Book a Week in 2013 - week thirty nine

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday, dear hearts!  Today is the start of week 39 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 - Banned Books Week: Banned Books Week was formed in 1982 as a response to the surge of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries from different individuals, parents, groups, and organizations.  Since 1982, more than 11,300 books have been challenged for many reasons, including but not limited to sexual, political, anti-ethnic, anti family, violence, and profanity content.  During 2012, there were 464 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom.  The ten most challenged titles last year were
 

1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey:  
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie:   
3. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher:  
4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James. 
5.  And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.
6.  The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.
7.  Looking for Alaska, by John Green.
8.  Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
9.  The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
10.  Beloved, by Toni Morrison

The reason why are listed on ALA's website.  Over the years, at least 46 classics listed on Radcliff Publishing top 100 novels of the 20th Century have been challenged. The list is on the blog and more info can be found over at American LIbrary Association's website.

 

What in holy heck is Fifty Shades of Grey doing in a school library?  That's just pure stupidity and ignorance on the part of whatever librarian or principle approved that book.  If I were a parent in that school, I'd be screaming mad as well. 

 

On my shelves from the banned / challenged classics list:  To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye and A Farewell to Arms. 

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

 

Link to week 38

[Robin M]

I'm halfway through Kate Morton's The Distant Hours and enjoying it so far. Once I'm done, will read challenged classic Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms. 

[Onceuponatime]

I'm currently reading Epigenetics by Richard Francis. I'm having to skim the parts that are supremely boring or over my head, but it is still interesting.

[Negin]

It took me a long time to read Exodus. It was on my Kindle, then I realized that it's over 600 pages. I first read this about 20 years ago and loved it as much this time as I did back then. Beautiful story of the history of Israel - one of my favorite countries ever. 5 stars. 

 

Also read Coronado High - short Kindle book. Very engaging at first, but dragged on a bit from the middle on out. Too many characters to remember, or maybe it was just my distracted mood. 2 Stars. 

 

 

 

 

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

 

 

 

 

[Negin]

What in holy heck is Fifty Shades of Grey doing in a school library?  That's just pure stupidity and ignorance on the part of whatever librarian or principle approved that book.  If I were a parent in that school, I'd be screaming mad as well. 

Robin, I couldn't agree more. That's just stupid and very disturbing. 

[Stacia]

I have Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card sitting here for both ds & me to read for Banned Books Week. (Ender's Game is on the 2012/13 shortlist of banned or challenged titles.) Also on that list was a recent read for me -- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Dh was interested (& surprised) to see Belgium listed in the list (for a Tintin book). (Dh is Belgian & still has some of his Tintin books from his childhood. Will have to see if we have a copy of that one in his stack....)

 

Not sure how quickly I'll get to my banned book or books as I have lots of books sitting here right now. Currently, I'm immersed in The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner. I'm impressed & busy falling into her world so far -- the 1970s, NYC, motorcycles, speed (as in racing), rebellion, art. Her descriptions of things are fabulous. Enjoyed reading the review of The Flamethrowers in The New Yorker. I also enjoyed the short NPR review.

 

I'm also still (barely) into The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike. I've tossed it to the side in favor of The Flamethrowers, but feel I probably will &/or should get to it as it's a book club read for me.

 

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

My Goodreads Page

My PaperbackSwap Page

 

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).

58. Remainder by Tom McCarthy (4 stars). Challenge: Dusty.

59. At the Mountains of Madness (radio/audio version) by H.P. Lovecraft (4 stars). Challenge: Continental – Antarctica.

[Jane in NC]

This week I finished #48, A Good Death, by Elizabeth Ironside, an interesting mystery in that it paints the complexity of the French homefront during WWII.  So while I appreciated the challenge the author gave herself, I am not sure that Ironside's writing style was suited to the tale.  Three stars.

 

After reading the two Pyms and listening to a bit of the Lovecraft tale, I began thinking about the novel as an art form.  This in turn led me to Milan Kundera's book, The Curtain (#49).  While Kundera focuses on Cervantes, Fielding, Rabelais, and Kafka, he also discusses a number of Middle and Eastern European authors who may not be as well known to American readers.  He bemoans that authors do not fit the neat classifications of political states which may force good writers to the back of the bookcase as it were.  He is critical of academics who seek out every scrap a novelist writes, believing that an author should determine what composes "the work" and that the "critical editions" or "variants" containing material from drafts, deleted paragraphs, etc. do not necessarily define the work of the author.

 

On the latter issues, he offers this tale under the heading "Reading is Long, Life is Short":

    

     I am chatting with a friend, a French writer; I urge him to read Gombrowicz.  When I run into him sometime later, he is uncomfortable:  "I obeyed you, but, honestly, I couldn't understand your enthusiasm." "What did you read?" "The Possessed." "Damn! Why The Possessed?"

 

     The Possessed: The Secret of Myslotch appeared in book form only after Gombrowicz's death.  It is a popular novel that he published as a young man under a pseudonym as a serial in a prewar Polish magazine.  He never made it a book; he never intended to.   Toward the end of his life, a long interview with Dominique de Roux was published in a volume called A Kind of Testament.  In it Gombrowicz discusses all of his work.  All of it.  One book after another.  Not one word does he utter about The Possessed!

 

 

Kundera goes on to tell his friend that he must read Ferdydurke.  (Note to self:  I must too!)

 

 

He looks at me sorrowfully.  "My friend, the life ahead of me is growing short.  The time I could spare with your author is used up."

