Please post ONLY reveals in this thread

I will also archive moves so we can keep track.

Previous Moves:
Kiri asked shaunie to reveal The Chilbury Ladies' Choir
dancing-dog asked meshe to reveal Missoula
Azuki steals The Chilbury Ladies' Choir from Kiri
Kiri takes a plunge and reveals Tsjara's book Shipwrecks
Lamelemon has zosime reveal All the Birds in the Sky
itpdx steals All the Birds in the Sky from lamelemon
Lamelemon asks for Itpdx's reveal The Cat's Table
GateGypsy swipes Missoula from Dancing-Dog
dancing-dog takes The Cat's Table from Lamelemon
Lamelemon steals All the Birds in the Sky from Itpdx
itpdx wants Nimrodiel to introduce The Other Alcott
Meshe steals All the Birds in the Sky from lamelemon
Lamelemon asks for azuki's reveal of The Little Paris Bookshop
Nim takes The Cat's Table away from the d-dog
dancing-dog relieves Kiri from being Shipwrecked
Kiri kicks out lamelemon from The Little Paris Bookshop
lamelemon relieves itpdx of The Other Alcott's company
itpdx pirates the Shipwrecks from dancing-dog
dancing-dog reclaims The Cat's Table from Nim
Nim removes the The Little Paris Bookshop from Kiri
Kiri asks lamelemon to reveal The Marriage Plot
Shaunie steals The Other Alcott from Lamelemon
Lamelemon asks GateGypsy to reveal Stay With Me
Tsjara takes The Cat's Table from dancing-dog

Have fun!

Shaunesay's Best of 2017 Reveal



The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan

The village of Chilbury in Kent is about to ring in some changes.
This is a delightful novel of wartime gumption and village spirit that will make your heart sing out.

Kent, 1940.

In the idyllic village of Chilbury change is afoot. Hearts are breaking as sons and husbands leave to fight, and when the Vicar decides to close the choir until the men return, all seems lost.

But coming together in song is just what the women of Chilbury need in these dark hours, and they are ready to sing. With a little fighting spirit and the arrival of a new musical resident, the charismatic Miss Primrose Trent, the choir is reborn.

Some see the choir as a chance to forget their troubles, others the chance to shine. Though for one villager, the choir is the perfect cover to destroy Chilbury’s new-found harmony.

Uplifting and profoundly moving, THE CHILBURY LADIES’ CHOIR explores how a village can endure the onslaught of war, how monumental history affects small lives and how survival is as much about friendship as it is about courage.

Shaunie's Note: Though not exactly the same time period/situation, things about it helped fill that Downton Abbey shaped hole in my heart.

Tsjara's reveal:



Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura
https://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/8382015/

Book description:
Isaku is a nine-year-old boy living in a remote, desperately poor fishing village on the coast of Japan. His people catch barely enough fish to live on, and so must distill salt to sell to neighboring villages. But this industry serves another, more sinister purpose: the fires of the salt cauldrons lure passing ships toward the shore and onto rocky shoals. When a ship runs aground, the villagers slaughter the crew and loot the cargo for rice, wine, and rich delicacies. One day a ship founders on the rocks. But Isaku learns that its cargo is far deadlier than could ever be imagined. Shipwrecks, the first novel by the great Japanese writer Yoshimura to be translated into English, is a stunningly powerful, Gothic tale of fate and retribution.

This was a beautiful, if rather bleak, story. It starts a bit slow, but once I got into the story I just wanted to continue reading. The writing feels sparse and detached which fits the story really well.

Zosime's reveal:

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders



NPR Review

Entertainment Weekly's 27 Female Authors Who Rule Sci-Fi and Fantasy Right Now
Winner of the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novel
Finalist for the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel

“The book is full of quirkiness and playful detail...but there's an overwhelming depth and poignancy to its virtuoso ending.” —NPR

From the former editor-in-chief of io9.com, a stunning Nebula Award-winning and Hugo-shortlisted novel about the end of the world—and the beginning of our future

An ancient society of witches and a hipster technological startup go to war in order to prevent the world from tearing itself. To further complicate things, each of the groups’ most promising followers (Patricia, a brilliant witch and Laurence, an engineering “wunderkind”) may just be in love with each other.

As the battle between magic and science wages in San Francisco against the backdrop of international chaos, Laurence and Patricia are forced to choose sides. But their choices will determine the fate of the planet and all mankind.

In a fashion unique to Charlie Jane Anders, All the Birds in the Sky offers a humorous and, at times, heart-breaking exploration of growing up extraordinary in world filled with cruelty, scientific ingenuity, and magic.

