Book a Week in 2014 - BW17

[Stacia]

This looks amazing. I just read the first few small paragraphs on the sample on Amazon. It looks to be very poetic. I bought it - only 2.99 on Kindle! I'm so glad you mentioned it here. 

 

(re: Ru...)

 

I was just coming to post something similar. Yay, my library has it. Kathy & crstarlette, looking forward to your final reviews....  Kathy, I would love to hear the overall verdict from your book club too.

[Stacia]

So, my challenge to you this week is go to the library or book store and pick a book based on its cover or its position on the shelf. To choose a book based on its position on the shelf, decide in advance - the genre, two numbers between 1 and 5, and then a 3rd number between 1 and 30. Using those numbers, count over that certain number of sections in the aisle, go down that number of shelves and count to the 3rd number and that's the book you'll get. Mix it up, start in the middle of the aisle and flip a coin, go left or right. Most of all, have fun!

I hope I have a winner here! I ran to the library to pick up (yet) more holds I had to add to my existing library pile that I've been ignoring. ;)

 

So, I'm now starting: Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen.

 

Amazon Best of the Month, June 2008: Imagine what it might be like to realize that the person you love is, in fact, not the person you love but a doppelgänger: or, what Leo Liebenstein coolly terms a "simulacrum" of his wife Rema at the outset of Atmospheric Disturbances. David Byrne's infamous cry that "this is not my beautiful wife" seems the most likely response, but Leo's reaction to this sea change takes unpredictable and dazzlingly plotted turns in the story that follows. Leo's journey to recover the "real" Rema is nothing short of byzantine; among its many mysteries is the delightfully inscrutable Dr. Tzvi Gal-Chen, a master meteorologist who in cleverly constructed flashback sequences takes up residence in the daily rhythms of Leo and Rema's marriage and becomes as much a focus of Leo's obsession as his wife's whereabouts. (Think Vertigo but directed by Charlie Kaufman.) Make no mistake: this is dizzying debut fiction, bursting at the spine with beautifully articulated ideas about love, yes, but also--and with maddening resonance--about the private wars love forces us to wage with ourselves. Be sure to keep a pen or pencil handy: it's impossible to resist underlining prose this good.

P.S.

 

I must admit that I cheated the teeniest bit. Or maybe a medium amount. :tongue_smilie:

 

The first time I did it, I got Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom & I definitely want to read that, but there's no way I have the mental focus to do that right now. (I have *far* too much of this on the brain right now to concentrate deeply...

 

 

So, I selected a different section & the book seemed completely awful/unlike anything I would ever even want to read. I knew if I checked it out, I would never read it. However, Atmospheric Disturbances was sitting next to it, so I grabbed it &, surprisingly, it sounds like it might be a perfect fit for me. Third time's a charm?

 

Funnily enough, just a sentence or two into it, I was already thinking 'South America' (& very quickly after that, there is a mention of an Argentinian accent). What is it about 'Southern' writing that has that mystical, dreamy, almost hallucinogenic quality? Southern gothic (US), magical realism (South America), even a book I read from a South African author the other year had a dreamy, hazy quality to parts of it. Btw, the author is not South American, nor is this set in South America as far as I can tell just a few pages in, but why did I feel that quality so immediately, only then to have it confirmed that the character is Argentinian?

[Guest]

I'm reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See and loving it! It totally hooked me...I will check back in with more after I finish it.

[Lady Florida.]

I'm reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See and loving it! It totally hooked me...I will check back in with more after I finish it.

 

Ooh, I read that with my book club a few years ago. Opinions were strong either for or against. Very few "meh" feelings towards that book. I loved it. The person who chose it for her month hated it.

[mumto2]

Stacia-- Believe me Nemo was not my choice.  Amazon Prime tv portion of prime just started in the UK.  We seem to be rewatching things that I watched many times when the dc's were little.  Dh never saw most.  I was actually forced to watch Disney's Tarzan the other night so Nemo rates as 5*.  :lol:  Dh falls asleep as soon as the movie starts.  The kids disappear and there I sit reading or knitting.  The second I touch the tv everyone complains -- they were watching.  Grrrrr.  Positive side of prime is I now have Spooks ( in US MI5 I think)and Dexter to watch.  

 

So how was our evening out?  I am sure I had a fabulous time! ;) Wish I had been there..........

