Stacked-Up Book Thoughts: 12 Short Takes

Stacked-Up Book Thoughts are my random notes about books I've read or listened to, movies and TV I've watched, books I'm looking forward to, and events I hope to get to.

Audiobooks: This summer has been my slowest audiobook time since the 1980s. First it rained every day, so I couldn't get out for my walk, which is prime listening time. Then we did some traveling. Then the temperatures and humidity skyrocketed, so again I've been unable to get many walks in. Fall can't get here fast enough for me.

Regardless, I still managed to get some listening in. The following books are all recommended and you'll eventually find reviews at AudioFile magazine, and here on my blog.

• American Meteor by Norman Lock follows the life of Stephen Moran, who witnesses or plays a part in many important historical events of the last half of the 19th century (such as the Civil War, Lincoln's assassination, the building of the railroad, Custer's Last Stand). Mark Bramhall's narration is terrific.
• Even if you've never read a Joyce Carol Oates book before, do not miss her beautiful memoir, The Lost Landscape. All I really want to say is that it's emotional, poetic, funny, and amazing. Cassandra Campbell's performance is brilliant.
• Parnez Foroutan's The Girl from the Garden focuses on three generations of women in a Jewish family living in Iran, set mostly in the early 20th century. The themes are family sacrifice, women's roles, marriage, motherhood, prejudice, and class divisions. Narrator Lameece Issaq nicely captured the characters' personalities.
• Polly Stone and Simon Vance share the narration of Tatiana de Rosnay's A Paris Affair, a wonderful collection of stories, all of which feature infidelities. The circumstances and consequences of the affairs will surprise you, make you laugh, and sometimes make you angry. Stone and Vance bring a very French feel to their spot-on performances.

Books I'm Reading Now: Lately I've been reading and skimming and evaluating a ton of middle grade books for a group of roundups, which will appear on my blog next week (I hope). I am so impressed with the quality and diversity of books for young readers this year, and I can't wait to share my discoveries with you. Here are four books--two nonfiction, two fiction--I haven't reviewed yet.

• White Dresses by Mary Pflum Peterson is a fascinating memoir centered her relationship with her mother. Themes involve sexuality, hording, spirituality, and mental health.
• Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz delves into the strange but real life of one of America's surgical pioneers. Dr. Mutter's Marvels, newly out in paperback, takes us into the OR and the good doctor's fight for sterilization and anesthesia. I'm totally hooked by this story.
• I wrote about Robert Goolrick's The Fall of Princes on Tuesday, so I'll just quickly say here that it's an emotionally complex story of a regular working man who recalls, with mixed feelings, his glory days as a Wall Street 1 percenter.
• Thank goodness that all that I loved about S. E. Grove's first book in the Mapmaker's series is back in The Golden Specific. In fact, the second installment in this unique, time-bending, alternate history/fantasy series may be even better, as our young heroes grow and mature. I've only just begun this book, but the scent of adventure is in the air.

What I've Watched: Besides our regular shows on HBO and SHO, we finished up all the available (free) episodes for Blue Bloods, Justified, and Longmire. We don't have a current obsession, but here are four things that have appeared on our screen.

• If you are into creepy psychological thrillers, then you'll love The Fall starring Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan. A woman detective superintendent is called to Belfast to find and capture a serial killer. In the meantime, we see the killer in the act and as he lives his other life, as a husband and father. Loved!
• I adore Kelley Armstrong, so it was a duh that I would give Bitten, starring Laura Vandervoort and Greyston Holt, a try. I haven't finished the first season yet, but the plot seems to be following the book fairly closely (or at least closely enough). The jury is still out on this: Mr. BFR is bored (but he's not into werewolves), and I'm just not convinced that the spirit of the book is there.
• Confession: I could not get past about page 70 of Cheryl Strayed's memoir. She mostly just made me mad. But Mr. BFR is a Reese Witherspoon fan, so we watched the movie version of Wild, when it became available on HBO. Witherspoon was good, but I was still bored and still totally uninspired by Strayed's adventure.
• I love Ian McShane and was so happy to see him on Ray Donovan this season. Then I heard he was going to have a small but important part in next season's Game of Thrones. All this made me nostalgic for my first introduction to McShane: the mystery series Lovejoy, which aired from 1986 to 1994. Antiques expert, con man, ladies' mad, and rogue -- Lovejoy was always getting into and out of scrapes, running just a few steps ahead of the creditors. Way too much fun not to rewatch.

So that's about it for me. Still praying for cooler weather but happy to have such good entertainment to keep me happy when I'm stuck inside with the A/C.

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Wordless Wednesday 358

Rose, 2015

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Today's Read: The Fall of Princes by Robert Goolrick

Remember riding high in the wild money-making days of the 1980s? The era was a paradise for Wall Street hot shots, who indulged in everything their inflated salaries could buy. Oh how life has changed for our protagonist, Rooney, in the decades since the bubble burst.

When you strike a match, it burns brighter in the first nanosecond than it will ever burn again. That first incandescence. That instantaneous and brilliant flash. 1980 was the year, and I was the match, and that was the year I struck into blinding flame.

—The Fall of Princes by Robert Goolrick (Algonquin, 2015, p. 1)

Quick Facts

• Setting: New York City & the world; 1980s & beyond
• Circumstances: A humbled working stiff recalls his former self as a top dog in the fast-paced, drug-fueled, money-filled world of the 1980s.
• Characters: Rooney in young adulthood as a major player in a New York investment firm and in middle age, maybe wiser and certainly poorer; friends, family, lovers, and colleagues in both time periods
• Genre: literary fiction; fictionalized autobiography
• Themes: greed, loss, redemption, excesses, marriage, regret
• Discussion points: women's status in 1980s, greed, AIDS, irresponsibility, loss of wealth, marriage, adjusting to changing circumstances
• Why I want to read this: I absolutely loved Goolrick's earlier novels and I have every hope for The Fall of Princes. Goolrick's sympathetic characters and poetic writing create an unforgettable atmosphere, pulling me into whatever story he has to tell.
• Something to know: Goolrick himself was an ad man who lost it all in the crash and had to cope with new realities, including rehab.

