Book a Week in 2013 - week five

[Robin M]

Good Morning, dear hearts! Today is the start of week 5 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. The link is below in my signature.

 

52 Books - Book News: I'm currently reading Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes and have enjoyed reading many of his books including the Andromeda Strain and Congo among others. I have yet to read Micro which was published posthumously in 2011 and finished by Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone. I just finished listening to NPR's Science Friday Book Club discussing The Andromeda Strain, speaking with Richard Preston and talking about Crichton's writing. It's interesting so grab a cup of coffee or tea and sit back and listen. It's about 25 minutes long.

 

Publisher's Weekly is talking about the 10 Most Anticipated Book Adaptations for 2013 which includes Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale which I have in my stacks. The cast includes Russell Crowe, Will Smith, Colin Farrell, and Jennifer Connelly which guarantees it's going to be an extraordinary movie (I hope). The book has been calling my name more and more lately saying read me, read me now.

 

More book news and links on 52 Books. The link is in my signature.

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

Link to week 4

[Trillian]

Last night I finished #7, Pride and Prejudice, which was a re-read from my 20s. Honestly, I wouldn't have re-read it except that my book club has picked Death Comes to Pembereley this month and I wanted to refresh my brain before reading it. I was right not to want to re-read it. I found myself annoyed by all the characters (while still acknowledging/enjoying the good writing). Oh well, it was fast and now I'm ready for my book club selection.

 

I started Great Expectations and am surprised by it's readability. It hasn't grabbed me in the sense that I must finish it right away, but it's enjoyable other than A Christmas Carol I only have tried A Tale of Two Cities, again when I was much younger, and found it ponderous. So, I guess this week was a lesson to me in tastes changing over time :-).

 

I abandoned The Great Dali Art Fraud, a book I felt in desperate need of a better editor.

 

I'm still in progress on Physics and Engineering for Future President (at about a chapter a week, it will be some time, but I'm enjoying it greatly) and Bomb: the Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Greatest Weapon (a RA for DS - also highly recommended).

 

I also started reading The Fellowship of the Ring aloud to DS because he just wasn't enjoying reading/listening to it by himself. I read the trilogy to him last year, so I wasn't really looking forward to a repeat this year, but he's going to bed early so I will do it and it has honestly been enjoyable. Ask me again in a few months when it seems like it will never end if I still feel the same way!

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[Robin M]

I actually finished Pirate Latitudes and it was interesting to say the least since you have an antihero who is the lead character. Right now I'm reading a ya dystopian story Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien. Quite good.

 

"After climate change, on the north shore of Unlake Superior, a dystopian world is divided between those who live inside the wall, and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone, who live outside. It’s Gaia’s job to “advance†a quota of infants from poverty into the walled Enclave, until the night one agonized mother objects, and Gaia’s parents disappear. As Gaia’s efforts to save her parents take her within the wall, she faces the brutal injustice of the Enclave and discovers she alone holds the key to a secret code, a code of “birthmarked†babies and genetic merit. Fraught with difficult moral choices and rich with intricate layers of codes, Birthmarked explores a colorful, cruel, eerily familiar world where a criminal is defined by her genes, and one girl can make all the difference."

 

Also reading Echoing Silence: Thomas Merton on the Vocation of Writing. It's made up of excerpts for several of his books so very dense and lots to absorb so reading a few pages a day.

[BugsMama]

I had been doing the A-Z challenge, but fell in love with Vonnegut, so this week I am reading Slaughterhouse 5..... I also had been on the waitlist for The Book Theif and it became available at our digital library this week, so I am reading it also. I'm surprised at how much I dislike it after all the rave reviews. I think it has something to do with the Young Adult fiction style it has going on. I'm hoping it gets better!

 

Finished:

1. The Absolutist, John Boyne

2. Beloved, Toni Morrison

3. Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut

4. A Doll's House

[PollyOR]

I'm still wading through The Great Influenza. I vacillate between "One of these days I'll be glad I read this book" and "How in the world did this book become a bestseller!" For the first time ever I realize the worth of an editor.

 

I've also just cracked Hounded.

[Jane in NC]

Hello everyone!

