Book a Week in 2013 - week thirty eight

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday, dear hearts!  Today is the start of week 38 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 Blog - Happy Birthday Agatha Christie:  Happy Birthday to Dame Agatha Christie.  She is the author who created Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence as well as Ariadne Oliver, Harley Quin and Parkey Pyne.  I admit I am more familiar with Poirot and Marple, than the other four, but will eventually make their acquaintance.  There are quite a few bloggers in the midst of perpetual Agatha Christie reading challenges. Some who are attempting to read her books in order and then others who are working their way through her works randomly.  I joined in about 5 years ago.  I'm more in the the random category and reading one a year so have only completed 5 of her many, many novels so far.  I probably should speed it up a bit, but like fine wine, like to savor her books.  Pitiful excuse, right.  *grin*     In honor of her birthday, I plan on reading book # 2 The Secret Adversary, her first Tommy and Tuppence mystery.  

 

Join me in reading Agatha Christie this week.  You can find her book list here or a chronological list here. 

 

Coming up:

 

Next week is Banned Book Week (thank you for the reminder, Stacia)  Check out the lists and historical info at American LIbrary Association's site, pick out a banned or challenged book and celebrate our freedom to read.

 

October Spooktacular - it's that time of year again. Get ready to read those spooky books.  I'm picking up Kostova's The Historian and Koontz Frankenstein: Prodigal son today.  Who hasn't read  Dracula or Frankenstein yet? 

 

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

 

Link to week 37

 

 

 

[Robin M]

I finished Stephen King's  # 5 Wolves of the Calla and #6 Song of Susanna in his Dark Tower series.  Going to take a break before continue with the last book - The Dark Tower.  Just started Kate Morton's The Distant Hours and have Agatha Christie's Secret Adversary on my nook

[Jane in NC]

Well I am back in NC after my sabbatical in the family cottage in the Northeast.  The cottage is primitive in the sense of no Internet or certain other modern conveniences; nor did I have a car although I had a bicycle.  But there were friends nearby and my husband joined me for part of the time.

 

I needed the quiet after a whirlwind summer of travel.  It was great to spend some time this summer with College Boy and his lovely girlfriend.  But it was also a sad summer.  I lost my Dad--not a surprise but sad nonetheless.  Thinking about my Dad over the last few weeks always led back to my Mom who died about five years ago.  The gains in the richness of life seem accompanied by loss...

 

A highlight of the last few weeks (besides all of my reading!) was spending a day with my dear friend Nan whom some of you may know from the WTM high school boards.  We went to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts to see the Hippie Chic exhibit, their collection of of Japanese woodblock prints and lots of wonderful conversation.  (And in case any of you are wondering, Nan is even more delightful in person than in her virtual guise.)

 

I also had a great sail one day.  Islands which formerly had been squiggles on a map became three dimensional. 

 

Sailing in those waters was a perfect followup to Poe's novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. I did finish Nat Johnson's Pym.  Like Stacia, I wanted to like the book.  Johnson's commentary on race was interesting; his satire of "painter" Thomas Kincaid brought a number of chuckles.  But there was disconnect.  I sometimes wondered if the book would have been better as three short stories without forced attempts at continuity.

 

Stacia had asked if I would read Verne or Lovecraft's spins on Poe.  I may take a glance at Verne later. While I don't have the nerve to read Lovecraft, I might (just might) listen to BBC Radio 4 Ex's dramatization of At the Mountains of Madness.  If anyone else is interested, we have to get cracking.  Episode One is only available for one more day.  The story is dramatized in five thirty minute episodes--five days remaining on the last so you need not dedicate an entire morning or afternoon to listening.

 

I was able to download to my tablet an item on the banned book list, the short story The Most Dangerous Game, which I read on my way to the airport yesterday.  Are some people so literally minded that they cannot see the symbolism and commentary in a literary work? 

 

My preferred airplane books are mysteries.  Yesterday I began reading Elizabeth Ironside's novel, A Good Death, set in France in 1944 as the Reich is in its final days.  This is an unconventional mystery (not so much a who-done-it but an unraveling of the past) set in the French countryside where supporters of Petain remain who may have outed members of the local underground. Residents had to live with the German troops who were in the area.  What actions are considered collaborations and what was done simply to save one's skin or that of a family member? What seems black and white in retrospect becomes complicated in the unfolding.

 

Recent reading:

 

39) A Taste for Death (PD James) 4 stars

40) Henry IV Part I (Shakespeare) 5 stars

41) Race of Scorpions (Dorothy Dunnett) 4 stars--Dorothy Dunnett Challenge (3)

42) Old Filth (Jane Gardam) 5 stars

43) Cradle to Cradle (Braungart and McDonough) 4 stars--Sustainability (4)

44) The Man in the Wooden Hat (Jane Gardam) 5 stars

45) The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (Edgar Allen Poe) 3.5 stars

46) Old Friends (Jane Gardam) 5 stars

47) Pym (Mat Johnson) 3.5 stars

[Miss Innocent]

I'm starting on Educating the Whole Hearted Child this week. I am sorely tempted by Agatha Christie, but I must resist! She isn't on my dusty shelf or languishing in my Kindle cloud 'pile'. Maybe next year....

 

Here is my run down so far:

 

8) Educating the Whole Hearted Child - Clay and Sally Clarkson

7) The Warden's Niece, Gillian Avery - Finished
6) The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, Timothy Keller - Finished
5) Quick, Boil Some Water: the Story of Childbirth in our Grandmothers' Day, Yvonne Barlow - Finished
4) The Calling of Emily Evans, Janette Oke - Finished
3) The Elephant in the Classroom - Finished
2) 50 People Every Christian Should Know, Warren W. Wiersbe - chapters 1-18 (32 chapters to go)
1) History of the Medieval World, SWB - chapters 1-18 (67 chapters to go!)

