Jane in NC Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Loved, loved the book, The French Lieutenant's Woman! So did I which made walking on the The Cobb at Lyme Regis all the more wonderful! Do tell! Regards, Kareni Paul Lehr and his wife came to dinner, a casual family meal more than a dinner party. Paul excused himself to use the facilities which proved to be for a bit longer than expected. When he returned, he admitted some embarrassment, saying that he was completely captivated by a book that was in our bathroom. Our son was about three years old at the time and the book was his copy of Everyone Poops. Sci Fi Illustrator Paul Lehr loved it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Kareni, thanks for the mention of the dot-to-dot book. Dd loves intricate stuff like that (complex dot-to-dots, intricate coloring books, paper dolls), which she does to relax while listening to music. We just went out to eat & she was toting along one of her dot-to-dots to do while waiting on our food. (Yes, my dd is 16.) Lol. Oh, I think I remember that story, Jane! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Jane, I'm jealous that you've walked the Cobb. I picture Persuasion, and Remarkable Creatures. And we, too, owned that book! Still do! In fact we still quote it today, much to dd19's dismay... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Historical cozy mystery lovers, my perusing on the Amazon kindle store has yielded this new-to-me series by M. Louisa Locke set in Victorian San Francisco. The first book, Maids of Misfortune, is on sale for .99 cents. I'm not generally a mystery reader but this one looks intriguing. Mumto2, I'm thinking perhaps you'd like this as well... It’s the summer of 1879, and Annie Fuller, a young San Francisco widow, is in trouble. Annie’s husband squandered her fortune before committing suicide five years earlier, and one of his creditors is now threatening to take the boardinghouse she owns to pay off a debt.Annie Fuller also has a secret. She supplements her income by giving domestic and business advice as Madam Sibyl, one of San Francisco’s most exclusive clairvoyants, and one of Madam Sibyl’s clients, Matthew Voss, has died. The police believe his death was suicide brought upon by bankruptcy, but Annie believes Voss has been murdered and that his assets have been stolen.Nate Dawson has a problem. As the Voss family lawyer, he would love to believe that Matthew Voss didn't leave his grieving family destitute. But that would mean working with Annie Fuller, a woman who alternatively attracts and infuriates him as she shatters every notion he ever had of proper ladylike behavior.Sparks fly as Anne and Nate pursue the truth about the murder of Matthew Voss in this light-hearted, cozy historical mystery set in the foggy gas-lit world of Victorian San Francisco.Maids of Misfortune is the first book in M. Louisa Locke’s historical mystery series, see also, Uneasy Spirits, and Bloody Lessons, as well as the two short stories based on the characters from the novels, Dandy Detects, and The Misses Moffet Mend a Marriage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink and Green Mom Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Finished books 39 and 40 this week - I'm Having So Much Fun Here Without You, by Courtney Maum and One Plus One, by Jojo Moyes. And Kareni, thanks for that Dot to Dot book - my youngest would love that. He's quite a chatterbox so I may just have to order that to get some much needed mid-summer peace and quiet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Okay BaWers, we just finished watching an astonishing movie called Tim's Vermeer. Highly recommended. Several BaWers come most immediately to mind in terms of enjoying it but I think most folks here would find it compelling, fascinating and yes, astonishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I don't own this book, but it certainly looks like fun if you are or have a dot to dot fan who is a budding city planner -- The 1000 Dot-to-Dot Book: Cityscapes: Twenty Exotic Locations to Complete Yourself by Thomas Pavitte Regards, Kareni I just took a look at this as my ds is an 'extreme dot-to-dot' enthusiast--not that he's extreme but that the dot-to-dot exercises he likes are entitled 'extreme' due to their size. Anyway, looking at the sheer and intricate scope of some of these, which I think he'd enjoy, made me want to run far, far away :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Will have to seek out that movie, shukriyya. Thanks! Also, for those that have read Mary Doria Russell's book The Sparrow, you might find this news item interesting. Maybe it's aliens??? I totally thought of her book when it mentioned Arecibo & a mysterious radio signal from space.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Historical cozy mystery lovers, my perusing on the Amazon kindle store has yielded this new-to-me series by M. Louisa Locke set in Victorian San Francisco. The first book, Maids of Misfortune, is on sale for .99 cents. I'm not generally a mystery reader but this one looks intriguing. Mumto2, I'm thinking perhaps you'd like this as well... It’s the summer of 1879, and Annie Fuller, a young San Francisco widow, is in trouble. Annie’s husband squandered her fortune before committing suicide five years earlier, and one of his creditors is now threatening to take the boardinghouse she owns to pay off a debt. Annie Fuller also has a secret. She supplements her income by giving domestic and business advice as Madam Sibyl, one of San Francisco’s most exclusive clairvoyants, and one of Madam Sibyl’s clients, Matthew Voss, has died. The police believe his death was suicide brought upon by bankruptcy, but Annie believes Voss has been murdered and that his assets have been stolen. Nate Dawson has a problem. As the Voss family lawyer, he would love to believe that Matthew Voss didn't leave his grieving family destitute. But that would mean working with Annie Fuller, a woman who alternatively attracts and infuriates him as she shatters every notion he ever had of proper ladylike behavior. Sparks fly as Anne and Nate pursue the truth about the murder of Matthew Voss in this light-hearted, cozy historical mystery set in the foggy gas-lit world of Victorian San Francisco. Maids of Misfortune is the first book in M. Louisa Locke’s historical mystery series, see also, Uneasy Spirits, and Bloody Lessons, as well as the two short stories based on the characters from the novels, Dandy Detects, and The Misses Moffet Mend a Marriage. I know these are good because I have read most of them. ;) When I first got my kindle, roughly 4 years ago, this series and a few others appeared as free over a few months. One book at a time. I was very good about checking the free ones because most of my reading was on the kindle. My stored kindle library is huge and filled with a huge assortment. I have to confess that I crashed my first kindle because of these free books. I now keep the majority off the device, learned my lesson. I haven't read many of them but have been bumping into them because the library kindle overdrive doesn't complete the check out if the book exists in your account. Has happened a few times mainly with first books in a series because when a new release occurred the first in the series book was frequentlyfree for a day when kindle first started. Hope that makes sense. I don't own this book, but it certainly looks like fun if you are or have a dot to dot fan who is a budding city planner -- The 1000 Dot-to-Dot Book: Cityscapes: Twenty Exotic Locations to Complete Yourself by Thomas Pavitte Regards, Kareni Great idea Kareni. Both dc's used to love dot to dots. We had a similar book of mythical creatures from a clearance table that they did at one point long ago. I didn't know other books like this were available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onceuponatime Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I put the dot-to-dot on my pinterest Christmas list board. My 10yo is into extreme dot to dot. I'm resisting all the new book links. I already feel overwhelmed by my own lists. Drop Dead Healthy has been a therapeutic read. Nothing like chuckling over someone else's foibles and obsessions for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I have a 5 yr old so I'm still reading Everyone Poops every other day. I've been reading it for 12 years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I'm 91% of the way through 'The Golem and the Jinni' and it is still holding my interest with vigor. This is likely going to be one of my top ten for the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Truman Capote Was a Psychopath and Other Revelations About Harper Lee’s Life From ‘The Mockingbird Next Door’ Didn't one of you gals read this book about Harper Lee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I started reading a book I've had on my wishlist for a couple years. Eh, I'm just not interested in it anymore. Oddly, I feel obligated to read it because it's been on my tbr list for so long and because I requested it through inter-library loan. Trying to decide if I should move on or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Trying to decide if I should move on or not. My vote -- move on. Life is too short to waste on a boring book. You can always revisit the book in the future. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I got completely sidetracked when I started a really enjoyable book set in Laos that has been in my stack for quite awhile. The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill. An elderly doctor is appointed the head coroner for the country of Loas in the mid 1970's. This is work of fiction but interesting in terms of life in a newly communist country. This is the first in a mystery series. Going to request the next one. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I got completely sidetracked when I started a really enjoyable book set in Laos that has been in my stack for quite awhile. The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill. An elderly doctor is appointed the head coroner for the country of Loas in the mid 1970's. This is work of fiction but interesting in terms of life in a newly communist country. This is the first in a mystery series. Going to request the next one. :) Thanks for the suggestion. I have really enjoyed a number of mysteries on the Soho crime imprint. They are often set in exotic locations so that I feel I am experiencing a vicarious travel experience while solving the mystery. Well last night I picked up a very silly book from the dusty stack, The Devil in Amber by Mark Gatiss, yes the Mark Gatiss who plays Mycroft