 

 

Perhaps as readers we need to sometimes ask Which Author, Which Book, Which version, Which translation?  Robin's weekly thread does help.

 

Currently I am reading a breezy mystery that is less than stellar but I am sufficiently curious about the premise.  The Baker Street Translation by Michael Robertson places a barrister in a modern 221B Baker Street where letters seeking help from Mr. Holmes continue to arrive.  As a fan of the Holmes canon (which I have read at least three times), I get a kick seeing new riffs.  I doubt though if I will read any of the other books in this series. 

 

Closing in on 52 books!

[melmichigan]

 

What in holy heck is Fifty Shades of Grey doing in a school library?  That's just pure stupidity and ignorance on the part of whatever librarian or principle approved that book.  If I were a parent in that school, I'd be screaming mad as well. 

 

 

 

Where did you find this Robin?  I can only find the following:

 

 

James, E.L.

Fifty shades of grey

vInTAGE

Pulled, but later returned to the Brevard County, Fla. public libraries’ (2012) shelves “in response to public demand.†The racy romance trilogy is particularly popular among middle-aged women. Despite overwhelming demand and long wait lists for library copies, some other libraries across the country are refusing to acquire the book.

source: July 2012, pp. 145, 147–48. 

[Kim in Appalachia]

I finished Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaimen.  It was incredible, truly incredible.  It was one of those magical books that carries you away from the 1st chapter, and when you are done you smile and feel happy.  

 

The book had some creepiness to it (it is Gaimen).  I thought it was funny the way it really did creep me out.  I read House of Leaves and wasn't disturbed at all, but this book, at certain points, did disturb me. 

 

I haven't decided what I want to read next.  I was looking at The Golem and the Jinni.  I would have to buy it.  I downloaded a sample, and I may be hooked.  

[Stacia]

Kundera goes on to tell his friend that he must read Ferdydurke.  (Note to self:  I must too!)

 

 

Perhaps as readers we need to sometimes ask Which Author, Which Book, Which version, Which translation?  Robin's weekly thread does help.

 

Jane, I had Ferdydurke on my radar at some point earlier this year. In fact, I had checked it out from my library but it ended up back there, unread, because of my huge pile of books. I need to get it again, so thanks for the timely reminder. I do know I had been interested in it because it was banned by both the Nazis & the Communists when it was originally published. (So, extra fitting of this mention during banned books week.) I do hope that I'll be able to follow at least part of it; I say that because when I've read books from areas/political arenas/cultural norms w/ which I'm not overly familiar, I know that even though I'm 'getting' some of the book, I also know that I'm 'missing' plenty more. (My Name is Red by Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk comes to mind for me....)

 

 I was looking at The Golem and the Jinni.  I would have to buy it.  I downloaded a sample, and I may be hooked.  

 

Ah, I just picked this one up from my library yesterday. Figured it might be a good one for October.

[Jane in NC]

Happy Autumnal Equinox, fellow readers!

 

Earlier in the week, Performance Today aired a lovely little piece by American composer Warren Benson entitled The Leaves are Falling.  Here is a version available on Youtube.  Benson was inspired by the poem Herbst by Rainer Maria Rilke: 

 

Herbst

 

Die Blätter fallen, fallen wie von weit,
als welkten in den Himmeln ferne Gärten;
sie fallen mit verneinender Gebärde.

 

Und in den Nächten fällt die schwereErde
aus allen Sternen in die Einsamkeit.

 

Wir alle fallen. Diese Hand da fällt.
Und sieh dir andre an: es ist in allen.

 

Und doch ist Einer, welcher dieses Fallen
unendlich sanft in seinen Händen hält

 

Maria Rainer Rilke (September 11, 1902, Paris)

 

For those preferring English, Robert Bly did this translation:

 

Autumn
 

The leaves are falling, falling as if from far up,
as if orchards were dying high in space.
Each leaf falls as if it were motioning "no."

 

And tonight the heavy earth is falling
away from all other stars in the loneliness.

 

We're all falling. This hand here is falling.
And look at the other one. It's in them all.

 

And yet there is Someone, whose hands
infinitely calm, holding up all this falling.

 

I read five or six translations of Herbst and wondered if any of them did justice to the original.  Poetry cannot be translated literally so one encounters the fingerprints of the translator on the new version. 

 

Anyway, Happy Autumn!

[Stacia]

I read five or six translations of Herbst and wondered if any of them did justice to the original.  Poetry cannot be translated literally so one encounters the fingerprints of the translator on the new version. 

 

Anyway, Happy Autumn!

 

Since you seem to be in a literature/poetry pondering type of mood, Jane, you might want to check out Altazor by Vicente Huidobro, translated by Eliot Weinberger. In addition to loving this long, strange poem (& I don't even normally enjoy poetry much), I fully enjoyed the translator's notes & info on how to translate a surrealist poem in the first place.

 

[Stacia]

 

Where did you find this Robin?  I can only find the following:

 

 

James, E.L.

Fifty shades of grey

vInTAGE

Pulled, but later returned to the Brevard County, Fla. public libraries’ (2012) shelves “in response to public demand.†The racy romance trilogy is particularly popular among middle-aged women. Despite overwhelming demand and long wait lists for library copies, some other libraries across the country are refusing to acquire the book.

source: July 2012, pp. 145, 147–48. 

 

 

That's what I saw too... not that it was in a school library, but pulled out of the regular county libraries. Basically adults restricting access for other adults to get this book. Not ok, imo.

 

[mumto2]

Still reading "Night Film". The fault is not the book's between working on the new house and other activities I haven't had much time.

 

For banned book week I have "The Glass Castle" ready to go.

