Domestic Violets
by Matthew Norman
Read by: Todd McLaren
Genre: Literature, Humor
Publisher: Harper Audio
Publish Date: August 9, 2011
Format: Downloadable Audio | 11 Hours
Rating: 5 of 5
Tom Violet wants to be a writer, a real writer like his Pulitzer Prize winning father. Instead he is working a boring, dead-end, corporate job as a copywriter. Tom has secretly written a novel but doesn’t want to tell anyone, especially now that his father has just won The Pulitzer. To add to Tom’s troubles he is having problems with his marriage, which translates into a “problem” in the bedroom, he develops a crush on a young co-worker, and to top it off his father showed up in the middle of the night for a visit and intends to stay. Tom can hardly throw him out for his dad owns the house.
This may not sound like a fantastic premise for a book: Guy seems to have everything but is never happy and always whiny. Nope, that’s not what this book is about. This is an hysterically funny, well-written story with interesting characters. It’s witty and intelligent and truly captures the dreariness of the corporate world that Tom is trapped in. As a corporate worker myself, I recognized many of the character types that Tom has to deal with on a daily basis. His scintillating comments and observations are priceless.
The funniest moment, and there were many to choose from, was Tom’s “mad as hell and not gonna take it any more” type rant when he publishes a scathing press release shortly after finding out a co-worker who loathes and torments him is now his boss. The press release goes viral, Tom gets fired and becomes a hero to workers everywhere. It was so good I had to listen to it twice. It’s not all comedy and there are some serious, touching moments to round out the story.
This audio version of the book was easy to listen to and Todd McLaren sounded just as I expected Tom Violet to sound. It would have been nice to have a second, female, reader to do the women’s voices but that’s a wish and not a complaint as the audio was just fine. The only problem I had, if you could call it that, was bursting out laughing while walking around listening to the book because parts of it were so darn funny I couldn’t help myself. I’m sure the print version would be just as good and I highly recommend this book.
Almost Wordless: Every chipmunk I see in the yard is Alvin, Theodore or Simon. And this year I sure have a lot of them.
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More Wordless Wednesday.
Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their home last week.
Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. The October host is Savvy Verse & Wit.
I received two review books last week and a couple of books from a local library sale. Since I really don’t need any more books I only bought two that were already on my wishlist.
For review from Atria Galley Grab:
The Time In Between
by María Dueñas
This sweeping novel, which combines the storytelling power of The Shadow of the Wind with the irresistible romance of Casablanca, moves at an unstoppable pace. Suddenly left abandoned and penniless in Algiers by her lover, Sira Quiroga forges a new identity. Against all odds she becomes the most sought-after couture designer for the socialite wives of German Nazi officers. But she is soon embroiled in a dangerous political conspiracy as she passes information to the British Secret Service through a code stitched into the hems of her dresses.
For review from the publisher through AmazonVine:
The Technologists
by Matthew Pearl
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Dante Club, comes a completely fresh take on the historical thriller, set at the intersection of science and history, as the men and women of the first graduating class of MIT must avert a dire threat against their city.
Boston, 1868: On a fog-shrouded, moonless spring night in Boston Harbor, seven ships–schooners, pleasure steamers, and steamships–mysteriously crash in a massive, fiery wreck. The devastation is later complicated by the discovery that every compass … more
Two used books from a library sale::
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
by Katherine Howe
and:
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
by Lisa See
How was your week?
The Northern Mockingbird can be found across most of the United States and Mexico. They are a medium-sized songbird that frequents backyards, parks and the forest edge. You won’t find them at feeders, they prefer insects, fruits and berries. When there is a Mockingbird in your yard you will know it by the endless singing, sometimes sounding like several different birds.
They are rarely sighted in the Chicago area and I have yet to see one here. They prefer more temperate areas and those that do venture north will only stay here for the summer months.
The photo above is a Mockingbird I saw while vacationing in Mexico last year. There were several of them pecking away at an apple that someone had tossed in the grass. I was able to get quite close as this bird was not going to leave the apple.
The other birds wandered a safe distance away giving me evil looks while I was taking photos.
Interesting Facts:
- Northern Mockingbirds learn new songs throughout their lives and a male may learn around 200 songs often imitating other birds.
- They sing all through the day, and often into the night. Nighttime singing is more common during the full moon.
- In the nineteenth century, people kept so many mockingbirds as cage birds that the birds nearly vanished from parts of the East Coast. (This is now illegal).
- The Northern Mockingbird is the state bird of Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas.
