Book a Week in 2013 - Week three

[Robin M]

Good Morning! Today is the start of week 3 in our quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks. Welcome back to all our readers, to all those who are just joining in and to all who are following our progress. Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 Books blog to link to your reviews.

 

52 Books Blog - Pierre Berton: Highlighting canadian journalist and non fiction writer Pierre Berton. When he died in 2004, CBC (canadian broadcasting company) put together a great short video of his life which is available to view on the blog. Be sure to check it out.

 

PW Best new books for the week of Jan 14 including an autobiography of Georgette Heyer. Check out the excerpt in which author Jennifer Kloester describes the single time Heyer ever granted an interview.

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to week two

[Robin M]

I'm currently reading a thriller by Brett Battles called Sick in which a mad scientist tries to kill off the majority of the population with a deadly virus. Quite interesting.

 

 

Okay dolls - this looks like fun - Gina of Book Dragon's lair (52 book a weeker) is hosting Monthly Mix Up Mania which is to read a book for every letter of each month of the year, It starts in April and runs from April 1st, 2013 through March 31, 2015. check it out here

[Rose in BC]

Week one: The Father's Tale, Michael O'Brien

Week two: 30 Days to Social Media by Gail Z Martin

Week three: Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[lailasmum]

What I've read so far.

1. Red Shirts -John Scalzi -Very funny

2. The Forever War - Joe Haldeman - Absolutely loved it, read it in a day.

3. I am Legend - Richard Matheson - Great but disturbing in places. Interesting that the vampires were very zombie like.

4. Do Androids Dream of Electric sheep - Philip K. Dick -roughly the first third of it was great, the rest of it was so tedious.

 

This weeks books

 

Dune (audiobook) - Frank Herbert - read it before many years ago and our cat is named after a character, I liked it last time.

The Invisible Man-H.G. Wells

 

 

My plan this year is to read through as much of the SF Masterworks list as I can.

[Jane in NC]

Finished #2 for the new year, The Feast Nearby by Robin Mather. The book's subtitle tells it all: "How I lost my job, buried a marriage and found my way by keeping chickens, foraging, preserving, bartering and eating locally (all on forty dollars a week". This collection of essays and recipes begins, appropriately enough, in the spring, after the author has moved into a tiny cottage on a lake in southwest Michigan. She moves forward with her life and finds new meaning in the small things she has--not a lot of harping on what she has lost fortunately. As a firm believer in small and local economies, she was preaching to the choir.

 

Before I return the book to the library, I plan on copying a couple of recipes.

 

I am still reading Alice Munro's The View from Castle Rock (Canadian and Dusty Book challenges). After reading the first two stories in '06, the year the book was published and it was given to me, I moved it to the dusty stacks. It was not resonating. Now I have reread those stories and enjoyed them. I am not jumping up and down with enthusiasm but I can appreciate the quality of Munro's prose. A favorite quote so far from this book of fictional stories based on the author's very real ancestors:

 

They wrote to the governor a letter of assiduous flattery, in the grand servile style of their times. Some of their descendants might wish this not to be true, but there is not much to be done about the politics of our relatives, living or dead.

 

I will probably start working on Tom Jones this week, a selection from my personal Visiting Old Friends challenge.

[The Governess]

I stayed up until 2am last night reading Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0805094598/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1358100649&sr=8-1&pi=SL75 It's a YA fantasy set in a fictional country that is similar to Russia. There is magic, an interesting fantasy world, and the villain is fantastic! I give it 4/5 stars only because there is a love triangle and the narrator annoyed me at times. It's the first of a series, and I'll definitely be reading the next book when it comes out in this summer.

 

It was a page turner!!

[PollyOR]

Finished up The Pillars of the Earth in the wee hours of the morning. It is now in the "give away" bag.

 

1. Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of an Enduring Legend (2010, Mark Collins Jenkins)
   
2. Shadow of the Hegemon (2001, Orson Scott Card)
   
3. Why I Write (2005, George Orwell)
   
4. The Pillars of the Earth (1989, Ken Follett)
   

 

[thessa516]

1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

2. Money Secrets of the Amish by Lorilee Craker

 

Currently working on Getting Things Done, Personal Kanban, and The Hot Zone (which is scaring me out of my mind!). I also have An Abundance of Katherines and The Friday Society on my nightstand. I think all of my books are recommendations from here. I love my WTM gals!

[Jane in NC]

My Inspector Banks find this past week (and my subsequent admission of defeat in the Double Dog Dare) sent me scurrying to my library's online catalog for others in the series. I should have two or three more in my hands by the end of the week.

 

 

I have been a fan of Peter Robinson for more than a decade. The Inspector Banks mysteries make great airplane books! I suggest that you read them chronologically as Robinson published them because of the background story with Banks' personal life. Warning though--there is some violence toward children in some of the books. I have a difficult time with this which almost led me to quit reading his series.

 

If you like the Inspector Banks books then you may also like Peter Lovesey's series with Peter Diamond. Again, I would read them in order.

[Just Robyn]

I did finish The Handmaid's Tale last Sunday, then went on to read:

 

Funniest Verses of Ogden Nash - Really didn't like it, but my brain was fried and it seemed even easier than watching television. This was a dusty book, but it was so terrible and short I'm not counting it in my 5/5/5.

Apocrypha by Catherynne M. Valente - Didn't like this as much as another book of poetry I've read by her, but there were some poems that stood out to me and made it a worthwhile read. Her choice of descriptive adjectives and analogies gets redundant. Also a dusty book.

