#BlackHistoryMonth2022 Red Velvet
British actor Adrian Lester, husband of playwright Lolita Chakrabarti
FEBRUARY
by Lolita Chakrabarti (no photo)
Finish date: 25 January 2022
Genre: Play
Rating: A++++
Review:
Bad news: Nothing to mention….
Good news The title kept ringing in my ear …what is the link between “Red Velvet” and what I’m reading. It is what young Ira sees viewing plays from the high balcony of the Park Theatre in NYC…what we all see when visiting a great theatre…the red curtain! “…something about velvet, a deep promise of what’s to come”. Aldrige as a child was “…under a spell at the back of the gods (actors), a sea of red below filled with expectations of greatness.”
Good news: Structure made the play easy to follow. I always put the scenes in order before I read a play…it helps me immerse myself into the world of the actors…giving me a hint where the play is going. Chakrabarti bookends the play: scene 1 with scene 7
It looks like too many characters..but in most scenes it is a group of actors discussing the play they are to perform, very readable.
Good news: In just a few short scenes ….Ms Chakarbarti conveys to the reader what it is like to be a black actor. What is it like to have your acting skills reduced to the color of your skin. This play is based on the little-known, but true story of Ira Aldridge.
Good news: Message: politics in theatre…in spite of all the obstacles in 1833 London……talent will always shine through. Issue: a black actor touching, fighting and killing Desdemona in front of a shocked British public and the theatre board members.
Good news: The playwright is very subtle alluding to the new Salvery Abolition Act (1833). We sense the political unrest in London through the actor’s dialogue.
Parliament was about to abolish slavery in most British colonies.
This mirrors the “unrest” on stage as well!
Personal: This was how a play should be written..from the inside. Lolita Chakabarti is a trained actress at Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) and knows what an actor and the audience need. This was a delight to read. If you look at the cover…it is Adrian Lester another RADA actor, he starred in the play and is …Lolita Chakabarti’s husband.
#BlackHistoryMonth2022 All That She Carried
FEBRUARY
21. 
by 
Tiya Miles
Finish date: 08 February 2022
Genre: Non-fiction
Rating: B-
Review:
Good news: Prologue and introduction Do NOT forget to read them. They are very well written.
Good news: There are a few revealing aspects of history that are missing in many books I’ve read about slavery. Examples Ms Miles gives are the conscious diminishing of slaves in the clothes give to them – shaving women’s head if the hair is too straight and beautiful – nicknames or pet names to belittle as child or domesticated animal: Hero, Cupid, Captain, Prince, Samson.
Good news The best part of the book for me was chapter 5 Auction Block (functioned like a department store window). The chapter was eye-opening, shocking and what I needed to learn about.
This is the raw truth about Charleston South Carolina, slave trade hub.
Workhouse: plantation owners could have slave whipped for a price…the owners don’t want to get their hands messy. There were also female salve holders: don’t hear much about them
…but Ms Miles enlightens us! Ms Miles describes a southern gothic horror made real….in Charleston.
Think about all this the next time you feel like a weekend in a B&B in South Carolina.
Personal: Regarding Ashley’s sack…many chapters are completely speculative.
There are a lot of “she would have’s, she may have’s, we can imagine and in all likelihood.”
That is not what I was looking for. All That She Carried is good…not great IMO.
A GREAT book is David Olusago’s Black and British: A Forgotten History. REVIEW
This book seems to be based more on facts than fiction.
by David Olusoga (no photo)
#Play King Charles III
FEBRUARY
by Mike Bartlett (no photo)
Finish date: 04 February 2022
Genre: Play
Rating: A
Review: King Charles III
NOTE: 70 years ago today….
Elizabeth II acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive councils shortly afterwards
Good news The play instantly feels different! It is written in Shakespearean form. Barlett uses in blank verse – also known as unrhymed iambic pentameter in common with many Shakespeare plays. This play follows Shakespeare classic 5 act structure …. and even with a ghost.