[Stacia]

Stacia-- Believe me Nemo was not my choice.  Amazon Prime tv portion of prime just started in the UK.  We seem to be rewatching things that I watched many times when the dc's were little.  Dh never saw most.  I was actually forced to watch Disney's Tarzan the other night so Nemo rates as 5*.   :lol:  Dh falls asleep as soon as the movie starts.  The kids disappear and there I sit reading or knitting.  The second I touch the tv everyone complains -- they were watching.  Grrrrr.  Positive side of prime is I now have Spooks ( in US MI5 I think)and Dexter to watch.  

 

So how was our evening out?  I am sure I had a fabulous time! ;) Wish I had been there..........

 

Hey, I say that Mum should rule the remote! That way there can be no Tarzan or Nemo! :toetap05:

 

Funny thing is that I've always liked Kevin Costner just fine, but never made an effort to see his stuff or anything. However, dh & I thought this looked fun & boy, oh boy, I got the Costner bug from this movie! :tongue_smilie: Dh is at least happy I'm not picking toyboys (since Costner is older than my dh). :laugh:

 

My friend & I had fun... sort-of. She hadn't eaten all day & had been out in the sun, so she ended up getting a massive migraine about 2/3 of the way through. I sat w/ her in the parking lot (her car was at my house) until she felt ok enough for us to move, then we ran by my house so I could give my dh the keys to her car (so he could follow us & take her car home). I felt terrible for her (but she's feeling much better today).

 

Since she missed part of the movie, we're going back tomorrow night. Oh, darn. The things one does in the name of friendship.... :smilielol5:  (I will make sure she eats first so she can enjoy the *entire* movie.) :D

[shukriyya]

Wiped out today. Must have been the Easter bunny antics...all that egg hiding and clue making :lol: Anyway I have spent the better part of the day lying in the back seat of the car watching the wind move the trees and dozing. Seriously. Ds is at his Nature Day and it's too far from home to go back so I'm here for the day. No reading got done at all. Off to pick him up now.

[shukriyya]

Oh and btw, Stacia, I will always consider KC a toyboy :lol:

[Maus]

17. "Inferno" by Dan Brown. A nice, diverting read. Tried to start "Speaker for the Dead," but I wasn't able to focus. This was a better fit for my state of mind.

16. "The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches" by Alan Bradley.
15. "I Am Not Sick I Don't Need Help!" by Xavier Amador, Ph.D.
14. "How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare" by Ken Ludwig.
13. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
12. "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein.
11. "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card.
10. "With Healing in His Wings" ed. by Camille Fronk Olson & Thomas A. Wayment (LDS).
9. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by J.K. Rowling.
8. "The Good Knight" by Sarah Woodbury.
7. "Speaking From Among the Bones" by Alan Bradley.
6. "The Continuous Conversion" by Brad Wilcox (LDS).
5. "The Continuous Atonement" by Brad Wilcox (LDS).
4. "Finding Hope" by S. Michael Wilcox (LDS).
3. "When Your Prayers Seem Unanswered" by S. Michael Wilcox (LDS).
2. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling. (Read-aloud)
1. "The Peacegiver: How Christ Offers to Heal Our Hearts and Homes" by James L. Ferrell (LDS).

[Stacia]

Oh and btw, Stacia, I will always consider KC a toyboy :lol:

 

:001_tt2:

 

Hey, according to the Oxford Dictionary website, a toy boy is *younger* than his lover. In my case, that would definitely not be so. Hence, he is not a toy boy. It's also not a May-December thing because he's not really old enough to be my father either. :lol:

 

But he is easy on the eyes, wears his wrinkles well ;) , & I'll concede a point to you, regardless of the Oxford Dictionary definition.

 

[Stacia]

By the way, I took that quiz this morning to find my literary soulmate. Dostoevsky. Hmmm.

 

So, since we're on the subject of toy boys anyway, what did it say about the Dostoevsky match??? Any details/descriptions to share?

 

Hmmm. Since mine was Langston Hughes, I wonder how he & Kevin Costner would get along...? :laugh:

[mamaraby]

:001_tt2:

 

Hey, according to the Oxford Dictionary website, a toy boy is *younger* than his lover. In my case, that would definitely not be so. Hence, he is not a toy boy. It's also not a May-December thing because he's not really old enough to be my father either. :lol:

 

But he is easy on the eyes, wears his wrinkles well ;) , & I'll concede a point to you, regardless of the Oxford Dictionary definition.