 

This fiction reader is on a non-fiction kick. Go figure.

 

I finished The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People and Communities by MacArthur genius grant recipient Will Allen (with Charles Wilson). Allen's life work is devoted to urban agriculture. His tale includes historical background on the African-American migration north with commentary on the ag policy of Earl Butz Yet Allen is an infectious optimist. This is my second book in the "Sustainability" category of my personal 5/5/5 challenge.

 

My next non-fiction read is by Mount Holyoke English professor Christopher Benfey: Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay: Reflections on Art, Family and Survival. Benfey's exploration of family past includes a discussion of North Carolina pottery (Seagrove and Moravian) and the artisan community at Black Mountain. This is all stuff of high personal interest to me.

 

I have also read Books IV through VI in Tom Jones which continues to be as wonderful as I remembered it.

 

Because I need to finish one knitting project and start another (the baby was born and I have yet to start knitting his gift!) I borrowed a book on CD from the library. There was a Wodehouse that I don't remember ever reading, Uneasy Money.

[ChrisB]

I don't think I've posted the last few weeks, but I'm still truckin' through my books. I've gotten so many good recommendations reading through everyone's posts. Thank you!!

 

I've finished:

 

1. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey, The Countess of Carnarvon

2. Heart of Stone, Jill Marie Landis

3. Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein

4. A Love Surrendered, Julie Lessman

5. The Baker Street Letters, Micheal Robertson

[Storm Bay]

I'm doing lighter reading, still reading Wish You Were Here which is the next installment in the Mother-Daughter Book Club Series; I like this y/a series because of the tie-ins to classics.

[Diann]

I am still reading the second book of John Jakes North and South trilogy. I'll finish it this week and begin the third book.

 

Diann

[BigMamaBird]

This weeks book was Catcher in the Rye and I dislike it SO MUCH! But I'm almost done so I'm going to soldier through. Next week's book is Fehrenheit 451. I checked out C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity so that's on the list too.

 

So far I've finished:

 

1 - All the King's Men

2 - Stranger in a Strange Land

3 - A Handmaid's Tale

 

So far I haven't read anything that I really love or would want to read again. That's pretty disappointing to me. I've always shied away from 20th Century Lit. because it doesn't really interest me, I prefer 19th Century English Lit. or goofy Sci. Fi/Fantasy. I decided I was going to discover this whole new world of literature and fall in love, but I haven't yet. Yes, I know it's only a month in and I've only read four books out of the whole pantheon of the 20th Century, but I'm starting to suspect I just don't care for what others call Great Literature. :sad:

[Just Robyn]

Publisher's Weekly is talking about the 10 Most Anticipated Book Adaptations for 2013 which includes Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale which I have in my stacks. The cast includes Russell Crowe, Will Smith, Colin Farrell, and Jennifer Connelly which guarantees it's going to be an extraordinary movie (I hope). The book has been calling my name more and more lately saying read me, read me now.

 

Can't wait for the WWZ movie. I really liked that book, would even consider reading it again.

 

I finished Dracula by Bram Stoker - a dusty book. I loved Renfield, and I re-watched "Buffy vs. Dracula" last night. Inspired by the Dewey Decimal challenge (after telling myself not to even think about any more challenges before finishing one) I picked up The Reading Promise from the library; I am now reading that and Factotum by Charles Bukowski.

 

Finished so far:

 

* dusty book

 

8. Dracula by Bram Stoker *

7. Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny

6. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

5. Jennifer Government by Max Barry

4. Apocrypha by Catherynne M. Valente *

3. Funniest Verses of Ogden Nash *

2. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

1. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

[SunnyDays]

I have really slacked on my reading this week... I've been researching curriculum instead, which I guess is kind of important too! ;)

 

My total stands at 10 books for the year. Up this week, I have a library e-book by Heather Gudenkauf called These Things Hidden. Looking forward to it, supposed to be good!

[thessa516]

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

2. Money Secrets of the Amish by Lorilee Craker

3. The Hot Zone by Richard Preston

4. Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures of the World's Most Wanted Hacker by Kevin Mitncick

5. Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson

 

I'm currently reading The Friday Society. It's off to a slow start. Loved the Ghost book! I thought the Bloggess memoir was just okay. It was a quick read with some fun parts, but certainly not for the easily offended. Deconstructing Penguins just came in at the library, so I'll probably start reading it this week.

 

Robin, thanks for the link to NPR. I'll be enjoying it this afternoon! I might have to read more Crichton. :)

[Violet Crown]

 

I have also read Books IV through VI in Tom Jones which continues to be as wonderful as I remembered it.

 

I should finish up Ariosto today, and hope to get started on Fielding with you this evening. We'll see if I can catch up! Read slow!

[Onceuponatime]

Continuing reading Madeleine L'Engle with A Ring of Endless Light. Also still chugging along in Excavating Jesus.

[Kareni]

I finished Dracula by Bram Stoker - a dusty book. I loved Renfield...

 

After my daughter read and enjoyed Dracula, she read several related books. She enjoyed, in particular, Renfield: Slave of Dracula by Barbara Hambly.

 

From Booklist

 

"Hambly has retold Bram Stoker's Dracula in the voice of a minor character, Renfield, the madman who becomes the vampire's slave-agent in England. In Stoker's original, Renfield is a harbinger, extremely strong and violent, given to an unnatural diet of flies. When Dracula occupies the estate next to the asylum in which he is confined, Renfield attempts several escapes, claiming that his master is calling him. Hambly creates a past for this possessed man via his diaries and letters to his wife and gives him occasional lucid moments. When Dracula imposes himself on Renfield's deteriorated mind, he, bound to an active purpose, becomes yet more lucid. When Dracula orders him to kill Van Helsing, he isn't strong enough to refuse, but on the journey from London to Transylvania, he develops the strength to resist the count, find allies, and eventually retrace his journey back from lunacy to sanity. Hambly superbly weaves Stoker's plot and style with her own, producing one of the best recent vampire yarns. Frieda Murray

Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved"

 

Regards,

Kareni

[LNC]

1. The Middle Ages, Dorothy Mills

2. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

3. Life Skills for Kids, Christine Field

4. The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin

5. The Parent's Guide to Teaching Kids with Asperger Syndrome and similar ASDs Real-life Skills for Independence, Patricia Bashe

6. Social Skills Success for Student's with Autism, Frank Frankel

7. The Story of Europe, H.E. Marshall

8. Happier at Home, Gretchen Rubin

9. If I Stay, Gayle Foreman

10. There She Went, Gayle Foreman

11. Safe Haven, Nicholas Sparks

Next up....

12. The Tiger's Wife, Tea Obreht

 

[jenangelcat]

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

2. Money Secrets of the Amish by Lorilee Craker

3. The Hot Zone by Richard Preston

4. Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures of the World's Most Wanted Hacker by Kevin Mitncick

5. Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson

 

I'm currently reading The Friday Society. It's off to a slow start. Loved the Ghost book! I thought the Bloggess memoir was just okay. It was a quick read with some fun parts, but certainly not for the easily offended. Deconstructing Penguins just came in at the library, so I'll probably start reading it this week.

 

Robin, thanks for the link to NPR. I'll be enjoying it this afternoon! I might have to read more Crichton. :)

 

 

I couldn't get into The Friday society until about halfway through the book. I ended up really enjoying it. Hopefully any others in the series get a faster start.

 

Here's my list so far

 

Read To Date

 

The Eyre Affair

Deconstructing Penguins

The Handmaid's Tale

Deathly Hallows

Howl's Moving Castle

The Friday Society

Bossypants

The Year of Learning Dangerously

 

In Progress

 

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Jane Eyre

Sassafrass Science Adventures

Mass Effect Revelation

The Demon Haunted World

 

 

This week I read Deconstructing Penguins which was informative and encouraging. I also read The Year of Learning Dangerously which was a hilarious look at a new homeschooling family.

[mlbuchina]

All I can say about this week is that I at least finished one book. :)

 

The list so far:

 

1. The Hobbit

2. The Neverending Story

3. Corelli's Mandolin

4. Liberty and Tyranny

 

Not sure what I'm going to read next. I have started reading The New Atkins For a New You, and am liking it so far. Nothing is really jumping out at me that I want to read, so I'm kinda at a loss. I'm still going to try and work on Deja Dead, and maybe start Outlander, but I'll just have to see how this week goes.