Good news Charles is a man who has waited all his life for a job – and then it goes horribly wrong! Great metaphor for Charles “…I’m like a book, stuck on the shelf, for years ignored and waiting to be judged….”. This play is not without controversy. For the stage version there were long conversations with lawyers. Even certain actors refusing to be involved because of how it might affect their future career.
Best scene: Charles is living in the 16th C. as a “Shakespearean King”…who thinks he has God given powers. “…Anointed not by man, but God, I don’t negotiate but issue commands.” Act 4 is the explosive showdown between Charles vs William.
Personal: There’s a lot to unpack in this play: royal family and Harry’s desire to “leave the firm” – power of `the Parliament and Prime Minister – privacy vs freedom of the press – the future of the monarchy.
There’s a reason this play is controversial….wow! I thought was going to read a pompous and pretentious play It turned out to be a doozy with a lot of meat on the bone. No wonder no Royals officially came to see the play in London.
The play premiered in London in 2014. BBC broadcasted a movie version in May 2017. It is on streaming…so try to find it. It was nominated for BAFTA’s Best Single Drama and Best Leading Actor, Tim Pigott-Smith (1946-2017). Mike Bartlett portrays Charles as a Shakespearean king…with actual power” in the 21st C! In truth kingship in England is only symbolic.
PS: Next month Mike Bartlett’s new play in Shakespearean form will open in London. It is about a power struggle…an ambitious man and asks the question: “Do we have a devil in all of us?.” The new play is called “47th” …about Trump.
#Biography John Adams
FEBRUARY
23. 
by 
David McCullough
Finish date: 01 February 2022
Genre: Biography
Rating: A++++++++++++
Review:
Bad news: Part 1 – the book does not start with a bang. So please, do NOT give up on this book! Timeline: 8 months: Felt like reading a 18th C. version of C-Span….blow by blow accounts of the Congress of Philadelphia and the difficult birth of a new United Stats of America, July 4, 1776. Nice to read/skim….but all in all boring because we’ve all read so much about this.
Good news Part II – Now book really picks up steam on page 199 beginning with Adams’s departure to France with young son, John Quincy. Adams will join Ben Franklin at French court to negotiate an alliance. I especially liked CH 6…JUST WONDERFUL! It is a tender, loving look at a husband and wife reunited July 20 1784…after a separation of 4 years!! Abigail overcomes her fears of the North Atlantic sea voyage b/c her love for “my dearest “ is stronger.
Good news: Woman’s perspective….always great to read!! Abigail Adams’s descriptions of the North Atlantic voyage (ship, crew and weather). She has the eye for detail that just gives the reader a pause from all the ‘history’. Abigail Adams was a down-to-earth New England puritan and her observations about the French Louis XVI court and the snobbish British society are so much fun to read.
Good news: Part III – John Adams’s term as 2nd President of US: Intrigue , backstabbing politics and finally returning to Peacefield…his home in Massachusetts.
Personal:
Reading this book has given met the needed background to finally watch epic series 2008 John Adams. It won 13 Prime Time Emmy awards including Best Actor Paul Giamatti.
The greatest strength of this book… and also any other books by D. McCullough is the author’s ability to bring history to life! People are living and breathing on every page!
Motto John Adams…I will follow his advice! “You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket. You will never have an idle hour.”
Mrs. Adams’s narrative with vivid, insightful details brings a feeling of balance in the book…the frenetic revolution, war, and birth of an independent US….and the tender scenes of domestic life with John Adams and her children.
For all the biographies I’ve read….never have I enjoyed reading a history as much as this one. Don’t make the same mistake I did, judged the book by the cover…again! I thought this would be just another a stuffy history book. How wrong As I said…don’t make my mistake….open the book, skim part 1 if necessary and the book
really starts with part 2.
I was just swept away by John and Abigail! Never knew T. Jefferson indulged in “backstabbing politics” Never knew how vindictive A. Hamilton was. It’s all in the book….great learning moment!
