Book a Week in 2013 - week forty eight

[Stacia]

So weird. I haven't been online much the past couple of days anyway, but my notifications of new posts have disappeared. I just thought everyone was being really, really quiet. Then I find out you haven't been! :laugh:

 

Not much reading progress here. Need to finish The Monuments Men because I can't renew it. Still loving it, just life is intruding on my reading time. :tongue_smilie:

 

Onceuponatime, I agree about Fatu-Hiva.

[Kareni]

Today I finished Primal Possession: A Moon Shifter Novel by Katie Reus.  This is the second book in a paranormal romance series.  It was a fun read.

 

"As his pack’s second-in-command, lupine shifter Liam Armstrong gives orders and takes what he wants—until he meets red-headed, blue-eyed December McIntyre. Liam knows the human beauty is his intended mate the moment he sees her, but December is far too strong-willed to accept his protection.

December, whose brother is the town sheriff, has every reason to mistrust shifters after one killed her youngest sibling. But the forceful and handsome Liam has gotten under her skin in a way she hadn’t thought possible, and the desire she feels for him is almost too much to bear.

When a radical hate group targets all humans known to sympathize with paranormal beings, December is attacked in her bookstore. Reluctantly, she turns to the only one who can help her: Liam. And he is going to take her to places within herself she never knew existed."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[ladydusk]

I finished False Colors by Heyer last night - two Heyers in a row, now I need to do something else ... go back to Wolf Hall

 

Book Reviews

 

1. The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great by Benjamin Merkle

2. Publish and Perish by Sally S Wright

3. Pride and Predator by Sally S Wright

4. Pursuit and Persuasion by Sally S Wright

5. Out of the Ruins by Sally S Wright

6. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

7. Watches of the Night by Sally S Wright

8. Code of Silence by Sally S Wright

9. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

10. The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield (excellent)

11. Unnatural Death by Dorothy Sayers

12. Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kästner

13.The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers

14. The Devil on Lammas Night by Susan Howatch

15. The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins

16. The Little Way of Ruthie Leming by Rod Dreher (very very good)

17. The Exact Place: a memoir by Margie L Haack

18. Lord Peter Views The Body by Dorothy L Sayers

19. Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers

20. Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym

21. Men of Iron by Howard Pyle (audio book)

22. Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary (audio book)

23. No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym

24. How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ken Ludwig

25. Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey

26. Tending the Heart of Virtue by Vigen Guroian

27. Covenant Child by Terri Blackstock

28. Shadow in Serenity by Terri Blackstock

29. The Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L Sayers

30. Alexander and the Wonderful, Marvelous, Excellent, Terrific Ninety Days by Judith Viorst

31. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

32. Have His Carcase by Dorothy L Sayers

33. Leonardo and the Last Supper by Ross King

34. Hangman's Holiday by Dorothy L Sayers

35. The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann R Wyss (audio book)

36. Holy is the Day by Carolyn Weber (Book of the year. Fantastic)

37. The Tanglewoods' Secret by Patricia St. John (Audio Book)

38. Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L Sayers

39. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

40. Man of the Family by Ralph Moody (Family Read Aloud)

41. Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John

42. The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer

43. False Colours by Georgette Heyer

[Shawneinfl]

So I ended up with about 20 books in my basket. Most were from my shelves. Some I purchased because I only had them as NOOK books. All of them were books I have enjoyed over the years. We ended up drawing numbers and then doing a "Chinese" book exchange where you pick one and then the next person can steal it, etc. It was a big hit and everyone went home with a new book. (Never knew why they call it  Chinese.)

 

It was great because there were a couple of "newcomers" to our Thanksgiving and they didn't feel awkward receiving a gift, or left out if they didn't. The best part was at the end my mom gave me a B&N gift card as a gift!

[Robin M]

Happy Thanksgiving! My dad is doing remarkably well and I think having me and my 3 sisters here has helped a lot.  I've barely had time to read, much less time to go online.  Working slowly through Devil's Colony by James Rollins. I had offered to cook thanksgiving dinner, but dad wanted to go to the Aquarius Casino for thanksgiving Dinner.  It was actually quite good and it made him happy.  Looking forward to getting home Saturday night.  Have a wonderful rest of the week.

[Hoot]

Yesterday I finished Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay.  It was entertaining and killed a couple of hours on the way to and from Thanksgiving with the in-laws, but all the books are essentially the same.  I've started on the next one in the series, Double Dexter.  As much as I'm loving his books, I'm going to be ready for something different very soon.  I'm actually really chomping at the bit to start The White Queen and Darwin's The Origin of Species.  I just don't know how much reading I'm going to accomplish between now and the end of the year.  My pace seems to have slowed down considerably. 