 

ETA: Maybe man candy would be the more accurate term here?

Lol, over on Derfwad Manor they call it mancake. I don't get the Costner or Depp love, but it seems quite popular. :0)

[Stacia]

Lol, over on Derfwad Manor they call it mancake. I don't get the Costner or Depp love, but it seems quite popular. :0)

 

So who would your famous mancake be then?

 

Frankly, for me, I would have never guessed KC. He just appealed greatly to me in this movie, lol. Johnny Depp is fine -- love his uniqueness -- but he is not my mankcake sort. Not Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio either (other very popular choices). Daniel Craig is a decent choice, though. And Antonio Banderas.

 

I may need to start a mancake/man candy thread out on the regular board. :lol:

 

ETA: I started a separate thread in case you feel inclined to post there, any of my BaW friends. I figured this topic needed its own area & Robin would probably appreciate us not drooling on the screens here in the BaW thread. ;)

 

[mamaraby]

So who would your famous mancake be then?

 

Frankly, for me, I would have never guessed KC. He just appealed greatly to me in this movie, lol. Johnny Depp is fine -- love his uniqueness -- but he is not my mankcake sort. Not Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio either (other very popular choices). Daniel Craig is a decent choice, though. And Antonio Banderas.

 

I may need to start a mancake/man candy thread out on the regular board. :lol:

 

ETA: I started a separate thread in case you feel inclined to post there, any of my BaW friends. I figured this topic needed its own area & Robin would probably appreciate us not drooling on the screens here in the BaW thread. ;)

 

I don't know. I've never been real taken by the famous types. I will agree with you on Pitt/Dicaprio. Depp is quite popular over at Derfwad Manor. He and a folk art cat painting are sort of the mascot. Heather posted a picture of Anthony Bourdain lately that made one see him a totally new light, lol. Anway, if you're not of faint at heart, I can definitely recommend Heather's writing. She homeschooled her kids (one has graduated from college and the other just went to college) and has a unique take on things, fwiw.

 

As for books, I'm 80 pages from the end of Monuments Men. I think I just might finish it tonight!

[Violet Crown]

So, since we're on the subject of toy boys anyway, what did it say about the Dostoevsky match??? Any details/descriptions to share?

 

 

"You got: Fyodor Dostoevsky

 

You know the world is a depraved and twisted place, and you want a man who cuts through all the bull to what’s really at the dark heart of human nature. But, you also know that love is that glimmer of hope in the black kingdom of our souls, and you dream that your innocence and goodness will help heal this tormented bad boy…if only for a little while."

[Stacia]

What is Derfwad Manor?

[Stacia]

Oops. Double post.

[mamaraby]

What is Derfwad Manor?

Blog - http://www.derfwadmanor.com/

 

I think it's a bit more active on the facebook side, but I don't do the facebook thing. :0)

[Stacia]

"You got: Fyodor Dostoevsky

 

You know the world is a depraved and twisted place, and you want a man who cuts through all the bull to what’s really at the dark heart of human nature.

 

Violet Crown, I hate to say it, but it sounds like you & Fyodor might enjoy the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy together. ;)

[Violet Crown]

Violet Crown, I hate to say it, but it sounds like you & Fyodor might enjoy the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy together. ;)

I think it's more like, "You and Fyodor would enjoy a three-hour Lenten Vespers together. In a Siberian chapel. Followed by an impassioned discussion of morality, suffering, and the nature of the soul over glasses of vodka."

[Stacia]

I think it's more like, "You and Fyodor would enjoy a three-hour Lenten Vespers together. In a Siberian chapel. Followed by an impassioned discussion of morality, suffering, and the nature of the soul over glasses of vodka."

 

:lol:   Well, that's definitely a more upbeat scenario (imo) than reading 50 Shades.

[aggieamy]

I think it's more like, "You and Fyodor would enjoy a three-hour Lenten Vespers together. In a Siberian chapel. Followed by an impassioned discussion of morality, suffering, and the nature of the soul over glasses of vodka."

 

This is one of the funniest things I've read in the last three weeks.  Nobody else in my family would understand it though.  :)

[Mom-ninja.]

I finished Jeeves and the Wedding Bells and loved it. He caught the essence of Wodehouse and it was such a fun book.

[Pam in CT]

Good morning ladies!  Nice to see that the thread has already roamed far and wide, from chocolate to mancakes, and it's only Tuesday already!

 

I  had a busy week, with lots of cooking and cleaning and houseguests, but I'm finally digging out, and digging in to the garden awaiting outside (sigh...).

 

I finished: To the End of the Land, my 26 hour audio marathon by David Grossman.  I had chosen this for my Israel mini-unit, but I decided mid-stream to assign it as well to my 5/5/5 category of "war from women's vantage point"... it traces the journey, both physical and psychological, of a mother whose youngest son has just reached the end of his draft interval, but volunteers to extend his tour on the eve of a major offensive into Lebanon.  Terrified for his safety, and caught up in a sort of magical thinking, she sets off on a monthlong hike into the Gallilee so that she will be unreachable if the authorities come to notify her that he's been killed... she convinces a former lover, who himself was caught and tortured by the Egyptian army decades ago in the 1973 war, to accompany her.  It's complicated and exasperating and multilayered and difficult and very beautiful.  And, oh yeah, long.

 

Also, War Brides, by Helen Bryan.  This one I intentionally selected for my 5/5/5 "war from women's vantage point" category... I went through three distinct phases of reaction on this one... At first, as it focused on managing under food rationing and coming together to find a way to celebrate a wedding under constrained circumstances, etc, I liked it well enough though it wasn't anything remarkable... then an actual plot kicked in, somewhat to my surprise, and my sense of its possibilities stepped up... and then I was disappointed with the ending.  Ultimately: meh.

 

At the recommendation of a friend who is a Catholic nun, I read Joan Chittiser's The Friendship of Women: The Hidden Tradition of the Bible, which is about different aspects of female friendship, each aspect related to a different character in the Hebrew or Christian Bibles.  This was an interesting read for me (coming from a different tradition); a number of its insights about friendship were rich and resonant and made me really think about friendship within the context of women who have chosen, as both the author and my friend have done, to live out their lives in the society of other women and to the service of God and others.  The readings of the Biblical stories, on the other hand, seemed to me to be less insightful, even a bit strained.

 

And my eleven year old and I finished Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  I read this myself when I was about that age; and I read it with my now college age daughter when she was that age; and, well, it's a lovely book for young people, but I think especially girls, to read at that age.  

 

I also read a whole lot of Haggadot, the prayer books used for Passover seders, since after 20+ years of hosting them at our house I have decided to step it up and get a new one for next year....  When I announced this intention to the crowd assembled this year there was a near riot of protest--0 tradition dies hard!! -- but I am determined.  I haven't found the perfect one yet, but several boxes from Amazon are on their way to me now...

 

 

 

 

My daughter and I will next tackle John Green's Fault in our Stars, which several people on this thread have recommended... I'm listening to Anita Diamant's Day After Night, set in British-Mandated Palestine just after the end of WWII -- very good.  I'm also more or less ignoring the half-finished Celtic epic Tain, which I just cannot get make any sense at all of, although I will have either to commit myself to it, or return it, shortly, as it's nearing the end of its last renewal.

 

[mamaraby]

I finished Monuments Men last night. It feels weird to say that I enjoyed it given the content. I liked the perspective of the story, though - history through the lens of art. He even managed to tie it back in at the end comparing the Monuments Men of WWII and the lack of Monuments Men in Iraq and subsequent looting of the Baghdad Museum.

[Stacia]

Pam, though it is not told from a woman's viewpoint of war, City of Thieves popped into my head with your mention of celebrating a wedding under constrained circumstances. As mamaraby says, how can you really say a war book is enjoyable, but that's what I think of City of Thieves. It is set during the siege of Leningrad, yet the author really presents the humanity, absurdity, & sometimes even humor amidst the horror.

 

http://www.amazon.com/City-Thieves-Novel-David-Benioff/dp/0452295297/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398172612&sr=1-1&keywords=City+of+thieves

[Pam in CT]

Pam, though it is not told from a woman's viewpoint of war, City of Thieves popped into my head with your mention of celebrating a wedding under constrained circumstances. As mamaraby says, how can you really say a war book is enjoyable, but that's what I think of City of Thieves. It is set during the siege of Leningrad, yet the author really presents the humanity, absurdity, & sometimes even humor amidst the horror.

