What are you reading this week of April 23, 2017?

[hermetic]

Make every day Earth Day.




Finished A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles which had the most delightful ending. That was such a sweet story and not really the sort of tale you'd expect from Russia. Now I am back to reading my Spider Robinson collection of books about Callahan's Saloon, friendliest bar around.

What on earth are you reading this week?

[pangaia]

1. LENINGRAD: SIEGE AND SYMPHONY

The Story Of A Great City Terrorized By Stalin, Starved By Hitler, Immortalized By Shostakovich

by Brian Moynahan

[hermetic]

2. Wow, that sounds like a must-read

"Brian Moynahan’s book is the first to my knowledge — in English at least — to interweave these narratives to any significantly detailed extent. Moynahan is not a musician, and this is not really a book about music. It’s about an event which symbolises and personalises a history that, en gros, is virtually beyond our comprehension — those of us who live peaceful, well-fed, well-warmed, secure lives in a free society unmenaced by tanks on the one hand or secret police on the other."

Found here: https://www.spectator.co.uk/2014/01/leningrad-siege-and-symphony-by-brian-moynahan-review/

[pangaia]

8. I was first in Leningrad in January 1985.

Arrived Christmas eve -20 F snowing.
BEAUTIFUL !!!

So many stories about that trip..
got drunk with russian percussionists after a concert at the Leningrad Philharmonie - the SAME hall where Shostakovich's 7th Symphony was played during the siege by the Leningrad Radio Symphony-what was left of it!. ( The Philharmonic and it's conductor Mvarinsky had been evacuated to Novosibirsk.)

I have returned to St Petersburg several times since then and have loved that city ever since that first trip.....and have played several of Shostakovich's Symphonies over the years, including #7 ----2-3 times..

--here ya go,
Andris Nelsons and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
first is the Bartok Violin Concerto. Janine Jensen.

If you want to skip that--- WHY WOULD YOU :&gt ) the Shostakovich begins at 26:00

An aside.... The St Petersburg Philharmonic came to Rochester, NY, near where I live, in Feb and played the Shostakovich 5th Sym.. After the gig I went out with the percussionists, once again, and of naturally we again drank vodka.many toasts...They, of course, knew the percussionists from 1985, so it was a really special touching 'reunion.' for all of us.

[hermetic]

10. I am listening, I opened it in another tab

so I could listen and write. Quite lovely, perfect for a gray, cloudy Sunday afternoon. Thanks.

Also, thanks for sharing your wonderful story and extraordinary memories. Nostrovia!

You know, you might enjoy A Gentleman in Moscow, the book I just read.

[pangaia]

11. Thank you . I will get the book.

Spasibo.

Zazdaróvye

[PoorMonger]

4. Good For Nothing by Brandon Graham

Flip Mellis believes his recent past would be best described as: a man with his feet planted on terra firma. As a husband and father, he was a consistent breadwinner. As a business professional, he was a go-getter. For twenty years, he did all that was expected of him, if not much more.

But a job loss in his middle years, in the midst of a national economic crisis, has knocked Flip squarely on his big, soft ass, where he has been wallowing for nearly a year.

Over the course of one hectic week, replete with a cast of colorful characters, Flip is forced by circumstances of his own invention to finally get his life headed in the right direction. Like a pudgy, irritable toddler, he carefully tests his balance and lurches forward, stumbling around absurd obstacles and grasping for any solid purchase. Ultimately a spark of human resilience locked deep within his core begins to spread. The question becomes: will Flip's best efforts be enough to lead him safely to redemption or will they merely lead to a futile, purely graceless, and quixotic crash?

Almost done with this one - it's got a decent sense of humor about it. Kind've what you might call a comedy of errors. Even though it's about an American guy I had this strong feeling it would be right at home as a Simon Pegg movie.

[hermetic]

6. It does sound like

it would be sort of funny, except for the reality that so many people have had to deal with that exact thing. Some, I know personally, didn't end up well.

[shenmue]

5. Hell Fire by Karin Fossum

[hermetic]

7. Sounds like a hot one...

"Who would brutally stab a defenseless woman and her child?"

[shenmue]

9. Latest in the Sejer series

[PoorMonger]

12. A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

Witness the fate of beloved heroes and notorious foes in the heart-stopping conclusion to V.E. Schwab’s New York Times bestselling Shades of Magic trilogy.

As darkness sweeps the Maresh Empire, the once precarious balance of power among the four Londons has reached its breaking point.

In the wake of tragedy, Kell―once assumed to be the last surviving Antari―begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. Lila Bard, once a commonplace―but never common―thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry.

An ancient enemy returns to claim a city while a fallen hero tries to save a kingdom in decay. Meanwhile, the disgraced Captain Alucard Emery of the Night Spire collects his crew, attempting a race against time to acquire the impossible.

Shades of Magic series
1. A Darker Shade of Magic
2. A Gathering of Shadows
3. A Conjuring of Light

This trilogy has been pretty solid thus far. It has echoes of something like Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere with multiple parallel worlds and my favorite character Lila Bard reminds me a lot of Arya Stark (from Song of Ice and Fire aka Game of Thrones)

[hermetic]

15. Thank you

for the in-depth description. Sounds like something that could keep you happily busy for quite some time.

[PoorMonger]

16. It's actually real fast reading

Which I like , since I'm an addictive kind of reader. The chapters are only a few pages each and it switches perspective between several characters. I'm only on page 130 and I'm on book four (something like 20 chapters in). The books themselves look big but the past two I've read I've finished in about 3-4 days.

[eissa]

13. Just finished Unaccustomed Earth

by Jhumpa Lahiri. It's a collection of short stories, all involving immigrant Indian families to the US. There is a strain of melancholy that runs through each story (particularly the last one) but they are such vivid stories, so beautifully written with such rich characters.

[hermetic]

14. I'll share what I just read about this book

It has "exquisite prose, emotional wisdom, and subtle renderings of the most intricate workings of the heart and mind. It is a masterful, dazzling work of a writer at the peak of her powers." Quite impressive. Thanks for telling us about it.

[TexasProgresive]

17. "Reliquary" Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

It's a sequel to Relic. I just started it today after finishing Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin which was as great a novel as any of his I've read.

[hermetic]

18. I want to know

what you think of Reliquary, when you've finished. They have it at my library but when I read the subject matter I just shake my head and think I could find something better to read. But, if you like it I may give it a go.

I really want to read Resurrection Men as it sounds like Rebus at his best. Nobody around here has it though so I'll have to look for sales.

[TexasProgresive]

19. Have you read "Relic"?

I liked Relic - good plots with lots of twists, learned lots about the workings of museums. I thought the characters were a bit shallow but not bad. The authors ended the book with a definite future segue. Anyway I will tell you what I think of Reliquary when I finish. I don't have much time for recreational reading lately and its 457 pages, so be patient.

[hermetic]

20. Yes, I have

I really liked it, too. It made me feel like I was THERE. There was one particular line about the unearthly howl from below that made the hair stand up on my arms.

Reliquary is a long one, one reason I didn't want to read it without hearing from someone else first whose choice of reading I find agreeable. That be you. I'm happy to wait. Got plenty to do right now myself.

[TexasProgresive]

21. I am at page 93

I am liking it a lot so far. The authors are doing a good job of laying out the scene(s). I'm also liking the character development. There are some "usual suspects" from Relic with a new woman police sergeant who is smarter than her considerable physical charms, Sergeant Hayward. Don't invest yet in this tome. I'll update when I finish.

[PoorMonger]

22. The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

“The Family Fang is a comedy, a tragedy, and a tour-de-force examination of what it means to make art and survive your family….The best single word description would be brilliant.” —Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto “It’s The Royal Tenenbaums meets Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? I’d call The Family Fang a guilty pleasure, but it’s too damn smart….A total blast.” —Hannah Pittard, author of The Fates Will Find Their Way Owen King (We’re All in This Together) calls author Kevin Wilson, “the unholy child of George Saunders and Carson McCullers.” With his novel, The Family Fang, the Shirley Jackson Award-winning author of Tunneling to the Center of the Earth comes through in a BIG way, with a funny, poignant, laugh-and-cry-out-loud (sometimes at the same time) novel about the art of surviving a masterpiece of dysfunction. Meet The Family Fang, an unforgettable collection of demanding, brilliant, and absolutely endearing oddballs whose lives are risky and mischievous performance art. If the writing of Gary Shteyngart, Miranda July, Scarlett Thomas, and Charles Yu excites you, you’ll certainly want to invite this Family into your home.

This is really pretty good - heard positive things about it years ago and grabbed it at the library because i noticed Wilson's new novel on the arrivals shelf last week. Was surprised to learn its a movie too. ( just realize this when I looked the synopsis now )

[PoorMonger]

23. Also,

The imdb score of the film is only a 6.1 - but the cast of Jason Bateman, Nicole Kidman & Christopher Walken makes me want to check it out after I finish the book.

[PoorMonger]

24. Musical Suggestion - "Times To Die"

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The connection to this one is a deeper cut perhaps and you'd have to read the book to get the full feeling of why the chorus resonates. But the early line "art gets what it wants , art gets what it deserves" works for the broader themes too.

From Car Seat Headrest's album Teens of Style

https://m.