• About this blog

feastonbooksblog

~ Time is precious – read the best first

feastonbooksblog

Monthly Archives: December 2019

Rough Magic: Riding the World’s Loneliest Horse Race by Lara Prior-Palmer

27 Friday Dec 2019

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in 20th century, Biography, Non-fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Great Britain, horse racing, Mongolia, women horse jockeys

If you can accept that there are no maps. no pictures, and 19-year-old Brit “wit/slang” descriptions, you are in for a reading experience (much like Wild and Educated and  A House in the Sky) where a courageous woman takes on big risk, totally unprepared, and out of sheer determination manages to win the 1,000 kilometer horse race (riding 25 horses) in Mongolia.  Fascinating read!

“An inspirational tale of struggle―dehydration, injury and isolation―ultimately overcome through grit and sheer willpower.” ―Thomas Gebremedhin, Wall Street Journal Magazine,

“First-time author Prior-Palmer transforms from hopeless 19-year-old underdog into surprising champion of the grueling 2013 Mongol Derby in this exhilarating, visceral account of her attempt to win a 1,000-kilometer horse race across the Mongolian countryside . . . Filled with soulful self-reflection and race detail, this fast-paced page-turner is a thrill ride from start to finish.” ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Excellent prose and rigorous honesty . . . An unusual pleasure to read . . . Prior-Palmer writes with a dash and boldness few writers possess; her language seems sui generis . . . Her narrative alchemy is remarkable; in every chapter, she turns boredom to suspense and back again. The Derby is at once heart-stoppingly close and a miserable slog to which we already know the ending. That shifting―heroism to comedy, glamour to stinking holes in the ground―creates a tension far more interesting than the question of who’s going to win the race, or how.” ―Lily Meyer, NPR

Find this book                   audio cd’s

Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

16 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, Historical Fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

beekeepers, refugees from Syria, Syria Civil War - 2011

Moving, intimate, and beautifully written –  a novel that at once reminds us that the most peaceful and ordinary lives can be utterly upended in unimaginable ways. Travel  beneath today’s news headlines with this couple. Their journey is unforgettable.

“Nuri’s story rings with authenticity, from the vast, impersonal cruelties of war to the tiny kindnesses that help people survive it. . . . A well-crafted structure and a troubled but engaging narrator power this moving story of Syrian refugees.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

 “A haunting and resonant story of Syrian war refugees undertaking a treacherous journey . . . Readers will find this deeply affecting for both its psychological intensity and emotional acuity.”—Publishers Weekly

“Great for book club…Christy Lefteri, who volunteered at a refugee center in Athens, tells a powerful story about the refugee experience, hope, and love.” —Real Simple

Find this book                    large print

Travel Light, Move fast by Alexandra Fuller

10 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, memoir, Non-fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Africa, British family, fathers, history 1960-1985, mothers and daughters, social life and customs, Zimbabwe

This is her 4th memoir about her eccentric English family growing up in Africa.  I recommend all the earlier ones: Don’t Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight, Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, and Leaving Before the Rains Come.  This one is her good-by to her father.  Try them all.  Gutsy, humorous, not a bit sentimental.

“Travel Light, Move Fast is a sensitive, meticulously wrought portrait of one family’s sometimes-challenging dynamics, set against an unforgiving African backdrop. Fuller’s beautiful prose juxtaposes the grieving process with the lessons she learned from the man whose adventures shaped her.” —BookPage

“[Fuller’s] family remains endlessly fascinating and delightful companions for long-time readers and new ones alike. . . A gorgeously written tribute to a life well lived and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable loss and grief.” —  Booklist, starred review

“[Fuller] sifted through a lifetime of memories in order to pen this celebration of the man whose profound influence helped shape her own worldview. [She]writes gracefully about embracing grief as an indelible part of the human experience. Another elegant memoir from a talented storyteller.” — Kirkus Reviews

Find this book

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

02 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, History, United States

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

escapes, life changing events, slavery, Southern states

Number one New York Times best seller

Oprah’s Book Club Pick

From the National Book Award-winning author of Between the World and Me, a boldly conjured debut novel about a magical gift, a devastating loss, and an underground war for freedom.

“The most surprising thing about The Water Dancer may be its unambiguous narrative ambition. This isn’t a typical first novel. . . . The Water Dancer is a jeroboam of a book, a crowd-pleasing exercise in breakneck and often occult storytelling that tonally resembles the work of Stephen King as much as it does the work of Toni Morrison, Colson Whitehead and the touchstone African-American science-fiction writer Octavia Butler. . . . It is flecked with forms of wonder-working that push at the boundaries of what we still seem to be calling magical realism.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times

“An experience in taking [Toni] Morrison’s ‘chances for liberation’ literally: What if memory had the power to transport enslaved people to freedom?’ . . . The most moving part of The Water Dancer [is] the possibility it offers of an alternate history. . . The book’s most poignant and painful gift is the temporary fantasy that all the people who leaped off slave ships and into the Atlantic were not drowning themselves in terror and anguish, but going home.”—NPR

Find this book           large print                audio cd’s                 playaway

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014

Categories

  • 20th century
  • action
  • adventure
  • anecdotes
  • Biographical fiction
  • Biography
  • case studies
  • chronically ill
  • Comedy
  • crimes against
  • cuisine
  • detective
  • Drama
  • England
  • fantasy
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • Fiction
  • Future
  • Graphic novel
  • Historical Fiction
  • History
  • homicide investigation
  • Horror
  • Humor
  • London
  • magic
  • meaning of life
  • memoir
  • murder
  • murder and investigation
  • mystery
  • nature
  • Non-fiction
  • poetry
  • romance
  • Science fiction
  • Sports
  • suspense
  • thriller
  • Travel
  • True crime
  • Uncategorized
  • United States
  • western

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
Weston Public Library 781 786 6150

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • feastonbooksblog
    • Join 142 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • feastonbooksblog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...