 

Emma

[aggieamy]

I'm up to the reading Agatha challenge!  I've got a Poirot mystery going right now as an audiobook.  :)

[Kareni]

Jane,

 

My sympathies on the death of your father.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I re-read a book yesterday, a historical romance.

 

The Rake by Mary Jo Putney

"Fate has given a disgraced rake one final chance to redeem himselfby taking his place as the rightful master of an ancestral estate. But nothing prepares him for his shocking encounter with a beautiful lady who has fled a world filled with betrayal."

 

The title character deals with his alcoholism during the course of the book.  It's an unusual premise for a historical romance, but it was well done.  The female lead lives an unusual life in that she is steward to an estate.  The book takes place in England in the post-Napoleonic era.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[-M-]

Jane in NC, I am sorry to read about your loss. Sending you healing thoughts.

[Jane in NC]

Thank you for your kind thoughts, fellow readers.

 

Dad lived a long and good life.  Among his prized possessions was his bookcase of Great Books.  I have wonderful memories of Dad reading Don Quixote with tears running his down his cheeks as he laughed. He was a self educated man.

 

Those books are now in my home.  Let the legacy live!

[-M-]

It looks as if Book #76 will be Liza Campbell's memoir A Charmed Life: Growing up in Macbeth's Castle. Lovely prose, difficult family relationships, interesting setting. Of course, I love the sychronicity / serendipity / synthesis of reading it on the heels of rereading Macbeth with my family to prepare for this summer's trip to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. In the troubled father - child relationship, I even see tie-ins to our recent King Lear studies.

 

And Book #77 will likely be Moby Dick (Herman Melville). As I mentioned in my last post, the Misses and I are just 61 pages from the end.

 

Speaking of the Misses, after a long semi-silence, I've made some recent posts to M-mv, including a recap of our 2012-2013 academic year reading and a preview of our 2013-2014 plans. And, as always, here's a link to my list of books read in 2013.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[mumto2]

Just started Kate Morton's The Distant Hours and have Agatha Christie's Secret Adversary on my nook

 

"The Distant Hours" sounds great. I will request it as soon as we finish moving. We are only going around the corner but I plan to reduce my pile as much as possible over the next month. This could be considered a really huge challenge! :lol:

 

I am skipping the Christie challenge although I love them. Tommy and Tuppence could very well be my favorite Chrstie characters so enjoy "The Secret Adversary".

 

I finished "Highland Laddie Gone" by Sharyn McCrumb. The third and the best so far in my reread of the series with Elizabeth MacPhearson. The setting was a Highland Game weekend in Virginia (or thereabouts). A fun cozy with zany characters and a bit of Scottish slang being essential to solving the mystery. I was actually able to sort of follow the slang this time through....

 

I downloaded my spooky books last night and my banned book is ready to go. I just need time...

 

Currently reading Laurie R. King's "A Darker Place" which is about religious cults. Very different from her Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. So far very good. I need to finish it so my Kindle can go online after tonight or the library will return it!

[Robin M]

Well I am back in NC after my sabbatical in the family cottage in the Northeast.  The cottage is primitive in the sense of no Internet or certain other modern conveniences; nor did I have a car although I had a bicycle.  But there were friends nearby and my husband joined me for part of the time.

 

I needed the quiet after a whirlwind summer of travel.  It was great to spend some time this summer with College Boy and his lovely girlfriend.  But it was also a sad summer.  I lost my Dad--not a surprise but sad nonetheless.  Thinking about my Dad over the last few weeks always led back to my Mom who died about five years ago.  The gains in the richness of life seem accompanied by loss...

 

Sailing in those waters was a perfect followup to Poe's novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. I did finish Nat Johnson's Pym.  Like Stacia, I wanted to like the book.  Johnson's commentary on race was interesting; his satire of "painter" Thomas Kincaid brought a number of chuckles.  But there was disconnect.  I sometimes wondered if the book would have been better as three short stories without forced attempts at continuity.

 

Stacia had asked if I would read Verne or Lovecraft's spins on Poe.  I may take a glance at Verne later. While I don't have the nerve to read Lovecraft, I might (just might) listen to BBC Radio 4 Ex's dramatization of At the Mountains of Madness.  If anyone else is interested, we have to get cracking.  Episode One is only available for one more day.  The story is dramatized in five thirty minute episodes--five days remaining on the last so you need not dedicate an entire morning or afternoon to listening.

 

My preferred airplane books are mysteries.  Yesterday I began reading Elizabeth Ironside's novel, A Good Death, set in France in 1944 as the Reich is in its final days.  This is an unconventional mystery (not so much a who-done-it but an unraveling of the past) set in the French countryside where supporters of Petain remain who may have outed members of the local underground. Residents had to live with the German troops who were in the area.  What actions are considered collaborations and what was done simply to save one's skin or that of a family member? What seems black and white in retrospect becomes complicated in the unfolding.

 

*hugs* Sorry to hear about your dad.    I've never had the nerve to read Lovecraft myself, but since I've started reading King and other more scarier books, going to take the plunge and read Mountains of Madness as well as Pym and Verne's story.  The dramatization sounds good.. will have to find some time to listen. A Good Death sounds quite interesting - love historical fiction.

 

 

I'm starting on Educating the Whole Hearted Child this week. I am sorely tempted by Agatha Christie, but I must resist! She isn't on my dusty shelf or languishing in my Kindle cloud 'pile'. Maybe next year....

 

Good Idea. Have been considering Agatha Christie read as one of the mini challenges for next year.  Good way to encourage myself as well to read more than one book a year. 

