Book a Week in 2014 - BW9

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday, my dears.  Today is the start of week 9 in our quest to read 52 Books.  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 - Follow the Rabbit Trail:  For some reason I have two words stuck in my brain - Twelve and Road.  Maybe it is because I just finished Justin Cronin's The Twelve and the characters spent a lot of time on the road. :laugh:   Who knows.  What do you think of when you hear the word twelve or see the number 12?  What immediately came to my mind were  apostles, a jury, dozen eggs, months, 12 lords a leaping, knights, and time.   Road, well? A journey, travel, trails, highways, a straight line and exploring. 

Decided to check out my stacks and see what popped out at me.  In my stacks are two very dusty books,  The Road to Rome which I've just started and The Road to Jerusalem by Jan Guillou.  Obvious choices. Then, A Blind Alley, Moonlight Mile, <a data-ipb="nomediaparse" data-cke-saved-href="http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Turn-Around-Michelle-Gagnon/dp/0062102915/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393106253&sr=1-1&keywords=don"href="http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Turn-Around-Michelle-Gagnon/dp/0062102915/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393106253&sr=1-1&keywords=don" t+turn+around+michelle+gagnon"=""> Don't Turn Around and Invisible Bridge. I think I see a pattern forming. Number wise, I have Tenth Stone, Twelfth Iman, 13th Tribe by Robert Liparulo.  

When I look up the road on Amazon, the first hits are The Road by Cormac McCarthy,  The Road by Jack London and On the Road by Jack Kerouac.  Of course, twelfth brings up the obvious, Shakespeare.  Wouldn't you know it, books I wish I had in my stacks. 

Are you ready to follow some rabbit trails?  Your primary mission is to read a book already in your stacks with a number or the word road in the title.  Your secondary mission is to see if you can find a book with both the number and a reference to a road or synonyms related to road in the title.   Happy trails!

 

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

Link to Week 8

[Robin M]

Well I didn't keep my fingers crossed long enough, I got the crud and sound like Lauren Bacall this morning.  Colds always settle in my throat for some reason.  Oy! 

 

Currently reading:

 

Dante - on Canto 20 and somewhere in the 8th circle of hell.  For those doing the readalong, how is it going?

 

One Year Bible read: In the midst of Leviticus and realizing I've never fully read this particular book of the bible - Fascinating.

 

Fiction:  Started The Road to Rome by Ben Kane last night, but my brain was a bit fuzzy so went back to reading C.E. Murphy's Walker Paper series - #5 Demon Hunts.

. 

A to Z challenge - Just noticed a couple days ago, I seem to be stuck on the first four letters because James Rollins Amazonia is calling me name. :lol:

 

[Kareni]

The Bridge by Carol Ericson -- the first in the Brody Law series, I think Kareni would enjoy these. I will be watching for more.

 

 

Thank you for the suggestion, mumto2.  I'll be on the lookout for it.

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[shukriyya]

Robin, I hope you feel better soon! I'll have to check my shelves, virtual and actual, for books with the word 'road' or a number in the title.

 

It was a link-happy week for me. I know I enjoyed all my links  :lol:  I have made a discovery re ebooks vs. hard copy...I started 'The Well Educated Mind' on kindle and as I read along I'm realizing it's the first book I've read in this format that I think lends itself better to an actual book. There's a discussion going on about this here, so far the opinion seems to be that fiction is great for ereaders, non-fiction not so much. I think I'm going to have to concur. I'm really enjoying the content of TWEM but I'm going to have to buy the hard copy to really be able to use it. There's too much I want/need to underline and notetake about as well as wanting to refer back to various things I've read. Okay, on to the week in review...

Finished ::

A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson--stuck with it and was glad I did, a good story, well-written, the characters have stayed with me since finishing it so all my complaints about lack of characterization were the rumblings of an impatient reader
The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart--loved this and its retro feel, will read more of hers

Started This Week Non-Fiction ::

A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich--thankfully this is a paperback version I've had in my shelves for a while so a 'dusty'
The Well Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer

Started This Week : Fiction ::

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsely--a light, easy breezy read when I need just that
Blackout by Connie Willis--I'm up against my prejudices with this genre from the start though I think it's going to be a good story if I can get past my issues
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins--audiobook, a sloooooow start, this

Ongoing ::

Untold by Tamam Kahn (reread) *love*
Conference of the Birds by Attar *love*
Aimless Love by Billy Collins *enjoying*

As Far as the Eye Can See ::

It's a glut of books with an ever-widening horizon, the boat of my mind listing from side to side with the dictates of my heart. And my kindle is becoming a portable library as I add more and more to read. Little birds catching my eye so far...

To the River by Olivia Laing

 

The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett (reread)

Journeys on the Silk Road by Joyce Morgan and Conrad Walters

This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (reread)

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (reread)

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

Green Mansions by W.H. Hudson

The Golden Bough by James Frazer

The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich (partial reread)

 

Villette by Charlotte Bronte (reread)

...

Wrap Up To Date ::

1. The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds by A.M. Smith

2. The Forgotten Affairs of Youth by A.M. Smith

3. Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by A.M. Smith

4. Decoding Anorexia by Carrie Arnold

5. Mid-Life Eating Disorders by Cynthia Bulik

6. Incarnadine by Mary Szybist

7. The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

8. The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley

9. Mariana by Susanna Kearsley

10. The Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson

11. The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart



 

[Mom-ninja.]

Finished Deuteronomy. Chugging right along.

 

Finished The Borgia Bride and this type of book is out of my normal reading realm. I need some serious brain bleach now. I had no background of the Borgias, and their story is nauseating to say the least. In my happy little bubble I never knew that marriages between nobles where witnessed as the couple consummated the marriage. The witnesses included a high ranking noble and a bishop or cardinal of the Catholic church. Holy moly. I can not imagine the humiliation. Just baffles my mind. Then throw in incest, rape, murder, deception, etc. and I need a serious brain cleanse.

 

I read this book because I just happened to pick it up from a library sale on a whim because of the pretty dress on the cover. All I can say is that I am ever so grateful that I live in this century.  

[Onceuponatime]

I'm on Canto XXII of the Inferno, reading 2-3 cantos a day.

 

I'm still reading The Thief of Venice, but arriving at the climax of the story now. For some reason, this story feels very real to me. The author obviously knows what she's talking about when she describes Venice, and the tension in the story has been running high for a while. I keep putting it down whenever I begin to feel anxious. Her books are not really mysteries to the reader, but to the inhabitants of the story instead. I am just watching how the revelation and connection  of past events unfolds as it moves into the future.

 

It's funny but I did not feel this connected to the story in Life after Life, my last novel. I think that may say something about the quality of the writing, even though this book is not meant to be any special literary effort.

 

[shukriyya]

Well, so much for my linking restraint. New-to-me poet...wow, just wow!

 

Here is his poem, Home, beautifully grounded with its allusive body, the poet having studied classical Islam, yet he allows himself the the breath, the wings that point to a truth-mystery both transcendent and earthy, the question we are all asking...

[Just Robyn]

I finished Madame Bovary, then read a short nonfiction graphic novel - The Murder of Abraham Lincoln by Rick Geary (love his books). And now I've begun Watership Down by Richard Adams and Paris Spleen by Baudelaire.. 

 

Books with numbers or roads: I've got On the Road on my Kindle and while Twelfth Night isn't in my personal stacks, I have had it checked out from the library and sitting here for a few weeks now. It is kind of starting to blend in and make friends. Better read it!

[shukriyya]

What do you think of when you hear the word twelve or see the number 12?

 

 

I think of eggs which flower into yolks, golden and whole, the nexus, the amrit, the essence, only revealed when the hard, outer shell is shattered and this in turn leads me through a small forgotten doorway into the riddle of the egg...

 

In a marble hall white as milk

Lined with skin as soft as silk

Within a fountain crystal-clear

A golden apple doth appear

No doors there are

To this stronghold

Yet thieves break in

To steal its gold

What am I?

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I managed to finish two Greek plays this week:  Book 11 - Oedipus the King and Book 12 - Oedipus at Colonus.  Otherwise I've really been to unfocused to read although I have enjoyed watching the Olympics instead.  I need to finish the taxes this week, so I'm not sure how much reading I'll get done.

 

To be read:

a huge pile - I'd like to read some more Brother Cadfael but may just as likely detour into a light fluffy read if I can't focus.

 

In progress:

Bible - nearly finished with Numbers and still on track

History of the Ancient World by Bauer - read 21-25 this week, will try for at least 5 chapters again next week

Urchin of the Riding Stars by McAllister - reading aloud with DS 9, 6 chapters so far; I'm really enjoying this, and I think DS is as well (but is not ready to admit it yet)

The Beloved Disciple by Moore - I can see how it would be an interesting BIble study, but I'm not really enjoying the commentary alone.  I'll probably read a few more chapters but I may drop this one

 

Finished:

 

12.  Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles (ancient lit, Greece)

11.  Oedipus the King by Sophocles  (ancient lit, Greece)

10.  The Week That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Bradley (BaW rec, England)

9.  Quiet:  The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Cain (non-fiction)

8.  Sandstorm by Rollins (BaW rec, Oman)

7.  The War of the Worlds by Wells (classic lit, Great Britain)

6.  A Morbid Taste for Bones by Peters (12th century, Great Britain)

5.  Anitgone by Sophocles (ancient lit, Greece)

4.  Secrets of an Organized Mom  by Reich (non-fiction)

3.  Phantastes by MacDonald (classic lit)

2.  The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Bradley (BaW rec, Great Britain)

1.  The Odyssey by Homer (ancient lit, Greece)

 

[mumto2]

Well I missed one when I posted last weeks reads last night, "Don't Look Back" by Karin Fossum was also completed. I read her first novel a couple of weeks ago and really liked it. Norwegian author with a rural Norwegian setting. I love many things about these books but have to say the harsher realities of a murder mystery are blunt. The characters are as a whole blunt but Inspector Sejer, the main character, is a huge kind contrast. Makes for interesting reading.

 

I was on a wait list for "The Dinosaur Feather" before Tress even mentioned it. Looking forward to reading a contemporary Danish author to contrast with Fossum.

 

Currently reading "Friday Night Bites" by Chloe Neill and "Wicked Autumn" by G.M. Mallet.

[marbel]

Ah, week 9 and I am still stuck at just 4 books completed.   This was a very poor reading week for me.  I really thought I would complete something, anything!   But no.

