Outside of a Dog, a Book is Man's Best Friend (The Book Thread)

[clairecloutier]

An issue that has been discussed a little in this thread is how a couple of American historians have chosen to use the term "Indians" to refer to Native Americans in recent works. I came across this author note about it in the note section of Champlain's Dream by David Hackett Fischer, so I just thought I'd post it here. It's something I've been a little confused about, myself.

Throughout this book Indians are called Indians, a choice that after a generation of political correctness requires an explanation. A few years ago, I was invited to the Newberry Library in Chicago, to meet leaders from many Indian nations throughout the United States ... In the course of our conversations, I asked what they would prefer to be called. The answers were the same, from Apaches to Wampanoags. Without exception they wanted to be called by the name of their own nations. I asked what word we should use to refer to all of them together, and they said that "Indian" was as good as any other, and better than some. They used it with pride, and it is adopted here. The pattern of usage is now changing. In the United States, "Indian" is returning to favor without pejorative connotation. In Canada, "first nations" is still preferred, but "Amerindiens" is frequently used.

 

[Erin]

That's interesting @clairecloutier. It's been a big education for me that what was taught to me as unacceptable in Canada doesn't have the same connotations in the US and it's something I'll just have to get used to. I do confess to being a little surprised that given that the book seems to be about Canada that he didn't use the Canadian term, though. Anyway, I still plan to read Champlain's Dream, as it sounds really interesting, but I may have to shell out and buy it since it doesn't seem to be available at the library

 

[clairecloutier]

Anyway, I still plan to read Champlain's Dream, as it sounds really interesting, but I may have to shell out and buy it since it doesn't seem to be available at the library

I bought a used copy myself. (Because I figured it might take me a while to read it. )

 

[Mozart]

Just finished Champlain's Dream by David Hackett Fischer. It's a biography of Samuel de Champlain that chronicles his (extensive) role in the founding of the New France settlements of Quebec and Acadia in the early 1600s. This biography is 500+ pages (i.e., the main text) and I pretty much enjoyed every minute of it. Fischer is an excellent writer; he really brings the long-ago era alive and draws a moving portrait of Champlain, who emerges as a principled and intelligent leader with genuinely good intentions toward both the French and Native Americans of the New World. My only criticism would be that Fischer definitely has a strong viewpoint on Champlain and at times overemphasizes it (for example, taking every possible opportunity to tell us yet again of Champlain's diplomatic skill in working with Native American leaders). Also, Fischer does use the term "American Indian" in many cases, as opposed to "Native American," but I am certain this must simply reflect a difference in American vs. Canadian usage, as he clearly means no disrespect to the groups involved. Altogether it's an excellent book, and, I would think, essential reading for anyone interested in New France and the early history of Quebec and Nova Scotia. (The book is more about Quebec, but there is also quite a bit of information about Acadia/Nova Scotia.)

I'll have to check it out. I live in Nova Scotia and my grandmother is Acadian.

 

[Mozart]

Just finished Champlain's Dream by David Hackett Fischer. It's a biography of Samuel de Champlain that chronicles his (extensive) role in the founding of the New France settlements of Quebec and Acadia in the early 1600s. This biography is 500+ pages (i.e., the main text) and I pretty much enjoyed every minute of it. Fischer is an excellent writer; he really brings the long-ago era alive and draws a moving portrait of Champlain, who emerges as a principled and intelligent leader with genuinely good intentions toward both the French and Native Americans of the New World. My only criticism would be that Fischer definitely has a strong viewpoint on Champlain and at times overemphasizes it (for example, taking every possible opportunity to tell us yet again of Champlain's diplomatic skill in working with Native American leaders). Also, Fischer does use the term "American Indian" in many cases, as opposed to "Native American," but I am certain this must simply reflect a difference in American vs. Canadian usage, as he clearly means no disrespect to the groups involved. Altogether it's an excellent book, and, I would think, essential reading for anyone interested in New France and the early history of Quebec and Nova Scotia. (The book is more about Quebec, but there is also quite a bit of information about Acadia/Nova Scotia.)

I'll have to check it out. I live in Nova Scotia and my grandmother is Acadian.