 

It looks as if Book #76 will be Liza Campbell's memoir A Charmed Life: Growing up in Macbeth's Castle. Lovely prose, difficult family relationships, interesting setting. Of course, I love the sychronicity / seredipity / synthesis of reading it on the heels of rereading Macbeth with my family to prepare for this summer's trip to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. In the troubled father - child relationship, I even see tie-ins to our recent King Lear studies.

 

And Book #77 will likely be Moby Dick (Herman Melville). As I mentioned in my last post, the Misses and I are just 61 pages from the end.

 

Speaking of the Misses, after a long semi-silence, I've made some recent posts to M-mv, including a recap of our 2012-2013 academic year reading and a preview of our 2013-2014 plans. And, as always, here's a link to my list of books read in 2013.

Will do the happy dance for you and the Misses when have finished Moby Dick.  Will pop over to your blog and read your posts.  I too have taken a long break from blogging. Hoping to get back into it at some point in the near future.

 

 

 

Speaking of Napoleonic, (someone mentioned it upthread) James scurried off with my copy of Master and Commander and started reading it.  After I asked him what the first chapter was about and all he could tell me was Jack, I claimed the book back and read the first chapter this morning.  Impressed that James made it through the first chapter and kept on reading.  Decided I would read as well - a dual reading rather than a readaloud, readalong - so we could discuss, because I'm sure there will be quite a bit he won't naturally intuit. 

[aggieamy]

Jane - Terribly sorry about your father.  ((HUGS))

 

I was going to thank you for your recommendation of A Good Death and then I read everyone else's comments and realized I had apparently skipped an entire section of your thread.  Eek.  I would have sounded so heartless.  Marks off for poor reading comprehension from me. 

[mumto2]

Thank you for sharing these booklists. :) Dd and I are planning .....

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of the Misses, after a long semi-silence, I've made some recent posts to M-mv, including a recap of our 2012-2013 academic year reading and a preview of our 2013-2014 plans. And, as always, here's a link to my list of books read in 2013.

[mumto2]

Jane--

 

:grouphug: I am so sorry for your loss.

[Just Robyn]

Ack! The only thing I read this week was a poorly edited and unhelpful book called CENTER: A System of Six Practices for Taking Charge of Your Passions and Purposes in Self, Family, Work and Community. I kept reading because it's pretty short, and I really thought there might be at least one great activity I could use or pass along, but no.

 

After that, the Agatha Christie and Banned Book challenges are pretty tempting - something extra enjoyable to balance out the drudgery of the last book.

 

:grouphug: Jane!

[Stacia]

Jane, :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: .

[Stacia]

Well, I had started Vlad by Carlos Fuentes, but this slim novella is so dang creepy & gross, I couldn't finish it. Had to stop. It was too much for me.

 

Not sure what I'll start reading next.

--------------------------
My Goodreads Page
My PaperbackSwap Page
Working on Robin's Continental Challenge. 

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:
Link to Books # 1 – 40 that I’ve read in 2013.

 

41. If on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino (5 stars). Challenge: Continental – Europe (Italy).

42. They Call Me Naughty Lola: Personal Ads from the London Review of Books, edited by David Rose (2.5 stars). Challenge: Continental – Europe (England).

43. The Late Mattia Pascal by Luigi Pirandello (3 stars). Challenge: Continental – Europe (Italy).

44. Stoker’s Manuscript by Royce Prouty (4 stars).

45. Captain Alatriste by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (3 stars). Challenge: Continental – Europe (Spain).

46. The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry (4 stars).

47. Second Person Singular by Sayed Kashua (4 stars). Challenge: Continental – Asia (Israel).

48. The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy (3.5 stars). Challenge: Continental – Europe/Asia (Russia).

49. The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Thirty-Six by Jonathon Keats (3 stars).

50. Borges and the Eternal Orangutans by Luis Fernando Verissimo (5 stars). Challenge: Continental – South America (Brazil & Argentina).

 

51. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe (4 stars). Challenge: Continental – Antarctica.

52. Pym by Mat Johnson (3 stars). Challenge: Continental – Antarctica.

53. Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway (5 stars).

54. The Complete Works of Marvin K. Mooney by Christopher Higgs (5 stars).

55. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (3 stars).

56. The Shaman’s Coat: A Native History of Siberia by Anna Reid (3 stars). Challenge: Continental – Asia (Siberia).

57. In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires by Raymond T. McNally & Radu Florescu (4 stars). Challenge: Continental – Europe (Romania).

[Lady Florida.]

Happy Birthday to Dame Agatha Christie.  Some who are attempting to read her books in order and then others who are working their way through her works randomly.  I joined in about 5 years ago.  I'm more in the the random category and reading one a year so have only completed 5 of her many, many novels so far.  I probably should speed it up a bit, but like fine wine, like to savor her books.  Pitiful excuse, right.  *grin*     In honor of her birthday, I plan on reading book # 2 The Secret Adversary, her first Tommy and Tuppence mystery.  

 

Join me in reading Agatha Christie this week.  You can find her book list here or a chronological list here. 

I'm not a blogger but I've been trying to read all of Agatha Christie's mysteries. I'm not reading the books in order of general publication but am reading each detective in order. I haven't read any Tommy and Tuppance, but have had Secret Adversary on my Kindle for quite a while. Maybe I'll start it this week.

 

 

 

October Spooktacular - it's that time of year again. Get ready to read those spooky books.  I'm picking up Kostova's The Historian 

I put The Historian on hold but I'm first on the list. I'm afraid it might come in before October, so I might cancel the hold for now and request it again in a week or so. I've read both Frankenstein and Dracula, and I like Dracula better.

[Lady Florida.]

Jane, I'm so sorry for your loss. Even when it's not unexpected, it's painful.  :grouphug:​ 

[Lady Florida.]

I was in a reading funk for a while, but I think I'm back.