 

Who mentioned A Little History of the World?  Love that book!  It was a great overview of history for my kids (and myself). 

 

I decided to add my Bible reading to my in-process.  Every few years I do a "Bible in a year" plan and it was time to do it again.  I follow a plan that mixes up the daily readings a bit, rather than go straight through the books.   But I am keeping on track.

 

In process:

 

The Code of the Woosters (family readaloud)

The Count of Monte Cristo

The Middle Ages *

The Civilization of the Middle Ages *

A Circle of Quiet

Basic Economics *

Amazing Grace

Bible reading plan - on track

 

*Homeschool books

 

Complete:

 

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

The Book Thief

Have His Carcase

 And Then There Were None

 

[Robin M]

Japan:

 

I'm still processing my recent reread of Tale of Genji and I've been dipping into a number of commentaries/guides - most I've read bits and pieces of and sent back to the library, but I finished one:

 

The Tale of Genji: A Reader's Guide by William Puette (which I own): I remembered this as having more substance... perhaps I was just so new to the period and the book back then.  There's some general (good) background information, chapter summaries (which I found useful when I was reading other commentaries and couldn't remember which things had happened in chapter 34 (out of 54)...), some commentary on the first 9 (?I think) chapters, and some interesting observations on the structure of the novel... there are some discussion questions at the end too, which could make good essay topics.  [i'm still in the midst of Ivan Morris's much more detailed book World of the Shining Prince]

 

I glanced at Liza Dalby's Tale of Murasaki and was very put off... I've just spent almost two months immersed in early Japanese literature and poetry, especially Murasaki's Tale of Genji and this had no connection to anything I've been reading.  Some of the data points, perhaps, but the flavor, the behavior, the attitudes, the voice feel completely and utterly wrong.  Perhaps it is a good story, but I wouldn't recommend it for any insights into Heian Japan or Genji or its author...

 

I set aside my Tale of the Heike to start a novelization The Heike Story by Eiji Yoshikawa - it is a little weird reading them so close together.  I, so far, prefer the original, but am sticking with the novel for a little longer at least.

 

I'm still chipping away at the Kokinshu (a poetry anthology - one of the major ones, & muchly quoted from).  I got a different translation out of the library, and that translator's book on the Kokinshu.  ...I'm moving slowly, but having a great deal of fun!

 

I have many other Japanese lit works and commentaries lying around, but nothing I'm actively working on.

 

Italy:

 

After finishing Inferno the other week (I used the beautiful, if not always precise, Ciardi translation), I fumbled around trying to find a Purgatorio translation I wanted to use right now... Ciardi was pretty but his poetry kept obscuring the sense in the more philosophical sections (and his notes aren't as thorough as I was wanting), my Mandlebaum edition doesn't have notes, though I kept turning to it to clear up what Ciardi was saying... so I tried the Hollander translation and commentary and found it enormously satisfying.  It did feel more like studying Purgatorio than reading it (and I am resiting the urge to go back and do Inferno with their commentary to find out how much I was missing!), but it was delightful and fascinating.  ...I hope I find their Paradiso equally enjoyable.

 

Collected Poems of Primo Levi: Not the cheeriest poetry I've read, so 'enjoyed' isn't the right description, but I want to own this and keep coming back to it, and some of the poems are still reverberating in my mind and heart.

 

Eastern Europe/Central Asia:

 

I want to get back to Osman's Dream this week - and some of the Turkish literature I have waiting for me!

 

I did read two, thin, books I've been meaning to get to:

 

Jamilia by Chingiz Aitmatov: Aitmatov is Kyrgyzstan's best known writer and this is the title that kept coming up last year when I was looking at the country challenge.  It's a lyrical book, in many ways, beautiful descriptions, a lovely impression of place and space and longing.... but it's a surface look at the people and culture it depicts and it didn't grab my heart.  One barrier to that is that I have enormous difficultly viewing as sympathetic a romance that takes place while one of the parties is married to someone else, however unhappily (though I recognize that I am coming to that with the instinctive assumptions of a culture where ending a marriage is fairly straightforward).  ...but even w/out that, I think the symbolism of the relationship would still have been more compelling than the actual relationship... but with all that griping... as I write this I realize that moments and images have stayed rather vividly with me and it has me thinking and probing... not a bad set of reactions to a book.

 

Jacques and His Master by Milan Kundera: This little play is based on (inspired by?) a novel by Diderot (which I have not read).  It isn't my flavor of story or humor, but the way Kundera takes the material and... connects it forward to Beckett, et al, is fascinating, and there is an underlying sweetness and appeal to it, despite its actual subject matter.  I feel a temptation to track down the original novel...

 

Other:

 

I finished Jo Walton's What Makes This Book So Great - here are some links to reviews: one, two, three

These were as delightful as when I first saw them on tor.com...

 

I'm about a 1/4 of the way into Hild - which is a fascinating book.  The level of detail and immersion is impressive, but makes the story itself move very gradually.

 

My first association with 12 is the Twelve Tribes (there's a song we sing near the end of the seder "echad mi yodeia" (who knows one) that goes through 1 - 13 with associations, so "12 are the tribes of Yisrael".

 

...I'll need to look around for books that might fit this challenge...

 

Talk about following the rabbit trail.  Searched 12 are the tribes of Yisrael and it lead me to the  Jewish Virtual Library. Lots of interesting information and plenty of rabbit trails to follow.   Manasseh is the one person who popped out at me so on to Amazon and found Mor Jokai's  Manasseh, A Romance of Transylvania which is free for Kindle. Translated from Hungarian, the story starts out in Italy. Also his Golden Age of Transylvania which looks pretty interesting too. 

 

Twelfth also lead me back to Bodie Thoene's A.D. Chronicles and Twelfth Prophecy which I'll be reading after Tenth Stone and Eleventh Guest. I love their writing.

 

Thanks for the link to Hollander's translation of Purgatorio.  Added it to my wishlist.

[shukriyya]

Alas, I'm going to have to pull myself away from the discussion for the moment. I'm currying up potatoes and spinach, filling thermoses and water bottles, packaging up nuts and fruit, gathering up audio books, my knitting and my kindle as we scurry off for several hours of dance class. Another week of commutes begins...

[prairiegirl]

Robin,  I am sending you good thoughts of healing.  Hope you feel better quick.

 

I am still in the midst of   This is the Story of a Happy Marriage  by Ann Patchett,  still enjoying it.  My oldest dd and I are reading  A Red Herring Without Mustard  by Alan Bradley.  I am enjoying Flavia even more in reading it with someone else.    My youngest dd and I are reading Wildwood by Colin Meloy.  We just started this book but already a baby has been carried off by a bunch of crows.  That is just plain bizarre!   It is very cold here today, a good day for reading so I am hoping to read more with dd to find out just what happened to that baby.

[Ali in OR]

Nothing finished this week. Now that the Olympics are ending I'll get back to reading. We just got basic cable after not having it for a decade (and we only get PBS without it). So this was our first winter olympics since Salt Lake City. But I hate NBC and we are really not used to watching t.v. Youngest can't believe they just keep repeating the same commercials over and over. We finally starting recording it because I can't stay up late and I want to see the ice skating. Can they just please make events available after the fact on their website (PBS gets Sherlock up immediately for example). But, no, this is NBC and that's not how they operate. Ugh! Ready to just go back to no t.v. for awhile.

 

But I digress. No books finished. I'm about half-way through Laura Moriarty's The Chaperone which is a good read. I have received S. and have decided that will be a long-term project. It's not a book I can easily cart around to kid activities. Our big annual library book sale was this weekend. We used to go Friday night when it opened to get the best stuff, but this year we went yesterday when the books were half-price since I wasn't looking for anything in particular ($1 each for adult paperbacks, and I think the kids' paperbacks were just $.50). Here's my haul:

3 cookbooks

3 Lord Peter mysteries-Sayers

1 collection of the Lord Peter short stories-Sayers

The Woman in White-Collins

Possession-Byatt

Love in the Time of Cholera-Garcia Marquez

Angela's Ashes-McCourt

Suite Francaise-Nemirovsky (I've read this but think it's good enough to own)

Cutting for Stone (I've read this too but lost my copy to someone who never returned it)

Snow Falling on Cedars-Guterson

Becoming Jane Eyre-Kohler

Alias Grace-Atwood

The Reluctant Widow-Heyer

 

Not saying I'll get to these anytime soon, but I now have plenty of books lying around!

[Shawneinfl]

I finished Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper. A lovely book for cat lovers about a woman who adopts a blind kitten. I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially since we adopted a stray mama cat and her two kittens this year. It was just the book I needed after reading Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity.

 

My daughter and I went to B & N last night for some bonding/book browsing time together. I met a woman who was browsing the shelves alongside us who was in a local book club. She had read so many books! I ended up buying one of her recommendations The Round House by Louise Erdrich and she ended up buying Half-Broke Horses which I recommended to her. It was such a serendipitous moment. She was really interested in hearing about homeschooling and our online book group. I'll probably never see her again but it made my evening.

[Onceuponatime]

Twelves make me think of my birthday and wedding anniversary, both on the 12th of a month. Roads make me think of Country Roads by John Denver.

 

Books that we own with those words:

 

Adam of the Road

84 Charing Cross Road

On the Road With Charles Kuralt

 

I read The Road about 5 years ago and I was disappointed.

 

[Jane in NC]

Surviving in a Dystopia is a popular theme in the modern novel. Sofi Oksanen's Purge is the story of women of different generations who are attempting to survive the 20th century brutalities of war and political violence as well as the cruelty perpertrated upon women. This is a very disturbing and difficult book to read, one that I cannot recommend to all, but one that reminds us (since apparently we as humanity need to be repeatedly reminded) that human beings deserve dignity. Apparently the novel grew from a play of the same title. I cannot imagine... (And when I use the term Dystopian, I do not mean an invented vision but the very real one that occurred in modern day Estonia.)

 

Oksanen is an engaging writer though and I shall search out other novels which I hope are in translation.

 

I have listened to the first half of The Red Badge of Courage and cannot figure out why this book was assigned to me in 8th grade.

 

Needing to lighten up on the themes a little though...

[Mom-ninja.]

That's how I was with The Borgia Bride.

 I keep putting it down whenever I begin to feel anxious.

 

[Narrow Gate Academy]

52 Books Blog - Follow the Rabbit Trail:  For some reason I have two words stuck in my brain - Twelve and Road.  Maybe it is because I just finished Justin Cronin's The Twelve and the characters spent a lot of time on the road. :laugh:   Who knows.  What do you think of when you hear the word twelve or see the number 12?  What immediately came to my mind were  apostles, a jury, dozen eggs, months, 12 lords a leaping, knights, and time.   Road, well? A journey, travel, trails, highways, a straight line and exploring. 

 

Are you ready to follow some rabbit trails?  Your primary mission is to read a book already in your stacks with a number or the word road in the title.  Your secondary mission is to see if you can find a book with both the number and a reference to a road or synonyms related to road in the title.   Happy trails!

 

For 12 - the twelve disciples of Jesus (probably because I looked through the upcoming Sunday school lessons for DS's K class this morning)

For road - "The Road Less Travelled"

 

I don't have any titles with the word road, but I was getting reading to read One Corpse Too Many, so I'll tackle the primary mission.

 

Talk about following the rabbit trail.  Searched 12 are the tribes of Yisrael and it lead me to the  Jewish Virtual Library. Lots of interesting information and plenty of rabbit trails to follow.   Manasseh is the one person who popped out at me so on to Amazon and found Mor Jokai's  Manasseh, A Romance of Transylvania which is free for Kindle. Translated from Hungarian, the story starts out in Italy. Also his Golden Age of Transylvania which looks pretty interesting too. 

 

Twelfth also lead me back to Bodie Thoene's A.D. Chronicles and Twelfth Prophecy which I'll be reading after Tenth Stone and Eleventh Guest. I love their writing.

 

Thanks for the link to Hollander's translation of Purgatorio.  Added it to my wishlist.

The Thoene books look really interesting.  I broke my no hold ban and decided to try Jerusalem Vigil since that series leads into the AD chronicles.

 

Nothing finished this week. Now that the Olympics are ending I'll get back to reading. We just got basic cable after not having it for a decade (and we only get PBS without it). So this was our first winter olympics since Salt Lake City. But I hate NBC and we are really not used to watching t.v. Youngest can't believe they just keep repeating the same commercials over and over. We finally starting recording it because I can't stay up late and I want to see the ice skating. Can they just please make events available after the fact on their website (PBS gets Sherlock up immediately for example). But, no, this is NBC and that's not how they operate. Ugh! Ready to just go back to no t.v. for awhile.

 

Totally agree about the commercials and needing the tv break (although I want to catch up on the figure skating first).  One benefit to Comcast making us switch to digital last year is they have the events available on demand next day, and I can fast forward through both commercials and annoying commentary. :tongue_smilie: 

 

I finished Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper. A lovely book for cat lovers about a woman who adopts a blind kitten. I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially since we adopted a stray mama cat and her two kittens this year. It was just the book I needed after reading Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity.

 

The book sounds lovely, and I've added it to my tbr list.  Thanks for the rec.  We ended up adopting 4 strays this past year:  2 kittens that the kids made friends with from the neighborhood strays, one kitten that lost it's mom and was found wandering through the in-laws back yard, and a lovely and very friendly older cat who it would probably be more correct to say chose to adopt us. 

[Stacia]

With the humongous book I'm reading, I'll probably be working on it for awhile. It will take a lot longer than a moment to read A Moment in the Sun by John Sayles. I'm quite enjoying it but it may take me forever to read it (unlike the mention in the following quote)...

 

From NPR (Lucia Silva):

“Independent filmmaker John Sayles has managed to create a work that is both cinematic and literary in its scope and style—a blend so entrancing that you could polish off its 955 pages in one long weekend. It begins in 1897 during the Yukon gold rush and takes us into the Spanish-American war, the Filipino fight for independence, racial injustice and the plight of working people throughout the United States. Short, powerful chapters follow four unconnected characters to create a mosaic of America as a nascent superpower, underscoring the personal and cultural consequences of its ambitions. If you only read one book this summer, make it A Moment in the Sun.â€

 

With a quick look at my bookshelves (& discounting books I've already read), only one jumps out at me that will meet Robin's challenge: Twenty Thousand Saints by Fflur Dafydd. It's one I recently picked up through PaperbackSwap to use for my around-the-world reading (Wales). Not sure I'll get around to to anytime soon, though....

[Guest]

I felt like I was doing a lot of curriculum research this last week and when I spend that much time on the computer, my reading time plummets. I hope I figured out everything I'm going to be doing this next year and can move on. Famous last words. :laugh:

 

Currently reading:

Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

On Writing by Stephen King

 

 

[Heather in Neverland]

Started reading:

I finished two books but I am not starting anything new until I finish Winter of the World. It's a chunker and a library loan so I gotta get a move on! :)

 

 

Still reading:

Winter of the World by Ken Follet

The School Revolution: A New Answer for our Broken Education System by Ron Paul

 

Finished reading:

1. The Curiosity by Stephen Kiernan (AVERAGE)

2. The Last Time I Saw Paris by Lynn Sheene (GOOD)

3. Unwind by Neal Shusterman (EXCELLENT)

4. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty (EXCELLENT)

5. The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith by Peter Hitchens (AMAZING)

6. Champion by Marie Lu (PRETTY GOOD)

7. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink (INCREDIBLE)

8. Cultivating Christian Character by Michael Zigarelli (HO-HUM)

9. Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff (um...WOW. So amazing and sad)

10. Pressure Points: Twelve Global Issues Shaping the Face of the Church by JD Payne (SO-SO)

11. The Happiness Project: Or Why I spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun. by Gretchen Rubin (GOOD)

12. Reading and Writing Across Content Areas by Roberta Sejnost (SO-SO)

[marbel]

84, Charing Cross Road was my first thought on road books.

 

Return of the Twelves is a fabulous kids (ages 9-12, maybe?) book.  Toy soldiers, Brontes, fantasy.  Super fun; one of those books we will keep forever.

 

 

[JennW in SoCal]

I finished three books last week, one of which I started and finished in one day.

 

The Summons by Peter Lovesy was my marathon mystery read Friday afternoon and evening.  It was like a self-imposed vacation!  Thanks to Jane for introducing me to yet another good British police procedural series.

 

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle is delightful, and, as I posted when I'd finished it, is perhaps the best short fantasy I've read. 

 

The Surgeon's Mate, the 7th of the Master and Commander series, did not disappoint, in spite of that pesky Diana Villiers being a big part of the book.  I find I have to pull out a map or go to the Patrick O'Brian Mapping Project to figure out where in the world (literally) they are sailing!

 

Made progress on Hare with the Amber Eyes, but still am only about half way.  

 

I'm on the brink of a couple of busy weeks with dress rehearsals and performances for 2 different gigs, so just downloaded the audio version of Ionian Mission, the next in the Master and Commander series.  It will keep me company during my commutes.  

 

I also have the first of the Iain Pears art detective/mystery series checked out from the library, as well as a nice stack of purchased books and kindle deal-of-the-day titles on hand.  Surely something will grab my attention! 

[shukriyya]

Well I'm here in the burbs posting from my phone and enjoying the BaW conversation more vicariously than is my norm. Tea has been consumed, chocolate supplies have been consumed and replenished with a run to the store. The Rose Garden, my current easy breezy read is keeping me company in between stints with NPR and my knitting. It's due back in a few days so I need to finish it up. Meanwhile ds is sweating his way through 3 grueling hours of kathak classes.

[Mom-ninja.]

 Tea has been consumed, chocolate supplies have been consumed and replenished with a run to the store. The Rose Garden, my current easy breezy read is keeping me company in between stints with NPR and my knitting. It's due back in a few days so I need to finish it up. Meanwhile ds is sweating his way through 3 grueling hours of kathak classes.

 

Sounds like you got the better deal. 

[ariasmommy]

Two more finished:

 

4. Bambi by Felix Salten - I think perhaps I picked the wrong read-aloud for Jan./ Feb. I can see the value of reading it, but I did not enjoy it, especially the gruesome hunting/death scenes (one in particular I edited a bit). It will be good to compare and contrast it with The Call of the Wild which I am reading to discuss with dd (it's pretty brutal, too, ugh).

 

5. The Living Page: Keeping Notebooks with Charlotte Mason by Laurie Bestvater - A lovely, inspiring book and one I think I will be referring to for years to come.

 

I'm currently reading Eight Cousins to dd, so that will count for the number challenge. :)

[shukriyya]

Sounds like you got the better deal.

:lol: Ds would agree particularly because there was chocolate involved on my part.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I finished Murakami's Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World.   Amazing book.  It was a bit harder to get into than his other books, but so many good thoughts in it.  

 

One of the hardest things about reading Murakami is all of the writers and books he mentions.  I find myself wanting to read them, and some of them are quite heady.  

 

I'm unsure what I'll read next.  I have several books on hold at the library (probably all come at once!), and I have a few here I can read.  I'll figure it out tomorrow. 

[Lady Florida.]

I'm 94% finished with Daniel Deronda, so if I don't finish tonight, I'll be done by tomorrow. I managed to catch up and read a bit ahead of schedule in Les Miserables, so when the break ends tomorrow I'll no longer be behind and playing catch up. Now if I can only stay caught up. This is Where I Leave You, which I heard about here, became available and I downloaded it this afternoon. I was way down on the waiting list when I signed up and almost forgot I had it on hold. I'm forcing myself to not even open it until I finish Daniel Deronda.

[Mom-ninja.]

I found myself disappointed with the ending of Daniel Deronda.

[ladydusk]

Thanks to shukriyya, I went and dug out my copy of Mary Stewart's This Rough Magic.  It is still my favorite Mary Stewart. Fantastic Gothic Romance.

 

Book Reviews

1. The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers
2. A To Z with C.S. Lewis by Louis A Markos
3. Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
4. Perelandra by C.S. Lewis
5. The Magic Apple Tree by Susan Hill
6. Why Kill a Butler? by Georgette Heyer
7. When the Sirens Wailed by Noel Streatfield (Family Read Aloud)
8. Howard's End is on the Landing by Susan Hill
9. This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart

[shukriyya]

Thanks to shukriyya, I went and dug out my copy of Mary Stewart's This Rough Magic. It is still my favorite Mary Stewart. Fantastic Gothic Romance.

I followed a series of Mary Stewart links on Amazon last night and *all* of the books I added to my tbr list looked sooo good. I have to exert some discipline though and finish up a couple of in-process books first.

[Negin]

As part of the Bingo Reading Challenge, I had to read a book written by someone under the age of 30. I read The Story of My Life by Helen Keller, who wrote it when she was 20, I believe. It was very good at first, but then it just got rather repetitive and boring - 2 Stars. 

