Snow, Snow Snow Song!

 

First book of the year hosted at Book Journey

 I'm joining in on the First Book of the Year hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  Check out the link HERE and join in if you like. It's easy....you send Sheila a photo of yourself with the first book you plan to start in 2025.

I'm going with a memoir by Andrew Cotter titled Olive, Mabel & Me.  Many of us were introduced to Mr. Cotter when he used his Scottish broadcasting skills to describe Olive and Mabel in humorous narrative during the pandemic lockdown.  

If you've not seen the video please click HERE to watch Game of Bones.  It's about one minute in length.

This book will also be my first in the nonfiction challenge hosted by Shelleyrae at Book'd Out and I hope to start reading it the first week of January.

Do you have a particular book picked out to start the new year?

Thank you, Sheila, for hosting!

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon and Sheila at Book Journey.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Remains of the Day is a story about a seemingly cold unfeeling butler named Stevens and his reminiscing of days past.  It's more than that as you'll realize his memories are not so much flawed but, for him, a realization of what he missed out in his life. 

I know there is a movie based on this book but I have not seen it.  That said, knowing Anthony Hopkins stars as our main character Stevens, I heard his voice and accent throughout the book.

In 1956 Stevens' current employer, Mr. Farraday, insists he take a holiday, giving persmission to use his car while he is on  a trip to the U.S.  While Stevens drives through the English countryside he thinks back to war time when he was employed by Lord Darlington. The language is very formal and you get a clear image of the character displaying the utmost self control, even as he reminisces.  I enjoyed reading about his working relationship with head housekeeper Miss Kenton as he travels toward her home in south England. It's been decades since he'd worked with her but he has fond memories. He is about to be enlightened by what "could have been" when he finally arrives in her village.

If a person is shaped by their upbringing then Stevens is the ultimate example of controlling his emotions and showing zero empathy. Loyalty to the man he served is of the utmost importance, something he learned from his father who was considered one of the best butlers of his day.  Sadly, this transfers to personal relationships as well.  

When his father's health takes a turn for the worse you won't find any warmth between father and son.  I could feel the cold exchange between Stevens and his elderly father regarding the change of duties and thought it very sad. It’s hard enough to let a parent know their health or memory is failing but I’ve had warmer conversations with strangers.  

Dignity is clearly one of the cornerstones of Stevens' profession and his explanation of what distinguishes a butler from a manservant was interesting. 

"It is sometimes said that butlers only truly exist in England.  Other countries, whatever title is actually used, have only manservants.  I tend to believe this is true. Continentals are unable to be butlers because they are a breed incapable of the emotional restraint which only the English race are capable of."

Regret comes with reflection and sadly for Stevens, he makes this realization so very late in life.

"Looking back so much...I should adopt a more postive outlook and try and make the best of what remains of my day. After all, what can we ever gain in forever looking back and blaming ourselves if our lives have not turned out quite as might have wished?"

This is not a fast paced book but one which captures the memories and considerations of an aged man who gave his life entirely to serving his employer. 

 This is the third book I have read by Ishiguro and my first for the Classics Club.

Sharing Joy's Book Blog for Britsh Isles Friday.

2025 Nonfiction Reader Challenge

 The 2025 Nonfiction Reader Challenge is hosted by Shelleyrae at Book'd Out.  Check out the details HERE. There are twelve categories and I have a few books sitting on the shelf, ready to roll for the new year.  I am going for the Nonfiction Nibbler category of six.

That said, if I see some nonfiction of interest during the year I will just read more than the planned six.  

Categories:

History

Memoir/Biography 

True Crime 

Science 

Health

Food

Travel 

Garden

Myth, Legend and Folklore

Islands

How-To

Published in 2025 

Right now I am trying to decide which book to start within the history and memoir categories.

The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell (also a classic) or Olive, Mabel and Me by Andrew Cotter.  Maybe both for January ! It's always fun making the lists of books.

Check out the challenge link at Book'd Out.and join in.  Would love to see what others are reading!

Reading and watching

So far this month has been fairly laid back.  We watched season four of Van Der Valk so we are all caught up on that.  Just picked up Madam Secretary series from the library so we'll see if we like it enough continue with six or so seasons. Christmas movies are in the lineup soon.

This week I joined The Classics Club and added a tab at the top of my blog. 👆 I can link each book as I finish and started with The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. As I have been inside quite a bit I've made good progress with this book.  The setting is wartime England.

I also added a tab for apocalyptic/dystopian books with links for the ones I have read and reviewed.  Other titles will be added as I learn of them from Goodreads or suggestions by others.  Please feel free to share some of your favorites if you like that genre.

That's the weekly excitement around here, haha.

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon. and Joy's Book Blog for Britsh Isles Friday.

The Classics Club - My 50 titles

 Well I am taking the plunge and joining The Classics Club.  Having been intimidated by it for years I think I can manage these books in a five year period. Now I am excited by it and had a blast making my list!  

It's meant to be your personal dream list of titles and after reading the "rules" I am comfortable with the titles selected.  All are over 25 years in publication.  If you are interested check out the link HERE, or scroll to the bottom where I copied/pasted the details for joining in.

Here is my living list. I will add  a tab on this blog to link reviews and completion dates.

1. Blixen, Karen - Out of Africa
2. Braithwaite, E.R. - To Sir with Love
3. Brittain, Vera - Testament of Youth (nonfiction)
4. Bronte, Anne - Agnes Grey
5. Bronte, Charlotte - Villette
6. Brookner, Anita - Hotel Du Lac
7. Capote, Truman - Breakfast at Tiffany's 
8. Christie, Agatha - And Then there Were None
9. Collins, Wilkie - The Woman in White 
10. Conrad, Joseph - The Heart of Darkness
11. Du Maurier, Daphne - Scapegoat
12. Fielding, Henry -Tom Jones
13. Fitzgerald, F. Scott - The Great Gatsby
14. Ford Madox Ford - The Good Soldier DNF
15. Forster, E.M. - Howards End 
16. Fowles, John - The Collector
17. Gaarder, Jostein - Sophie's World
18. Gallico, Paul -The Snow Goose 
19. Golden, Arthur - Memoirs of a Geisha
20. Greene, Bette - The Summer of my German Soldier
21. Greene, Graham - The Quiet American
22. Hardy, Thomas - Tess of the D'urbervilles
23. Heller, Joseph - Catch 22
24. Heller, Joseph - Closing Time
25. Hemingway, Ernest - A Moveable Feast (nonfiction)
26. Hemingway, Ernest - Farewell to Arms
27. Hilton, James - Lost Horizon
28. Ishiguro, Kazuo -The Remains of the Day 
29. James, Henry - Daisy Miller
30. Kerouac, Jack - On the Road
31. Lewis, Sinclair - It Can't Happen Here 
32. Lindsay, Joan - Picnic at Hanging Rock
33. Magorian, Michelle - Goodnight, Mr. Tom
34. Maugham, W. Somerset - Of Human Bondage
35. McCullough, Colleen - The Thorn Birds
36. Michener, James - Chesapeake
37. Orwell, George - The Road to Wigan Pier (nonfiction)
38. Plath, Sylvia - The Bell Jar
39. Remarque, Erich - All Quiet on the Western Front
40. Shute, Nevil - A Town Like Alice
41. Shute, Nevil - Trustee from the Toolroom
42. Spark, Murial - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
43. Steinbeck, John - The Pearl
44. Steinbeck, JOhn - East of Eden
45. Styron, William - Sophie's Choice 
46. Tolstoy, Leo - The Death of Ivan Ilyich
47. Vonnegut, Kurt - Slaughterhouse Five
48. Waugh, Evelyn - Brideshead Revisited 
49. Wharton, Edith - Ethan Frome
50. Woolf, Virginia - Mrs. Dalloway

My projected goal to complete this list will be December 30, 2029 but I hope to finish sooner.  Starting this month with The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro.

What is the Classics Club? From the blog:

• choose 50+ classics
• list them at your blog
• choose a reading completion goal date up to five years in the future and note that date on your classics list of 50+ titles
• e-mail the moderators of this blog (theclassicsclubblog@gmail.com) with your list link and information and it will be posted on the Members Page!
• write about each title on your list as you finish reading it, and link it to your main list
• when you’ve written about every single title, let us know.

Book one on tap 

Let's get reading!

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger and I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

Two books this week.  Let's start with I Cheerfully Refuse as it was the better of the two I read.

Rainy is a musician living with Lark, a women he loved before he saw her face. He would hear her read aloud to others at a library and this introduced him to reading classics. Lark brought the stories to life for him. They have a good life and while money was tight thay made ends meet - he playing his bass guitar in a band and Lark forming a library and book store for those who still care about reading. Apparently in this dystopian time there are those who protest the shop, thinking reading is an evil thing. Geez....a little close to what some folks think today with the book banning. (Scary)

 

There are numerous passages I bookmarked in this dystopian/apocalyptic novel by Leif Enger.  In spite of society collapsing, there were still very good people, just ordinary people who didn't know wealth or privilege, going that extra mile to help others.

The early part sets the scene with Rainy describing a ruined road.  

Driving down the road that was described as level once it is now full of holes, shoulders of the pavement sagging into a ditch. There’s a spot where two flash floods in a month blew out a culvert. Technically, it’s still a state highway , but the state ignores their compliance saying they were going to “allocate funds“ but they never did repair it. 

Here is an example of people helping others when they didn’t have to:

“After more than a year, a pair of loggers, a basement contractor, and a retired mining engineer showed up with their skidders and chainsaws and cement truck and they rebuilt the missing section with pine logs and concrete.”  

A helping hand for those who didn't have the skills.  A small segment of the society who looked out for each other, helped when needed and knew they could count on their neighbors when they needed something.

In the beginning Rainy and Lark took in a boarder named Kellan.  He had his own secrets as he had escaped a “medicine ship."  People willingly signed on to live on the pharmaceutical ship  to be used for drug/medicine experiments.  They were working on a cure for something obscure, never quite sure what it was exactly.  After so much time they were allowed to leave and return to their families. You did what you had to for survival.  Apparently the trials were so bad that some people escaped and this was Kellan's situation.  That and some drugs he absconded with which meant....some one would come looking.

 Kellan warned Rainey about this mythical bad man named Werryck and true to form, Werryck was definitely one bad guy to be avoided. He warned Rainy, “You think he won’t come but he will. You’re big and strong? Doesn’t matter. Listen to me. When you see him standing in your kitchen, you slip out the back. Be quiet, be quick. Don’t hunt for your wallet. Don’t grab a coat. Go out the window if you have to.” 

Werryck did arrive and brought destruction, crushed Rainy's dreams and life, causing our narrator to flee in a ship he and Lark had once sailed.  The story takes us on a voyage across Lake Superior with Rainy doing what he can to survive, helping others even when it puts him in danger, giving hope to the humanity left when they choose to accept it.

The lake itself seemed like a character on it's own with the vivid descriptions of waves, the storms, the unpredictability of the weather and how a man can challenge it and still survive.

I would read more by this author. 4 stars

📚📚📚📚

This book - I Let You Go - is a hard one to rate.  I have enjoyed previous books by Clare Mackintosh and while this wasn't boring or dull it did deal with the death of child in the beginning. The settings are Bristol England and coastal Wales.  

Jenna is walking five year old Jacob home from school on a rainy evening.  While they are happily chattering away, despite the rain and cold, it seems like an ideal evening is in store for them.  Then he says, "race you home" and pulls away from her hand, running straight into the path of a car.  Every parents nightmare.  This is not a spoiler as it's stated in the book description straight away.

 

Jenna moves away from Bristol to a place she has never been to start over and leave memories behind.  She arrives in a remote town in Wales with zero possessions and rents a cottage well off the beaten track.  Meanwhile the police in Bristol are frantically searching for her as she was the only witness.  There is quite a bit more to the plot and story but suffice it to say, she is hiding a big secret.  It's sort of like Gone Girl where you read the first part of the story then go over the waterfall with all this information falling into place very quickly.  Themes of domestic abuse could be triggers for some readers.  As I said, I have enjoyed her other books but this wasn't my favorite. Rounded to 3 stars.

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon. and Joy's Book Blog for Britsh Isles Friday for Long Island and The Life Impossible.