Hugo Award - Nominee, Amazon.com Best Books of the Year, Boing Boing Gift Guide, Nebula Awards - Nominee, Locus Awards - Nominee, Washington Post Best Books of the Year, Nebula Award Winner, Hudson Booksellers Best of the Year, Time Magazine Top 10 Books of the Year, Goodreads Choice Awards, Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year, NPR Best Book of the Year, Locus Awards - Winner

Book Description:
Acquaintance rape is a crime like no other. Unlike burglary or embezzlement or any other felony, the victim often comes under more suspicion than the alleged perpetrator. This is especially true if the victim is sexually active; if she had been drinking prior to the assault — and if the man she accuses plays on a popular sports team. The vanishingly small but highly publicized incidents of false accusations are often used to dismiss her claims in the press. If the case goes to trial, the woman’s entire personal life becomes fair game for defense attorneys.

This brutal reality goes a long way towards explaining why acquaintance rape is the most underreported crime in America. In addition to physical trauma, its victims often suffer devastating psychological damage that leads to feelings of shame, emotional paralysis and stigmatization. PTSD rates for rape victims are estimated to be 50%, higher than soldiers returning from war.

In Missoula, Krakauer chronicles the searing experiences of several women in Missoula — the nights when they were raped; their fear and self-doubt in the aftermath; the way they were treated by the police, prosecutors, defense attorneys; the public vilification and private anguish; their bravery in pushing forward and what it cost them.

Krakauer’s dispassionate, carefully documented account of what these women endured cuts through the abstract ideological debate about campus rape. College-age women are not raped because they are promiscuous, or drunk, or send mixed signals, or feel guilty about casual sex, or seek attention. They are the victims of a terrible crime and deserving of compassion from society and fairness from a justice system that is clearly broken

My review:
This book was one of the most difficult I've read, but it was also one of the most compelling.
It's about acquaintance rape. Mostly on a College campus. The cases in the book focus on University of Montana and it's athletes. The football players. What strikes me as one of the most disturbing points is that these young men and their friends, family, and fans have no concept of consent. They have convinced themselves and some juries that "no" really doesn't mean no. It's incomprehensible to me.

itpdx's reveal:



The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje

Book Description
A spellbinding story - by turns poignant and electrifying - about the magical, often forbidden, discoveries of childhood and a lifelong journey that begins unexpectedly with a spectacular sea voyage.

In the early 1950s, an eleven-year-old boy in Colombo boards a ship bound for England. At mealtimes he is seated at the "cat's table" - as far from the Captain's Table as can be - with a ragtag group of "insignificant" adults and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin. As the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean, the boys tumble from one adventure to another, bursting all over the place like freed mercury. But there are other diversions as well: one man talks with them about jazz and women, another opens the door to the world of literature. The narrator's elusive, beautiful cousin Emily becomes his confidante, allowing him to see himself "with a distant eye" for the first time, and to feel the first stirring of desire. Another Cat's Table denizen, the shadowy Miss Lasqueti, is perhaps more than what she seems. And very late every night, the boys spy on a shackled prisoner, his crime and his fate a galvanizing mystery that will haunt them forever.

As the narrative moves between the decks and holds of the ship and the boy's adult years, it tells a spellbinding story - by turns poignant and electrifying - about the magical, often forbidden, discoveries of childhood and a lifelong journey that begins unexpectedly with a spectacular sea voyage.

My Review
Beautiful. Elegant. And so true. Ondaatje puts into words emotions that until now had no expression.

Nimriodel's Reveal....

The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper



A People Magazine and POPSUGAR pick!

"[May's] adventures illuminate the world of intrepid female artists in the late 1800s [...] The Other Alcott comes alive in its development of the relationship between Louisa and May." --The New York Times

Elise Hooper's debut novel conjures the fascinating, untold story of May Alcott -- Louisa's youngest sister and an artist in her own right.

We all know the story of the March sisters, heroines of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. But while everyone cheers on Jo March, based on Louisa herself, Amy March is often the least favorite sister. Now, it's time to learn the truth about the real "Amy", Louisa's sister, May. Stylish, outgoing, creative, May Alcott grows up longing to experience the wide world beyond Concord, Massachusetts. While her sister Louisa crafts stories, May herself is a talented and dedicated artist, taking lessons in Boston, turning down a marriage proposal from a well-off suitor, and facing scorn for entering what is very much a man's profession.

Life for the Alcott family has never been easy, so when Louisa's Little Women is published, its success eases the financial burdens they'd faced for so many years. Everyone agrees the novel is charming, but May is struck to the core by the portrayal of selfish, spoiled "Amy March." Is this what her beloved sister really thinks of her?

So May embarks on a quest to discover her own true identity, as an artist and a woman. From Boston to Rome, London, and Paris, this brave, talented, and determined woman forges an amazing life of her own, making her so much more than merely "The Other Alcott."