 

 

 bad.

[SunnyDays]

Hello, friends!

 

I sat and read "Red Velvet Cupcake Murder" by Joanne Fluke today, my re-read of last year's release in the series.  Pure fluff and lightness, and after Wuthering Heights, I needed that!

 

So, I completed 10 books in January (getting used to my new laptop, so I won't link or copy right now), and in February, the two books mentioned above.

 

Still working on the two non fiction titles, and tonight I also started Crispin and the Cross of Lead, which DS and I will be working through this week.  I'm actually quite enjoying it!

 

 

[ElaineJ]

I finished a collection of Sherlock Holmes and Sacred Reading: The Ancient Art of Lectio Divina by Michael Casey. Sherlock Holmes was a fun read, although I found myself annoyed with his portrayal of female characters. Sacred Reading was an excellent guide to devotional Bible reading. I borrowed it from a friend, but I think I will get my own copy so that I can refer back to it at my leisure. I would recommend it to my fellow Bible readers. (I notice that several of us are reading through the Bible this year). It isn't a study guide, though; it is about reading the Scripture and Church Fathers to build your faith. It is written from a Catholic perspective, but I think it could be of equal interest to Protestants and Orthodox Christians.

This week I started The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and I can't put it down!

Elaine

[Pam in CT]

Robin, I hope you feel better soon! I'll have to check my shelves, virtual and actual, for books with the word 'road' or a number in the title.

<snip>

Started This Week Non-Fiction ::

 

A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich--thankfully this is a paperback version I've had in my shelves for a while so a 'dusty'

<snip>

 

Ongoing ::

 

Conference of the Birds by Attar *love*

 

 

 

Little History of the World is a treasure, isn't it... I discovered it when my eldest realized, about two days before classes started, that it was assigned summer reading for her AP Art History class (grrrr), so we had to get it on Kindle to cope with that emergency... anyway, her art history teacher used it as a quick grounding in what-was-going-on-in-the-world during the time that the art was evolving (brilliant, btw).  Eminently readable 1 volume overview of major sweeps in the Western (not really global) world..  

 

I started Conference yesterday, and got through the first 1000 or so lines -- through each of the birds' excuses as to why they weren't up for the quest, and the hoopoe's response to each; and then the story of the sheikh's journey to Rome and back.  I left them last night all pumped up and rarin' to go. As a reader, I'm feeling the precise sensation of that moment when the Fellowship sallies forth from Elrond's sanctuary -- we're off, we're game, we're psyched, but it's a little wobbly... Boromir's a bit shaky, there are palpable tensions between Legolas and Gimli, and what's up with these puny halflings, anyway... but the quest is a good one, and with our leader to guide us surely we will overcome any obstacle... What translation are you using?  Mine is Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis.  I was a little dubious about the couplets, but it's reading so naturally that I'm barely aware of them.

[Guest]

Any Dan Brown fans here? I've never read him but was eyeing his Inferno after our read along here. Worthwhile? Fun? Waste of time?

[Uff Da!]

I finished Jane Eyre last week and watched the version on Netflix.  I picked up Shakespeare's Sonnets again as well as Psalms.  I also am 17 pages into Augustine's Confessions.  I think Confessions may be one where I pick how many pages I want to read that day and simply do it.

 

Some of my cello books arrived at the library and are waiting for me to pick them up, including one that isn't technique focused, "The Adventures of a Cello" by Carlos Prieto.  It should be fun.  My right hand is better so I started trying to figure out the cello bow hold.  It's not coming naturally to me.  LOL  Hopefully, some books will help.  

[Pam in CT]

... while Twelfth Night isn't in my personal stacks, I have had it checked out from the library and sitting here for a few weeks now. It is kind of starting to blend in and make friends. Better read it!

 

LOL!  I've noticed that once a book has made its way down to the bottom 1/3 of the stack... it's time to READ it, or be truthful to myself... any lower and it isn't going to happen...

[Uff Da!]

I wanted to add that I found Classics Illustrated Junior (old fairy tale comic books) when hunting on my nook the other day.  I think my less than enthusiastic reader may eat these up.

 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wizard-of-oz-l-frank-baum/1100093722?ean=9781620280638

[mumto2]

Robin, I hope you are feeling a bit better today! I looked through my library stack and the only book that is remotely close is "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" which is an ebook so not as pressing as the 50 or so other books dd and I have selected for the next month. :lol: I only have one with a number "Takedown Twenty" which is also an ebook.

 

I managed to finish the G.M. Malliet "Wicked Autumn" last night. Good cozy. Great new detective for me.....Father Max Tudor former MI5 special agent. Someone here read a couple of her "death of series...." which I also read last fall. This was very different in feel. Death of ... was a bit of a satire. Purposely having a bit of fun with cozy readers and writers. This book was more typical for a cozy although it did make fun of a typical English village with rather dramatic characters. The descriptions of social interactions etc were spot on per my observations. I got a good chuckle a few times thinking that is just like so and so in my village. The vicar's problems with his parishioners, especially all the tea, made me laugh -- too much tea is apparently a common complaint on visiting days according to my vicar. This one was worth waiting a year to get out of the library, I have 2 more from the series in the stack. Can't wait!