[Jane in NC]

If you missed Richard II when your local PBS station aired it, you can watch the adaptation online.  I have no idea how long it will be available. 

 

While Richard II is not one of my favorite plays, I was captivated by the stunning visual imagery in this production.  Richard II as St. Sebastian? 

 

 

[eaglei]

Another slow-reading week.  I think it's the author.  I'm just not getting into Byler's trilogy as I generally do other Amish fiction writers.  However, I'm almost done with the third book, so I'll plug away and finish it . . . 

 

Concluded:

 

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

 

Currently reading:

 

#59 - Big Decisions (Lizzie Searches for Love, Book Three), by Linda Byler

[mumto2]

I haven't decided what I want to read next.  I was looking at The Golem and the Jinni.  I would have to buy it.  I downloaded a sample, and I may be hooked.

I have been waiting for this one from my library for a long time. The "book" library didn't have it, waiting for a library's kindle copy.

[Robin M]

It took me a long time to read Exodus. It was on my Kindle, then I realized that it's over 600 pages. I first read this about 20 years ago and loved it as much this time as I did back then. Beautiful story of the history of Israel - one of my favorite countries ever. 5 stars. 

 

 

Mercy, it's probably been 20 years for me too since I've read Leon Uris.  I vaguely remember reading Exodus, but more clearly remember QB VII which I still have on the shelves.  Been planning on reread it for a long time.  Moving it up in the stacks so I'll remember.

 

 

 

Where did you find this Robin?  I can only find the following:

 

 

James, E.L.

Fifty shades of grey

vInTAGE

Pulled, but later returned to the Brevard County, Fla. public libraries’ (2012) shelves “in response to public demand.†The racy romance trilogy is particularly popular among middle-aged women. Despite overwhelming demand and long wait lists for library copies, some other libraries across the country are refusing to acquire the book.

source: July 2012, pp. 145, 147–48. 

 

 

Whoops. My bad. I didn't do my homework and read all the pdf file information.  Glad to hear it wasn't put into any school libraries.  It's interesting public libraries are refusing to carry the book.  But you know what, I probably wouldn't want to check that book out after a dozen other people have had their hands on it and other places as well.  :leaving:

 

 

Happy Autumnal Equinox, fellow readers!

 

Earlier in the week, Performance Today aired a lovely little piece by American composer Warren Benson entitled The Leaves are Falling.  Here is a version available on Youtube.  Benson was inspired by the poem Herbst by Rainer Maria Rilke: 

 

Herbst

 

Die Blätter fallen, fallen wie von weit,

als welkten in den Himmeln ferne Gärten;

sie fallen mit verneinender Gebärde.

 

Und in den Nächten fällt die schwereErde

aus allen Sternen in die Einsamkeit.

 

Wir alle fallen. Diese Hand da fällt.

Und sieh dir andre an: es ist in allen.

 

Und doch ist Einer, welcher dieses Fallen

unendlich sanft in seinen Händen hält

 

Maria Rainer Rilke (September 11, 1902, Paris)

 

For those preferring English, Robert Bly did this translation:

 

Autumn

 

The leaves are falling, falling as if from far up,

as if orchards were dying high in space.

Each leaf falls as if it were motioning "no."

 

And tonight the heavy earth is falling

away from all other stars in the loneliness.

 

We're all falling. This hand here is falling.

And look at the other one. It's in them all.

 

And yet there is Someone, whose hands

infinitely calm, holding up all this falling.

 

I read five or six translations of Herbst and wondered if any of them did justice to the original.  Poetry cannot be translated literally so one encounters the fingerprints of the translator on the new version. 

 

Anyway, Happy Autumn!

Thank you for the lovely autumn poem.  Happy Autumn to you as well.

 

 

 

 

I finished The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie.  Tommy and Tuppence were gratingly foolish to my mind and I was shaking my head through most of the story.  Dare say, I won't be reading another one of their tales. 

[melmichigan]

 

Whoops. My bad. I didn't do my homework and read all the pdf file information.  Glad to hear it wasn't put into any school libraries.  It's interesting public libraries are refusing to carry the book.  But you know what, I probably wouldn't want to check that book out after a dozen other people have had their hands on it and other places as well.  :leaving:

 

 

 

:smilielol5: So true.

[Stacia]

 It's interesting public libraries are refusing to carry the book.  But you know what, I probably wouldn't want to check that book out after a dozen other people have had their hands on it and other places as well.  :leaving:

 

:lol:

 

And... ick. :blink:

[Onceuponatime]

I have been waiting for this one from my library for a long time. The "book" library didn't have it, waiting for a library's kindle copy.

 

Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles! My library has it!

[Kareni]

I've been reading bits of  I Love Charts: The Book by Jason Oberholtzer and Cody Westphal.

 

"Based on the highly successful website, I Love Charts: The Book is more than the standard blog-to-book offering. It uses the book format to explore charts from a human perspective, creating an experience entirely different from the blog. The central question: Why do we chart?

The book includes never-before-seen charts and essays, ranging across many subjects, from the absurd and ironic to the starkly literal -- with charts dedicated to love, loss, art, culture and the minutiae of every day life."

 

So far, I confess, I've been enjoying the included charts more than the verbiage.  I'll continue on though as time permits.

 

 

Another book that others might enjoy dipping into is   The Visual Miscellaneum: A Colorful Guide to the World's Most Consequential Trivia by David McCandless.