Call me sappy and overly sentimental, but I was absolutely awe struck by the level of commitment and affection that John and Abigail felt and showed to one another even across great distances and during long years when they hardly even saw each other. It was biography with a pulse and also a love story!
#MustRead
#NF Bill Bryson
JANUARY
18. 
by 
Bill Bryson
Finish date: 20 January 2022
Genre: Non-fiction, travel
Rating: D
Review:
Bad news: Not what I expected…. I hoped for a more introspective journey from Georgia to Maine. But Bryson lost me in the first chapters with the ‘technical’ Appalachian Trail (AT) length, AT history, possible sickness to be confronted, buying equipment and an obsession with big bears.
Bad news: On page 45 we read the ‘hardest part of the AT is getting to it’. With this comment …it deflates my need to read the book if this is really just a walk in the woods.
Good news: I’ve tried to find something I really liked…skimmed the notes once again. I did find on pg 50 the words that I could relate to after having biked so many years in The Netherlands…
“…coming to terms with the constant dispiriting discovery that there is always more hill…you can never see exactly what’s to come.” So there is introspection but you have to look hard to find it.
Personal: I’m hanging up my hiking boots for the foreseeable future. This was my first Bill Bryson book…and it will be my last.
But….if you REALLY want to enjoy a walk and excellent writing...then I highly recommended
by 
Paul Theroux.
It was nominated for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year (2016)
Paul Theroux never….disappoints this reader!
#MountTBR February reading list
- The hardest thing you have to change is your mind…..
- I’ve decided to start this most difficult challenge !
- #MountTBR2022
- #BeatTheBacklog
- Monthy Planning
Reading List February: 15/15
- Dancing Lessons – Olive Senior (novel)
FEBRUARY
30. 
by 
Finish date: 22 February 2022
Genre: novel
Rating: B-
- Unbound – Tarana Burke (memoir)
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32. 
by Tarana Burke (no photo)
Finish date: 24 February 2022
Genre: memoir
Rating: B
- A Walk in the Woods – B. Bryson
FEBRUARY
18. by Bill Bryson
Finish date: 20 January 2022
Genre: Non-fiction, travel
Rating: D
- John Adams – D. McCullough
FEBRUARY
Finish date: 01 February 2022
Genre: Biography
Rating: A++++++++++++ (Why? see review!)
- King Charles III – M. Bartlett (play)
FEBRUARY
by Mike Bartlett (no photo)
Finish date: 04 February 2022
Genre: Play
Rating: A
- Red Velvet – L. Chakrabarti (play)
FEBRUARY
by Lolita Chakrabarti (no photo)
Finish date: 25 January 2022
Genre: Play
Rating: A++++
- All That She Carried – Tiya Alicia Miles (NF)
FEBRUARY
by Tiya Miles
Finish date: 08 February 2022
Genre: Non-fiction
Rating: B-
- Big White Fog – Theodore Ward (play)
FEBRUARY
by Theodore Ward (no photo)
Finish date: 11 February 2022
Genre: Play
Rating: D
- Redeployment (12 stories)- P. Klay
FEBRUARY
by 
Phil Klay
Finish date: 8 February 2022
Genre: Short Stories (12)
Rating: A+++++
- No Man’s Land – H. Pinter (play)
FEBRUARY
Finish date: 15 February 2022
Genre: Play
Rating: B
- Last Night (10 stories) – J. Salter
FEBRUARY
by 
James Salter
Finish date: 10 February 2022
Genre: short stories (10)
Rating: F
- Macbeth – W. Shakespeare (play)
FEBRUARY
Finish date: February 14 2022
Genre: Play
Rating: A++++++
- No Name in the Street – James Baldwin
FEBRUARY
Finish date: 20 February 2022
Genre: Non-fiction
Rating: A
- No Man’s Land – H. Pinter (play)
FEBRUARY
Finish date: 15 February 2022
Genre: Play
Rating: B
- Sweat – Lynn Nottage (play)
FEBRUARY
by 
Lynn Nottage
Finish date: 21 February 2022
Genre: Play
Rating: A++++++++
#NF The Crossroads of Should and Must
17.
by 
Elle LunaFinish date: 20 January 2022
Genre: Non-fiction
Review:
Bad news: Collage slogans: Reading is disrupted by a waterfall of illustrations/taglines on practically every page! Less is more…..
