Book a Week in 2013 - Week twenty nine

[mlbuchina]

Well, I finished Getting Stoned, Kareni!   :lol:

 

I was going to go back to reading Dragonfly in Amber, but I have started The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie instead.    :D

[Kareni]

Well, I finished Getting Stoned, Kareni!   :lol:

 

Good for you!

 

Here are some books for you to read next ....

 

Get Stoned and Read This Book by Gordon G. Gourd

 

Kill Two Birds & Get Stoned: A Novel by Kinky Friedman

 

Everybody Must Get Stoned by R. U. Sirius

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[mlbuchina]

Good for you!

 

Here are some books for you to read next ....

 

Get Stoned and Read This Book by Gordon G. Gourd

 

Kill Two Birds & Get Stoned: A Novel by Kinky Friedman

 

Everybody Must Get Stoned by R. U. Sirius

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

:smilielol5:

 

 

Seriously, though, I enjoyed the book.  I'd like to read more like it, but I'm not sure what kind of book it is.  Travelogue? Some kind of biography type thing?  I guess I just need to read his first book, and look at the suggestions on Amazon.

[Kareni]

 I'd like to read more like it, but I'm not sure what kind of book it is.  Travelogue? Some kind of biography type thing?  I guess I just need to read his first book, and look at the suggestions on Amazon.

 

Have you read any of Bill Bryson's books?  They have a similar feel to me. 

 

Here's a link to Amazon's Listmania pages on Travel Memoirs. 

 

And the link to the pages on Travelogues.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Stacia]

 

Kill Two Birds & Get Stoned: A Novel by Kinky Friedman

 

Kinky Friedman writes funny books. Will have to look into that one myself....

 

So, on a different but still book-related note, it looks like Daniel Radcliffe & Jon Hamm take a bath together for an upcoming mini-series based off of Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov's book Young Doctor's Notebook (or perhaps also known as A Country Doctor's Notebook). I read Bulgakov for the first time last year (The Master & Margarita) & highly recommend him. I may have to check out his Doctor's Notebook too....

 

From the Goodreads description:

Brilliant stories that show the growth of a novelist's mind, and the raw material that fed the wild surrealism of Bulgakov's later fiction.

 

With the ink still wet on his diploma, the twenty-five-year-old Dr. Mikhail Bulgakov was flung into the depths of rural Russia which, in 1916-17, was still largely unaffected by such novelties as the motor car, the telephone or electric light. How his alter-ego copes (or fails to cope) with the new and often appalling responsibilities of a lone doctor in a vast country practice — on the eve of Revolution — is described in Bulgakov's delightful blend of candid realism and imaginative exuberance.

[Negin]

I finished They Call Me Naughty Lola: Personal Ads from the London Review of Books, edited by David Rose.

 

If you're looking for a quick read & love British humor, this might be the book for you. 

Stacia, this looks like something I would like. I love British humor. 

[mlbuchina]

Have you read any of Bill Bryson's books?  They have a similar feel to me. 

 

Here's a link to Amazon's Listmania pages on Travel Memoirs. 

 

And the link to the pages on Travelogues.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

No, I've never read Bill Bryson's books.  I haven't read anything like these books till now.  I will check him out.  Thank you!

[Robin M]

So many posts about great books and have ended up adding most to my ever growing wishlist. :laugh: 

 

I decided to take a side trip before beginning on a winter's night a traveler and reading Stephen King's 4th book in his dark tower series Wizards and Glass.

 

 

Someone was asking about new books and releases. Here are some lists for July

 

Paranormal and urban Fantasy

Thrillers

Cozy Mysteries

Romance

New from Random House

 

Here's an interesting list that includes Calvino, DeLillo, Wolfe and Murakami  - 10 Literary Authors You Didn't Know Wrote Science Fiction.

 

And a website that will keep you busy for hours - Complete list of all book series in order

 

Enough torture, err bliss for now!  Happy browsing!

 

[Stacia]

Here's an interesting list that includes Calvino, DeLillo, Wolfe and Murakami - 10 Literary Authors You Didn't Know Wrote Science Fiction.

 

...

 

Enough torture, err bliss for now! Happy browsing!

Love this list! Thanks so much for posting it!

 

Saw an adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando many years ago (1992). Did anyone else see it? It starred Tilda Swinton and Billy Zane. I remember it being quite visually stunning and one scene with snow made me feel like I was absolutely freezing!

[Onceuponatime]

I got 1/2 way through Will in the World and Quit. I was getting bogged down in the details, so I skipped to the end and read the last chapter. What I read was interesting but here are only so many facts you can stuff in your head before you die. These particular facts were not on my bucket list.  I'm still reading If On a Winter's Night... and have started Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction by Joseph Dan. It is a historical criticism of the Jewish tradition of kabbalah.

[mumto2]

I finally finished "The Rosetti Letter" by Chtisti Phillips. It has been in my pile so long I was on my last renewal at the library -- 3weeks for 6 times! I enjoyed it although now I really want to go to Venice....