 

Completed So Far

1. Best Friends by Samantha Glen
2. Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien
3. The Gift of Pets: Stories Only a Vet Could Tell by Bruce Coston
4. Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human by Elizabeth Hess
5. Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine
6. Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim
7. Beowulf by Seamus Heaney
8. The Odyssey by Homer (Fagles translation)
9. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
10. The Year of Learning Dangerously: Adventures in Homeschooling by Quinn Cummings
11. Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson
12. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
13. Tales of an African Vet by Dr. Roy Aronson
14. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
15. The Romanovs: The Final Chapter by Robert K. Massie
16. Kisses From Katie by Katie Katie Davis
17. Iguanas for Dummies by Melissa Kaplan
18. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
19. Zoo by James Patterson
20. St. Lucy's School for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell
21. Russian Tortoises in Captivity by Jerry D. Fife
22. Leopard Geckos for Dummies by Liz Palika
23. The 8th Confession by James Patterson
24. Leopard Geckos: Caring for Your New Pet by Casey Watkins
25. The Ultimate Guide to Leopard Geckos by Phoenix Hayes Simmons
26. 9th Judgement by James Patterson
27. 10th Anniversary by James Patterson
28. 11th Hour by James Patterson
29. 12th of Never by James Patterson

30. The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner
31. Chasing Science at Sea: Racing Hurricanes, Stalking Sharks, and Living Undersea With Ocean Experts by Ellen J. Prager
32. Dolphin Mysteries: Unlocking the Secrets of Communication by Kathleen M. Dudzinski & Toni Frohoff
33. The Greeening by S. Brubaker
34. No Touch Monkey! by Ayun Halliday
35. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

36. Beating Dyspraxia with a Hop, Skip, and a Jump by Geoff Platt

37. Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela

38. Traveling With Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor

39. The Stranger by Albert Camus

40. Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare

41. Shakespeare: The World a Stage by Bill Bryson

42. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

43. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

44. How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster

45. Brain Power: Improve Your Mind as You Age by Michael J. Gelb and Kelly Howell

46. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

47. Animal Farm by George Orwell

48. Carrie by Stephen King

49. Deconstructing Penguins by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone

50. The Way Life Works by Mahlon Hoagland

51. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

52. Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

53. Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

54. A Walk in the Snark by Rachel Thompson

55. Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay

56. The Two Dead Girls (The Green Mile Book 1) by Stephen King

57. The Mouse on the Mile (The Green Mile Book 2) by Stephen King

58. Coffey's Hands (The Green Mile Book 3) by Stephen King

59. The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix (The Green Mile Book 4) by Stephen King

60. Night Journey (The Green Mile Book 5) by Stephen King

61. Coffey on the Mile (The Green Mile Book 6) by Stephen King

62. The Lady of the Rivers by Phillipa Gregory

63. Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay

64. Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay

[Hoot]

Over on List Challenges - found these two lists -  Top 100 Children's Novels and English Student Book Challenge.  Interestingly enough, read about 25 from each list. 

Fun!  I've read 41 from the Top 100 Children's Novels list and 25 from the English Student Book Challenge.

[Kareni]

I just finished  Surrender: A Section 8 Novel (A Section Eight Novel) by Stephanie Tyler.  It's a romantic suspense novel and the first in a series.

 

"Desperate, fearless, and hunted

For former Navy SEAL Dare O’Rourke, Section 8 was legendary. The son of one of its missing members, he grew up in the shadow of its secrets. All he knew was that it was a cabal of operatives discharged from branches of the military and reassigned to extremely dangerous, off-the-books international missions. And that their handler was as shrouded in mystery as the missions themselves.

Nothing can stop them. Nothing can break them.

Now the handler of Section 8 has given extreme orders to kill any remaining members, along with their families. Dare must save his long-lost half sister, Avery, whom he was never meant to meet. Determined to fight for their lives and find their missing father, Dare and Avery bring together those who are in danger because of their relationship to Section 8 for one last mission—to avenge their families and to survive."

 

I enjoyed it and am now looking forward to reading the second book in the series which conveniently is waiting in my library pile.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Luckymama]

Kareni, I'm glad that you liked the first Section 8 book. I put the two on hold at the library when I read about the on a blog. I'm still waiting, impatiently. Only one other person is ahead of me...

[Onceuponatime]

On this quiet Friday after Thanksgiving, I finished Fatu-Hiva. I marked this quotation to share:

 

"After all, we began to realize, there is more to learn in this faboulous world than any one person can cope with, so it is for each of us to make the wisest or most advantageous pick of what  to know and what to ignore. An astronomer knows the distances to the stars, and a botanist the petals of a flower. But neither dismisses the other as an ignoramus because his knowledge is confined to a different field."

[Onceuponatime]

 

 

 

 

Over on List Challenges - found these two lists -  Top 100 Children's Novels and English Student Book Challenge.  Interestingly enough, read about 25 from each list.  Lots to add to my wishlist. Check it out and see how many you have read.