 

I borrowed the Kindle version of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose from the library. I couldn't get into it, and the loan ended. Fortunately there was no waiting list, so I was able to re-download it immediately. It grabbed me once I got a few chapters in, and now I'm really enjoying it.

 

Current audio book: Sula, Toni Morrison

 

Audio books finished last week: God is Not Great, Christopher Hitchens, O Pioneers, Willa Cather

 

Books finished last week:

 

Long Lost, and Live Wire, the last two of Harlen Coben's Myron Bolitar series. I might try the Mickey Bolitar series. I generally don't care for YA, but these sound like they are similar to Coben's books for adults but with toned down language and no adult situations.

 

The Young Atheist's Survival Guide: Helping Secular Students Survive, Hemant Mehta

 

 

[Stacia]

Next week is Banned Book Week (thank you for the reminder, Stacia)  Check out the lists and historical info at American LIbrary Association's site, pick out a banned or challenged book and celebrate our freedom to read.

 

October Spooktacular - it's that time of year again. Get ready to read those spooky books.  I'm picking up Kostova's The Historian and Koontz Frankenstein: Prodigal son today.  Who hasn't read  Dracula or Frankenstein yet? 

 

Looking forward to these! Not sure I'll do the Agatha challenge right now. May circle around to it later....

 

Sailing in those waters was a perfect followup to Poe's novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. I did finish Nat Johnson's Pym.  Like Stacia, I wanted to like the book.  Johnson's commentary on race was interesting; his satire of "painter" Thomas Kincaid brought a number of chuckles.  But there was disconnect.  I sometimes wondered if the book would have been better as three short stories without forced attempts at continuity.

 

Stacia had asked if I would read Verne or Lovecraft's spins on Poe.  I may take a glance at Verne later. While I don't have the nerve to read Lovecraft, I might (just might) listen to BBC Radio 4 Ex's dramatization of At the Mountains of Madness.  If anyone else is interested, we have to get cracking.  Episode One is only available for one more day.  The story is dramatized in five thirty minute episodes--five days remaining on the last so you need not dedicate an entire morning or afternoon to listening.

 

I was able to download to my tablet an item on the banned book list, the short story The Most Dangerous Game, which I read on my way to the airport yesterday.  Are some people so literally minded that they cannot see the symbolism and commentary in a literary work?

 

Hoping future days find you in peace, Jane.

 

I agree about Johnson's Pym. I wanted to like it more than I did. I think he had some valuable things to say & his satire of Poe was pretty spot-on, imo, but I just didn't care for a large part of his book. It was just too much, I think.

 

Still need to get around to the Verne & Lovecraft books. Thanks for the link; I will check it out. Not sure if I'm up to tackling them immediately -- thinking I may wait until October rolls around. After trying the Carlos Fuentes Vlad book (& getting too creeped out), I may just read a 'normal' book or two in the meantime.

 

Yes, some people are that literally-minded. (I know you know that. ;) ) Sadly, they are often the 'squeaky mice' that get the oil. That's part of the reason why I vehemently support the ALA's Banned Books Week activities.

 

It looks as if Book #76 will be Liza Campbell's memoir A Charmed Life: Growing up in Macbeth's Castle. Lovely prose, difficult family relationships, interesting setting. Of course, I love the sychronicity / seredipity / synthesis of reading it on the heels of rereading Macbeth with my family to prepare for this summer's trip to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. In the troubled father - child relationship, I even see tie-ins to our recent King Lear studies.

 

And Book #77 will likely be Moby Dick (Herman Melville). As I mentioned in my last post, the Misses and I are just 61 pages from the end.

 

Speaking of the Misses, after a long semi-silence, I've made some recent posts to M-mv, including a recap of our 2012-2013 academic year reading and a preview of our 2013-2014 plans. And, as always, here's a link to my list of books read in 2013.

 

Good to see you here a little more again, M-mv. I love when that type of serendipity & synchronicity happens too. Sooooo cool.

 

In the meantime, I've gotten a jump on Spooky October.  I have started Mo Hayder's Poppet ,#6 in her Jack Caffery series.  This is a really scary book that doesn't pull any punches in the gore category -- think British version of American Horror Story: Asylum --  and the cover is super creepy.  Right up my alley!

 

I have read both Dracula and Frankenstein, and I read Phantom of the Opera for last year's challenge.  All I can think of in the way of Classic monsters I haven't read yet is The Hunchback of Notre Dame, so that may be this year's spooky classic.  Any opinions on this one? Good or skip?

 

Other books in the queue for October:  Doctor Sleep (Stephen King's sequel to The Shining),  The Abominable (Dan Simmons), Cabal (Clive Barker)

 

You might like Vlad. The Hunchback is excellent too (though it's been a very long while since I've read it). Have you ever read Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde? That's another classic to consider.

 

I downloaded my spooky books last night and my banned book is ready to go. I just need time...

 

Looking forward to your reviews on those....

 

I've never had the nerve to read Lovecraft myself, but since I've started reading King and other more scarier books, going to take the plunge and read Mountains of Madness as well as Pym and Verne's story.

 

:thumbup1:

 

I put The Historian on hold but I'm first on the list. I'm afraid it might come in before October, so I might cancel the hold for now and request it again in a week or so. I've read both Frankenstein and Dracula, and I like Dracula better.

 

I agree, I prefer Dracula.

 

I borrowed the Kindle version of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose from the library. I couldn't get into it, and the loan ended. Fortunately there was no waiting list, so I was able to re-download it immediately. It grabbed me once I got a few chapters in, and now I'm really enjoying it.

 

That's another one I've been meaning to get to for years....

[BigMamaBird]

Well I just picked two stinkers in a row!  This weeks bore-fest was A Death in Venice by Thomas Mann.  Oh my goodness, how dull and tedious, I was forcing myself to read it so I could just be done.  He was as bad as Henry James.