"Elise Hooper's thoroughly modern debut gives a fresh take on one of literature's most beloved families. To read this book is to understand why the women behind Little Women continue to cast a long shadow on our imaginations and dreams. Hooper is a writer to watch!" -- Elisabeth Egan, author of A Window Opens

---------------

This is actually the second fictional narrative following an actual artist of this time period that I read last year. Both pulled me into the story and I was conflicted which to choose for this swap. I chose this book because of whose story it portrayed. Fans of Louisa May Alcott know that she pulled ideas for her stories from her life. In Little Women especially, she found inspiration in her own family. Yet very little is known about her siblings. May, the sister who Amy March was influenced by struggled with her sister's success. While proud of the fame her sister was achieving, she was stung by the early reviews of the book and the scathing comments on her illustrations.

While many women at this time would have given up, May used the rejection and hurt to fuel her passion for art, and her quest to improve herself as an artist. This meant finding teachers who taught women the fundamentals of drawing, painting, and sculpture. It meant being looked down upon by her male artistic peers. It meant not being able to draw from a live nude model. May accepted these challenges and found a way past them both with her sister's support, and then after a falling out between them without her support. I was so interested to read about her life in Paris as an artist at the start of the Impressionists breaking from the the Académie des Beaux-Arts which dominated French art, and it's annual juried art show the Salon de Paris. May Alcott had a life that was interesting, event filled, and much too short.

Azuki's reveal:



The Little Paris Bookshop
by Nina George

Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.

When Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to Provence, home of his love, who may be long gone already. He is joined along the way by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef.

This novel is totally charming, from the set up of a floating bookstore (I thought water and paper don't mix), a bookseller who dispenses books like medicine, to the idea of a man opening the letter his lover left him 20 years ago and goes looking for her, the book simply keeps me captivated. What will he find at the end of the journey? Or will he find new love along the way?

"If you're looking to be charmed right out of your own life for a few hours, sit down with this wise and winsome novel...Everything happens just as you want it to... from poignant moments to crystalline insights in exactly the right measure."—Oprah.com

"Engaging... [George's] sumptuous descriptions of both food and literature will leave readers unsure whether to run to the nearest library or the nearest bistro."—Publishers Weekly

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Book description:
It's the early 1980s - the country is in a deep recession, and life after college is harder than ever. In the cafés on College Hill, the wised-up kids are inhaling Derrida and listening to the Talking Heads. But Madeleine Hanna, dutiful English major, is writing her senior thesis on Jane Austen and George Eliot, purveyors of the marriage plot that lies at the heart of the greatest English novels.

As Madeleine tries to understand why "it became laughable to read writers like Cheever and Updike, who wrote about the suburbia Madeleine and most of her friends had grown up in, in favor of reading the Marquis de Sade, who wrote about deflowering virgins in eighteenth century France," real life, in the form of two very different guys, intervenes. Leonard Bankhead - charismatic loner, college Darwinist, and lost Portland boy - suddenly turns up in a semiotics seminar, and soon Madeleine finds herself in a highly charged erotic and intellectual relationship with him. At the same time, her old "friend" Mitchell Grammaticus - who's been reading Christian mysticism and generally acting strange - resurfaces, obsessed with the idea that Madeleine is destined to be his mate.

Over the next year, as the members of the triangle in this amazing, spellbinding novel graduate from college and enter the real world, events force them to reevaluate everything they learned in school. Leonard and Madeleine move to a biology laboratory on Cape Cod, but can't escape the secret responsible for Leonard's seemingly inexhaustible energy and plunging moods. And Mitchell, traveling around the world to get Madeleine out of his mind, finds himself face-to-face with ultimate questions about the meaning of life, the existence of God, and the true nature of love.

Are the great love stories of the nineteenth century dead? Or can there be a new story, written for today and alive to the realities of feminism, sexual freedom, prenups, and divorce? With devastating wit and an abiding understanding of and affection for his characters, Jeffrey Eugenides revives the motivating energies of the Novel, while creating a story so contemporary and fresh that it reads like the intimate journal of our own lives.

Surely the best book I've read in quite a while. An honest, wholehearted 5 stars. Having previously enjoyed Eugenides' other two novels, I went into this one with reasonably high expectations, and even so I received more than I expected. I felt the words fell into their place in wonderfully chosen, yet natural sequences. What resounded with me the most were the echoes and handling of manic depression.

GateGypsy's Reveal

Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
Yejide is hoping for a miracle, for a child. It is all her husband wants, all her mother in-law wants, and she has tried everything – arduous pilgrimages, medical consultations, dances with prophets, appeals to God. But when her in-laws insist upon a new wife, it is too much for Yejide to bear. This unforgettable novel set in Nigeria gives voice to both husband and wife as they tell the story of their marriage—and the forces that threaten to tear it apart. It is a tale about our desperate attempts to save ourselves and those we love from heartbreak.

I loved this book. It legitimately made me cry several times. I will merrily buy a hard copy or ebook version of this book for whoever wins it in the swap, as I originally borrowed this in audio from my local digital library. I would strongly encourage anyone who is inclined toward audiobooks to check out the audio version of this, as the narrator really nails it. Here is a great GoodReads review of the book.