 

 

 

I just saw this. I've read 73 of the children's novels. Of the ones I haven't read, many I've never seen before. I've read 41 on the English Student Book Challenge, others I started and didn't finish. As always, I find lists like these to be a perplexing mix. I wonder who makes them and what their criteria are.

 

I will be putting some on my to read lists. :001_smile:

[Lady Florida.]

Tom Jones wasn't grabbing me, so I moved on to the next Inspector Gamache book, The Cruelest Month. Finished that, and now I think I might read the next one, A Rule Against Murder. I haven't given up on Tom Jones. I also started listening to The Thin Man on audio book.

[eaglei]

I found another addition to the "bucket list" of quirky bookstores to visit someday.  This one is particularly out of the way in the middle of nowhere, Wyoming, but you'd get the added bonus of perhaps finding a wayward sheep browsing the aisles with you.  An article in yesterdays Los Angeles Times about Mad Dog and the Pilgrim bookstore sent me searching on the internet to find more about the store.  The store itself doesn't have a web site, but here is an article about it and a blog post with some great photos.

 

 

The photos in the blog post have me drooling!  I love bookstores like that!  We go to a bookstore that is similar - books EVERYWHERE - double-stacked on the shelves, piled up on the floor, nooks and crannies, etc.  Thankfully, it is not located TOO near to us to be ever-tempting, so it is a special treat when we go - also special because the owners have become good friends.  :)

[Rosie_0801]

I finished 'Animal Dreaming: the symbolic and spiritual language of the Australasian animals' today. It's been fun. :)

[Giraffe]

 

I think you are right, but I also think the connection, weirdly enough, go both ways.  ...which makes the process more like peeling an onion... one has to keep cycling back.  Though, at some point, one has enough of a framework, that the cycling doesn't have to be as linear...

 

..do you, by any chance, have a Turkish reading list to recommend? 

 

I agree with you.  It is a cyclical process.  It's so interesting!

 

I’m sorry I’ve been out of touch (again).  I got a job and I love it, but it’s running me ragged.  I’m teaching English (as a foreign language) to middle school kids at a local private school.  16 classes, 32 lessons a week, spread over 4 grades.  It’s insane, but fun.

 

Eliana, you asked for a Turkish reading list.  I will try.  This is what I’ve read/planning to read:

 

·         Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization, Lars Brownworth

·         Osman’s Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire, Caroline Finkel

·         Atatürk, Lord John Patrick Balfour Kinross (This is the original edition, not the revised one published by a more recent Patrick Kinross)

·         The Ottoman Centuries, Lord John Patrick Balfour Kinross (again, original edition, not revised)

·         The Great Speech (Nütük), Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

 

I haven’t gotten beyond this.  I’ve read Lost to the West, and am about halfway through Osman’s Dream. 

 

Turks highly recommend Kinross’ books because Kinross actually knew Atatürk as a contemporary and as a colleague/friend.  He has insights other English language biographers cannot provide.  My husband (a Turk) sought out and found the books above at Powell’s Books in Seattle and we’ve carried them around with us as if they are gold.  He sniffs at other biographies, including the more recent edition of the same book, but I honestly don’t know how different it is.  Turks are obsessively protective of Atatürk. 

 

HTH!!

 

[Kareni]

Kareni, I'm glad that you liked the first Section 8 book. I put the two on hold at the library when I read about the on a blog. I'm still waiting, impatiently. Only one other person is ahead of me...

 

I hope that you won't have too long to wait.  In the meantime, I've finished book two of the series

Unbreakable: A Section 8 Novel (A Section Eight Novel) by Stephanie Tyler.

It was another enjoyable read, but my suggestion would be to definitely read the books in order.

 

I also finished Maya Bank's In Bed with a Highlander (McCabe) which is a historical romance. 

 

"Maya Banks, the New York Times bestselling author of erotic romance, romantic suspense, and contemporary romance, has captivated readers with her steamy Scottish historical novels, perfect for fans of Julie Garwood. In Bed with a Highlander is the start of a beguiling trilogy featuring three unforgettable brothers risking everything to save their clan and their legacy—and to surrender their hearts to love.

 

Ewan McCabe, the eldest, is a warrior determined to vanquish his enemy. Now, with the time ripe for battle, his men are ready and Ewan is poised to take back what is his—until a blue-eyed, raven-haired temptress is thrust upon him. Mairin may be the salvation of Ewan’s clan, but for a man who dreams only of revenge, matters of the heart are strange territory to conquer.

 

The illegitimate daughter of the king, Mairin possesses prized property that has made her a pawn—and wary of love. Her worst fears are realized when she is rescued from peril only to be forced into marriage by her charismatic and commanding savior, Ewan McCabe. But her attraction to her ruggedly powerful new husband makes her crave his surprisingly tender touch; her body comes alive under his sensual mastery. And as war draws near, Mairin’s strength, spirit, and passion challenge Ewan to conquer his demons—and embrace a love that means more than revenge and land."

 

It was a pleasant read.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

Link to week 49 - please continue conversation in new thread