 

 

1 - All The King's Men â€“ Robert Penn Warren                                                            27 - Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

2 - A Stranger in a Strange Land â€“ Robert Heinlein                                                   28 - Selected Short Stories - William Faulkner
3 - A Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood                                                                  29 - 100 Years of Solitude -  Gabriel Garcia Marquez
4 - Catcher in the Rye â€“ J.D. Salinger                                                                      30 - Dune - Frank Herbert
5 - Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury                                                                           31 - Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
6 - The Grapes of Wrath â€“ John Steinbeck                                                                32 - One Day in the Life o Ivan Desinovich -  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
7 – Murder on the Orient Express â€“ Agatha Christie                                                  33 - Beloved - Toni Morrison
8 – The Illustrated Man â€“ Ray Bradbury                                                                   34 - Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
9 – The Great Gatsby â€“ F. Scott Fitzgerald                                                                35 - Dimanche - Irene Nemirovsky
10 – The Hiding Place â€“ Corrie Ten Boom                                                                36 - Babbitt - Sinclair Lewis 
11 – The Square Foot Garden â€“ Mel Bartholomew                                                     37 - Franny and Zooey - J.D. Salinger 
12 - Catch-22- Joseph Heller                                                                                    38 - A Death in Venice - Thomas Mann
13 - Heart of Darkness- Joseph Conrad
14 - Partners in Crime - Agatha Christie
15 - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
16 -O, Pioneers!- Willa Cather
17 - Miss Marple - The Complete Short Story Collection - Agatha Christie
18 - Ringworld - Larry Niven
19 - Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man- James Joyce
20 - Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
21 - To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
22 - Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin
23 - The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow
24 - The War of the Worlds- H.G Wells
25 - The Girl with the Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier 

26 - The Golden Ball and Other Stories - Agatha Christie

[eaglei]

Jane,

So sorry for your loss.

:grouphug:

[eaglei]

Another slow reading week.

 

Finished:

 

#56 - Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, by Anne Tyler.  My eighth book read on a Kindle this year.  A typical can't-put-down Tyler novel.

 

#57 - Running Around (and Such) [Lizzie Searches for Love, Book One], by Linda Byler.  Amish fiction.  It's okay; not as good as other Amish fiction I've read, but I've decided to finish the trilogy anyway . . .

 

Currently reading:

 

#58 - When Strawberries Bloom (Lizzie Searches for Love, Book Two), by Linda Byler.

[mlbuchina]

Still working on Angelmaker.  I'm getting close to the end, and I have decided that I don't want it to end!!!  LOL

 

I'll be going on a long car ride soon, and I plan on listening to The Dyslexic Advantage: Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain by Brock I. Eide and Fernette L. Eide.  I hope to get some encouragement for me and my dd.

 

The Round Up

46. Voyager

45. Dragonfly in Amber

44. By Reason of Insanity

43. Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu
42. The Girl Who Chased the Moon
41. The Sugar Queen
40. 1Q84
39. The Long Winter
38. Warm Bodies
37. Garden Spells
36. The Peach Keeper
35. The Memory Keeper's Daughter
34. The First Four Years
33. These Happy Golden Years
32. Little Town on the Prairie
31. Amglish, in Like, Ten Easy Lessons: A Celebration of the New World Lingo
30. The Call of the Wild
29. By the Shores of Silver Lake
28. Pippi Longstocking
27. On the Banks of Plum Creek
26. Hiroshima
25. Farmer Boy
24. 1984
23. This Book is Full of Spiders
22. Little House on the Prairie
21.  Evolutionism and Creationism
20.  John Dies at the End
19.  Much Ado About Nothing
18.  Little House in the Big Woods
17.  Hooked
16.  Anne of the Island
15.  Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen
14.  Anne of Avonlea
13.  Anne of Green Gables
12.  The Invention of Hugo Cabret
11.  The Swiss Family Robinson
10.  Little Women
9.  Why We Get Fat
8.  The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye
7.  Outlander
6.  The New Atkins for a New You
5.  A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows
4.  Liberty and Tyranny
3.  Corelli's Mandolin
2.  The Neverending Story
1.  The Hobbit

[Violet Crown]

Jane, I'm so sorry for the loss of your father. May he rest in peace.

[mlbuchina]

Join me in reading Agatha Christie this week.  You can find her book list here or a chronological list here. 

 

Coming up:

 

Next week is Banned Book Week (thank you for the reminder, Stacia)  Check out the lists and historical info at American LIbrary Association's site, pick out a banned or challenged book and celebrate our freedom to read.

 

October Spooktacular - it's that time of year again. Get ready to read those spooky books.  I'm picking up Kostova's The Historian and Koontz Frankenstein: Prodigal son today.  Who hasn't read  Dracula or Frankenstein yet? 

 

 

I need to join the Agatha Christie challenge.  I have never read a book by her.  *hangs head in shame*

 

I read Ender's Game when I was in middle school.  I don't remember too much about it, but I do remember that I loved it.  I want to re-read it soon.  I am thinking of picking up Like Water for Chocolate for BBW.  I've been wanting to read it for a while, but have just not gotten around to it.

 

 

Thank you for your kind thoughts, fellow readers.

 

Dad lived a long and good life.  Among his prized possessions was his bookcase of Great Books.  I have wonderful memories of Dad reading Don Quixote with tears running his down his cheeks as he laughed. He was a self educated man.

 

Those books are now in my home.  Let the legacy live!

 

When I started reading Don Quixote earlier this year, I remember you telling me about your dad enjoying it.  I'm so sorry for your loss, but so thankful you have wonderful memories to share.   :grouphug:

 

 

Speaking of Napoleonic, (someone mentioned it upthread) James scurried off with my copy of Master and Commander and started reading it.  After I asked him what the first chapter was about and all he could tell me was Jack, I claimed the book back and read the first chapter this morning.  Impressed that James made it through the first chapter and kept on reading.  Decided I would read as well - a dual reading rather than a readaloud, readalong - so we could discuss, because I'm sure there will be quite a bit he won't naturally intuit. 

 

I have picked up and put down books in this series so many times at the bookstore (the spines making the picture is so eye catching).  I need to just start reading them!

[Violet Crown]

I have picked up and put down books in this series so many times at the bookstore (the spines making the picture is so eye catching). I need to just start reading them!

How I wish I had the series before me unread, so I could have the pleasure of reading it again for the first time! I envy you.

[ElaineJ]

Well, I have been absent from this thread all summer and am significantly behind on my book count, but here I am checking in again. I love to hear what you all are reading! This week, I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I was a bit disappointed by it, to tell the truth. The characters just didn't seem real to me and the plot was just a little too predictable. It was a restful, easy read, but I don't think I will be recommending it to friends.

 

My favorite books from this summer have been The Habit of Being, which is a collection of the letters of Flannery O'Connor, and Original Sin: A Cultural History which takes a look at the development of the doctrine of original sin and some of its effects on Western thought and society.

 

Here is a list of books read so far:

 

1. The Memory Keeper's Daughter (Kim Edwards)

2. How to Read Church History vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Fifteenth Century (Jean Comby)

3. Death Comes for the Archbishop (Willa Cather)

4. The Lake of Dreams (Kim Edwards)

5. The Gift of Imperfection (Brene Brown)

6. Mary Emma and Company (Ralph Moody)

7. Silas Marner (George Eliot)

8. Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)

9. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)

10. She Stoops to Conquer (Oliver Smith)

11. Julian of Norwich: A Contemplative Biography (Amy Frykholm)

12. Strong Poison (Dorothy Sayers)

13. The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor (Flannery O'Connor)

14. Finding Dolores: An Adoptee's Midlife Search for the Beginning (Thomas Muldary)

15. 44 Scotland Street (Alexander McCall Smith)

16. Surprised By Truth (Patrick Madrid)

17. Original Sin: A Cultural History (Alan Jacobs)

18. Espresso Tales (Alexander McCall Smith)

19.Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality (Donald Miller)

20. To Own a Dragon: Reflections on Growing Up Without a Father (Donald Miller)

21. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer)

 

Elaine

[melmichigan]

:grouphug: Jane.  I'm sorry for your loss.

[JennW in SoCal]

Stacia had asked if I would read Verne or Lovecraft's spins on Poe.  I may take a glance at Verne later. While I don't have the nerve to read Lovecraft, I might (just might) listen to BBC Radio 4 Ex's dramatization of At the Mountains of Madness.  If anyone else is interested, we have to get cracking.  Episode One is only available for one more day.  The story is dramatized in five thirty minute episodes--five days remaining on the last so you need not dedicate an entire morning or afternoon to listening.

 

 

Thank you for the BBC 4 link!  I listened while knitting this afternoon.

 

 

Still need to get around to the Verne & Lovecraft books. Thanks for the link; I will check it out. Not sure if I'm up to tackling them immediately -- thinking I may wait until October rolls around. After trying the Carlos Fuentes Vlad book (& getting too creeped out), I may just read a 'normal' book or two in the meantime.

 

Here, sandwiched in between posts on current world and political events, is a nice essay about Lovecraft.  As I had mentioned in a previous thread, the genre may be horror, but as this essayist writes, it is "existential terror and awe are what Lovecraft is all about".  There is nothing gory that will keep you up nights.

 

 

Speaking of Napoleonic, (someone mentioned it upthread) James scurried off with my copy of Master and Commander and started reading it.  After I asked him what the first chapter was about and all he could tell me was Jack, I claimed the book back and read the first chapter this morning.  Impressed that James made it through the first chapter and kept on reading.  Decided I would read as well - a dual reading rather than a readaloud, readalong - so we could discuss, because I'm sure there will be quite a bit he won't naturally intuit. 

 

I am 30 minutes away from finishing listening to HMS Surprise, the 3rd in the Aubrey/Maturin series and the 2nd I've read.  (Those 30 minutes were spent instead listening to the BBC 4 installment of Mountains of Madness, and also more recently in the time it is taking me to multi-quote and link!)   Anyway, it is officially my 52nd book of the year.   :cheers2:    I hope you enjoy sharing it with your ds, Robin.  If anyone is interested in the audio version, I'm loving the narrator Patrick Tull as he has a, well, salty voice!  It feels like I'm listening to someone from that period tell me the stories.

 

In the midst of a set of some very bizarre music rehearsals the last few days I found I needed some light reading to capture my attention during the frequent unexpected breaks.  The bass player was reading Nietzsche, but I was much happier with what I settled upon, The Man who Would be F. Scott Fitzgerald, by David Handler.  It must have been a Kindle daily deal some months ago that I downloaded and forgot.  it is a mystery, light, very funny and instantly engaging.  The music gig is no more -- long story -- but the book is a keeper.

[melmichigan]

 

Next week is Banned Book Week (thank you for the reminder, Stacia)  Check out the lists and historical info at American LIbrary Association's site, pick out a banned or challenged book and celebrate our freedom to read.

 

October Spooktacular - it's that time of year again. Get ready to read those spooky books.  I'm picking up Kostova's The Historian and Koontz Frankenstein: Prodigal son today.  Who hasn't read  Dracula or Frankenstein yet? 

 

I finished Dead Ever After today. I was holding out hope that the ending would be this spectacularly written finale that would redeem Charlene Harris in my mind, as the last few books were lacking for me. No such luck.  :001_huh:   :thumbdown:

 

I'm debating The Historian for October, but for now I'm thinking of trying Ritual Magic by Eileen Wilks next.

[prairiegirl]

Jane, I am so sorry. :grouphug:

 

I am still reading 'Desiring the Kingdom' by James K.A. Smith, The Iliad (with the kids) and a book on Rosalind Franklin.  The kids and I read 'Wonder'  by R.J.Palaccio last week--not great writing but great story. I cried in a few spots--my kids were horrified.

[Stacia]

Stacia had asked if I would read Verne or Lovecraft's spins on Poe.  I may take a glance at Verne later. While I don't have the nerve to read Lovecraft, I might (just might) listen to BBC Radio 4 Ex's dramatization of At the Mountains of Madness.  If anyone else is interested, we have to get cracking.  Episode One is only available for one more day.  The story is dramatized in five thirty minute episodes--five days remaining on the last so you need not dedicate an entire morning or afternoon to listening.

 

Even though I'm not normally much of an audiophile, I listened to the first episode a little while ago. I quite enjoyed it & am looking forward to listening to the next installment sometime tomorrow.

 

Thanks again, Jane.

 

 

[Violet Crown]

Continuing The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes, A. E. Housman's A Shropshire Lad, The Stalin Front, and throwing into the mix a nice little Everyman edition of Emerson's Essays.

 

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

 

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall.... Misunderstood! It is a right fool's word. Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.

 

- from "Self-Reliance"

[Ali in OR]

I'm sorry for your loss, Jane. When my mom passed away 6 years ago, having some of her books was important to me. Enjoy your Great Books. (I still haven't read most of mom's!--need a "dusty inherited books" challenge next year).

 

Not a lot of reading going on here--mostly just what I get done on the treadmill. Finished Ann Patchett's State of Wonder and enjoyed it. I think there will be lots to discuss at our book club next month. My respite care provider brings books for the girls and I took the Jasper Fford book she brought for my next treadmill read--I think it's The Last Dragonslayer. I read The Eyre Affair earlier this year and even with a totally different protagonist and world, this book has a very similar feel. I've kind of started In the Garden of Beasts; I'm thinking that one will be slower going.

[Mom-ninja.]

Jane, I'm sorry.

[Mom-ninja.]

 

I was able to download to my tablet an item on the banned book list, the short story The Most Dangerous Game, which I read on my way to the airport yesterday.  Are some people so literally minded that they cannot see the symbolism and commentary in a literary work? 

I read that in high school and then several times in college (because I wanted to). I love that story. That one and "The Lottery" are my 2 favorite.

 

 

I'm still reading Outlander and I'm 60% in the book. Too far to stop although I keep asking myself why I'm continuing. I feel committed now I guess. :blushing:  I will not continue the series. I can't imagine how the author keeps the story line going for 8 books, and I'm not interested enough to find out. How many times does this woman need to be rescued? Plus, the book just feels disjointed. One minute she's delivering a foal, and the next she's on trial for being a witch. One minute it's all tenderness and chivalry with Jamie and the next, um he's showing a different side of himself regarding her. Reading certain scenes between them is not my cuppa. :blink:

[Negin]

I lost my Dad--not a surprise but sad nonetheless.  Thinking about my Dad over the last few weeks always led back to my Mom who died about five years ago.  

Jane,  :grouphug: . So very sorry for your loss. 

[mumto2]

Long Lost, and Live Wire, the last two of Harlen Coben's Myron Bolitar series. I might try the Mickey Bolitar series. I generally don't care for YA, but these sound like they are similar to Coben's books for adults but with toned down language and no adult situations.

I read the first Mickey Bolitar and need to read the second. I thought it fit well with the overall Myron Bolitar storyline.

 

Not sure if anyone else has tried Theodore Boone series by John Grisham or Order of Darkness by Philippa Gregory. They are YA books by popular adult authors which are quite good. :) Dd and I have the latest in both series in our holiday stack. We are going to France overnight tomorrow -- minimum 10 hours car and ferry so shared books are required!

[Heather in Neverland]

Started Reading:

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (American author, DD class 800)

 

Still Reading:

The Map of the Sky by Felix J. Palma (Spanish author, DD class 800)

 

Finished:

41. Mariana by Susanna Kearsley (Canadian author, DD class 800)

40. Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine by Eric Weiner (American author, DD class 200)

39. When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy by John Piper (American author, DD class 200)

38. Inferno by Dan Brown (American author, DD class 800)

37. That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo (American author, DD class 800)

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

35. Sandstorm by James Rollins (American author, DD class 800)

34. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (Mexican Author, DD class 800)

33. The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific by J. Maarten Troost (Dutch Author, DD class 900)

32. Bill Bryson's African Diary by Bill Bryson (American author, DD class 900)

31. The Millionaires by Brad Meltzer (American author, DD class 800)

30. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (American author, DD class 800)

29.The Sherlockian by Graham Moore (American author, DD class 800)

28. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (American authors, DD class 800)

27. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (American author, DD class 900)

26. The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio (American author, DD class 800)

25. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Ethiopian author, DD class 800)

24. Having Hard Conversations by Jennifer Abrams (American author, DD class 300)

23.The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe (American author, DD class 600)

22. The Infernal Devices #3: The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800)

21. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (American author, DD class 800)

20. Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill (British author, DD class 200)

19. The Infernal Devices #2: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800)

18. The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800)

17. God's Big Picture: Tracing the Story-Line of the Bible by Vaughan Roberts (British author, DD class 200)

16.The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Mystery by Alan Bradley (Canadian Author, DD Class 800)

15.The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner (American author, DD class 900)

14. Prodigy by Marie Lu (Chinese author, DD class 800)

13. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (American author, DD class 900)

12. The Disappearing Spoon: And Other Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean (American author, DD class 500)

11. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman (American Author, DD class 600)

10. A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller (American author, DD class 200)

9. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (American author, DD class 300)

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

7. The Bungalow by Sarah Jio (American author, DD class 800)

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

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)

[Paisley Hedgehog]

. 