[Rosie_0801]

I finished reading Anne of Windy Willows to dd last night.

[Jane in NC]

View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro - this interwoven short story collection is very well constructed. The first half is based on Munro's family history, with fact and fiction woven together. The first story is set in Scotland, and felt very tangibly real, the second was a little overlong and emotionally ambiguous... in some ways all of this section was both fascinating and not quite emotionally satisfying. The second half is based on Munro's life, I assume from the introduction that it might also be blending fact and fiction. One of the most interesting features of this collection was the view of a broad span of history through very individual lenses. I am very glad I read it. [For some reason the opening of the story 'Home' w/ its description of coming back to her hometown on a series of buses connected, for me, with the final chapter of Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town... though without the edge of gentle satire Leacock uses.]

I gave up on the book back in '06 after that second story. How grateful I am that the Dusty Book Challenge inspired me to give it another go!

 

For a long time, I bounced off of most modern literature (and modern art, and modern poetry, and modern classical music), and it took gradual steps for me to learn to genuinely appreciate them - though there are aspects that might never speak to me. Are you interested in all of the 20th century, or just the later parts? ...because it might work better to try a more gradual transition - perhaps Henry James, Edith Wharton, or EM Forster? (Portrait of a Lady, Age of Innocence, and Room with a View, respectively, might be places to start) Some other thoughts: Arnold Bennett (Buried Alive), Joseph Conrad (Lord Jim), John Galsworthy (Forsyte Saga). Later, but in realms that might speak to you: Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald), To the Lighthouse (Woolf). The Moon is Down (Steinbeck), Brideshead Revisited (Waugh), The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway), To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee), Watership Down (Adams). Near the end of the 20th century, but that I think you might like: Remains of the Day (Ishiguro) and Possession (Byatt) Another approach would be to try short stories from modern authors - I found it easier to appreciate some authors in short stories, still do, honestly!

 

One of my 5/5/5 challenges is Visiting Old Friends, hence Tom Jones. This post inspires me to reread The Forsyte Saga--what a captivating series of novels! I heartily recommend them.

[Ali in OR]

I finished Carrie Bebris' North by Northanger this week. This is just fun easy reading. I am glad I re-read Northanger Abbey first as I would not have remembered any of the characters if I hadn't! I'm sure I'll read the next three of Bebris' Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mysteries, but for the next two I'll have to re-read the Austen works first so I might read something else before getting to that. I also read Train Dreams by Denis Johnson this week--a short book that is our book club's February pick. It reminded me a little of Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. Both take place in Idaho, both have setting as a major character almost, both have independent people who don't really connect with others. I'm wondering if these are characteristics of a literature of the northwest genre.

 

Up this week: March book club pick is The Sun Also Rises. We read The Paris Wife last year and everyone is a little interested in reading or re-reading this. I last read it in high school. The library copy is waiting for me.

 

Books Read in 2013

5. North by Northanger-Carrie Bebris

4. Train Dreams-Denis Johnson

3. Northanger Abbey-Jane Austen

2. Sense and Sensibility-Jane Austen

1. The Great Influenza-John M. Barry

[JennW in SoCal]

Pride and Prejudice turns 200 tomorrow!! And to celebrate, the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, England is holding a read-a-thon of the book. Doesn't that sound like fun?? You can read about it and the enduring popularity of Austen in this nice article on BBC.com. I'm not rereading it carefully, but am listening to it when I can't fall asleep at night (I've got a bit of a head cold which makes for long nights. P&P as read by Nadia May is like a comforting friend! And if I fall asleep, I don't miss anything cause I know it so well.)

 

In the meantime I've finished a couple of other books.

 

5. Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George. I love her books -- once I start I just don't want to put them down. I had read some negative reader reviews, with people complaining about the complex plot and long cast of characters, but that didn't bother me in the least. I liked all the characters and watching Lynley methodically unravelling the truth of their convoluted, intertwined lives. I didn't like that one of the main, continuing characters (Deborah St. James) was an utter idiot. That was the only part of the story that didn't ring true. But otherwise a big thumbs up.

