhere to watch? It’s been a while, lol.
I caught some of the footage online of Milton. Those tornadoes looked so scary. The whole storm was frightening. I feel for everyone impacted by it. I hope the book festival and tennis tournament go well! It sounds like a lot of traveling back and forth for you, but hopefully worthwhile. The Siege sounds like an interesting read. I am really interested in reading The Women and am glad to see you liked it, Susan. It’s a time period that interests me in part because my dad had to fight in that war. I haven’t read any of your library loot, but there are a couple there I hope to: Frozen River and Orbital. Sarah Perry’s book looks good too! I hope you are having a great week, Susan!
Thanks LF, I hope they can recover from Helene & Milton. What a disaster — both of the storms so close together. Quite a nightmare there.
I think you will like The Women especially since your Dad was there and it’s a quick read too. I was a little on the fence going into it but glad I read it after.
Many of these library books I won’t get to right now — but it’s okay I will keep them on my radar for another time. So many books, too little time, lol.
Hope you have a great weekend!
The book festival and the authors you will see there sound very exciting and I am eager to hear about it.
My husband and I are both fans of Ben Macintyre; Glen reads more nonfiction than I do (that is an understatement) and has read more of his books than I have. I have read A Spy Among Friends and Operation Mincemeat.
Both of the fiction books you reviewed sound good. I have still not decided whether to read The Women. The subject matter and the time and place would be good; just not sure about the rest.
Hi Tracy, the book festival should be good (I’ll be seeing three events) and I’ll report back what happens. It was great seeing Ben Macintyre …. he is quite impressive and astute about the books he writes and all the info and research that goes into them. I think your husband &/or you would probably like The Siege. I didn’t get a copy but could get it later. A Spy Among Friends still creeps me out about what Philby did and how others didn’t see it for a long time.
I had qualms going into The Women but despite some craziness in the latter half thought it was pretty good. But read it or not on your own volition. Vietnam was not an easy time for so many.
I hope your days are beautiful there. Happy reading.
Susan, I was thinking about the years that were covered in the book (while the protagonist was in Vietnam). In 1966 I was around 17 going into my freshman year in college. I dropped out after freshman year, went back to college 1.5 years later. During that time my boyfriend joined the Army and could easily have gone off to Vietnam (we lost touch, I don’t remember) and my next boyfriend (and first husband eventually) was in college ROTC, planning to go into the Air Force directly after college. One of our friends at college who took Aeronautical Engineering courses with my first husband had been a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. Later, 1973 and after, my first husband flew B-52s in the Air Force (but never in Vietnam). So I was aware of Vietnam but at a distance. I should read the book, but I will probably wait until I can get it at a more reasonable price.
Wow Tracy you were definitely in that era and knew many in the military, though I’m glad you were a bit at a distance from the war. I am a bit eager to see what you think of the novel. I think the book will drop in price as people have read it and toss it out, lol. The first half is pretty intense “in country” – the second half is more stateside. See what think when you get to it.
I also really enjoyed The Women and liked that it covered a part of the Vietnam Conflict that we don’t normally hear about.
Did you ever watch Argo (film about the Iranian Hostage Crisis); I liked it.
Hi Helen, yes I did watch Argo and liked it a lot … though I think some Canadians have issues with the film since it glorifies the CIA’s role but doesn’t give credit to the Canadian Ambassador & role the Canadians played in getting them out. So people were a bit miffed about it here.
I’m glad you liked The Women and I agree … the nurse side of the conflict has rarely been told. It was good to me. And I think your review was one that made me pick it up.
Sounds like you’re having a busy fall, Susan! That tree (maple?) is stunning. We saw such gorgeous fall colors in Wyoming, but also on our drive home between Sisters and Salem, OR. I wanted to pull off the road and take a few shots, but none of the pull-outs were on my side of the road, and I had a few cars behind me, which makes stopping the RV quickly almost impossible.
Can’t say that I’ve read anything in your library loot, but I’ll be interested to read your reviews in the coming weeks. Hope you enjoy Of Human Bondage. I considered joining Ti’s group, but knew I’d be too distracted with getting home and getting ready to head to CA in two weeks.
I’ve read Peace Like a River (enjoyed it) and tried one of his more recent books (Virgil Wander), but couldn’t get into that one. I Cheerfully Refuse sounds like one I might enjoy. Guitarist. Bookstore owner. Sailboat. What’s not to love, right? And the cover art is stunning!
You enjoyed The Women much more than I did. I couldn’t get past the romantic drama…
Hope you’re having a lovely weekend!
Hey Lesley, thanks for your comments on these posts. I think it might be an elm tree but I will confirm that. I hope you’re home now and had a great drive back. I will visit your site soon. I need to catch up … and I’m also behind on my reading. I’m just starting Of Human Bondage!