 

[Stacia]

I am jealous of y'all who can tackle some of your TBR's through audiobooks.  I simply cannot concentrate while someone is reading to me; I've got to have the book in my hands.

 

I definitely had to spend all my concentration listening to the Lovecraft audio last night. I sat at my computer & did nothing but concentrate, having to fight my own mind from wandering off down the hall. (There's no way I could be doing something else while listening, I think.) I figure I can make it through five episodes for this book. I did keep thinking that I wanted a copy of the book in my hands while listening, though, because then it would have been so much easier for me to concentrate on the audio by reading along. :lol:

 

I've also started reading another book: Remainder (link is NY Times review) by Tom McCarthy. I read his novel C a few years ago & absolutely loved it; McCarthy writes hauntingly beautiful prose.

 

From Bookmarks Magazine:

Rejected in England before it was acquired by a small French publishing house, Tom McCarthy's debut novel is now a popular and critical success. The author, who in 1999 launched the semihoax International Necronautical Society (INS)—designed to map and colonize the space of death—transfers some of the Society's philosophical concerns to his novel. About human reality, social constructions, and the quest for identity, Remainder offers a highly original and insightful allegory of our times. In a clear, deadpan tone, the narrator, "an existential Everyman" (Los Angeles Times), tells a bizarre, disorienting, and compelling story. The vagueness may bother some readers, but most will enjoy pondering the ambiguity of it all.

[Stacia]

Oh and, btw, for those of you on Goodreads & who are listening to the BBC version that Jane linked, I created an entry for the radio version to track along w/ your reading.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18493153-at-the-mountains-of-madness

[aggieamy]

  I am jealous of y'all who can tackle some of your TBR's through audiobooks.  I simply cannot concentrate while someone is reading to me; I've got to have the book in my hands.

 

 

 

 

I didn't used to be able to listen to audiobooks but over the years I've gotten better.  When I was young and single I would listen while I fell asleep at night but I could only listen to books I already knew because otherwise I'd never go to sleep.  Now I listen if I'm doing something mindless with my hands AND I've got an engaging story going on.  Crocheting, folding laundry, driving in light traffic, and walking are times when I can listen.  Occasionally though if I'm driving and listening I end up at the wrong destination.  :blushing:

[Lady Florida.]

I'm still reading Outlander and I'm 60% in the book. Too far to stop although I keep asking myself why I'm continuing. I feel committed now I guess. :blushing:  I will not continue the series. I can't imagine how the author keeps the story line going for 8 books, and I'm not interested enough to find out. How many times does this woman need to be rescued? Plus, the book just feels disjointed. One minute she's delivering a foal, and the next she's on trial for being a witch. One minute it's all tenderness and chivalry with Jamie and the next, um he's showing a different side of himself regarding her. Reading certain scenes between them is not my cuppa. :blink:

 

That's pretty much how I felt about Outlander. I read it because so many of my IRL friends loved the series. It took me 2 tries to finally get through it, and while I wasn't sorry I read it (cultural literacy I suppose), I had no desire to continue. Also I can't for the life of me find anything attractive about Jamie. My feelings about him are similar to my feelings about Edward from Twilight (another one I read due to peer pressure).

 

 

I sat at my computer & did nothing but concentrate, having to fight my own mind from wandering off down the hall. (There's no way I could be doing something else while listening, I think.).

 

Doing something else is the only way I can listen to audiobooks. If I just sit, my mind wanders. If I was listening on a computer I'd be temped to open other tabs and browse, which would then cause me to miss parts of the book being read to me. If I'm performing a rote task like mopping, folding laundry, or chopping vegetables, I can concentrate on listening while my body performs the task.

 

 

 

I did keep thinking that I wanted a copy of the book in my hands while listening, though, because then it would have been so much easier for me to concentrate on the audio by reading along.

 

I've never been able to do that because I read too fast.  :lol:  I took a speed reading course in community college because - and I'm embarrassed to admit this - my friends were taking it and we wanted to have classes together. I earned a C because the grade was based on improvement in reading speed and I didn't have much room to improve.

[aggieamy]

I read that in high school and then several times in college (because I wanted to). I love that story. That one and "The Lottery" are my 2 favorite.

 

 

I'm still reading Outlander and I'm 60% in the book. Too far to stop although I keep asking myself why I'm continuing. I feel committed now I guess. :blushing:  I will not continue the series. I can't imagine how the author keeps the story line going for 8 books, and I'm not interested enough to find out. How many times does this woman need to be rescued? Plus, the book just feels disjointed. One minute she's delivering a foal, and the next she's on trial for being a witch. One minute it's all tenderness and chivalry with Jamie and the next, um he's showing a different side of himself regarding her. Reading certain scenes between them is not my cuppa. :blink:

 

I can't remember if I've told this story or not before but I read Outlander about 6 years ago before I joined this board.  It was recommended to me by people on another board as a time-traveling historical fiction book.  Imagine my surprise at reading some of the sections.  Not a historical fiction book!  I like some romance books (Georgette Heyer) but generally I like when the most passion shown is an embrace at the end of the book. I'm really glad I didn't decide to get my grandmother a copy of the book when I purchased my own.  You know, because she loves historical fiction too.  :)

[Jane in NC]

Oh and, btw, for those of you on Goodreads & who are listening to the BBC version that Jane linked, I created an entry for the radio version to track along w/ your reading.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18493153-at-the-mountains-of-madness

 

And I should make a correction to my earlier post.  This is not a dramatization but a reading of the story.  I am unsure if it is abridged.