 

[Japanfan]

I digress, but wanted to say I have never seen Amerindians used in Canada - and I have quite a lot of work by indigenous scholars or about Indigenous peoples. In my experience they are always called First Nations or Indigenous peoples in general and Cree Nation or ___ Nation specifically.

I have heard First Nations and Native Americans use the term 'Indian' among themselves, which is fine. But coming from a white person I consider the term pejorative.

 

[JoannaLouise]

Does anyone have any suggestions for novellas? It's our office book club theme for the summer - we usually pick a lighter theme for the summer, and then choose 4 or 5 books instead of just one.

Any suggestions (and any genres) welcome!

 

[MsZem]

Does anyone have any suggestions for novellas? It's our office book club theme for the summer - we usually pick a lighter theme for the summer, and then choose 4 or 5 books instead of just one.

Any suggestions (and any genres) welcome!

If any genres includes historical romance, I recommend Courtney Milan's novellas, especially The Governess Affair (the ebook is usually free); and Wanted, A Gentleman by KJ Charles.

 

[Kasey]

If your book club is not about only current/newer books, Rex Stout did quite a few mystery novellas, and there are some collections of three/four into books. "Three for the chair", "Three witnesses", "And four to go" are some of my favorites of his collections, although if you want somewhat longer stories, "Black orchids" has two distinct stories in it that have a bit more length.

 

[emason]

Does anyone have any suggestions for novellas? It's our office book club theme for the summer - we usually pick a lighter theme for the summer, and then choose 4 or 5 books instead of just one.

Any suggestions (and any genres) welcome!

Read The Aspern Papers by Henry James. It is short and one of his most accessible works in IMHO. It is not a James that you have to struggle through like his later books. I read it in one night in high school and loved it and then read it again for discussion class a few years ago and still loved it.

 

[quartz]

@JoannaLouise - Although it might not technically be considered a novella, at about 150-160 pages, I usually recommend Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist" for people looking for shorter reads, and it has a fairly wide range of appeal. (Although I found its message to be quite repetitive, especially for such a short book, but a gazillion other people disagree with me. )

For something a little more fantastical, I often suggest Neil Gaiman's "The Ocean at the End of the Lane", because everyone should read Neil Gaiman.

Oh, and "The Little Prince" too! Teen and 9-12 books are always nice to revisit and generally quicker reads, the Narnia books, Anne of Green Gables, A Wrinkle in Time, The Outsiders, Hatchet, Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Giver, etc...

 

[MsZem]

@JoannaLouise - Although it might not technically be considered a novella, at about 150-160 pages, I usually recommend Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist" for people looking for shorter reads, and it has a fairly wide range of appeal. (Although I found its message to be quite repetitive, especially for such a short book, but a gazillion other people disagree with me. )

Back when I was in the air force, one of my fellow officers told me to "take a few hours of your life to read this amazing book".

I did not find it amazing, even then.

 

[JoannaLouise]

Thanks! I've sent all your recommendations to our leader. (Then we pool all the nominations and put it to a vote - it's very civilized.)

We actually read Anne of Green Gables last summer (books adapted to television), and A Wrinkle in Time a few years ago (children/young adult).

Other summer themes have included mystery/detective novels, graphic novels, classic sci-fi/fantasy, and "books from your favourite series". It's kind of a quirky book club, with a very diverse selection of reading material.

 

[MsZem]

Other summer themes have included mystery/detective novels, graphic novels, classic sci-fi/fantasy, and "books from your favourite series". It's kind of a quirky book club, with a very diverse selection of reading material.

Some friends and I started an "interesting book club", in which we read some classic/literary fiction and a lot of genre fiction. We also do themed food and activities. But now half of the members have young kids, so we are on hiatus.

The last book we read was His Majesty's Dragon. We had Chinese food (it fits with the book) and inserted dragons into the plots of various movies. Years ago we did Alice in Wonderland & a tea party. For The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy we composed Vogon poetry. It was brilliant.

 

[Mad for Skating]

Does anyone have any suggestions for novellas? It's our office book club theme for the summer - we usually pick a lighter theme for the summer, and then choose 4 or 5 books instead of just one.

Any suggestions (and any genres) welcome!

FAIREST by Marissa Meyer! It's basically the story of the evil queen from Snow White but it's very well-written. I think it's like 220 pages.

Otherwise, The Giver or Number the Stars by Lois Lowry are both amazing!