Jennifer Government by Max Barry - I was really disappointed by this one because I really wanted to like it. I had hoped to enjoy this author in general, but while I like his ideas, I thought the writing was pretty bad - stock characters, cheesy dialogue, heavy-handed messages, plain, boring sentences. Darn.

 

I have read the first couple chapters of The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin and plan to continue with that one this week.

[MomtoCandJ]

Finished Richest Woman in America this morning now moving on to what's a disorganized person to do and the other side of the night

[momchiroto2]

I have read:

 

1- The Great Gatsby

2- The Rossetti Letter

3- The Handmaid's Tale

 

Currently reading : College Without High School: A Teenager's Guide to Skipping High School and Going to College by Blake Boles.

[Just Robyn]

What I've read so far. 1. Red Shirts -John Scalzi -Very funny 2. The Forever War - Joe Haldeman - Absolutely loved it, read it in a day. 3. I am Legend - Richard Matheson - Great but disturbing in places. Interesting that the vampires were zombie like. 4. Do Androids Dream of Electric sheep - Philip K. Dick -roughly the first third of it was great the rest of it was so tedious. This weeks books Dune (audiobook) - Frank Herbert - read it before many years ago and our cat is named after a character, I liked it last time. The Invisible Man-H.G. Wells My plan this year is to read through as much of the SF Masterworks list as I can.

 

I had never heard of this. What a great list! I'll have to take a look at some of the books on here that I haven't heard of.

[Rosyl]

what I am working on for week 3: Getting things done, The Mother Road, Emma on Audio, A year Down Yonder with my kids and the perpetual Vanity Fair.

None of these might get finished this week, but I really liked the idea someone posted of listening while doing a project. I wish I was crocheting or sewing, but I am organizing.

[TammyinTN]

This past week was a short read The Bridge by Kay Bratt. For my third week, I'm reading The Lost Daughter by Lucy Ferriss.

[TN Mama]

Finished Elin Hilderbrand's #2 The Castaways and started #3 The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott.

 

The Castaways was just okay. I wanted to finish it to find out what happened, but I was looking forward to finishing so I could move on. I'm less than 100 pages into The Dressmaker, but so far I'm enjoying.

[Diann]

I finished North and South and have started on the second book, Love and War.

 

Diann

[UrbanSue]

I am still working s-l-o-w-l-y through Mike Wallace's Gotham. I'm loving it, but the book is so crazy heavy (like, literally--it weighs almost ten pounds) that I pretty much keep it on the bed and save it for naptime. I'm also still working through David Copperfield on Audible. Also loving it though I'm only about 20% through and it's already so very Dickensian that I'm worried about my mental health. I don't know the story at all--no spoilers, please!

 

This week I'm going to read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society which is not something I would ever pick up on my own but was a Christmas gift. I expect it to be a quick read so I'm hoping to make some good progress with Gotham in the latter half of the week.

[SilverFirefly]

I finished number 2 and 3 last week!

2 - Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll (Continental - England; ****)

3 - When Dad Hurts Mom: Helping Your Child Heal the Wounds of Witnessing Abuse by Lundy Bancroft (****)

 

Started Last Week and Continuing:

Peter Pan by J. M. Barre (Continental - England)

Global Health Disparities: Closing the Gap Through Good Governance by Enku Kebede-Francis

Textbook of International Health: Global Health in a Dynamic World by Anne-Emanuelle Birn (Chunky)

 

Continuing:

The One Year Devotions for Women: Becoming a Woman at Peace by Ann Spangler (Inspiration)

The One Year Chronological Bible NLT (Chunky; Inspirarion)

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton (Continental - Australia)

The Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park

The Self-Esteem Workbook by Glenn R. Schiraldi

 

 

2013 Reading Completed

 

 

1 - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Continental - England; ****)

2 - Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll (Continental - England; ****)

3 - When Dad Hurts Mom: Helping Your Child Heal the Wounds of Witnessing Abuse by Lundy Bancroft (****)

 

Rating System:

***** it was amazing

**** really liked it

*** liked it

** it was okay

* didn't like it

[Seeking Squirrels]

I finished Raising Your Spirited Child. I liked it, now I just have to figure out how to implement what I learned.

 

I finished A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows by Diana Gabaldon. It's only a novella at 51 pages, so it probably doesn't count, right? What about read along with the rest of the series which ranges from 800-1,400 pages?

 

I'm re-reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I love this series and the next book is coming this fall! So I am going to pace myself to re read the first 7 this year, hopefully finishing up just before MOBY.

 

I'm in the middle of The Two Towers. I abandoned it when I picked up ALOTWOAH and that made me excited for Outlander. I'll probably pick it up again before moving on to the next outlander. Have to pace myself somehow. This is also a re-read. :0

 

I'm listening to Huckleberry Finn. Lol, yup I've read this before, too. I'm going to have to work in some new stuff between outlander books!

[Elinor Everywhere]

I've read:

 

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey

My Dear Charlotte

Perfect Health Diet

 

I'm reading:

The Mousetrap

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Continental Challenge - Canadian author)

 

I'm LOVING this challenge - I'm intentionally setting aside so much more time for reading and although I feel a tad lazy by doing so, it's been wonderful. Thanks, Robin!