Layout: Pages are a smattering of paragraphs and inspirational quotes…and the book could easily have been 80 pages instead of 160.
Bad news: Ideas in this book feel like they have been written on a laptop between Chia Lattes at Starbucks…highly-caffeinated content. When I closed the book an empty feeling of wasted reading time engulfed me.
Bad news: How to remove ‘should’ from our lives? Is this something I need to do? Really…there are plenty of “ should” we have to keep. Work: Like your job or not…a “girl’s gotta eat and pay the bills!”
Bad news: I shudder reading the “self-awarness” therapy exercises this book offers…skipping this “should” chapter. No…I do NOT want to write my obituary (part III Must, pg 80)…jich!
Good news: One thing I did like “Acquire one new skill a month…try new activities.” I can do that. No, I will not try to do headstands. Integrating solitude into our lives must be done. Well, during a pandemic that is a very easy lift! Find solitude in the craziest places…NO, I will not wash a head of lettuce leaf by leaf for a “kitchen” moment of meditation!
Personal: Why did I buy this book 7 years ago? Read in 1,5 hrs….learned nothing.
#DontWasteYourMoney
#Play Separate Tables
JANUARY
17. 
by 
Terence Rattigan
Finish date: 28 January 2022
Genre: Play
Rating: A
Review:
Good news: Setting: The guests gather for a life-changing night at the Beauregard Hotel in
…Bournemouth, an English seaside resort town. We look at the lives of several residents. Guests who have their meals at Separate Tables. We see this all the time…people do not connect.
Good news: This is an absolutely classic English play! Written 1950’s Rattigan’s play develops familiar themes of loneliness, humiliation and the self appointed moral jurors in the private hotel. Rattigan draws on his own world. He dissects the known realities of the upper-middle-class. Separate Tables is touching, subtle and proof how …small minds (Lady Railton-Bell) can problematise the unproblematic
Personal: Reading tip: try to put faces on the characters before reading. I used the actors/actresses in the 1958 movie version of the play: Rita Hayworth, Deborah Kerr, David Niven and Burt Lancaster. Niven won Best Actor Oscar 1959 for his staring role in the movie.
#MustRead…it takes about an hour of your reading time!
#Plays Thornton Wilder
JANUARY
16. 
by 
Thornton Wilder
Finish date: 19 January 2022
Genre: Plays
Rating: D-
Review:
Bad news: The plays felt like homework, outdated lacking in any kind of spark of enjoyment. Every time I started a new play …it was only to get it done and hope the end of the book would put me out of my misery.
Bad news: I still had enough enthusiasm after a good lunch… to start the last 12 one act plays. I only like 2! So it was a very low return on investment. I literally fell asleep reading part II.
Good news: Stage directions: stage appearance, characters arrangement alone or in clusters…that was the best part of the plays I read. I needed some visual to get my through my reading. I will share one for Pullman Car Hiawatha by Harry Feiner Theater Design It helped me so much to understand what was going on in the play. IMO this was the best play in the book because it was so unconventional. Strange play….but oh, what a talent Wilder must have been to create this dialogue!! I liked Wilder’s use of a stage manager that breaks the 4th wall and speaks to the audience.
Personal These are not plays you can just jump into….there is a lot of allegory embedded in Thornton’s writing. Try to at least read a summary of the play beforehand. Here is an excellent resource for many of Wilder’s works…all in one website! The Wilder Society
Thornton Wilder….who mentions his name when asked for 3 great American playwrights? Not me! The spotlight is always on Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller. But Wilder is one of the greatest writers of art of allegorical narrative…and that is always difficult to understand and digest. Malcolm Cowley (literary critic 1898-1989) reveals: “(Wilder is) one of the toughest and most complicated minds in contemporary America.” Amen to that!
We all have read Wilder’s play Our Town and he novel The Bridge of San Luis Ray (Pulitzer Prize 1928)..in high-school …so if you’ve read them there is no reason to venture into the one-act plays in this book.
#Disappointed
#NF Dawn of the Belle Epoque
Alfred Sisley: Fog, Voisins (1874)
JANUARY
by 
Mary McAuliffe
Finish date: 17 January 2022
Genre: Non-fiction
Rating: A
Review:
Bad news: No book is perfect…but I had to think very hard to find a minus point in this book.
It was long (400 pages). That is a lot to cover in 2 days. I have the next book on my reading list but will have to wait until I digest this one. Rightly Ms McAuliffe touches on the politics and science (..few pages about Mme Cure) in the Belle Epoque. Honestly, I’ve read about – seen movie about The Dreyfus Affair so felt I could skim these pages. Also George Clemeanceau and all his band of merry men…don’t interest me. Also…there were not many illustrations in the book so I had to depend on Wikipedia/Google.
Good news: Now the real reason to read this book is the world of literature, art, music and engineering! 75% of the book is about the wonderful world of French painters who dazzeled the world. We all know the list of names but I fell very much head over heels reading about Pissarro. He tends to fall into the back round when you think about Van Gogh, Renoir, Degas, Manet brothers and Monet. But Camille Pissarro was the father figure who nurtured and held these men together! PS: Did you know Pissarro was born in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands?
Good News Having read bio’s about B. Morisot and V. Hugo I could quickly get through the first chapters. Also I’ve read all 20 of Zola’s Rougon-Macquart books….so references to Nana or L’Assommier, L’Oeuvre were familiar characters to me. I knew nothing about the great 4 composers Claude Debussy, D’Indy, Ravel and the wonderful Saint-Saëns. If you do anything listen to his Carnival des Animaux on Spotify…just breathtaking. This book contains tidbits of information that have slipped between the cracks of Wikipedia!
Good news: There were interesting chapters about the history of
the Pantheon in Paris (…..Victor Hugo thought is a wretched copy of St. Peter’s in Rome!) Statue of Liberty – Eiffel Tower. There were…steamy love affairs: between Debussy and older Mme Vasnier (married). Another affair between Claude Monet and Mme Alice Hoschedé (married) was very touching…they stayed devoted to each other for life! Loved the back round information about Rodin’s famous sculpture “The Kiss”…was it inspired by his affair with Camille Claudel or Dante’s Inferno 2nd level Francesca en Paolo?
Good news: Auguste Escoffier shook-up the world of haute cuisine and created Pêche Melba for Australian singer Nellie Melba and Fraises Bernhardt for Sarah, the great French actress. He was just as revolutionary as anything Rodin, Seurat, Debussy or Gustave Eiffel were doing! He looked at restaurant meals from a woman’s point of view….as every chef should!
Good news: Did I learn something I never heard about? Sarah Bernhardt was not only an actress but also a sculptor. I got a peak at the installation plans for the Statue of Liberty and Tour Eiffel. Learned about the uproar the controversial sculpture The Bronze Age by Rodin created. The model was a Belgian soldier and so lifelike no one believed it was not made with a plaster caste of the body! What a body! (see Wikipedia)
Personal While reading this book I had Spotfy to listen to the music of the composers and Wikipedia to have the many works of art (don’t forget the beautiful Art Nouveau illustrations by Alphonse Mucha….beautiful!) by the painters at my fingertips. It is the best way to read this book. Finally after having collected dust on my TBR for 5 years…I discovered this gem!
#MountTBR2022
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