 

[Susan1]

Interesting - Linda Castillo, who writes the Kate Burkholder Amish mysteries, is from Miamisburg originally. There's a column in the paper by Sharon Short (who also was from Miamisburg and her laundromat cozies always reminded me of Miamisburg) about Castillo's latest Amish mystery. I'm sure I would have seen Miamisburg if she would have put that on her biography on the book jacket! She lives in Texas now.

 

[her grace]

A few recent reads:

Just finished White Trash: The 400 Year Untold Story of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg. Essentially, this is a history of poor Whites in America and how the American dream has been closed off to the poor since the Colonial Period. Meticulously-researched and cited, it's an interesting and depressing look at how consistently the poor are insulted and blamed for their station in life. The book covers a lot of ground from topics like economics to race relations to the eugenics movement to the modern "acceptance", or at least understanding of the entertainment-value, of redneck culture. The history is compelling; the writing is focused and scholarly.

War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans is a Belgian author's retelling of his grandfather's life. Hertmans received his grandfather Urbain Martien's hand-written notebooks of memories and turned those notebooks into the basis for the book, which is billed as a "novel" yet reads like a secondhand memoir. The book describes Martien's early childhood in the 1890's, his deep love for his mother, his sense of wonder at his father's painting skills. Then it moves into the horrors of WWI and the aftermath as Martien tries to re-build his life. Throughout, Hertmans weaves his own interpretations of events in Martien's life, his memories of interactions with Martien, and his knowledge of Belgium in the present versus what it was like back then. The book's tone is wistful and relentlessly melancholic.

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate is a fictional story inspired by the real Tennessee Children's Home Society, an adoption agency in the early 1900's, that stole children from loving parents to sell to wealthy patrons. The book is told from two perspectives: Rill, who is taken with her siblings to the Children's home during the Great Depression, and Avery, a modern Senator's daughter, who begins uncovering family secrets. Rill's portion of the book is masterful--the author's portrayal of the 12-year-old's voice is believable and convincing.

Spoiler

Avery's portion of the book is okay and has an unnecessary romance :

Well-written and engaging.

 

[Winnipeg]

Finished "State of Fear" by Crichton. Great book, highly recommend it

 

[skatesindreams]

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate is a fictional story inspired by the real Tennessee Children's Home Society, an adoption agency in the early 1900's, that stole children from loving parents to sell to wealthy patrons

Many years ago, this was featured on the TV program "Unsolved Mysteries".
They were looking for; and located, several victims of the woman who ran the "agency".

 

[PrincessLeppard]

I finished An Ocean of Minutes last night. It's classified as dystopian, and I can see why, but eh. A pandemic sweeps through the US in 1981, and a time-travel company offers to take people to the future to work as indentured servants. The main character, Polly, volunteers to go so her boyfriend Frank can be cured. They make a plan to meet in 1993.

Except she gets sent to 1998 and all manner of stuff goes wrong beyond that. A review I read said that the book made a "great statement" on race and social class, but I didn't see that. I think the author was trying to do so, but didn't quite make it.

The main character annoyed me. She showed little curiosity in how things had turned out in society the way they had. Her only focus is Frank, to the point where she does some incredibly stupid things, and it gets a bit tedious.

Still, not terrible? But not great either.

 

[ilovepaydays]

Just finished God and Race in American Politics: A Short History by Mark Noll. I found it fascinating - but I'm a nerd and politics, religion, and history are some of my things. This book would probably be boring if you aren't into those topics. But if you are interested in seeing how specifics of religious activity have played into race relations and politics in American history - I greatly recommend this book.

Among other things, I didn't know this until I read this book that during the first half of the 1800s in the U.S.:

• There were more members of the clergy than there were federal postal employees
• The Post Office Department was the federal government's largest non-defense agency
• The average American heard more sermons in a year than pieces of mail received

Now, I want to find a good book about the Pony Express.........

 

[snoopy]

I am half way through Peony in Love. The book is good but after chapter 8, it’s not a page turner. It’s a woman’s story about women’s issues - the narrator makes reference to women’s lives being in the inner chambers. And while the book is interesting (with a plot twist), all that inner chamber stuff is kind of boring too.

Thank God we are allowed out of the house these days.

 

[oleada]

Lots of lighter summer reads for me:

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn: Focused on two timelines: spy network on WWI, and the aftermath of WWII. I liked it; it reminded me of The Nightingale a bit. This was for the "Celebrity Book Club" prompt in the Popsugar challenge as it was one of Reese Witherspoon's picks last year.

The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman: Teen girl gives up baby for adoption in the 1950s; Canada decides that all orphans are now mentally ill. Pretty dark policy that I had no idea about, so it taught me something. I didn't think the characters were fully fleshed out and it was kind of predictable. I just kind of picked it up and I don't think it satisfies any of my prompts unfortunately.

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware: One of many Gone Girl type mysteries with unlikeable characters. That said, I think it was one of the better ones. I enjoyed it. I guessed who did it but it didn't happen exactly how I thought. This one was for the "Book that takes place at sea" prompt.

I don't know what to read next now

 

[Jenny]

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware: One of many Gone Girl type mysteries with unlikeable characters. That said, I think it was one of the better ones. I enjoyed it. I guessed who did it but it didn't happen exactly how I thought. This one was for the "Book that takes place at sea" prompt.

I picked up Gone Girl not long ago figuring I'd finally read this book everyone else read. Husband got to it first because I was reading something else, ended up telling me enough about it that I was less interested in reading it. As you say above, it seems to be the trend now, very similar stories/themes. We ended up watching the movie this week, he said it's quite close to the book just necessarily more condensed. I was enjoying it all the way through, until the end, and then all I could think was seriously?

Same reaction I had to the much lauded Our Kind of Cruelty - raced through it, totally disappointed with the ending.

Currently reading The Price You Pay by Aidan Truhen (there are theories it's a pseud) and it's so fresh and modern in its style, prose and storyline, that's what I'm after right now.

 

[Cachoo]

So I picked up a book from a stack of Mom's books. I had purchased some Laura Lippman "Tess Monaghan" mysteries for her as I loved them and she found she was hooked as well. It has been years since I picked up "Charm City" and yet I find myself delighted---maybe even more delighted than the first time when I devoured the book. Now I am taking my time simply enjoying Lippman's way with language and description and plot and and and....I could go on. She conveys so much information without being dense. And her mysteries are solid. This is a summer treat I was not expecting.

 

[oleada]

My mom got me Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions which I read in, like, 2 seconds last night and totally, 100% loved. She has such a way with words. It's one book I am sure I will return to, and I'm glad to have a hard copy of. My mom had never read her books before, so my sister got her Americanah, and now my mom is gifting Dear Ijeawele to everyone (including my super religious cousin who is due with a baby girl in October ). In return, I got her "We Should All Be Feminists" for when she visits me next week. In terms of the popsugar challenge, it hits quite a few of the prompts but I'm using it for "author of another ethnicity".

 

[Marta24]

My mom got me Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions which I read in, like, 2 seconds last night and totally, 100% loved. She has such a way with words. It's one book I am sure I will return to, and I'm glad to have a hard copy of. My mom had never read her books before, so my sister got her Americanah, and now my mom is gifting Dear Ijeawele to everyone (including my super religious cousin who is due with a baby girl in October ). In return, I got her "We Should All Be Feminists" for when she visits me next week. In terms of the popsugar challenge, it hits quite a few of the prompts but I'm using it for "author of another ethnicity".

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was in Trevor Noah`s show few months ago and I was captivated by her personality and how she talked about feminism and raising a child in this world we live now. I`m definitely going to check out her books!

 

[Susan1]

In the latest Rick Mofina book I got interlibrary from Cleveland, someone underlined (in pen) "exacted this much on her" and wrote at the bottom of the page "you exact from, not on"! I used to correct typos (in pencil) or missing words, wrong people's names, etc., but that one is totally school teachery. Surprised she didn't do it in red pen. ha ha

 

[Erin]

Jennifer Government by Max Barry. A satire about capitalism run amok. It's one of the few books most of my high school students will read all the way through.

I read this on my recent vacation and I agree that it was hilarious, although I would also say that it stuck with me and gave me a few things to think about. (I have a feeling my libertarian ex would not appreciate this book though... )

 

[MacMadame]

(I have a feeling my libertarian ex would not appreciate this book though... )

Now I have to read it!