 

6. The Spy Lover by Kiana Davenport has a fascinating premise. It is a historical fiction of the lives of two of the author's ancestors, set in the Civil War. It isn't a standard civil war story as the main characters are a Chinese father who had been living in the south but enlisted to serve the Union, and his mixed-blood daughter who works as a nurse for the Confederates but acts as a spy for the Union. Like I said -- fascinating premise, especially as it based on a true story. But the execution was, well, mixed. It is especially gruesome -- I really didn't need all that detail of wounds and disease and piles of amputated limbs -- and it is long and drawn out. I was captivated, repulsed then finally bored so skimmed to the end to see how it ends.

 

7. I am listening to another Terry Pratchett, this time it is Soul Music, and once again I'm chuckling out loud at all his witty and clever metaphors and word play.

[Lisa in SC]

I finished number 4, There's Something About Kevin. I mentioned having some trepidation about reading such a dark book, but in the end, I'm glad I read it. I will say that I don't think I would recommend it for everyone. It was not enjoyable, but I don't regret finishing it.

 

I'm beginning I Saw the Angel in the Marble. I can't say as I'm particularly excited about it, but it's next on the stack. :)

[Excelsior! Academy]

I actually finished Pirate Latitudes and it was interesting to say the least since you have an antihero who is the lead character. Right now I'm reading a ya dystopian story Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien. Quite good.

 

"After climate change, on the north shore of Unlake Superior, a dystopian world is divided between those who live inside the wall, and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone, who live outside. It’s Gaia’s job to “advance†a quota of infants from poverty into the walled Enclave, until the night one agonized mother objects, and Gaia’s parents disappear. As Gaia’s efforts to save her parents take her within the wall, she faces the brutal injustice of the Enclave and discovers she alone holds the key to a secret code, a code of “birthmarked†babies and genetic merit. Fraught with difficult moral choices and rich with intricate layers of codes, Birthmarked explores a colorful, cruel, eerily familiar world where a criminal is defined by her genes, and one girl can make all the difference."

 

Also reading Echoing Silence: Thomas Merton on the Vocation of Writing. It's made up of excerpts for several of his books so very dense and lots to absorb so reading a few pages a day.

 

Wow! That review makes me want to run to the library and get the book right away! Let us know how you like it!

 

 

 

I finished volume 1 of Les Miserables last night. I was pretty pumped until I discovered their are four more volumes. I will be reading more than one book simultaneously so I can keep up my numbers. I am determined to get 52 books this year!

 

So far I have read

Shanghai Girls*****

The Cat Who Saw Red**

The Power of a Praying Wife****

Les Miserables Volume 1 (so far *****)

 

Still in progress

Don Quixote

Odyssey

These will be in progress for a while as dh is reading a chapter or so a night to the children and the other I am reading to the children. We have been traveling quite a bit and been ill so chapter books have been hit and miss lately.

 

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I finished my fourth book Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery and posted a review on my blog.

 

Started this week:

Glittering Images by Howatch (after seeing so many recommendations for her books a few weeks back)

 

Ongoing

One Year Bible

Oliver Twist by Dickens (for dd13's lit)

Chidren of the New Forest by Marryat (for dd13's lit)

The Black Caudron by Alexander (read aloud with 8yo)

 

Finished

4. Anne of Avonlea by Montgomery

3. Anne of Green Gables by Montgomery

2. Talking Money by Chatzky

1. Pride and Prejudice by Austen

[Soror]

I'm still at 3 finished here. I didn't get a lot of reading done here as I was busy working on a few other things- exercising and doing more schooling. It doesn't help that I'm trying to read Emma, which I just cannot get into at all, although I know I'm supposed to love it. I have a list of books though to take to the library and I'm hoping I can get there next week and get some new books.