 

"The Visual Miscellaneum is a unique, groundbreaking look at the modern information age, helping readers make sense of the countless statistics and random facts that constantly bombard us. Using cutting edge graphs, charts, and illustrations, David McCandless creatively visualizes the world’s surprising relationships and compelling data, covering everything from the most pleasurable guilty pleasures to how long it takes different condiments to spoil to world maps of Internet search terms."

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

[JennW in SoCal]

 

Perhaps as readers we need to sometimes ask Which Author, Which Book, Which version, Which translation?  Robin's weekly thread does help.

 

One of the things I love about this thread is how varied the books are.  Just today, in only 22 posts, the discussion is ranging from 50 Shades to Milan Kundera!!  Which author and which book, indeed!  Too many choices!

 

And then there are fun books like these two the Kareni talks about:

 

 

I've been reading bits of  I Love Charts: The Book by Jason Oberholtzer and Cody Westphal.

 

"Based on the highly successful website, I Love Charts: The Book is more than the standard blog-to-book offering. It uses the book format to explore charts from a human perspective, creating an experience entirely different from the blog. The central question: Why do we chart?

 

The book includes never-before-seen charts and essays, ranging across many subjects, from the absurd and ironic to the starkly literal -- with charts dedicated to love, loss, art, culture and the minutiae of every day life."

 

So far, I confess, I've been enjoying the included charts more than the verbiage.  I'll continue on though as time permits.

 

 

Another book that others might enjoy dipping into is   The Visual Miscellaneum: A Colorful Guide to the World's Most Consequential Trivia by David McCandless.

 

"The Visual Miscellaneum is a unique, groundbreaking look at the modern information age, helping readers make sense of the countless statistics and random facts that constantly bombard us. Using cutting edge graphs, charts, and illustrations, David McCandless creatively visualizes the world’s surprising relationships and compelling data, covering everything from the most pleasurable guilty pleasures to how long it takes different condiments to spoil to world maps of Internet search terms."

 

 

Fun stuff, Kareni.  I love good visuals, whether maps or charts.  Jotting these titles down on my to-read list.

 

My reading and listening are fairly wide ranging this week, too.  I suppose I can't count it is a book, even a non-fiction book, but I've been listening to a Teaching Company series of lectures on Beethoven's string quartets.  I had felt a little guilty that I didn't jump at the chance to watch Richard II Friday night, guilty because I was losing my Book-a-Week cred, but then decided studying great music in depth is pretty nerdy in its own right, too.  

 

For a little balance I'm also listening to another Terry Pratchett Discworld novel, Men at Arms, the only one of the Sam Vimes series I hadn't yet read.  The best thing about Pratchett is that even after reading them for the last 3 years I still have at least a dozen I haven't yet read.  

 

On my quest to whittle down both my dusty stack and the list of books I've gotten from this thread, I started The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron.  After 30 pages all I can say is It is beautiful and sumptuous.  I could easily give up a day or two and just get lost in his prose.  

[mlbuchina]

I was able to finish The Dyslexic Advantage due to the car trip last weekend.  It was uplifting on one hand, but depressing on the other.  The difficulties my poor dd is going to face (some of it already).   :(  Sometimes I'm overwhelmed with the journey before us.

 

On a lighter note, I finished a mini-challenge!  I'm so happy!  I read And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie.  I thought it was ok.  I didn't like all the murdering going on, and then the way you find out who the killer was!  My sense of justice was irked.  LOL  I know the killer got his in the end, but it was on his own terms!  The killer totally got away with it.  I want to read a Miss Marple or Poirot book before deciding that she just isn't for me.  Perhaps I will pick up Murder on the Orient Express one of these days.  That is the one I wanted to read, but wasn't able to get it in time for the challenge.

 

I decided to begin my October spooky reading a little early, so I have started Dracula.  Oh my goodness!  I'm only a little bit into chapter two, and I already love the writing.  I hope it ends up being good, because so far it is very promising.

 

As to the Banned Books Week, I saw I have read a couple of the books on the current list.  My favorite from the list is Ender's Game.  I really need to reread that, as the last time I read it, I was in middle school.  I saw another list focusing on sci-fi/fantasy posted here, and my favorite from it is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  I love those books.  I need to reread them, too.  Ah!  I just don't have enough time!!!

 

The Round Up

49. And Then There Were None                                                                                                      23. This Book is Full of Spiders

48. The Dyslexic Advantage                                                                                                             22. Little House on the Prairie

47. Angelmaker                                                                                                                                21.  Evolutionism and Creationism

46. Voyager                                                                                                                                     20.  John Dies at the End

45. Dragonfly in Amber                                                                                                                   19.  Much Ado About Nothing

44. By Reason of Insanity                                                                                                                18.  Little House in the Big Woods

43. Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu                         17.  Hooked
42. The Girl Who Chased the Moon                                                                                                16.  Anne of the Island
41. The Sugar Queen                                                                                                                     15.  Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen
40. 1Q84                                                                                                                                         14.  Anne of Avonlea
39. The Long Winter                                                                                                                       13.  Anne of Green Gables
38. Warm Bodies                                                                                                                             12.  The Invention of Hugo Cabret
37. Garden Spells                                                                                                                           11.  The Swiss Family Robinson
36. The Peach Keeper                                                                                                                    10.  Little Women
35. The Memory Keeper's Daughter                                                                                                  9.  Why We Get Fat
34. The First Four Years                                                                                                                    8.  The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye
33. These Happy Golden Years                                                                                                        7.  Outlander
32. Little Town on the Prairie                                                                                                            6.  The New Atkins for a New You
31. Amglish, in Like, Ten Easy Lessons: A Celebration of the New World Lingo                                5.  A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows
30. The Call of the Wild                                                                                                                    4.  Liberty and Tyranny
29. By the Shores of Silver Lake                                                                                                        3.  Corelli's Mandolin
28. Pippi Longstocking                                                                                                                      2.  The Neverending Story
27. On the Banks of Plum Creek                                                                                                        1.  The Hobbit
26. Hiroshima
25. Farmer Boy
24. 1984
 

[AMJ]

I've read The Kite Runner -- that's heavy stuff. I'd be a bit leery of asking a high school student to read it, though if one were mature for their age and willing to talk about it I'd allow them if they chose it for themselves.