I think I want to go back sometime and reread Peace Like a River … it’s been since 2001. I Cheerfully Refuse has some vivid imagery (and I liked the sailboat part and being on Lake Superior) but it’s also a slow burn so it’s hard to say if you will love it or leave it, lol.
Luckily the romantic drama in The Women was in the latter part of the book so for me it didn’t take away from everything else beforehand. I liked the first half the best. And I think she did some strong research into the combat nurses. The friendships in the story were pretty strong. But the parents?!
Hope you can rest up at the Cove. Enjoy.
By now you’ve probably already gone to the book festival… hope it was a success. Great author line up, I’d especially like to see Anne Enright Your books look good, but I never realized Peace Like a River was published on 9/11/01! Hannah has been hit or miss for me, but I’d still like to read The Women at some point. My sister really liked it.
We were lucky to escape flooding with Milton. Water/sewer was restored today, but they are still working on the power outages. And who knows when internet and cable will be back…. It’s been a long season. Glad we’re still in CT.
Hi JoAnn, thx for your note. It’s good you’re still in CT and I look forward to hearing about your NYC book talks! I was surprised that I liked The Women quite a bit despite a stronger first half than the second. Still it’s worth reading and the audio with Julia Wheelan is quick and a bit gripping in places.
I’m headed to the book festival this coming weekend …. so I haven’t been yet but I’m excited. So glad your house escaped the flooding and I hope hurricane season is soon over. Enjoy your fall days.
Your library loot looks so enticing! My problem with the library is that the books I’ve put on hold all come in the same week, it seems, and I can never finish them in time. Invariably, I go to Half Price Books and just buy what I want, and then return with bags to sell. I think your method is more practical.
Hurricane Milton on the heels of Hurricane Helene, was not a harbinger of hope. My brother lives in a boat off of Naples, and we were praying for his safety like crazy. Fortunately, no one was hurt, which, I hope, is the same for those you know.
Hi Bellezza, good to hear from you. It’s great to hear your brother was not hurt by Milton. That’s worrisome that he was on a boat off Naples! What a relief he’s okay. It’s a shame all the damage from the two hurricanes.
And I have the same library book problem. I can’t get to all of the books at the same time. I usually have to put my name back on the wait list if I return them unread, sigh. Still I’m glad the library has most if not all the books I ask for.
I’m looking forward to Norway in November though I have a long read right now going of Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham, which I need to make progress on. Hope your having a nice fall. Enjoy your reads.
How are you getting on with the library haul? I found How to Say Babylon a solid memoir. It is well-written and I enjoyed learning about Rastafarian culture. Orbital tempted me, when I first came across it, but it has got very mixed reviews. I haven’t read anything by Kristin Hannah. Somehow, I got the impression, her writing isn’t for me and your review hasn’t changed my mind. In particular, I am not a big fan of melodrama and overly sentimental storylines.
Looking forward to hear about the festival!
Hi Stargazer, sad to say I haven’t been able to touch the library haul, sigh. I’ve gotten into this read-along of Somerset Maugham’s Of Human Bondage and it’s a long one! I hope to finish it by the end of Oct. It’s a bit endless.
I remember you saying you liked How to Say Babylon and it’s still one I really want to get to. Perhaps I’ll try the audio. I’ll keep it on my radar.
I’m curious what will win the Booker in Nov. Will it be James? Or The Safekeep?
The festival is going well … and if it doesn’t snow tomorrow I’ll see Rachel Kushner talk about her novel. Hope you are well there!
I thought I commented on this post! I remember reading through it. Not sure what happened. Just looking at the cover of I Cheerfully Refuse I wouldn’t think it was a dystopian story. It does sound like it would be intense and harrowing in spots. I remember the other Iranian hostage situation, I was in school too and I remember being worried over it. I don’t remember the one in London. I was a kid, though. Hope you enjoyed the book event!
Thanks Rachel. Yeah I don’t remember the London hostage event in 1980 either, but it went for like 6 days … not like the one in Tehran that lasted so long. Apparently the London one was very intense though.
And I agree, the cover of the Leif Enger novel is a bit alluring and not too dystopian. The book is a slow burn and at first you don’t notice it’s dystopian. There’s less of that than you think but things are a bit off-kilter — and near the end it has a couple tense parts. But in general it’s more slow burn than action packed. Still I liked it. Enjoy your books!
I really enjoyed The Women but I agree the part in Vietnam was much better. Also, for two men to not really be dead was too much of a stretch. The relationship angst, while too sudsy, was probably indicative of how hard it was to build ordinary relationships after going through such trauma.
I am looking forward to Husbands too. However, I have a lot of books out from the library and due to traveling the past two weeks I am way behind so had to “freeze” most of my reserves.