[Jane in NC]

 

5. Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George. I love her books -- once I start I just don't want to put them down. I had read some negative reader reviews, with people complaining about the complex plot and long cast of characters, but that didn't bother me in the least. I liked all the characters and watching Lynley methodically unravelling the truth of their convoluted, intertwined lives. I didn't like that one of the main, continuing characters (Deborah St. James) was an utter idiot. That was the only part of the story that didn't ring true. But otherwise a big thumbs up.

 

Deborah St. James always grates on my nerves. The Inspector Lynley novel before this one is in my dusty stack. I'll get there...

[*Inna*]

This post inspires me to reread The Forsyte Saga--what a captivating series of novels! I heartily recommend them.

The Forsyte Saga series is one of my all-time favorites. :001_wub:

 

Finished

Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life

 

Started reading

A Good and Perfect Gift: Faith, Expectations, and a Little Girl Named Penny

 

by Amy Julia Becker

 

It was free for Kindle and so far I'm really enjoying it.

[AllSmiles]

I finished book number eight, "Dead Until Dark" by Charlaine Harris. I love mysteries, I loved the Buffy series on TV, but I did not love this book. It wasn't my cuppa tea.

[Just Robyn]

After my daughter read and enjoyed Dracula, she read several related books. She enjoyed, in particular, Renfield: Slave of Dracula by Barbara Hambly.

 

From Booklist

 

"Hambly has retold Bram Stoker's Dracula in the voice of a minor character, Renfield, the madman who becomes the vampire's slave-agent in England. In Stoker's original, Renfield is a harbinger, extremely strong and violent, given to an unnatural diet of flies. When Dracula occupies the estate next to the asylum in which he is confined, Renfield attempts several escapes, claiming that his master is calling him. Hambly creates a past for this possessed man via his diaries and letters to his wife and gives him occasional lucid moments. When Dracula imposes himself on Renfield's deteriorated mind, he, bound to an active purpose, becomes yet more lucid. When Dracula orders him to kill Van Helsing, he isn't strong enough to refuse, but on the journey from London to Transylvania, he develops the strength to resist the count, find allies, and eventually retrace his journey back from lunacy to sanity. Hambly superbly weaves Stoker's plot and style with her own, producing one of the best recent vampire yarns. Frieda Murray

Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved"

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

Thanks for the recommendation! Looks like my library has it, too. Sticking it on the to-read list.

[MomtoCandJ]

Still working through The Great Influenza but for a light read I finished Whose Panties are These? More Misadventures From Funny Women on the Road.

[VeganCupcake]

I should finish up Ariosto today, and hope to get started on Fielding with you this evening. We'll see if I can catch up! Read slow!

 

I had to put Tom Jones aside for a few days to finish some library books that are due soon, so I need to catch up, too!

 

ETA: I should add that one of those library books is Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver. It's interesting so far, but I've really just started.

[Tullia]

Completed:

(1) Night and Day

(2) Anne of Avonlea

(3) Anne of the Island. Now I can invite my friend and her daughters to tea with a clear conscience!

 

In progress:

I'm still limping through Empire of the Mind.

 

For this week, I'm dusting off a book that's been gathering dust in the corner: Evening in the Palace of Reason (James R. Gaines), and just for fun a Kindle free book--a mystery--Wait for Me (Elisabeth Naughton).

 

ETA: I finished Wait for Me...sort of...skimmed over a few passages of tea-making. IMO, there are some things better left to the reader's imagination, and I'm conceited enough to prefer my own imagination. Still, the plot was interesting enough to keep me reading.

[zillymom]

Currently reading:

 

- Perelandra by C.S. Lewis (almost finished with this one)

- Il grande albero by Susanna Tamaro

 

I've never read the Harry Potter series. :blushing: I'm thinking about starting those sometime soon, maybe not right after these, but soon. It's worth it, right?

 

Finished:

7. Still Alice by Lisa Genova

6. What My Mother Gave Me by Elizabeth Benedict

5. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

4. S is for Space by Ray Bradbury

3. The Aeneid for Boys and Girls by Alfred J. Church

2. Imperfect Harmony: Singing Through Life's Sharps and Flats by Stacy Horn

1. Free Range Learning: How Homeschooling Changes Everything by Laura Grace Weldon

[MtnMama]

I've never read the Harry Potter series. :blushing: I'm thinking about starting those sometime soon, maybe not right after these, but soon. It's worth it, right?