 

I also read an Amazon Prime book called "Dead Spots" by Melissa F. Olson. I really enjoyed it! :) Your basic paranormal book with a bit of a twist that I haven't seen before. The main character is a null, which means magic does not exist around her. Vampires turn human and age, werewolves turn human instantly. There were some humorous scenes because of this that made me me Lol. My favorite was when a strange werewolf was running by her and suddenly she had a confused naked man laying at her feet. Now the rest of that scene was not funny but that ability certainly lightened the mood several times.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[mlbuchina]

I also read an Amazon Prime book called "Dead Spots" by Melissa F. Olson. I really enjoyed it! :) Your basic paranormal book with a bit of a twist that I haven't seen before. The main character is a null, which means magic does not exist around her. Vampires turn human and age, werewolves turn human instantly. There were some humorous scenes because of this that made me me Lol. My favorite was when a strange werewolf was running by her and suddenly she had a confused naked man laying at her feet. Now the rest of that scene was not funny but that ability certainly lightened the mood several times.

 

This looks interesting.  I have it on my Kindle now.  :)  Thanks for the review!

[Woodland Mist Academy]

I've been on a board break, so I'm just jumping back in. 

 

Last night I read Murder in the Yoga Store: The True Story of the Lululemon Killing by Peter Ross Range. It was an interesting quick read, but I imagine it will never completely leave me. There are so many issues touched upon lightly, but which induce further contemplation.

 

(ETA: That sounds like a cold review, given the subject. My heart goes out to those touched by the tragedy.)

[Stacia]

Ilium.  What I discovered through this book is that I much prefer watching sci-fi to reading it.  My attention started seriously flagging about halfway through and I had to force myself to finish.  The premise was interesting, and it was kind of a cool thing to see how the author interwove the Iliad with his story.  In the end, though, I just gave out.  There's only so long I can pretend to care about robots.   :leaving:   

 

According to the library site, my copy of Cooked by Michael Pollan should be arriving today or tomorrow as well as a book about Mt Everest called Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season (NOT the 1996 disaster covered by Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air).   I'm excited to get started on the Pollan book since Jane gave it such high marks and I'm always up for an Everest book.  Stacia, are you familiar with this one?

  

 

Enjoyed your review of Ilium. I've read very little sci fi and part of my reason why sounds similar to what you wrote.

 

No, I didn't know about the Everest book. Thanks for mentioning it. Be sure to post a review too!

 

Btw, did everyone see Six Pack's thread about reading around the world? I would link it but I'm traveling and typing on the screen of my ipad and don't know the ins and outs of this thing yet. So please forgive me for typos and if my posts sound choppy or short because typing with one finger is not my style. Lol. Must get a keyboard...

 

 

I've been on a board break, so I'm just jumping back in. 

 )

Good to see you. You have such a pretty avatar.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

 

Good to see you. You have such a pretty avatar.

 

Thanks!

[Robin M]

I finally finished "The Rosetti Letter" by Chtisti Phillips. It has been in my pile so long I was on my last renewal at the library -- 3weeks for 6 times! I enjoyed it although now I really want to go to Venice....

 

I also read an Amazon Prime book called "Dead Spots" by Melissa F. Olson. I really enjoyed it! :) Your basic paranormal book with a bit of a twist that I haven't seen before. The main character is a null, which means magic does not exist around her. Vampires turn human and age, werewolves turn human instantly. There were some humorous scenes because of this that made me me Lol. My favorite was when a strange werewolf was running by her and suddenly she had a confused naked man laying at her feet. Now the rest of that scene was not funny but that ability certainly lightened the mood several times.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed Rosetti letter and picked up her 2nd book The Devlin Diary.  I know what you mean - after finishing the story, I was all ready to plan a trip to Venice.

 

Dead Spots looks really interesting. Finally have kindle app on my nook. Will have to try it out and see how that works.

 

[Robin M]

Well, hello again! I am back after a long period of 70 hour work weeks while still home (office) schooling my son, I am bringing it all home again. I have missed you all! When I am not checking in on here I feel like I am missing something.

 

I've been on a board break, so I'm just jumping back in. 

 

Welcome back!  So glad to see you both back.

[Kareni]

Last night I stayed up late and finished Dare You To (Harlequin Teen) by Katie McGarry.

 

"I dare you…"

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does….

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock—with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams—and his life—for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all…."

 

I enjoyed this book as well as an earlier book by the author ~ Pushing the Limits ~ which I mentioned back in April.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

I thoroughly enjoyed Rosetti letter and picked up her 2nd book The Devlin Diary.  I know what you mean - after finishing the story, I was all ready to plan a trip to Venice.

 

Dead Spots looks really interesting. Finally have kindle app on my nook. Will have to try it out and see how that works.

Just requested the "Devlin Diary". Thank you!!! I had no idea she had a second book in this series. I can't wait to find out what happens next.

 

This afternoon I started another new paranormal series by Gail Carriger called "Soulless". Now the title should have given me a bit of a clue but being souless is apparently very similar to being a null. Is this a common character type that I have just missed somehow? I can't quite believe that I ran into two books with this "new" concept in two days! This one hasn't made me laugh but it does seem to be pretty good. Alternate Victorian London setting.

[Stacia]

This afternoon I started another new paranormal series by Gail Carriger called "Soulless". Now the title should have given me a bit of a clue but being souless is apparently very similar to being a null. Is this a common character type that I have just missed somehow? I can't quite believe that I ran into two books with this "new" concept in two days! This one hasn't made me laugh but it does seem to be pretty good. Alternate Victorian London setting.

I thought of Soulless when I read your description of the other book. Don't know if it is a common characteristic or not though.

 

Soulless is a decent summer type read.... Fluffy paranormal....

[Stacia]

Have now started another European read: The Late Mattia Pascal by Luigi Pirandello, the 1934 Nobel prize winner for literature.

[mumto2]

Have now started another European read: The Late Mattia Pascal by Luigi Pirandello, the 1934 Nobel prize winner for literature.

Looking forward to your review. I love the sound of it but can't find a copy at any of my libraries. :( I will add it to the list.......

[Rosie_0801]

I've finally finished reading Blinky Bill to the kids. We've been watching too much telly. I used the BBC P&P to try and wean dd off Dr Who reruns, but that resulted in us watching it all the way through at least four times in the past fortnight. Clearly I'm not repentant enough or I would do something about it. :p

[Violet Crown]

All done with Faust Part Two. Still working intermittently through Pindar and Five Hundred Years of Printing, which are great but hard to read in large chunks. Pindar especially; after a while, reading yet another ode to some juvenile athlete, paid for by his wealthy father, in which Junior is compared to mythical Greek heroes, gets to be like watching a beautiful woman working for an upscale escort service. Elegant and talented, sure; but still at heart very like prostitution.

 

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

 

For the goddess of strict truth steers the city of the West Wind Lokrians,

and the Muse of heroes is among them,

and brazen Ares. The fight with Kyknos turned back even the surpassing might

of Herakles; and Agesidamos, winner

in boxing at Olympia,

may give thanks to Ilas his trainer, as once

to Achilles, Patroklos.

 

(from "Olympia 10")

 

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

 

Too bad this edition doesn't include Pindar's fragments, with the famous "O glistening city, violet-crowned, dear to song, bulwark of Hellas, famous Athens, haunted by divine presences!"

 

Meanwhile, for easier reading I have Trollope's The Way We Live Now, the ultimate "society has gone to hell in a handbasket" novel, perfect for my encroaching middle age. You kids get off my lawn!

[mumto2]

Just finished my latest Elly Griffiths "A Room Full of Bones". Once again interesting but fictional. While building an ASDA an ancient coffin belonging to a Bishop is discovered which kicks off a series of pretty horrifying events. The ancient coffin takes rather a back seat to drug trafficing, horse racing, and aboriginal artifacts but I still enjoyed it.

 

I am about halfway through "If on a Winter's Night....". I am having some problems keeping everything straight so am spending quite a bit of time looking back in the book. I am curious to get to the ending because I can't believe one ending will some up all of those cliffhangers!

[Kareni]

Last night I finished Heart of Obsidian (Psy-Changeling, Book 12)  by Nalini Singh.  I enjoyed it.  I think it's best read after reading other books in the series.

 

"Step into New York Times bestseller Nalini Singh's explosive and shockingly passionate Psy-Changeling world...

A dangerous, volatile rebel, hands stained bloodred.

A woman whose very existence has been erased.

A love story so dark, it may shatter the world itself.

A deadly price that must be paid.

The day of reckoning is here.

From "the alpha author of paranormal romance" (Booklist) comes the most highly anticipated novel of her career--one that blurs the line between madness and genius, between subjugation and liberation, between the living and the dead."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[VeganCupcake]

I am listening to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry for our book club this month. I didn't realize it at first, but my iPhone was set on shuffle, so I was listening to the chapters out of order. I wondered what kind of avant garde time-shifting story it was for a while! Now that I've started over in the right order, it's much more enjoyable.

[Stacia]

I am listening to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry for our book club this month. I didn't realize it at first, but my iPhone was set on shuffle, so I was listening to the chapters out of order. I wondered what kind of avant garde time-shifting story it was for a while! Now that I've started over in the right order, it's much more enjoyable.

Too funny . I tried reading that book last year, but didn't like it enough to finish it. Maybe I would have liked it more in random order. Lol.

 

On a separate note, I know there are many Jane Austen fans on this thread. Yesterday, I was at an event at the Charleston Library Society and noticed a brochure there about a Jane Austen Society meeting. Turns out there are Jane Austen Society groups all over (in case you didn't already know that). The website for North America is jasna.org

[Stacia]

I finished "The Late Mattia Pascal" by Luigi Pirandello & would give it 3.5 stars. It is part of my reading for the continental challenge (Europe/Italy). This book was first published in1904; thirty years later, Pirandello went on to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

 

The style of the story makes me think of a domesticated form of a picaresque novel. What would you choose to do and who would you choose to be if you could walk away from your current life because everyone thought you were dead? Which life would be the "real" you? Would you choose to live life in the same way you currently are living it, or would you change your way of living? These and other questions of reality and identity are explored through the eyes of the "late" Mattia Pascal.

[Robin M]

Link to week 30 - please continue conversation in new thread