 

Some of the other books I'm not familiar with -- guess I'd better start reading! Though I'm sure my 12-year-old will gladly read the Captain Underpants books with me....

[mumto2]

On my quest to whittle down both my dusty stack and the list of books I've gotten from this thread, I started The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron.  After 30 pages all I can say is It is beautiful and sumptuous.  I could easily give up a day or two and just get lost in his prose.  

This has been on my list for quite awhile. Glad to hear you are enjoying it!

[mumto2]

Thanks for the Sci fi list. I really don't get what is so bad about Hitchiker's. It is ds favorite book. Some swear words and a line about a three breasted whore come to mind. I did preread a year or two ago. FWIW Ds finds the three breasted woman to be weird -- genetic mutant...swear words are fascinating since we don't. :lol: I really can't see how this is enough to ban a great book.

 

We just gave it as a 13th bday present last week......

 

Glad you are enjoying Dracula! :)

 

I decided to begin my October spooky reading a little early, so I have started Dracula.  Oh my goodness!  I'm only a little bit into chapter two, and I already love the writing.  I hope it ends up being good, because so far it is very promising.

 

As to the Banned Books Week, I saw I have read a couple of the books on the current list.  My favorite from the list is Ender's Game.  I really need to reread that, as the last time I read it, I was in middle school.  I saw another list focusing on sci-fi/fantasy posted here, and my favorite from it is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  I love those books.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

. 

 

[Jane in NC]

While I loved Richard II when I read it and thought this new production was beautiful, I didn't particularly care for the actor's (director's?) interpretation of the character.  He was a bit too effete.  He was not the sort of person who'd go invade another country (even though he did).  He'd rather be home wearing beautiful things and playing with his monkey.  

 

I am much more looking forward to the Henrys.

 

 

My husband watched the first half of Richard II yesterday then announced he had had enough.

 

I had heard an interview with the director (must have been on NPR) in which he noted that his interpretation of Richard II was in part modeled after Michael Jackson, a cultural demi-god who lost touch with reality in part because of the flatterers surrounding him.  Over the top?  Yes.  But I guess that explains the monkey.

 

I'm still trying to figure out all of the martyr imagery...

 

[Paisley Hedgehog]

. 

 

[Kim in Appalachia]

I was able to finish The Dyslexic Advantage due to the car trip last weekend.  It was uplifting on one hand, but depressing on the other.  The difficulties my poor dd is going to face (some of it already).   :(  Sometimes I'm overwhelmed with the journey before us.

 

On a lighter note, I finished a mini-challenge!  I'm so happy!  I read And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie.  I thought it was ok.  I didn't like all the murdering going on, and then the way you find out who the killer was!  My sense of justice was irked.  LOL  I know the killer got his in the end, but it was on his own terms!  The killer totally got away with it.  I want to read a Miss Marple or Poirot book before deciding that she just isn't for me.  Perhaps I will pick up Murder on the Orient Express one of these days.  That is the one I wanted to read, but wasn't able to get it in time for the challenge.

 

 

 

 

We've listened to a number of Agatha Christie novels on our car rides, and that one, And Then There Were None  has been the creepiest so far.  It was actually scary and the ending was strange.  All I could think was how much she must have enjoyed writing it. It was a departure from the rest of her books. 

 

I haven't read The Dyslexic Advantage, I may check it out.  My ds11 is dyslexic. My 2 girls are as well, but it is not as extreme as it is for him.  I read an article this weekend about how reading on a device, such as an iPod (or a phone) is helpful, because of the small screen.  My ds has been wanting an iPod, but we've been putting him off.  The other kids were older when they got one.  But I just bought 3 books by Alex Scarrow and put them on my phone.  If he can read them decently over the next couple of months he may get that iPod for his birthday (in Feb). If he knew that's why I put the books on my phone I'm sure he would tell me that they were easy to read and the best he has ever read. :D

[mumto2]

I was in a simplyifying kind of mood this weekend and returned *all* my library books.  Life is so busy and stressful right now just crossing one errand off my to-do's each week (the library trip) is necessary.  I've got plenty to read around here anyway.

I applaud your strength! I need to do this but won't. I return a couple extra each week. :lol:

[Tress]

I finished The Pleasure of Reading in the Age of Distraction, such a lovely book!, and Divergent by Veronica Roth.

 

I started Herzog by Saul Bellow and Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. I find Herzog fascinating, but I think I need some help with Invisible Cities. Anyone here who can shed some light on....what am I actually reading :blink: ??? I have read the first few 'chapters' but have no idea what it is about. I did read on wikipedia that the chapters have been constructed according to a strict mathematical pattern....okaaaay. Anything else I am missing?

 

-----

 

4. Divergent - Veronica Roth

3. The Pleasure of Reading in the Age of Distraction - Alan Jacobs  (reread)

2. Dream of Joy - Lisa See

1. The Shallows - Nicholas Carr

[mlbuchina]

We've listened to a number of Agatha Christie novels on our car rides, and that one, And Then There Were None  has been the creepiest so far.  It was actually scary and the ending was strange.  All I could think was how much she must have enjoyed writing it. It was a departure from the rest of her books. 

 

I haven't read The Dyslexic Advantage, I may check it out.  My ds11 is dyslexic. My 2 girls are as well, but it is not as extreme as it is for him.  I read an article this weekend about how reading on a device, such as an iPod (or a phone) is helpful, because of the small screen.  My ds has been wanting an iPod, but we've been putting him off.  The other kids were older when they got one.  But I just bought 3 books by Alex Scarrow and put them on my phone.  If he can read them decently over the next couple of months he may get that iPod for his birthday (in Feb). If he knew that's why I put the books on my phone I'm sure he would tell me that they were easy to read and the best he has ever read. :D

 

You are so right!  That is exactly what it did.  It creeped me out.

 

I haven't read the article (was it this one?), but I did see this on my facebook from Susan Barton about it:

 

 

New research on E-readers and dyslexia

 

It pays to read the details of this study -- done on 103 dyslexic students who had ALREADY received a lot of O-G intervention.

 

One third of them had visual attention issues. Those students read faster on the iPad mini -- which displayed fewer words per line -- than on a regular sized iPad or paper.

 

The two thirds who did NOT have visual attention issues showed no difference.

 

I can't decide if she is for it, or against it.  As far as I know, my dd doesn't have disgraphia, or visual attention issues, so I'm not sure this would help her out.  I guess I could try it out on my tablet, and just adjust the size of the font to the largest setting.  Dd has often said that she can't read little words, but she can read big words (font size wise).

[Ali in OR]

I read Maus part 1 in a few hours on Saturday--need to pick up part II from the library. Slowly working through In the Garden of Beasts. On the treadmill I'm reading Tolstoy's Russian Stories and Legends recommended by Violet Crown a few weeks back. Enjoying that very much.

 

Can't find a list of banned books (and not planning to read any this week), but I know we're reading Huck Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird this year and I think they've been on the list. Would love to read Ender's Game to the girls before the movie comes out but not sure if we can fit it in with the school reading.

[Mom-ninja.]

I was able to finish The Dyslexic Advantage due to the car trip last weekend.  It was uplifting on one hand, but depressing on the other.  The difficulties my poor dd is going to face (some of it already).   :(  Sometimes I'm overwhelmed with the journey before us.

 

I feel that same. My ds has come a long way, yet he will always struggle to some degree.

 

I'm reading the parent manual for the MCT literature package, and some of the things he says makes me sad. I realize he's not talking about kids with dyslexia, but it still rubs me the wrong way when he writes things like "most 5th or 6th graders can write a simple essay with introduction, body, and conclusion." Well, no. Actually, my 7th grader can't do that yet. So I have to work hard to not let such statements bother me.

 

 

 

I started Bitch in a Bonnet and loving it so far. Love his wit.

[Mothersweets]

Blackmoore:A Proper Romance by Julianne Donaldson. I really liked this. I think the older I get, the more romance I seem to need in my life.

 

I read this a few weeks ago and forgot to include it:

 

Caught by the Sea:My Life on Boat by Gary Paulsen. I enjoy Gary Paulsen's writing - he always makes me feel as if I were a good friend.

[Mothersweets]

 

I started Bitch in a Bonnet and loving it so far. Love his wit.

 

I loved that one, too! I couldn't stop laughing while reading his take on Sense and Sensibility.

[Stacia]

One of the things I love about this thread is how varied the books are.  Just today, in only 22 posts, the discussion is ranging from 50 Shades to Milan Kundera!!  Which author and which book, indeed!  Too many choices!

 

And then there are fun books like these two the Kareni talks about:

 

Fun stuff, Kareni.  I love good visuals, whether maps or charts.  Jotting these titles down on my to-read list.

 

My reading and listening are fairly wide ranging this week, too.  I suppose I can't count it is a book, even a non-fiction book, but I've been listening to a Teaching Company series of lectures on Beethoven's string quartets.  I had felt a little guilty that I didn't jump at the chance to watch Richard II Friday night, guilty because I was losing my Book-a-Week cred, but then decided studying great music in depth is pretty nerdy in its own right, too.  

 

For a little balance I'm also listening to another Terry Pratchett Discworld novel, Men at Arms, the only one of the Sam Vimes series I hadn't yet read.  The best thing about Pratchett is that even after reading them for the last 3 years I still have at least a dozen I haven't yet read.  

 

On my quest to whittle down both my dusty stack and the list of books I've gotten from this thread, I started The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron.  After 30 pages all I can say is It is beautiful and sumptuous.  I could easily give up a day or two and just get lost in his prose.  

 

I agree -- this thread is always fun w/ a wide-ranging discussion of all kinds of books! Kareni, I'm also making note of the books you've mentioned. The Teaching Co. sounds like fun (& nerdy too ;) ). Love Pratchett & The Shadow of the Wind too. Sounds like you've got lots of great stuff going right now, Jenn.

 

I decided to begin my October spooky reading a little early, so I have started Dracula.  Oh my goodness!  I'm only a little bit into chapter two, and I already love the writing.  I hope it ends up being good, because so far it is very promising.

 

As to the Banned Books Week, I saw I have read a couple of the books on the current list.  My favorite from the list is Ender's Game.  I really need to reread that, as the last time I read it, I was in middle school.  I saw another list focusing on sci-fi/fantasy posted here, and my favorite from it is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  I love those books.  I need to reread them, too.  Ah!  I just don't have enough time!!!

 

Glad you're loving Dracula. In the In Search of Dracula book I read, the authors mention how well/accurately Stoker describes the towns/people in the beginning chapters of the book.

 

Thanks for the sf/f book link. My all-time favorite on that list is Slaughterhouse-Five, probably followed by The Master and Margarita (of which I snagged a like-new copy from our library's book sale last week :thumbup1: ) & Nineteen Eighty-Four. I have always meant to read Naked Lunch & see it on this list, so maybe this will give me a push toward getting & reading it.

 

I had heard an interview with the director (must have been on NPR) in which he noted that his interpretation of Richard II was in part modeled after Michael Jackson, a cultural demi-god who lost touch with reality in part because of the flatterers surrounding him.  Over the top?  Yes.  But I guess that explains the monkey.

 

:smilielol5:  (I almost just spit out my coffee!!!)

 

Seems like it should be the other way around, though... MJ should have modeled himself after Shakespeare, not Shakespeare being modeled after MJ. What's next? The Kardashians? Ugh.

 

I finished The Pleasure of Reading in the Age of Distraction, such a lovely book!, and Divergent by Veronica Roth.

 

I started Herzog by Saul Bellow and Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. I find Herzog fascinating, but I think I need some help with Invisible Cities. Anyone here who can shed some light on....what am I actually reading :blink: ??? I have read the first few 'chapters' but have no idea what it is about. I did read on wikipedia that the chapters have been constructed according to a strict mathematical pattern....okaaaay. Anything else I am missing?

 

 

Haven't read Invisible Cities, but isn't that the one based off of Marco Polo's writings? I've been meaning to read it alongside Marco Polo. Those may be two books I pick up after the new year rolls around.

 

I read Maus part 1 in a few hours on Saturday--need to pick up part II from the library. Slowly working through In the Garden of Beasts. On the treadmill I'm reading Tolstoy's Russian Stories and Legends recommended by Violet Crown a few weeks back. Enjoying that very much.

 

Can't find a list of banned books (and not planning to read any this week), but I know we're reading Huck Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird this year and I think they've been on the list. Would love to read Ender's Game to the girls before the movie comes out but not sure if we can fit it in with the school reading.

 

Maus is another one I've been wanting to read....

 

ETA: Ds is starting Ender's Game for banned book week. I'll plan to read it when he's done with it.

[Robin M]

We went out to dinner Sunday night to a Japanese restaurant which is right next door to Barnes and Noble, so of course, had to go in and browse.  Shocked to find they didn't have a banned books display and and when I mentioned it to the clerk, he wasn't even aware of it.  So sad.  Especially since all the books on the list are already in the store.  Even more shocking, hubby and son both got a book and   Me,  nada, zip, zilch.  :w00t: I guess I was hungry and rushed them through.  :lol:

[Stacia]

Barnes and Noble, so of course, had to go in and browse.  Shocked to find they didn't have a banned books display and and when I mentioned it to the clerk, he wasn't even aware of it. 

 

That is so cool that you're spreading the word!!!

 

:hurray:

[Violet Crown]

Shoved aside my Currently Reading stack to, um, borrow Great Girl's newly acquired The Bad Catholic's Guide to Wine, Whiskey and Song. Written by fellow Trad Catholic John Zmirak, it's sort of an encyclopedia of alcohol as a history of the world as seen through self-consciously triumphalist Catholic lenses, with lots of in-jokes and drive-by snark aimed at Protestants, liberal Catholics, and Trads alike. And recipes. Not for the humor-impaired, easily offended, or enemies of the Habsburgs. This one shouldn't take very long.

 

ETA: Dang, that description made the book actually sound pretty mean-spirited. Mostly trying to say it's a book that pokes at everybody and everything, but not at all in a mean-spirited way, while being a very interesting history of alcoholic drinks.

[Stacia]

Not for the humor-impaired, easily offended, or enemies of the Habsburgs. This one shouldn't take very long.

 

:lol:

 

That "enemies of the Habsburgs" part will probably eliminate a lot of the reading public....  ;)

 

(Fwiw, I thought your review was funny, not mean-spirited [very punny, really].)

[Violet Crown]

Well, usually when someone says something "isn't for the easily offended," I assume it's actually going to be something fairly offensive. It's like "Some of my best friends are..." or "Don't take this the wrong way, but...."

[Stacia]

Well, usually when someone says something "isn't for the easily offended," I assume it's actually going to be something fairly offensive. It's like "Some of my best friends are..." or "Don't take this the wrong way, but...."

 

That's what I assume too. If the author is talented, though, stuff like that can be hilarious (imo).

[Tress]

Haven't read Invisible Cities, but isn't that the one based off of Marco Polo's writings? I've been meaning to read it alongside Marco Polo. Those may be two books I pick up after the new year rolls around.

Yes, I think it is. Ehhhh, maybe. Uhm, Marco Polo and Kublai Kahn are mentioned on the first page of the book. That I know for sure :D.

 

I would love to hear what you think about it next year!

 

ETA: Ds is starting Ender's Game for banned book week. I'll plan to read it when he's done with it.

I love Ender's Game, I have no idea why that would be on the banned book list.

[Onceuponatime]

Well, I finally got around to making a master list of books read so far.