 

 

Yes!

[mumto2]

This week I have finished

 

6. Once Upon a Ghost by Day Leclaire

7. Love Ine by Lily Zante

 

Both were kindle freebies in the past couple of weeks and enjoyable.

 

8. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by Lady Fiona Carnarvon

 

Loved it so much I have Dd reading it for school. Doing WWI right now so it works. We plan to visit the house next spring so it was perfect.

 

9. Hounded by Kevin Hearne

 

Once again really enjoyed this. I have the rest on hold from the library. Can't wait. I did find the first 40 or so pages slow but afterthat I had a hard time putting it down.

 

Currently reading My dear Charlotte. Kindle Prime. I am on the way to my moms tomorrow so lots of Harlequin's in my future. My mom subscribes and her excuse is I read them too. Worked great when I didn't have to read them all in 2 months because dh definately will not take then to the UK! I did download Great Expectations for the Dickens challege. I will try!

[Mothersweets]

I can't seem to shake the fluffy Regency romance novels. By the time I get into bed at night they are all that appeals to me.

 

1. A Change of Heart

2. Desperate Measures

3. An Affair of Honor

 

All three by Candace Hern.

 

I also started Brave Companions by David McCullough early last week. While I knit I've been listening to Patrick Tull's reading of HMS Surprise by Patrick O'Brian.

[SJ.]

I had to put Tom Jones aside for a few days to finish some library books that are due soon, so I need to catch up, too!

 

ETA: I should add that one of those library books is Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver. It's interesting so far, but I've really just started.

 

 

I can't wait to hear your opinions on Flight Behavior. I was tempted to pick it up at the library yesterday, but my to-read list is getting so long (mostly thanks to this thread!).

[ariasmommy]

For this week, I'm dusting off a book that's been gathering dust in the corner: Evening in the Palace of Reason (James R. Gaines)

 

 

Me too - just started it this afternoon! :) It's been sitting on my shelf since shortly after Ladydusk read and recommended it last year. I also read the preface to What the Dog Saw last night - it was recommended by my mom and sisters, from whom I borrowed it when visiting at Christmas. Looks interesting, but I think I'll probably be taking it a little at a time. I'm also going to join those of you who have or are reading Les Miserables. Last week, I started Heyer's Lady of Quality on audio. So far I'm not really loving it, but I'll give it a chance, as Cotillion took me a while to get into and I ended up really enjoying it. And all of that doesn't include the two read-alouds I have going and The Great Tradition which I really need to get back to... Lots of reading to look forward to! :D

[ChrisB]

I've never read the Harry Potter series. :blushing: I'm thinking about starting those sometime soon, maybe not right after these, but soon. It's worth it, right?

Yes!! I'll admit it, I even cried a few times while reading the last book.

[Heather in Neverland]

Started Reading:

Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald (American author, DD class 100)

 

Still Reading:

The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters by Albert Mohler (American author, DD class 300)

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800)

The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story by D.A. Carson (Canadian author, DD class 200)

 

Finished:

5. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800)

4. The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion by Tim Challies (Canadian author, DD class 600)

3. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (Australian author, DD class 800)

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (English author, DD class 800)

1. The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale by Oliver Potzsch (German author, DD class 800)

[Elinor Everywhere]

This week I finished Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell. I liked it, but it didn't become a page-turner for me until about 70% through, when the actual battle of Agincourt began. I would have liked the characters to have been fleshed out a bit more.

 

Another one finished this week is Big Packpack - Little World by Donna Morang. As an enthusiastic traveler I thought I would really enjoy this, but I didn't, and rated it 2 stars on Goodreads. She is certainly adventuress, and i admire her "never meet a stranger" personality, but I found her annoying after a while....she'd be fun to party with but I'd tire of her after a couple days.

 

I also finished Bhagavad Gita, which I enjoyed very much.

 

The list:

South to Alaska

lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey

My Dear Charlotte

perfect Health Diet

The Mousetrap

unbroken

and the three books listed above.