[aggieamy]

The Postmortal by Drew Magary – this was for book club and one of my least favorite genres. A basic summary of the book is that a cure for old age is found and a bunch of people take it so they start living for a long time. Nobody gets married anymore, the government starts killing people to control the population, the earth is overcrowded and polluted, and religion is abolished. It’s written in first person which tends to bother me. There’s nothing redeemable or likeable about the main character. It reminded me a lot of Oryx and Crake but without the good writing. I’ll be surprised if anyone at my book club enjoys it and might have a lot of fun doing a group trashing session.

 

This week I *SHALL* finish Wheel of Time. It’s my personal reading goal.

 

In Progress:

 

Eye of the World (Wheel of Time 1) by Robert Jordan

Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin (for ladies book club)

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (audiobook)

Justin Morgan Had a Horse by Marguerite Henry (read aloud)

File Don’t Pile by Pat Dorff

 

2013 finished books:

 

3. The Postmortal by Drew Magary (**)

2. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (*****)

1. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin (***)

 

Amy's Rating System:

 

***** - Fantastic, couldn't put it down

**** - Very good

*** - Enjoyable but nothing special

** - Not recommended

* - Horrible

[mumto2]

I had no idea DCI Banks was a book series. I love the show so I am going to have to read the books. The last series was really good so happy watching. Thanks for the great new find!

 

 

 

Last week after the premiere of Downtown Abbey, my PBS affiliate showed the first of four Inspector Banks movies scheduled for January. British police procedurals are my genre of choice and this series by Peter Robinson was a new one to me (though he's been writing them since the 1980's). The next book / movie, Playing With Fire, was $1.99 on Nook last week, and ... well ... I just couldn't help myself.[/col

 

My Inspector Banks find this past week (and my subsequent admission of defeat in the Double Dog Dare) sent me scurrying to my library's online catalog for others in the series. I should have two or three more in my hands by the end of the week.

 

 

[Onceuponatime]

So far this year:

 

All the Wrong Questions- Lemony Snicket

The Rising of the Moon- Gladys Mitchell

Twelve Horses and the Hangman's Noose- Mitchell

 

I will be trying to read my way through all the Gladys Mitchell books in the libraries I frequent, reading other books in between. They are not as good as Christie but fun, clean British mystery.

I am currently reading Excavating Jesus by John Dominic Crossan and Johnathon Reed. It is non fiction about all the layers of archeaology and exegesis of scripture that surround the life of Jesus.

[Robin M]

Week one: The Father's Tale, Michael O'Brien Week two: 30 Days to Social Media by Gail Z Martin Week three: Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

 

Indian horse looks interesting and a good canadian book choice

 

 

Confession: I didn't make it even two weeks on the Double Dog Dare to read only from my own shelves. I blame PBS.[/color] Last week after the premiere of Downtown Abbey, my PBS affiliate showed the first of four Inspector Banks movies scheduled for January. British police procedurals are my genre of choice and this series by Peter Robinson was a new one to me (though he's been writing them since the 1980's). The next book / movie, Playing With Fire, was $1.99 on Nook last week, and ... well ... I just couldn't help myself

 

For shame, couldn't even make it two weeks. Just kidding. The temptations are just too great when we are bookaholics and an interesting story comes along

 

. What I'm working on: Final Voyage: A Story of Arctic Disaster & One Fateful Whaling Season (Peter Nichols) -- For those who enjoyed Ahab's Wife or are working on the Moby Dick Big Read, this non-fiction book provides lots of historical background on the whaling industry in the nineteenth century while also telling the story of a fleet of about 20 ships that got stuck in Arctic ice in 1871.

 

Sounds interesting. Hands up if you are still working on Moby Dick read from last year. We can do another round for those who are interested.

 

The Sign of the Beaver (Elizabeth George Speare) -- A readalong with my 12yo. This book about the friendship between a pioneer boy and a Native American won all the major awards for children's literature in 1984.

 

My son's been balking at reading this. Think I'll pull it out and do a readalong. thanks for the idea.

 

A reread of The Terror (Dan Simmons). This is one of my favorite cold weather books involving ice-bound whaling ships, murder, intrigue, and a super scary sci-fi monster. Fantastic Fiction shows a new Dan Simmons, The Abominable, due for release in October 2013

 

Oh! Sounds good. I have the Hollow Man that is getting dustier and dustier. Will be reading it this year.

 

 

 

What I've read so far. 1. Red Shirts -John Scalzi -Very funny 2. The Forever War - Joe Haldeman - Absolutely loved it, read it in a day. 3. I am Legend - Richard Matheson - Great but disturbing in places. Interesting that the vampires were very zombie like. 4. Do Androids Dream of Electric sheep - Philip K. Dick -roughly the first third of it was great, the rest of it was so tedious. This weeks books Dune (audiobook) - Frank Herbert - read it before many years ago and our cat is named after a character, I liked it last time. The Invisible Man-H.G. Wells My plan this year is to read through as much of the SF Masterworks list as I can.

 

Love the Masterworks. I was involved in a group about three years back and we were trying to read and review but it kind of fell apart. All good books!

 

Finished #2 for the new year, The Feast Nearby by Robin Mather. The book's subtitle tells it all: "How I lost my job, buried a marriage and found my way by keeping chickens, foraging, preserving, bartering and eating locally (all on forty dollars a week". This collection of essays and recipes begins, appropriately enough, in the spring, after the author has moved into a tiny cottage on a lake in southwest Michigan. She moves forward with her life and finds new meaning in the small things she has--not a lot of harping on what she has lost fortunately. As a firm believer in small and local economies, she was preaching to the choir. Before I return the book to the library, I plan on copying a couple of recipes. I am still reading Alice Munro's The View from Castle Rock (Canadian and Dusty Book challenges). After reading the first two stories in '06, the year the book was published and it was given to me, I moved it to the dusty stacks. It was not resonating. Now I have reread those stories and enjoyed them. I am not jumping up and down with enthusiasm but I can appreciate the quality of Munro's prose. A favorite quote so far from this book of fictional stories based on the author's very real ancestors: I will probably start working on Tom Jones this week, a selection from my personal Visiting Old Friends challenge.