[Pam in CT]

 

 

In a few weeks' time, I will need to find a book with non-human characters - any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. :)

 

 

OK, I have to ask... need to?  What's the compulsion? :laugh:

 

Animal Farm would be the low-hanging fruit...  Suzanne Collins (of Hunger Games fame) did a YA series, Gregor the Overlander, that my eldest enjoyed (did not read it myself).  Maus? Watership Down?

[Pam in CT]

Any Dan Brown fans here? I've never read him but was eyeing his Inferno after our read along here. Worthwhile? Fun? Waste of time?

 

Good plot-driven fun, with a lot of well informed backstory.  If you liked The Goldfinch, you'll enjoy Dan Brown, and vice versa.  I did Dante last year, and read Inferno immediately thereafter; they're fun to do together. 

[Lady Florida.]

  If you liked The Goldfinch, you'll enjoy Dan Brown, and vice versa.  

 

Oh, I don't know about that. I loved The Goldfinch but don't like Dan Brown. I've read 3 of his books (hoping he'd get better) and just couldn't take him anymore. Brown's writing style makes me want to go have a root canal. It doesn't compare to Tartt's writing IMO.

 

Here's my favorite commentary on Dan Brown. Please take it in the spirit of fun. I know there are fans here. 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10049454/Dont-make-fun-of-renowned-Dan-Brown.html

[Pam in CT]

Good week for reading, around here...

 

I read The Solitude of Prime Numbers, by Paolo Giordano.  It's the story of two people, both traumatized as children, as they struggle to make their way into adulthood.  The title is based on the image of "twin primes," prime numbers that lie close together, but never touching (11 and 13, 17 and 19, 57 and 59... evidently they become rarer and rarer but continue to appear, in near-pairs like that, as the numbers increase) -- a lovely image.  It's not for everyone -- the protagonists are, as I said, damaged -- but it's very well done.

 

Also -- Rosie inspired me to go back into Salman Rushdie, and I picked up The Enchantress of Florence, which I'd never read before.  Exuberant, complicated, funny, slyly history-bending.  If anyone is doing Machiavelli this year: highly recommended.

 

I re-read Rebecca Goldstein's Mazel, which I'd enjoyed years ago when it first came out.  Re-reading it was an object study in confronting my earlier self... I vividly remember how much I related to one character, then; and this time my heart went out to an entirely different character -- the mother in the shtetl who watches her eldest child on the heartbreaking precipice to adulthood, bewildered at how helpless she is in the face of her child's imperative to find her own way...

 

I chanced upon a non-fiction piece, The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop: A Memoir, A History, by Lewish Buzbee.  This is a marvelous, Mark Kurlansky type of history of the world, with bookselling at the center.  I took extensive notes and will come back separately to share the love...

 

Also, Bella Chagall's Burning Lights, a collection of sweet vignettes about her early life in Russia (mostly centered around the Jewish holiday cycle), with illustrations by her husband Marc.

 

And, lastly, I finished a re-read of my heavy book, I and Thou, by Martin Buber.  This, too, I got more out of the second time around, LOL...

 

 

My daughter and I are nearly finished with Black Radishes, a YA set in occupied France which is works well so recently after Code Name Verity; and I'm nearly finished listening to Magic Seeds by VS Naipul.  

 

And I just started Farid ud-din Attar's Conference of the Birds yesterday, a Persian poem from the Sufi tradition, which I can tell I will thoroughly enjoy.

[Pam in CT]

Oh, I don't know about that. I loved The Goldfinch but don't like Dan Brown. I've read 3 of his books (hoping he'd get better) and just couldn't take him anymore. Brown's writing style makes me want to go have a root canal. It doesn't compare to Tartt's writing IMO.

 

Here's my favorite commentary on Dan Brown. Please take it in the spirit of fun. I know there are fans here. 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10049454/Dont-make-fun-of-renowned-Dan-Brown.html

 

LOL!  No worries, different strokes for different folks and all that.  Here's my favorite part:

 

 

Renowned author Dan Brown gazed admiringly at the pulchritudinous brunette’s blonde tresses, flowing from her head like a stream but made from hair instead of water and without any fish in. She was as majestic as the finest sculpture by Caravaggio or the most coveted portrait by Rodin. I like the attractive woman, thought the successful man.

Perhaps one day, inspired by beautiful wife Mrs Brown, he would move into romantic poetry, like market-leading British rhymester John Keats.That would be good, opined the talented person, and got back into the luxurious four-poster bed. He felt as happy as a man who has something to be happy about and is suitably happy about it.

My husband and I actually went to college with Brown... it is very very funny to come across him at reunions (all the rest of us shaking our heads and muttering, who'd a thunk it?  ... he's really rather a good guy.  

[shukriyya]

Good week for reading, around here...

 

I chanced upon a non-fiction piece, The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop: A Memoir, A History, by Lewish Buzbee. This is a marvelous, Mark Kurlansky type of history of the world, with bookselling at the center. I took extensive notes and will come back separately to share the love...

 

And I just started Farid ud-din Attar's Conference of the Birds yesterday, a Persian poem from the Sufi tradition, which I can tell I will thoroughly enjoy.

You've mentioned your note taking before. I'm curious. Do you do this for fiction? Only non- fiction? All books? Do you look back at your notes? As a meditation, a jumping off point? Hard copy notes? And so on....

 

Conference...is wonderful isn't it. I've been each one of them with their various excuses :lol: