Tag: books

The Sixteen Pleasures

Enjoyed this novel very much, although the ending could have been more decisive than it was, but I was satisfied. Was not able to predict some of the turns and developments. Not formulaic in any way. The story involves a young woman signing on to help restore books in Florence after a devastating flood. She comes across a rare book of erotic poems and drawings, and it’s got to be worth a fortune. The volume, found in a convent, just might save the convent and its library from an overreaching bishop. Along the way, the author treats us to a lot of art history, and the heroine becomes a figure in the art of her own life including several romances. Those who enjoy art lit books such as Artemisia by Alexandra Lapierre, The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant, The Girl with the Pearl Earring, Falling Angels and The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier, will enjoy this. Sadly, Robert Hellenga died only last month (July 2020). I would like to read another of his novels.

Second Quarter 2020: Suggestions from What I Read

Super good reads: 5 stars!

25. Lily White, by Susan Isaacs

28. The General’s Labyrinth, by Gabriel Garcia Márquez

31. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair

32. Laughing Boy, by Oliver la Farge

35. Back When We Were Grownups, by Anne Tyler

36. Too Late the Phalarope, by Alan Paton

44. Pudd’nhead Wilson, by Mark Twain

46. Killing Floor, by Lee Child

Loved these books, too: 4 stars

27. Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn

30. Memories of the Ford Administration, by John Updike

33. How to Make an American Quilt, by Whitney Otto

40. When We Were Orphans, by Kazuo Ishiguro

45. Breath, Eyes, Memories, by Edwidge Danticat

47. The Third Man / Fallen Idol, by Graham Greene

 

Thoughts about some of the books I read Second Quarter 2020

28. The General’s Labyrinth, by Gabriel Garcia Márquez

I give it a reluctant 5 stars. It’s called a novel, but it doesn’t read like one. Not a page turner by any means. It reads like biography, and in this case the biography of the last days in the life of Simón Bolivar, El Liberator. Márquez narrates a story of Bolivar’s 7-month journey down the great river Magdalena from Bogota to

Copyright 2021 Timothy Merrill