A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway is the December choice for my book club. We are reading travel books, and this was on several lists of best travel books. I am struck by the similarities of this book to last month's Travels with Charlie. Two famous authors' final books talking about travel seem ripe for a compare and contrast paper. It practically writes itself. I will refrain.
A Moveable Feast doesn't fit neatly in the travel category. I would classify it as a memoir. Hemingway recounts his life in Paris when he was poor and trying to find his way as an author. I encountered somewhat familiar names like Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and wished I knew more about who they were and why they were there. Hemingway is a big personality--he doesn't strike me as the quietly observant type but as a Man-of-Action. He recounts adventures with his first wife, Hadley, with tenderness and affection. In his recollections, he glories in being a young, strong, free spirit figuring out his talent. I don't like Hemingway the man much. He has a tone of arrogance that rankles me. He made poor choices and unapologetically hurt others. I'm glad I read it because he's a good writer who worked hard to improve; he knew exciting people and led an intriguing life.
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The View was Exhausting by Mikaella Clements and Oujuli Datta is romance and employs the fake-in-love trope well. Whitman Tagore is a rising movie star blazing a trail as a British Indian Actress. She is trying to break out of the woman of color best friend and nerdy computer whiz parts into a leading role. What would be stumbles for other actors, like an uncensored response to a bad breakup, could be career-ending for her. She hires a bulldog of a publicist who helps her craft a nuanced image designed to appeal to directors and fans alike. Part of that image is a hot playboy love interest like Leo Milanowski. The publicist arranges carefully choreographed "dates" to be "accidentally" photographed. It is a romance and, therefore, has a predictable story path. Still, Clements and Datta make it challenging for this trending couple and keep me guessing whether it is real or Hollywood magic.
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The word to describe The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett is clever. I enjoyed her previous book, The Twyford Code, which is another innovative book. Here is my review of it: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/2023/08/i-read-super-serious-book-clever.html. This is a good choice if you like to read Christmas-themed books during the holidays. It is told entirely through emails, texts, and other modern forms of communication, making it an epistolary novel. That is a complex style to pull off; even Jane Austin couldn't do it! I found it quite British, mainly since I listened to the audiobook version. The story revolves around a village theater group doing a traditional holiday pantomime. Petty jealousy over starring roles, a struggle for power, crime, drugs, murder, and Santa work well together.
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I was so glad to read the latest in The Murderbot Diaries series, System Collapse, by Martha Wells. It is dependable sci-fi with big stakes, selfish bad guys, and a cranky, likable SecUnit hero--a cyborg who was once compelled to serve, but through the power of story, his heart grew three times its size, and he (it?) became free. Internally, it calls itself Murderbot. The plot is propulsive, and the characters are authentic. I have reviewed the series here: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Martha+Wells. System Collapse is a good continuation.
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