 

I have the ebook of Tom Jones. Maybe should join you in reading it.

 

I stayed up until 2am last night reading Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo: http://www.amazon.co...&sr=8-1&pi=SL75 It's a YA fantasy set in a fictional country that is similar to Russia. There is magic, an interesting fantasy world, and the villain is fantastic! I give it 4/5 stars only because there is a love triangle and the narrator annoyed me at times. It's the first of a series, and I'll definitely be reading the next book when it comes out in this summer. It was a page turner!!

 

Sounds quite interesting. Added it to my wishlist.

[jenangelcat]

In week two I finished;

 

The Handmaid's Tale- Margaret Atwood

Bossypants- Tina Fey

Howl's Moving Castle - Dianna Wynn Jones

 

I'm not sure what to start this week. Maybe The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Eyre Affair.

 

My 52 weeks blog post.

[Giraffe]

I finished The Handmaid's Tale. I had seen the movie so I wasn't too surprised by it, but was horrified nonetheless. It was especially hard reading it with DD curled up next to me sleeping. I can't imagine my daughter being torn away from me. The rest was equally unimaginable. The ending was puzzling, less than satisfying, but I got it. I liked the movie ending a little better - more resolution.

 

Still plugging away at Herodotus. On Book Three. I will finish this book come you-know-what or high water, but I'm not going to read Thucydides, not for a while. I'll move onto more manageable Ancients.

 

Also reading in my historical fiction "The King Must Die." It's the fifth and final in the series and quite frankly I'm bored. I'll probably abandon.

 

Finished:

 

1. "The Handmaid's Tale"

[SunnyDays]

I actually got a few accomplished this week!! I think I posted updates on the other thread so I'll just share my list to date:

 

Vintage Ladybug Farm - Donna Ball

Home Again - Kristin Hannah

Zen to Done - Leo Babauta

Love Wins - Rob Bell

Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder

Erasing Hell - Francis Chan

 

 

Two of them, Love Wins and Erasing Hell, are counting toward my Inspiration/Religion challenge.

 

I'm still working on Total Money Makeover. This week I'm going to read Thirteen Reasons Why (YA), and A Year of Biblical Womanhood - another for the challenge.

[Soror]

I checked out both The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake. I cannot decide which to read first. On one hand I've read The Handmaid's Tale and remember liking it so I know it shouldn't be disappointing however reading something new could be nice as well. We are starting The Hobbit tonight as a read-aloud.

 

Finished:

3. A Wrinkle in Time- d' Engle

2. The Help- Stockett

1. Weight of Glory- Lewis

[Luckymama]

I stayed up until 2am last night reading Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0805094598/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1358100649&sr=8-1&pi=SL75 It's a YA fantasy set in a fictional country that is similar to Russia. There is magic, an interesting fantasy world, and the villain is fantastic! I give it 4/5 stars only because there is a love triangle and the narrator annoyed me at times. It's the first of a series, and I'll definitely be reading the next book when it comes out in this summer.

It was a page turner!!

 

Dd17 really likes this book. I should probably go browse her shelves...

 

I will update my reading list later today :)

[Robin M]

Yeah, the stupid multiquote thing didn't run everything together. Hopefully not a weird glitch and will stay that way. So much easier.

 

 

1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

2. Money Secrets of the Amish by Lorilee Craker

Currently working on Getting Things Done, Personal Kanban, and The Hot Zone (which is scaring me out of my mind!). I also have An Abundance of Katherines and The Friday Society on my nightstand. I think all of my books are recommendations from here. I love my WTM gals!

 

Who is The Hot Zone by?

 

Finished up The Pillars of the Earth in the wee hours of the morning. It is now in the "give away" bag.

1. Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of an Enduring Legend (2010, Mark Collins Jenkins)
   
2. Shadow of the Hegemon (2001, Orson Scott Card)
   
3. Why I Write (2005, George Orwell)
   
4. The Pillars of the Earth (1989, Ken Follett)
   

 

Oh wow! Hadn't seen Why I Write by Orwell before. Off to check it out.

 

 

I did finish The Handmaid's Tale last Sunday, then went on to read:

Funniest Verses of Ogden Nash - Really didn't like it, but my brain was fried and it seemed even easier than watching television. This was a dusty book, but it was so terrible and short I'm not counting it in my 5/5/5.

Apocrypha by Catherynne M. Valente - Didn't like this as much as another book of poetry I've read by her, but there were some poems that stood out to me and made it a worthwhile read. Her choice of descriptive adjectives and analogies gets redundant. Also a dusty book.

Jennifer Government by Max Barry - I was really disappointed by this one because I really wanted to like it. I had hoped to enjoy this author in general, but while I like his ideas, I thought the writing was pretty bad - stock characters, cheesy dialogue, heavy-handed messages, plain, boring sentences. Darn.

I have read the first couple chapters of The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin and plan to continue with that one this week.

 

It's been years since I read Left Hand of Darkness. In the stacks to reread. Look forward to hearing what you think of it.

 

Finished Richest Woman in America this morning now moving on to what's a disorganized person to do and the other side of the night

 

What's the Other Side of the Night?

 

I have read:

1- The Great Gatsby

2- The Rossetti Letter

3- The Handmaid's Tale

Currently reading : College Without High School: A Teenager's Guide to Skipping High School and Going to College by Blake Boles.

 

What did you think of The Rossetti Letter?

 

what I am working on for week 3: Getting things done, The Mother Road, Emma on Audio, A year Down Yonder with my kids and the perpetual Vanity Fair.

None of these might get finished this week, but I really liked the idea someone posted of listening while doing a project. I wish I was crocheting or sewing, but I am organizing.

 

Are you enjoying Vanity Fair?

 

This past week was a short read The Bridge by Kay Bratt. For my third week, I'm reading The Lost Daughter by Lucy Ferriss.

 

The Bridge looks interesting. Wish they had it for the nook?

 

Finished Elin Hilderbrand's #2 The Castaways and started #3 The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott.

The Castaways was just okay. I wanted to finish it to find out what happened, but I was looking forward to finishing so I could move on. I'm less than 100 pages into The Dressmaker, but so far I'm enjoying.

 

Not much into historical fiction but the Dressmaker looks intriguing.

 

I finished North and South and have started on the second book, Love and War.

Diann

 

It's been years since I read John Jakes. May have to revisit him.

[AllSmiles]

 

 

I will be trying to read my way through all the Gladys Mitchell books in the libraries I frequent, reading other books in between. They are not as good as Christie but fun, clean British mystery.

 

I've only read the first Gladys Mitchell book, and it had quite the twist. I'm looking forward to reading more this year.

[mlbuchina]

We had a sickly week this week, so I was able to get in some reading. Boo sick, yea reading!

 

I finished reading The Neverending Story, and I enjoyed it better than The Hobbit. It was interesting to see how the movie was the same and different. The first half of the book was great. It was fast paced and full of adventure. Reading it, I couldn't wait to see what would happen with Atreyu next, even though I pretty much knew already from the movie. Obviously there were some differences, but all-in-all the movie did the book justice. Well, half the book. Where the first half was fast paced and exciting, the second half seemed like it would never end. (Ha, ha, I just now realized the pun.) I had to force myself to finish it. I understand the need for character growth, but goodness! it was painful to get through. Vignette after vignette, story after story, memory after memory exhanged for each wish; I soon found myself wishing I had stopped reading after Fantastica was saved. Over all I thought it a good book, but I think it could have been a lot shorter. The first half was wonderful, the second half, for me, was boring. I completely understand why they did the movie the way they did, and why the other two movies don't really go with the book at all.

 

After The Neverending Story, I read Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres. Haunting, beautiful, tragic. Wonderful read. It was a bit dense in places for me (I know so very little about WWII), but that isn't really a negative because I learned the meanings of new words, and a little about the geography of Greece. The depictions of atrocities during war are a bit graphic, and I found myself having to put the book down a couple of times while eating. I am going to have to sit and think about this one for a while, and sort out my feelings. It was an emotional read, and one that will stay with me for a while, I think. It makes me wish that I had had the foresight to talk to my great-grandparents more about life. Luckily, I still have my grandmothers, and I need to make time to just sit and listen to them. They know so much.

 

This week I want to do a little light reading, so I am going to read Carry On, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. I saw it on last year's thread, and thought it looked cute, so I am hoping it will be nice and light. After that, I'm not sure.

 

So far:

 

1. The Hobbit

2. The Neverending Story

3. Corelli's Mandolin

4. Carry On, Jeeves ~ reading

[Ali in OR]

Finished my second book of the year---Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. I probably last read it 20 years ago and was surprised at how little I remembered! I always enjoy Austen.

 

I'm currently reading Treasure Island to be able to discuss it with dd. I also have Chi Running by Danny Dreyer to try to learn to run differently so I don't get plantar fasciitis again. Northanger Abbey will be coming up soon too.

 

 

Books Read in 2013

 

2. Sense and Sensibility-Jane Austen

1. The Great Influenza-John M. Barry

[AllSmiles]

This week I finally finished The Count of Monte Cristo. Like many of you, I have more than one book going at a time. This is one of the books that was always just getting squeezed in. I really enjoyed it, but I wish I would have read it more consistently. Sometimes it was hard just to pick up where I left off because the book has so many subplots going on. I ended up rereading a lot of chapters. I really enjoyed the movie but the book has so much more going on.

This week I also finished The Sea of Monsters. This is the second book in the Percy Jackson series. This book was good, but not as good as the first one.

Murder on Monday was the third book I finished this week. This book is a typical British cozy mystery, and I enjoyed reading it. The only part I didn't like was the mother and father's quickly changing reactions to their teenage daughter's antics. The fourteen year old girl came home drunk with a boy one night and the dad was furious, while the mom didn't seem overly upset. A couple of days later the daughter wants to go clubbing with this same boy, and the dad seemed completely on board, and the mom didn't think it was a good idea.

[Robin M]

I am still working s-l-o-w-l-y through Mike Wallace's Gotham. I'm loving it, but the book is so crazy heavy (like, literally--it weighs almost ten pounds) that I pretty much keep it on the bed and save it for naptime. I'm also still working through David Copperfield on Audible. Also loving it though I'm only about 20% through and it's already so very Dickensian that I'm worried about my mental health. I don't know the story at all--no spoilers, please!

This week I'm going to read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society which is not something I would ever pick up on my own but was a Christmas gift. I expect it to be a quick read so I'm hoping to make some good progress with Gotham in the latter half of the week.

 

Good luck with Gotham. Good idea about listening to David Copperfield. I should try that.

 

I finished number 2 and 3 last week![/font][/color]

2 - Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll (Continental - England; ****)

 

I've never actually read Through the Looking Glass. Adding it to my bucket list.

 

 

I finished Raising Your Spirited Child. I liked it, now I just have to figure out how to implement what I learned.

I finished A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows by Diana Gabaldon. It's only a novella at 51 pages, so it probably doesn't count, right? What about read along with the rest of the series which ranges from 800-1,400 pages?

I'm re-reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I love this series and the next book is coming this fall! So I am going to pace myself to re read the first 7 this year, hopefully finishing up just before MOBY.

I'm in the middle of The Two Towers. I abandoned it when I picked up ALOTWOAH and that made me excited for Outlander. I'll probably pick it up again before moving on to the next outlander. Have to pace myself somehow. This is also a re-read. :0

I'm listening to Huckleberry Finn. Lol, yup I've read this before, too. I'm going to have to work in some new stuff between outlander books!

 

I need to reread Spirited child. Wish they had a Spirited Teen one. :) I've got the next two outlander books in the stacks -Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager. Let me know when you get there and will start reading.

 

 

I'm reading:

The Mousetrap

I'm LOVING this challenge - I'm intentionally setting aside so much more time for reading and although I feel a tad lazy by doing so, it's been wonderful. Thanks, Robin!

 

Is that the one by Agatha Christie? Happy you are loving the challenge and reading more. Yeah!

 

This week I *SHALL* finish Wheel of Time. It’s my personal reading goal.

 

You go girl. I'm holding at The Dragon Reborn.

 

 

So far this year:

All the Wrong Questions- Lemony Snicket

The Rising of the Moon- Gladys Mitchell

Twelve Horses and the Hangman's Noose- Mitchell

I will be trying to read my way through all the Gladys Mitchell books in the libraries I frequent, reading other books in between. They are not as good as Christie but fun, clean British mystery.

I am currently reading Excavating Jesus by John Dominic Crossan and Johnathon Reed. It is non fiction about all the layers of archeaology and exegesis of scripture that surround the life of Jesus.

 

Excavating Jesus sounds intriguing - adding it to my wishlist.

 

 

In week two I finished;

The Handmaid's Tale- Margaret Atwood

Bossypants- Tina Fey

Howl's Moving Castle - Dianna Wynn Jones

I'm not sure what to start this week. Maybe The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Eyre Affair.

My 52 weeks blog post.

 

I enjoyed the Eyre Affair. Look forward to hearing what you think of it.

 

I finished The Handmaid's Tale. I had seen the movie so I wasn't too surprised by it, but was horrified nonetheless. It was especially hard reading it with DD curled up next to me sleeping. I can't imagine my daughter being torn away from me. The rest was equally unimaginable. The ending was puzzling, less than satisfying, but I got it. I liked the movie ending a little better - more resolution.

Still plugging away at Herodotus. On Book Three. I will finish this book come you-know-what or high water, but I'm not going to read Thucydides, not for a while. I'll move onto more manageable Ancients.

Also reading in my historical fiction "The King Must Die." It's the fifth and final in the series and quite frankly I'm bored. I'll probably abandon.

Finished:

1. "The Handmaid's Tale"

 

Great that you are still plugging away with Herodotus. I haven't been brave enough yet. :)

 

 

I actually got a few accomplished this week!! I think I posted updates on the other thread so I'll just share my list to date:

Vintage Ladybug Farm - Donna Ball

Home Again - Kristin Hannah

Zen to Done - Leo Babauta

Love Wins - Rob Bell

Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder

Erasing Hell - Francis Chan

Two of them, Love Wins and Erasing Hell, are counting toward my Inspiration/Religion challenge.

I'm still working on Total Money Makeover. This week I'm going to read Thirteen Reasons Why (YA), and A Year of Biblical Womanhood - another for the challenge.

 

I have to get Zen to Done.

 

I checked out both The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake. I cannot decide which to read first. On one hand I've read The Handmaid's Tale and remember liking it so I know it shouldn't be disappointing however reading something new could be nice as well. We are starting The Hobbit tonight as a read-aloud.

Finished:

3. A Wrinkle in Time- d' Engle

2. The Help- Stockett

1. Weight of Glory- Lewis

 

Yeah for the Hobbit. We are gearing up for doing it as a readaloud.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I finished my second book this week, Talking Money by Jean Chatzky. It is an excellent introduction into all of the basics of personal finance. Here is my review. I haven't decided what I'll be reading this week yet, but will probably go either with some L.M. Montgomery for the Canada challenge or Glittering Images by Howatch or The Neverending Story based on some WTM reviews over the past couple of weeks. All of them are, of course, helping me procrastinate from reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas to discuss with my oldest.

 

Books for 2013:

 

2. Talking Mone by Chatzky

1. Pride and Prejudice by Austen

[Mothersweets]

I'm a little late to the party but want to join in this year, too. :)

 

week one - A Winter's Knight by Elizabeth Cole. Thank heavens I only borrowed this on my Kindle. Poorly done Regency-style romance.

 

week two - The Ionian Mission by Patrick O'Brian. #8 in the Aubrey/Maturin series and I am sooo happy that there are 11 left to go.

 

week three - Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt. Wonderful JF - I couldn't put it down and read it in a few hours.

 

Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson.Shy and unassuming, Miss Buncle writes a book about the people in the small English village she lives in, changing their names (and hers) but little else to tell her story. When the book becomes a bestseller, the villagers are up in arms trying to figure out who could be the one telling their secrets to the world. Great read.

[MtnMama]

I just finished The Night Circus, which was recommended by several readers here. What a wonderful book! I really didn't want it to end.

 

So far this year:

1. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey

2. The Great Gatsby

3. The Night Circus

 

Two of my goals this year are to reread all the Sherlock Holmes stories and Jane Austen's novels. I'm thinking I'll work these in among some other books, starting this week with A Study in Scarlet.

[LostSurprise]

4. Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim~semi-autobiography, Pomerania/Germany, gardening, women's roles. I vacillated on this. The parts I loved, I really, really loved. The parts where she was catty to her guests because she was tired of them being there, I felt the same about her. There were some really beautiful sections of this, and I love the way this Commonwealth girl views the Germans and examines women's roles in different classes. She's very dry, very funny, and I want a beautiful garden with 3 girl babies running around. *

 

Working on:

 

The Museum of Hoaxes (too research-papery, probably back to the library)

Dream Wheels (Canadian challenge but is somewhat slow and involves the rodeo, so unsure if I'll continue after the next chapter)

Away (Canadian challenge, beautiful story of a family of Irish women, especially if you love magical realism)

[Pink and Green Mom]

I'm getting ready to start The Weird Sisters, by Eleanor Brown. I'm reading it for book group later this week. I have 5 or 6 novels from the library here and to me they all seem more interesting than this one but I guess the grass is always greener...

 

Done in 2013:

 

2. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey (3/5)

1. The Light Between Oceans, by ML Stedman (5/5)

 

I would love to start the 5/5/5 challenge but I need to think about my categories.

[Stacia]

52 Books Blog - Pierre Berton: Highlighting canadian journalist and non fiction writer Pierre Berton. When he died in 2004, CBC (canadian broadcasting company) put together a great short video of his life which is available to view on the blog. Be sure to check it out.

I will have to pop over & see the video. I have Berton's book Klondike sitting here to be read.

 

As always, THANK YOU, Robin, for faithfully starting this thread. It is my favorite thread on these boards.

 

I am currently reading Equator by Miguel Sousa Tavares. So far, it is a richly-filled historical novel about Portugal & its colonies set in the early 1900s. I know very little about Portugal's history, so I'm finding it fascinating.

 

It is 1905 and Luis Bernardo Valenca, a thirty-seven-year-old bachelor and owner of a small shipping company, is revelling in Lisbon’s luxurious high society. But his life is turned upside down when King Dom Carlos invites him to become governor of Portugal’s smallest colony, the island of São Tomé e Principe. Luis Bernardo is ill-prepared for the challenges of plantation life – used to a softer urban existence, he is shocked by the conditions under which the workers labour.

 

But with the English closing in on São Tomé’s cocoa plantations, the island’s main means of survival, Luis Bernardo must endeavour to protect the island and its community.

Also, I heard a fun interview on The Bob Edwards Show this morning. Edwards interviewed Jonathan and Tad Richards about their book Nick & Jake. I almost never buy books, but it looks like my library doesn't have this one & I managed to snag a cheap used copy from amazon. Sounds like a fun, interesting, & informative book & I look forward to reading it.

 

In the comic tradition of Catch-22, the protagonists of Hemingway and Fitzgerald return.

 

America in 1953 seems hell-bent on squandering the flood tide of international goodwill earned in WWII. Senator Joe McCarthy is on a red-hunting rampage in Washington, and the fledgling CIA under Allen Dulles is starting to dabble in nation-building.

 

Into this moment of history wander Nick Carraway and Jake Barnes, refugees from Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. They begin a correspondence that leads to a close friendship, and widens to include a bizarre cast of characters. From the classic fiction of the period come Larry Darrell (The Razor's Edge), Alden Pyle (The Quiet American), Lady Brett Ashley and Robert Cohn (The Sun Also Rises), and from real life, Roy Cohn (Robert's nephew) and his pal Davey Schine, Roy's boss Joe McCarthy, the Dulles brothers, the Weavers, French intellectuals Sartre and De Beauvoir, Iranian premier Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, novelist Jackie Susann, music moguls Jerry Wexler and Ahmed Ertegun, and sex-change pioneer Christine Jorgensen. Jake discovers a CIA plot to cause a coup in France, and Nick and Jake must do their best to save their country from itself while affairs of the heart change both of their lives and teach them lessons about life and love. Nick & Jake finds the uproarious comic potential in a chilling period of American history that has alarming echoes in our own.

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

My Goodreads Page

My PaperbackSwap Page

Working on Robin's Dusty &/or Chunky Book Challenge. (Book #1 on my list.)

Working on Robin's Continental Challenge. (Book #1 on my list.)

Working on LostSurprise's Dewey Decimal Challenge. Complete Dewey Decimal Classification List here. (Book #1 on my list.)

 

My rating system:

5 = Love; 4 = Pretty awesome; 3 = Decently good; 2 = Ok; 1 = Don't bother (I shouldn't have any 1s on my list as I would ditch them before finishing)...

 

2013 Books Read:

01. Women of the Klondike by Frances Backhouse (3 stars). Fits challenges: Dusty; Continental/North America; Dewey Decimal/900s.

[Jane in NC]

I have so many things I read twenty or more years ago that I have been rereading, or thinking about rereading, and some times it seems as if I read a different book with the same title because my perceptions and reactions have shifted so much... brings to mind Mortimer Adler's defintion of a Great Book as one that always has new things to offer, so no matter how much I've grown, it always seems the book has grown too.

 

This is part of the reason that I have a "visiting old friends" challenge this year. Tom Jones is one of those books for me. I loved it when I first read it in college. After graduation, I immediately dove into a stack of books that I did not have time to read as a student, a stack that included several Henry Fielding novels. I am curious how I will feel about his writing now (more than twenty years later ;) ).

 

Everitt's biography of Cicero was engaging and nicely done. It was odd going from Cleopatra's biography to this - Cicero's bio is jam packed with Roman history, law, culture, and politics, wheras Cleopatra's biography had almost nothing about Egypt... it makes sense, the sources for Cleopatra's life are all Roman, but it was an interesting shift.

 

 

Everitt's bio of Cicero was on my son's 9th grade reading list as part of his study of Ancients. I want to toss that idea out here for those who feel that their students might need a break from primary source materials.

 

About Leacock: there is a musty stack of his books in an old cottage I frequent. He is grouped with Donald Ogden Stewart and Robert Benchley. Talk about visiting old friends!

[LostSurprise]

What I've read so far. 1. Red Shirts -John Scalzi -Very funny 2. The Forever War - Joe Haldeman - Absolutely loved it, read it in a day. 3. I am Legend - Richard Matheson - Great but disturbing in places. Interesting that the vampires were very zombie like. 4. Do Androids Dream of Electric sheep - Philip K. Dick -roughly the first third of it was great, the rest of it was so tedious. This weeks books Dune (audiobook) - Frank Herbert - read it before many years ago and our cat is named after a character, I liked it last time. The Invisible Man-H.G. Wells My plan this year is to read through as much of the SF Masterworks list as I can.

 

The Left Hand of Darkness[/url] by Ursula K. Le Guin and plan to continue with that one this week.

 

Yay for all the classic Sci-Fi! I'm loving these posts. Loved Left Hand and Do Androids. Not a fan of I am Legend.

 

DH is trying to read all the classic SF authors used in the game Alien Frontiers (Lem, Herbert, Asimov, Bradbury, Van Vogt, Pohl, Burroughs, Heinlein). He's a slow reader but he got Lem (Eden, Prix the Pilot) and Pohl (Gateway, Space Merchents) done in the last 2 years.

 

Thanks for the list.

[MomtoCandJ]

The Other Side of The Night is about the Carpayhia, the Californian, and the night that Titanic was lost.

[Jane in NC]

4. Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim~semi-autobiography, Pomerania/Germany, gardening, women's roles. I vacillated on this. The parts I loved, I really, really loved. The parts where she was catty to her guests because she was tired of them being there, I felt the same about her. There were some really beautiful sections of this, and I love the way this Commonwealth girl views the Germans and examines women's roles in different classes. She's very dry, very funny, and I want a beautiful garden with 3 girl babies running around. *

Also bumping this one - I think yours is the third review I've encountered of this in the past few months!

 

Von Arnim also wrote the novel The Enchanted April that was made into an absolutely delightful movie. I highly recommend it for those times when one needs an escape...

[aggieamy]

In week two I finished;

 

The Handmaid's Tale- Margaret Atwood

Bossypants- Tina Fey

Howl's Moving Castle - Dianna Wynn Jones

 

I'm not sure what to start this week. Maybe The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Eyre Affair.

 

My 52 weeks blog post.

 

What did you think of Bossypants? I'm always looking for funny book recommendations for presents.

 

Yay for all the classic Sci-Fi! I'm loving these posts. Loved Left Hand and Do Androids. Not a fan of I am Legend.

 

DH is trying to read all the classic SF authors used in the game Alien Frontiers (Lem, Herbert, Asimov, Bradbury, Van Vogt, Pohl, Burroughs, Heinlein). He's a slow reader but he got Lem (Eden, Prix the Pilot) and Pohl (Gateway, Space Merchents) done in the last 2 years.

 

Thanks for the list.

 

What a cool idea. DH and I have played that game and DH likes Sci-Fi. I think I'll suggest it to him.

[jenangelcat]

What did you think of Bossypants? I'm always looking for funny book recommendations for presents.

 

 

It was okay. It did make me laugh out loud a few times. I don't like memoirs or biographies though so I'm a bit biased.

[JennW in SoCal]

It is just 1:30 here and already this is on the second page?!! I'll have to read the previous posts later, but wanted to check in before taking a well-earned Sunday nap. Here's what I've been reading thus far this year.

 

1. The Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson is the first in a new series of mysteries that start with the premise that a law firm has established offices at 221 B Baker Street. They of course get lots of letters addressed to Sherlock Holmes, and this book is about what ensues when someone decides to answer a letter in person. It is lighthearted fun, and I was going to dismiss it as pure fluff, but it actually was a very smart mystery. I will search out some of the others (there may be just 2 so far...)

 

2. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskill. I really enjoyed this, especially after watching the BBC adaptation last fall. I was intrigued enough by the setting and subplot surrounding the mill workers to go searching for some background to the book. It feels ahead of its time in many ways, though she was a contemporary of Dickens (and wrote for one of his magazines). Great love story, though the book isn't filled with all the delightful characters that makes Austen so wonderful.

 

3. Return of the King by Tolkein. I'm about half way through listening to this on audio. I would have finished while knitting my ds a hat, but he started a marathon session of watching the first season of Lost, so I abandoned books for that! Lost, by the way, holds up really well -- I had no idea it was almost 9 years old!!