 

Books Completed 2013 (Does not include books not finished for one reason or another)

 

Mysteries:

The Rising Moon- Mitchell (England)

Twelve Horses and the Hangman's Noose-Mitchell (England)

Faintley Speaking- Mitchell (England)

Death Cap Dancers- Mitchell (England)

The Worsted Viper- Mitchell (England)

Spotted Hemlock- Mitchell (England)

My Bones Will Keep- Mitchell (England)

 Rolling Stone- Wentworth (England)

She Came Back- Wentworth (England)

Pilgrim's Rest- Wentworth (England)

The Watersplash- Wentworth (England)

Sick of Shadows- McCrumb (USA)

McPherson's Lament- McCrumb (USA)

Elephants Can Remember- Christie (England)

*Austen Land- Hale (England)

*Midnight in Austen Land - Hale(England)

*Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore- (USA)

Wildfire At Midnight- Stewart (Scotland)

The Dead Sea Cipher - Peters (Mid-East)

The Pigeon Pie Mystery- Stuart (England)

*Miss Zukas and the Literary Murders -Dereske (USA)

*Murder At the Library of Congress- Truman (USA)

The Art Forger- Shapiro (USA)

The Eight of Swords- Carr (England)

*The Seven Percent Solution- Meyer (Europe)

*The Forgotten Garden- Morton (Australia, England)

*The Bookman's Tale- Lovett (England)

 

Juvenile:

Many Waters- L'Engle (USA)

Ring of Endless Light - L'Engle (USA)

House Like a Lotus- L'Engle (Greece)

All the Wrong Questions- Snicket

Princess Academy- Hale

Sun, Moon, Ice, and Snow- George

Princess of the Midnight Ball- George

Princess of Glass- George

Dragon Slippers- George

Dragon Flight- George

A Whole Nother Story- Soup (USA)

The London Eye Mystery- Dowd (England)

Hold Fast- Balliet (USA)

Water Babies- Kingsley (England)

 

General Fiction:

Night Circus- Morgenstern

*Daphne-Picardie (England)

Mrs. Queen Takes The Train-  (England)

The Mists of Avalon- Bradley(Britain, Chunky)

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand- (England)

Bel Canto-Patchett (South America)

*Monsignor Quixote- Greene (Spain)

Voyage of the Narwhal- Barrett (USA, Greenland)

 

Religion/Spirituality:

Excavating Jesus- Crossan (Mid east )

Paul and Jesus- Tabor (Mid-east)

The Jewish Gospels- Boyarin (Mid-east)

Ichabod Toward Home- Brueggeman (Mid-east)

Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene- Ehrman (Mid-east)

The God We Never Knew- Borg

*Kabbalah: A Love Story- Kushner (Mid-East)

Kabbalah: A Short Intro- Dan

The Baghavad Ghita (Asia)

The Origin of Satan- Elaine Pagels

The Celestine Prophecy- Redfield (South America)

Eternal Life: A New Vision- Spong

Living a Life That Matters- Kushner

Beyond Religion: Ethics For a Whole World- Dalai Lama (Asia)

 

General  Non-Fiction:

 The End of Overeating- Kessler

The Honest Truth About Dishonesty- Ariely

Predictably Irrational- Ariely

The Up Side of Irrationality- Ariely

Never Cry Wolf- Mowat (Canada)

*The Man Who Loved Books Too Much- Bartlett

My Family and Other Animals- Durrell (Corfu)

Tribes- Godin

*A More Perfect Heaven: Copernicus on the Revolution of the Spheres- Sobel (Europe)

A Zoo in My Luggage- Durrell (Africa)

Epigenetics- Francis

 

*Books about books or having a particular book as their inspiration in some way.

- Countries/continents are where the story took place or where the author is from.

- I follow a whimsical path, reading what appeals to me at the moment.

 

[Stacia]

Here are a few things to tempt you, my fellow bibliophiles....

 

Oxford University Press is having their 'back to school' sale.

 

And, Archipelago Books has a kickstarter campaign going on now (to publish a hardcover, English edition of Karl Ove Knausgaard's Norwegian book My Struggle: Book One). FYI, this book is listed on Flavorwire's 50 Works of Fiction in Translation That Every English Speaker Should Read. I recently heard about Archipelago Books, a small, non-profit publishing company that specializes in contemporary & classic international literature, from a friend on Goodreads. To try them out, I ordered Autonauts of the Cosmoroute: A Timeless Voyage from Paris to Marseilles by Julio Cortazar (author of Hopscotch that some of us read earlier this year) & his wife Carol Dunlop and Wonder by Hugo Claus (a Belgian author whose book has been translated from Dutch), which I selected because I've read almost no Belgian authors & my fil has read (in Dutch) many of Claus' works. Haven't read either of these books yet (just got them) but they're lovely paperback editions. I may join the kickstarter campaign to get a paperback copy of the Norwegian book, esp. since it's one on Flavorwire's list.... It's kind of fun to look at Archipelago's list of original languages for books they have published.

 

(And my Christmas list gets longer & longer....) :D

[mumto2]

I finished!!! Overall really enjoyed "Night Film" by Marisha Pessl. Did not care for the ending at all. Came out of no where and made little sense imo. All I can say is I was hooked throughout the entire book until the last few pages.

 

Not sure what is up next other then I am halfway through a kindle Midnight Breed book so will finish that. Several of my library stack have other holds on them. Not sure if I can finish them without being able to renew!

[Stacia]

I've been seeing the previews for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. I had never read the story, so I grabbed James Thurber's My World -- and Welcome To It today & read The Secret Life of Walter Mitty; it is very, very short, coming in at just ten very small pages. It was an entertaining, typically Thurber type story, imo. Now I'm ready to see the movie -- I'm kind of curious about their adaptation....

 

 

:cheers2:  Here's to the inner dreamer in everyone!