 

http://www.amazon.com/City-Thieves-Novel-David-Benioff/dp/0452295297/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398172612&sr=1-1&keywords=City+of+thieves

 

This looks fascinating; I just put in on library hold.  Re: siege of Leningrad -- did you ever read The Siege, by Helen Dunmore?  I read it for an IRL book group when it first came out -- my eldest was a baby, so it must have been close to 20 years ago.  I still remember it vividly. As you say, hardly "enjoyable," but it sure has stuck with me.

[mumto2]

Well I finished Shadow Spell by Nora Roberts before overdrive took it away.  Not quite sure what to say because if it had been that genre of book by someone other than Nora Roberts I would be giving it a satisfied thumbs up I suspect,  but it is by Nora Roberts and doesn't feel like it at all.  These characters aren't particularly fun, sort of just get the job done types. I haven't fallen in love with any of them which I normally do with her's.  Has she gone the way of James Patterson with others doing the writing for some storylines?  The last JD Robb was great, which is why I am wondering if she has handed off some of her work to others.

 

I also finished The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey.  Loved it.  So thank you to whoever recommended it. Because of all my googling I have learned much about Richard III and the Neville Family who interest me in general.  Maybe my 5/5/5 should be adjusted to reflect this.  ;)  I have read 2 so far and have requested a stack of resource materials.  Anyway great book. 

 

 

[mumto2]

Just returned from my random pick experience with Margaret Mayhew's Three Silent Things.  http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Three_Silent_Things.html?id=cgf1QgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y  I had to have a second go also because first go led me to a shelf with James Patterson exclusively.  Not only have I read most but am trying to quit reading his books!  I ended up with one that looks enjoyable and I have never read anything by her, perhaps not as out of my comfort range as Robin was hoping for but better then Patterson. ;)

 

I had dc's pick 3 numbers -- 1 to 26 for letter of the alphabet,  they picked O (one shelf ended with n and the next started with P, no O's) then  1  to 5 for which shelf in the group that houses my letter, then    1 to 10 for which book on shelf,  started counting randomly was the plan but not many on shelf so number 9 won.

[shukriyya]

This looks fascinating; I just put in on library hold.  Re: siege of Leningrad -- did you ever read The Siege, by Helen Dunmore?  I read it for an IRL book group when it first came out -- my eldest was a baby, so it must have been close to 20 years ago.  I still remember it vividly. As you say, hardly "enjoyable," but it sure has stuck with me.

 

Well, your link sent me on a little Helen Dunmore trek. While searching for the title you referenced in our library data base my eye was drawn to another of her novels, A Spell of Winter, the title intrigued me. Not for the faint of heart but the similarities with Bronte drew me in so that's been requested as has The Siege and lastly her book of poems, Out of the Blue. Did you know that she's also written a lot of YA books? Since the references to her writing are full of laudatory terms I'm thinking this might be an author for ds to check out. The first in one series is called Ingo and it looks intriguing.

[shukriyya]

Here is one of Helen Dunmore's poems...

 

Giraffes in Hull

Walking at all angles
to where the sky ends,
wantons with crane-yellow necks
and scarlet legs
stepping eastward, big eyes
supping the horizon.
 

Watch them as they go, the giraffes
breast-high to heaven,
herding the clouds.
Only Hull has enough sky for them.

[Robin M]

So who would your famous mancake be then?

 

Frankly, for me, I would have never guessed KC. He just appealed greatly to me in this movie, lol. Johnny Depp is fine -- love his uniqueness -- but he is not my mankcake sort. Not Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio either (other very popular choices). Daniel Craig is a decent choice, though. And Antonio Banderas.

 

I may need to start a mancake/man candy thread out on the regular board. :lol:

 

ETA: I started a separate thread in case you feel inclined to post there, any of my BaW friends. I figured this topic needed its own area & Robin would probably appreciate us not drooling on the screens here in the BaW thread. ;)

 

Right, no drooling unless its over a book.   Especially since Costner's ranks up there with Nicolas Cage, Chris Christopherson, Steven Segal and Wil Ferrell in the category of actors who can't act for me.  :leaving:

 

Well I finished Shadow Spell by Nora Roberts before overdrive took it away.  Not quite sure what to say because if it had been that genre of book by someone other than Nora Roberts I would be giving it a satisfied thumbs up I suspect,  but it is by Nora Roberts and doesn't feel like it at all.  These characters aren't particularly fun, sort of just get the job done types. I haven't fallen in love with any of them which I normally do with her's.  Has she gone the way of James Patterson with others doing the writing for some storylines?  The last JD Robb was great, which is why I am wondering if she has handed off some of her work to others.