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Fine-Tuning Your Personal Library: What to Keep, What to Let Go

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how I reduced my personal library by more than half. Since that time, I've been asked for more details on how I decided which books to keep and which ones to give away. Apparently lots of people are interested in this because Florinda of the Three R's Blog was asked the same thing.

So I thought, on this holiday Monday, that I'd try to explain my process. Just to recap, I looked at each book individually, holding it my hands while making my assessment. I did not follow the Kondo test, however, figuring that most books bring me joy.

The Easy Yes

There were several categories of books (often overlapping) that were easy to say yes to.

• My favorite authors. This is kind of obvious, but it's true, some authors will always live on my bookshelves.
• Books that moved me when I read them and I still remember why. I don't know about you, but sometimes I loved a book when I read it, but months or years later I couldn't tell you why. If just looking at the book brought back the words or the character or the emotion, I kept it.
• Books that both Mr. BFR and I loved and that we still talk about or refer to.

The Easy No

When culling my library, I was surprised by how many books I had that I was never going to read or reread.

• Genres that I just don't read, such as horror.
• Yellowing, old paperbacks with no sentimental value.
• Books I simply lost interest in. Most of these were DNFs (did not finish) that I kept, perhaps thinking I'd give them another chance.
• Books I've read but didn't love enough to revisit.

All the Rest (Unread)

As you can guess, the vast majority of the books I had fell somewhere in the middle of immediate yes or no. Whether the book or ARC was new or old, I went through the following process for each unread book--and, yes, it took some time. (And clearly I need to practice using the drawing tool!)

After going through my flow chart, I used following additional criteria to help me remove a book from my house:

• If I also had an eGalley, I donated my print copy.
• If I was only vaguely interested in the book, I checked to see if I could get it from my library or bookstore. If so, I let the review copy go.
• If the print was really tiny, the ARC was poorly bound, or the leading was small and I could get the book or eBook from my library or bookstore, I donated my print copy.

So there you have it. I hope this clarifies my technique for culling my library. And because I know I'll have to do this again in another year, please share any tips you have for deciding which books you want to keep and which ones you're willing to donate.

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Weekend Cooking: Tasting Whiskey by Lew Bryson

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

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The fun thing about culling and organizing your personal library is discovering books you forgot you had but really wanted to read. Lew Bryson's Tasting Whiskey falls into that category. Although we generally stick to a glass of wine with dinner on a daily basis, when we go out, our drink of choice is almost always a whiskey/whisky of some sort.

I'm more of Scotch drinker, but Mr. BFR has become enamored of bourbon, and the American spirit is growing on me too. Although I've made a point of learning more about wine, I have to admit that I'm still fairly uneducated when it comes to whiskey. Need a bottle of bourbon? I've been know to grab whatever's on sale.

This is where Tasting Whiskey comes in. Bryson's well-researched and fun-to-read treatise is a great introduction to whiskeys from all over the globe. The book is beautifully styled in browns and whiskey gold, and the awesome graphics (see the scans; click to enlarge), maps, and beautiful photographs break up the text, not only providing eye candy but giving readers different ways to absorb the information.

In the early chapters, Bryson talks about the history of whiskey, how and where it's made, and the distinguishing characteristics of each type. He even sheds light on the whiskey/whisky controversy. What the heck is the correct spelling? As it turns out, the spelling variation is just a regional quirk and carries no real meaning. Regardless, many people restrict whisky for Scotch, Canadian, and Japanese spirits and use whiskey for Irish and American drinks.

The back half of Tasting Whiskey gets into the details of learning to taste the different flavors in whiskeys and provides a guide to the major producing regions (Ireland, Scotland, Canada, United States, and Japan). Here's where we learn the differences and similarities between Kentucky and Tennessee bourbons, the different peat levels of the Scotches, the reason rye isn't more popular, and the origins of Japanese distilleries.

One of my favorite lines from the book, and one that shows you Bryson's general attitude, comes from the chapter on learning to enjoy whiskeys. Just as there are wine snobs, there are whiskey snobs. Bryson has this to say:

You shouldn't let them influence your choices. Because just like there is no One Best Whiskey, there is no One Best Type of Whiskey, either. . . . To confuse personal preferences for world truths is no way to go through life. (p. 61)

Bryson ends the book with a chapter on the classic cocktails--such as the Rob Roy, Mint Julep, and Rusty Nail--and another on how to pair whiskeys with food. You'll also find resources, a glossary, and an index.

I recommend Lew Bryson's Tasting Whiskey for a wide range of readers. Naturally both the newcomer to whiskeys and the die-hard fan will find a lot to love here. But so too will readers who are interested in the history of distilled spirits and those who are curious about how whiskey is made. My favorite chapter was the one on tasting, followed by the chapters that introduce the different whiskey regions.

NOTE: The scans come from Tasting Whiskey and were used in the context of this review. All rights remain with the original copyright holder, Andrew Heath, and may not be used in another context. The photograph is my own, and I retain the copyright to that.

Published by Storey Publishing, 2014
ISBN-13: 9781612123011
Source: Can't remember (see review policy)
Copyright © cbl for Beth Fish Reads, all rights reserved (see review policy)

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