Moby Dick, by Herman Melville

 I read this one on my own. And I super-cheated. After having started this book at least 3x in the past, and stopping, I read the kids version of the book! (Haha!)

There was still that infamous first line: Call me Ishmael.

Ishmael is a teacher by trade but he wants some adventure, and decides to join a whaling expedition. After meeting a strange guy, Queequeg, whom Melville calls a "cannibal" (the word must've meant something different in 1851 when this book came out), Ishmael follows Queequeg to a boat whose captain was the one & only Captain Ahab. Ole Ahab has a huge grudge against the whale who done bit off one of his legs. (Hey has a stump made from whale bone.)

The moral of this story is - beware of yourself! For you can be your own worst enemy! This bit was said by first mate Starbuck (yes, I researched it, the guys who named the coffee co were aware of Moby Dick character's name). 

Capt Ahab insists on following the whale, even though it's a foolhardy goal - to catch this oversized whale. 

Note that whaling was necessary for food and oil for lamps. Numbers were driven down so low, it's outlawed in most countries. 

Spoiler!!

Spoiler!! Don't read on if you don't want to know the end.

Ishmael is the lone survivor. He floats on Queequeg's wooden coffin (unused ...long story), and is rescued by another ship. 

We tried but couldn't. Beartown, by Fredrik Backman

 We liked 2 of his other books, but couldn't get into this one. Neither of us got too far into it. Some people say, "Keep reading, it gets better."

Uh-uh. If a book starts out as a dud, that means the first few chapters should've been re-worked (or cut). No writer gets a "pass" based on previous work. Every piece needs the best possible effort, editors, etc. 

Thumbs down and on to the next book!! We've already chosen the next TWO!  ;-)

March 2022: One True Thing, by Anna Quindlen

 L and I liked this book. Although the subject matter is a bit morose (a woman who finds out she has cancer and is dwindling away), this is, after all, something that happens in real life, and the themes for the book are ones worth further contemplation.

Theme 1: Putting people into "boxes" (categories). Kate is the mom, and it's her that is dealing with cancer. Kate has devoted her life to her home, her community, and her children. Her husband (George) is the intellectual - a college professor - who engages their 3 kids in convo about books, art, history, etc. Meanwhile, Kate makes the perfect food, and organizes the best displays for the community park at Christmastime. Kate's kids (daughter Ellen and 2 sons) see her only as The Homemaker. Ellen becomes her mom's (Kate's) caretaker, and in so doing, she learns things about her mom she's never bothered to "see" before. And this is the theme -- that too often we put people into "categories" or "boxes" and we refuse to see them as multi-dimensional. This can happen with women, ethnic groups, etc. 

Theme 2:  Giving people a say in how they are treated in a life-death situation, such as cancer, or even old age. Our bodies break down. Science has "the answer." But sometimes, the remedy is worse than letting our bodies naturally devolve. No one knows what they would want given a life-death situation. And that's really the point. People should be ASKED what they want. Do you want that chemo? Your answer may be different at 40 versus 60 or 80 years old. 

Overall, this book gave us quite a bit to discuss. Quindlen is a beautiful writer, although, with this book, there were times where she gave too much detail and it felt a bit like "filler" at times. If I had one wish for this book, it would be that Quindlen would have tightened the storyline just a bit. 

Thumbs up for this book. 

P.s. Quote regarding the title is found on page 276 - "We needed her (our mother) to be our one true thing."   My note on this: Mothers are more than one-dimensional. They were once 16 years old. And 21, and 31, and etcetera. You may not want to know what your mom went through at 16 or 22, but be assured, she is more than meets the eye.

Feb 2022, Book of Lost Names, by Lisa Wingate

We liked learning about this book's topic, however, it needed someone who would be honest about how much Wingate gets wrong about the black experience during slavery. 

L liked the book more than me. We both found i t hard to follow. 

Braiding two seemingly unrelated stories.

Hannie was born into slavery, now a sharecropper.

Modern day story features Benny, female (white,) hi school teacher. LaJuna is one of her students.

It takes almost to the end to find out how the two stories interlace. 

It was okay. As I said, L liked it. I read it more for the topic, not the writing. Wingate uses (misuses) adverbs. Sooo many. 

All in all, L recommends the book. Me not so much.