 

I also finished The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey.  Loved it.  So thank you to whoever recommended it. Because of all my googling I have learned much about Richard III and the Neville Family who interest me in general.  Maybe my 5/5/5 should be adjusted to reflect this.   ;)  I have read 2 so far and have requested a stack of resource materials.  Anyway great book. 

Someone actually bluntly asked Roberts that question on her facebook page and got a very heated response from her. Roberts was highly insulted by the suggestion she had ever used a ghost writer.  I admit the last In Death book was kind of off kilter, but I am enjoying the ODwyer series.  She's not going to hit every book out of the ballpark. 

[Pam in CT]

Well, your link sent me on a little Helen Dunmore trek. While searching for the title you referenced in our library data base my eye was drawn to another of her novels, A Spell of Winter, the title intrigued me. Not for the faint of heart but the similarities with Bronte drew me in so that's been requested as has The Siege and lastly her book of poems, Out of the Blue. Did you know that she's also written a lot of YA books? Since the references to her writing are full of laudatory terms I'm thinking this might be an author for ds to check out. The first in one series is called Ingo and it looks intriguing.

 

Huh.  No, I don't think I've ever read anything else by her...  let me know about her poems.  I'm still looking for one more modern woman!

[Stacia]

This looks fascinating; I just put in on library hold.  Re: siege of Leningrad -- did you ever read The Siege, by Helen Dunmore?  I read it for an IRL book group when it first came out -- my eldest was a baby, so it must have been close to 20 years ago.  I still remember it vividly. As you say, hardly "enjoyable," but it sure has stuck with me.

 

Will have to check it out. Thanks!

 

Just returned from my random pick experience with Margaret Mayhew's Three Silent Things.  http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Three_Silent_Things.html?id=cgf1QgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y  I had to have a second go also because first go led me to a shelf with James Patterson exclusively.  Not only have I read most but am trying to quit reading his books!  I ended up with one that looks enjoyable and I have never read anything by her, perhaps not as out of my comfort range as Robin was hoping for but better then Patterson. ;)

 

I had dc's pick 3 numbers -- 1 to 26 for letter of the alphabet,  they picked O (one shelf ended with n and the next started with P, no O's) then  1  to 5 for which shelf in the group that houses my letter, then    1 to 10 for which book on shelf,  started counting randomly was the plan but not many on shelf so number 9 won.

 

Glad to see that I'm not the only one who bent the rules a little bit. :laugh:

 

Right, no drooling unless its over a book.   Especially since Costner's ranks up there with Nicolas Cage, Chris Christopherson, Steven Segal and Wil Ferrell in the category of actors who can't act for me.  :leaving:

 

Honey, I'm not looking at his acting skills. Just sayin' ;) :lol:

[Stacia]

I know some of you don't regularly read WTM threads other than this one, but I wanted to post this link to a thread that veritas posted:

 

Brazil Allows Some Prisoners to Shorten their Sentences By Reading Literary/Philosophical Books

[shukriyya]

Huh.  No, I don't think I've ever read anything else by her...  let me know about her poems.  I'm still looking for one more modern woman!

 

Gwendolyn MacEwen...stunning, haunting, scholarly, evocative...

[mumto2]

Here is one of Helen Dunmore's poems...

 

Giraffes in Hull

 

Walking at all angles

to where the sky ends,

wantons with crane-yellow necks

and scarlet legs

stepping eastward, big eyes

supping the horizon.

 

Watch them as they go, the giraffes

breast-high to heaven,

herding the clouds.

Only Hull has enough sky for them.

Can't resist providing a link to what I suspect is the setting for your poem http://www.visithullandeastyorkshire.com/thedms.aspx?dms=3&venue=2173292 .  It is an incredible nature reserve to visit near Hull.

[shukriyya]

Can't resist providing a link to what I suspect is the setting for your poem http://www.visithullandeastyorkshire.com/thedms.aspx?dms=3&venue=2173292 .  It is an incredible nature reserve to visit near Hull.

 

Oh, loveliness! And incidentally as I was posting that poem, I thought, I wonder if mumto2 knows this place.

[Angel]

 

My daughter and I will next tackle John Green's Fault in our Stars, which several people on this thread have recommended... 

 

My 19yo read this book earlier in the year.  She loved it but was surprised when she found out that my 12yo niece had read it.  She didn't feel it was appropriate for that age range and said she certainly wouldn't let her 13yo sister read it.  I personally haven't read it.  I don't do sad.

 

Just thought I'd give a head's up just in case.  I know everyone's standards are different.  ;)

[Onceuponatime]

My poem for today: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/241884

 

"Earth Day" by Jane Yolen

 

I spent half the day with my hands in the earth. It was a beautiful day here. I'm still reading A Red Herring Without Mustard and enjoying it.

 

P.S. My husband likes Kevin Costner more than I do. We have to watch A Field of Dreams at least once a year. I think he wants to live that movie. I go for mostly darkly handsome and sophisticated, with an accent .

[Pam in CT]

Gwendolyn MacEwen...stunning, haunting, scholarly, evocative...

 

I'll take a look!  Thank you.

 

 

My 19yo read this book earlier in the year.  She loved it but was surprised when she found out that my 12yo niece had read it.  She didn't feel it was appropriate for that age range and said she certainly wouldn't let her 13yo sister read it.  I personally haven't read it.  I don't do sad.

 

Just thought I'd give a head's up just in case.  I know everyone's standards are different.  ;)

 

Hmmm... thank you for the heads up... the horse may have already left the barn... and in general, if content is  borderline I'd rather read it with her, than have her read it on her own.  

 

I censor pretty heavily, I mean, I am quite selective about reading material, until the tween years or so... after that... well, I remember myself inhaling authors like Suzy Hinton and  Joanna Greenberg and that ilk... it was as if I needed to, to make sense of the world around me.  My eldest went through a discouraging phase in those years of reading these gawd awful Devil Wears Prada kinds of books (!!), which imo are at least as bad... but in both cases we came around....  The 11 yo is currently inhaling every dystopian series ever written, far too fast for me to keep up with her (nor.do.I.care; life is too short).  Cancer, in comparison, sounds fairly close to earth, if very sad.  But we'll see!

[shukriyya]

My poem for today: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/241884

 

"Earth Day" by Jane Yolen

 

I spent half the day with my hands in the earth. It was a beautiful day here. I'm still reading A Red Herring Without Mustard and enjoying it.

 

P.S. My husband likes Kevin Costner more than I do. We have to watch A Field of Dreams at least once a year. I think he wants to live that movie. I go for mostly darkly handsome and sophisticated, with an accent .

 

Re the bolded...I used to like Marcello Mastroianni for that reason. But not a lot of the guys right now do it for me so I posted woman candy awesomeness in Stacia's frivolous thread :lol:

 

[Rosie_0801]

I also finished The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey.  Loved it.  So thank you to whoever recommended it. Because of all my googling I have learned much about Richard III and the Neville Family who interest me in general.  

 

My children's paternal ancestors, as it happens! 

[Stacia]

I go for mostly darkly handsome and sophisticated, with an accent .

 

Me too. That's why I can't figure out why my standards have changed in the past week or so, lol.

[shukriyya]

Me too. That's why I can't figure out why my standards have changed in the past week or so, lol.

 

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Hormones?

 

[Stacia]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Hormones?

 

 

Could be. Whatever the reason... I don't mind. At all. ;) :laugh:

[shukriyya]

Same could be said for me, I suppose. I've developed a fascination with Beyonce whereas previously there was *no* love. I'm gonna say my standards have made a lateral shift. 'Cause she's pretty awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

[Stacia]

12 Gorgeous Business Cards For Famous Historical Figures

With these, Jane Austen could’ve been SO good at networking.

 

Love these!

[mamaraby]

12 Gorgeous Business Cards For Famous Historical Figures

With these, Jane Austen could’ve been SO good at networking.

 

Love these!

Jaw, meet floor. Those are gorgeous!

[JennW in SoCal]

Robin, it's all your fault!   I spent money on several books today when I have a nice TBR stack and a couple of books in progress.

 

I tried the random book selection method at Barnes and Noble today, but being the non-conformist rogue that I am, decided I didn't want to read any of the books I found.  So I found myself in front of the "buy 2 get 1 free" table and saw all sorts of titles BaWers have praised over the last 2 years and came home with the first Flavia book, which I'm already 100 pages into, The Night Circus, and Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks.  I also picked up a travel book on Great Britain as we are thinking of heading there next year.  

 

I'm at a point in my book buying addiction where I want to hide my most recent purchases from my dh -- tuck them in different rooms so the growing piles don't look so obvious...