I link up my bird photos on Saturday Snapshot hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
Packing For Mars:
The Curious Science of Life in the Void
by Mary Roach
Narrated by Sandra Burr
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Science
Publish Date: August 2010
Format: Audiobook | 11 Hours
Rating: 5 of 5
You don’t have to be a science nerd to enjoy this book about NASA and the space program. I admit I’m a geek and I love this stuff but this really is a book for all audiences. Last year, when I saw Mary Roach on John Stewart’s Daily Show talking about her (at the time) new book, Packing for Mars, she was so entertaining and funny that I thought I’ve got to read this book. I ended up listening to the audio version.
The book is not about Mars. I kept wondering when we were going to get to Mars. A few chapters in it hit me, the title is just a metaphor for what needs to be done to get into space. And boy do we find out. The author spent hours pouring through old flight transcripts, interviewing astronauts and NASA personnel and even going for a ride into weightlessness on the Vomit Comet, a low orbital flight that provides a nearly weightless environment in which to train astronauts and conduct research. The result is a hilarious look at the training and research for space travel. She asks the questions that you want to know the answers to but won’t find in any Science magazine or NASA publication.
Each chapter explores a different aspect of planning for space going back to the earliest mission through today on the International Space Station. Want to know how that space station toilet works and how they designed and tested it? Ummm, the training toilet has a camera in it. And bathroom breaks need to be scheduled because there’s no gravity and therefore no urge! And what did they do for a toilet on the Apollo and earlier missions and how bad did that space capsule smell after two weeks? Is it possible to have sex in space? Which foods can be brought on board and why are crumbs bad?
It’s not all bathroom jokes, there are also serious topics such as how astronauts are chosen for the program, a discussion of the psychological studies on long periods of isolation and the effects of weightlessness on the health of the astronauts. She also relates some strange but true stories and debunks a few well know myths.
The audio production was nicely done and easy to listen to. This would be a good title for those just starting to listen to audio books. There are no characters or plot elements or timelines to keep track of.
Interesting, informative and laugh-out-loud funny this is a book I highly recommend.
Almost Wordless: While walking in the prairie Saturday I noticed that the coneflowers are still blooming.
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More Wordless Wednesday.
Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their home last week.
Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. The September host is Amused By Books.
Another eclectic week for me. Some non-fiction, a couple of thrillers and historical fiction from the WWII era.
A contest win from the publisher hosted by A Sea of Books:
The Sun’s Heartbeat
by Bob Berman
The beating heart of the sun is the very pulse of life on earth. And from the ancients who plotted its path at Stonehenge to the modern scientists who unraveled the nuclear fusion reaction that turns mass into energy, humankind has sought to solve its mysteries. In this lively biography of the sun, Bob Berman ranges from its stellar birth to its spectacular future death with a focus on the wondrous and enthralling, and on the heartbreaking sacrifice, laughable errors, egotistical battles, and brilliant inspirations of the people who have tried to understand its power. more
A contest win from Atria Books:
Northwest Angle
by William Kent Krueger
During a houseboat vacation on the remote Lake of the Woods, a violent gale sweeps through unexpectedly, stranding Cork and his daughter, Jenny, on a devastated island where the wind has ushered in a force far darker and more deadly than any storm. Amid the wreckage, Cork and Jenny discover an old trapper’s cabin where they find the body of a teenage girl. She wasn’t killed by the storm, however; she’d been bound and tortured before she died. Whimpering sounds coming from outside the cabin lead them to a tangle of branches toppled by … more
An advance copy from Atria Books:
Half-Past Dawn
by Richard Doetsch
For Harper Keller, it is the morning from hell. He wakes up, gazes in the bathroom mirror, and sees a nasty, half-healed gash over his right eye. Even worse, his shoulder has a hastily stitched wound that looks suspiciously like the result of a bullet. With his wife and two daughters out of the house, he is alone when he picks up the morning paper to see a photo of a smashed guardrail beneath a headline that reads, “District Attorney, Harper Keller, Dead.” more
A win from Random House.
I Gave My Heart to Know This
by Ellen Baker
In January 1944, Grace Anderson, Lena Maki, and Lena’s mother, Violet, have joined the growing ranks of women working for the war effort. Though they find satisfaction in their jobs at a Wisconsin shipyard, it isn’t enough to distract them from the anxieties of wartime, or their fears for the men they love: Lena’s twin brother, Derrick, and Grace’s high school sweetheart, Alex. When shattering news arrives from the front, the lives of the three women are pitched into turmoil. more
Under My Apple Tree 