 

Currently reading:

The Iliad (Robert Fagles translation)

Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf

Worship Without Words

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - audiobook, which I rarely make the time to listen to!

 

[Paisley Hedgehog]

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[Kareni]

Any others [paranormal/urban fantasy] out there I should know about? ;) (I know I'm missing a few off the top of my head.)

 

I thought of one more that I don't believe has been mentioned yet:

 

Laura Ann Gilman's Retrievers series starting with Staying Dead.

 

My college aged daughter enjoyed her Vineart War series which began with Flesh and Fire: Book One of The Vineart War.

It might be considered fantasy rather than urban fantasy.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Rose in BC]

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

Week two: 30 Days to Social Media by Gail Z Martin (professional development)

Week three: Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

Week four: The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

Week five: Collaboration Handbook, by Winer & Ray (reading it for professional develpment :)).

 

 

[Kareni]

Someone asked recently for favorite Heyer novels. Here is a listing by Jo Walton, an author of whom Eliana spoke highly in a recent post.

 

Here are two more articles/reviews that might be of interest:

 

REVIEW: Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer -- there are 'Related posts' at the end of the review that might be of interest as well as many comments

 

Jennifer Kloester's Biography of Georgette Heyer -- many of the comments deal with favorite Heyer characters and books

 

Regards,

Kareni

[UrbanSue]

Pride and Prejudice turns 200 tomorrow!! And to celebrate, the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, England is holding a read-a-thon of the book. Doesn't that sound like fun?? You can read about it and the enduring popularity of Austen in this nice article on BBC.com.

 

 

Hmm. Pride and Prejudice is on my Top Five list and I was thinking of re-reading it at some point this year. If I cancel school tomorrow I could probably read it in one day.

[Stacia]

Still working on The Twelve Rooms of the Nile by Enid Shomer. I'm enjoying it especially because it's set in Egypt. Oh, how I would love to see all the antiquities of Egypt!

 

Before she became the nineteenth century’s greatest heroine, before he had written a word of Madame Bovary, Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert traveled down the Nile at the same time. In the imaginative leap taken by award-winning writer Enid Shomer’s The Twelve Rooms of the Nile, the two ignite a passionate friendship marked by intelligence, humor, and a ravishing tenderness that will alter both their destinies.

 

In 1850, Florence, daughter of a prominent English family, sets sail on the Nile chaperoned by longtime family friends and her maid, Trout. To her family’s chagrin—and in spite of her wealth, charm, and beauty—she is, at twenty-nine and of her own volition, well on her way to spinsterhood. Meanwhile, Gustave and his good friend Maxime Du Camp embark on an expedition to document the then largely unexplored monuments of ancient Egypt. Traumatized by the deaths of his father and sister, and plagued by mysterious seizures, Flaubert has dropped out of law school and written his first novel, an effort promptly deemed unpublishable by his closest friends. At twenty-eight, he is an unproven writer with a failing body.

 

Florence is a woman with radical ideas about society and God, naive in the ways of men. Gustave is a notorious womanizer and patron of innumerable prostitutes. But both burn with unfulfilled ambition, and in the deft hands of Shomer, whose writing The New York Times Book Review has praised as “beautifully cadenced, and surprising in its imaginative reach,†the unlikely soul mates come together to share their darkest torments and most fervent hopes. Brimming with adventure and the sparkling sensibilities of the two travelers, this mesmerizing novel offers a luminous combination of gorgeous prose and wild imagination, all of it colored by the opulent tapestry of mid-nineteenth-century Egypt.

 

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My Goodreads Page

My PaperbackSwap Page

Working on Robin's Dusty &/or Chunky Book Challenge.

Working on Robin's Continental Challenge.

Working on LostSurprise's Dewey Decimal Challenge. Complete Dewey Decimal Classification List here.

 

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). Challenges: Dusty; Continental/North America; Dewey Decimal/900s.

02. Equator by Miguel Sousa Tavares (3 stars). Challenges: Dusty, Continental/Europe; Africa.

03. UFOs, JFK, & Elvis by Richard Belzer (2 stars). Challenge: Dewey Decimal/000s.

04. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (4 stars). Challenge: Continental/North America.