Come, Tell Me How You Live

Come, Tell Me How You Live: An Archaeological Memoir 

by Agatha Christie Mallowan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Agatha Chistie's second husband was the renowned archaeologist Max Mallowan with whom she traveled on digs in Syria in the 1930s. He seems to have been a huge improvement in husbands for her. 

This book is a memoir of her time on one of these digs. It is charming and entertaining. I am a fan of the Amelia Peabody mysteries by Elizabeth Peters the later of which are set in the world of archaeology at the same time period (though in Egypt not Syria). It was also clear from this book where Christie got the details that made her novel Murder in Mesopotamia so vivid.

I am counting this book toward the What's in a Name challenge for a book with "you or me" in the title as this one has both. 

Doctor Zhivago

Doctor Zhivago 

by Boris Pasternak

translated from the Russian by Max Hayward and Manya Harari
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First published in 1957 this novel is the story of four Russians set against the backdrop of the Russian revolution. It is a classic, tragic, love story. It is also a beautifully constructed novel where individuals are "tossed about like corks in the tumult...thrown up against each other in all sorts of unexpected ways and places" (as John Bayley puts it in his introduction to the novel). In addition to characters being thrown up against each other Pasternak does the same thing with details--contrasting the beautiful with the squalid and the monumental with the quotidian. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and plan to read it again. This book is on my classics club list as well as my TBR pile challenge list. I am also counting it toward the What's in a Name challenge for the category of "Q, X, Z."

The Member of the Wedding

The Member of the Wedding 

by Carson McCullers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book reminded me a lot of To Kill a Mockingbird, except that it was very focused on a single storyline--the experiences of 12-year-old Frankie. Set in a small American town during WW2 our young heroine struggles with a desire to be of the world in a way that she can't be as a young girl. 

I read the novel in a single afternoon and I enjoyed it. This title is on my classics club list, my TBR pile challenge list,  and it is one of my #20booksofsummer23.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? 

by Philip K. Dick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This novel was not what I expected. It was more about the psychology of the character and less of a chase thriller than I thought it would be. I liked this much more than I expected to. Most of the story (which is set in 2021) is told from the point of view of Rick Deckard and the focus is on how he is dealing with (or not) the emotional implications of his world and his actions. The interior lives of other characters are also part of the story. The pace of the writing is fast, but not driving the way thrillers typically are. 

This book is on my Classics Club list and my #20booksofsummer2023 list. It also counts towards the What's in a Name Challenge (punctuation in the title).

What's in a Name Challenge 2023

I participated in this challenge for quite a few years and always found it a good one. A recent post at The Once Lost Wanderer reminded me of it and I decided to sign up.

This challenge is currently being hosted at Carolina Book Nook and the rules are pretty simple. During the year you read a book the title of which contains a word that fits into each of six specific categories. When you blog about the book you read you link your post to that category page at the host site. 

The 2023 categories, with some possible books, are:

• Punctuation (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick)
• 7 Deadly Sins (The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe)
• You or Me
• Chess Piece
• Celebration (Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers)
• Q, X, Z (Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak)