bookshelf

Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Narrated Gwendoline Yeo , 9 hours, (c) 2005 Phoenix Audio, purchased via Audible. Read 05/03/09

A true Mother's Day extravaganza: four immigrant Chinese mothers and their American daughters disappoint, annoy and try to love each other.

Day of the Locust by Nathanael West

Written 1939,Read 04/30/09, Blog 05/09/09

A sorry collection of misfits tries to make it in Hollywood in the 1930s. Sidetracked by booze, fighting, jealousy and lack of talent they are no better off than the dazed Californians who have come to die in the sunshine. A mob riots at a movie premier.

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

A Novel Without A Hero
First published 1848 (c) Blackstone Audio, Downloaded from Audible. Narrated by Frederick Davidson (aka David Case) 29 hrs, 49 min, Read 04/29/09 

Orphaned and penniless Rebecca Sharp navigates the treacherous waters of English society in the early 1800s trying to make her own way. She tries to counter the forces of class and poverty through charm, wit, and well-chosen alliances. 

The Age of Abundance by Brink Lindsey

How Prosperity Transformed America's Politics and Culture
394 pgs (c) 2007, Broward Library 973.92 LI, Read 09/20/07

A well-documented examination of how prosperity developed in the U.S. and how it has impacted private and public life.

Ordinary Horror by David Searcy

230 pgs (c) 2001, Broward Library Read: 02/20/08 Blog: 04/26/09

Told from the vantage point of an elderly reclusive widower this tale describes the quotidian eeriness of daily life, habitual terrors, and an ultimate unraveling.

The Map that Changed the World by Simon Winchester

William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology
6 tapes, 9 1/2 hrs, Narrated by the author
(c) 2001, Harper Audio, Recorded Books 04/20/09

 William Smith's biography could have been written by Dickens: a stint in debtor's prison, a victim of plagiarism and class prejudices and a mentally ill young wife afflicted with nymphomania are just a few of the subplots.

Grasshopper by Barbara Vine

15 tapes / 21 hours, Narrated by  Jenny Sterlin
Recorded Books, (c) 2000, Read: 04/09/09, Blog: 04/20/09

This tale of suspense concerns an international assortment of young people crashing in a top floor apartment and their adventures-some criminal, some not-on the roofs of London.

The Castle by Franz Kafka

Written 1922, Translated by Mark Harman (c) 1998
9 tapes / 12 hours, Narrated by George Guidall
Recorded Books, Read 04/06/09, Blog 04/19/09

Goofy costumes, inexplicable behavior on the part of the locals, incomprehensible motives, concealed identities, and myriad Catch-22 rules- this is the black-and-white grandfather of the Swingin' Sixties Technicolor TV fantasy, "The Prisoner"; the only thing missing is Patrick McGoohan.

The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason

312 Pgs (c)  2004 Translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder
Broward Library 04/04/09

A body, tethered to Cold War era Russian communications equipment, is revealed when an Icelandic lake is drained. Old memories and rivalries surface, involving socialist students studying in East German in the late 1950s.

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre

Narrated by Rick Rohan
(c) 1923, Edwin Lefevre, (c) 2006 Recorded Books
Audible Download Read 03/30/09, Blog 03/31/09

Just as Proust and his madeleines seem to be trotted out in every article about memory, this volume is continually cited in articles about investing and markets. Significantly shorter Proust's, this book provides insight into trading and the early 20th century.