in the new Sherlock series but is also a writer for that series and Doctor Who. His detective Lucifer Box is quite the rake. The book is silly but potentially offensive to some given Box's proclivities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Truman Capote Was a Psychopath and Other Revelations About Harper Lee’s Life From ‘The Mockingbird Next Door’ Didn't one of you gals read this book about Harper Lee? Well, I did read a biography of Harper Lee but it was entitled 'Mockingbird.' It did discuss the craziness of Capote. It was a good book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 I don't own this book, but it certainly looks like fun if you are or have a dot to dot fan who is a budding city planner -- The 1000 Dot-to-Dot Book: Cityscapes: Twenty Exotic Locations to Complete Yourself by Thomas Pavitte Regards, Kareni How neat - just had to get one - for me or my kid. I could call it educational. :lol: So did I which made walking on the The Cobb at Lyme Regis all the more wonderful! Paul Lehr and his wife came to dinner, a casual family meal more than a dinner party. Paul excused himself to use the facilities which proved to be for a bit longer than expected. When he returned, he admitted some embarrassment, saying that he was completely captivated by a book that was in our bathroom. Our son was about three years old at the time and the book was his copy of Everyone Poops. Sci Fi Illustrator Paul Lehr loved it! Reminds me of the book we got way back when called Once Upon a Potty. I'm still immersed in the Nalini Singh Psy Changeling world and on #10 Hawk's story - Kiss of Snow. Books added to my stacks this week: Alice LaPlante's huge book - The Making of a Story: Norton guide to creative writing and about to embark on an indepth year long study with group of writers online. Also Mark Helprin's A Soldier of the Great War which looking forward to reading soon. Speaking of Helprin, hubby will be out late tonight so going to watch Winter's Tale. Plus Thomas Merton's The Ascent to Truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I started reading a book I've had on my wishlist for a couple years. Eh, I'm just not interested in it anymore. Oddly, I feel obligated to read it because it's been on my tbr list for so long and because I requested it through inter-library loan. Trying to decide if I should move on or not. This is the way I look at it ... I'm 32 and my grandparents lived into their 80's. That means I've probably got about 54 years left. I generally read about 65 books a year. Likely I'm only going to be able to read 3,510 more books in my life. That makes it easier for me to put down a book that isn't capturing my attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 How neat - just had to get one - for me or my kid. I could call it educational. :lol: Reminds me of the book we got way back when called Once Upon a Potty. I'm still immersed in the Nalini Singh Psy Changeling world and on #10 Hawk's story - Kiss of Snow. Books added to my stacks this week: Alice LaPlante's huge book - The Making of a Story: Norton guide to creative writing and about to embark on an indepth year long study with group of writers online. Also Mark Helprin's A Soldier of the Great War which looking forward to reading soon. Speaking of Helprin, hubby will be out late tonight so going to watch Winter's Tale. Plus Thomas Merton's The Ascent to Truth. This bathroom really made me laugh. We will need to remodel ours in the next few years and I thought about showing this to dh and telling him this is what I want. :lol: Fortunately he wasn't home, afraid if he thought I even sort of wanted that shower I would still be waiting for my new bathroom in 20 years. It would be fun in a themed B&B or something similar. Can't imagine daily use. Thanks for the suggestion. I have really enjoyed a number of mysteries on the Soho crime imprint. They are often set in exotic locations so that I feel I am experiencing a vicarious travel experience while solving the mystery. Well last night I picked up a very silly book from the dusty stack, The Devil in Amber by Mark Gatiss, yes the Mark Gatiss who plays Mycroft in the new Sherlock series but is also a writer for that series and Doctor Who. His detective Lucifer Box is quite the rake. The book is silly but potentially offensive to some given Box's proclivities. I almost put in my post that you would like that one Jane. It was an interesting read. I went ahead and requested the first Mark Gatiss. I love him as Mycroft, not a huge Sherlock fan but I do watch it. Mycroft is one of the good bits. ;) I started reading a book I've had on my wishlist for a couple years. Eh, I'm just not interested in it anymore. Oddly, I feel obligated to read it because it's been on my tbr list for so long and because I requested it through inter-library loan. Trying to decide if I should move on or not. The piles of books I am accumulating in my save the library campaign are teaching me how to discard. If I really don't click with the book I am starting to put it down no matter how long I have waited for it. The thing that is hard to do is quit when you are a hundred or more pages in. If you are meant to read it you will come back to it (or it will appear on a table of bargain priced books!) This is the way I look at it ... I'm 32 and my grandparents lived into their 80's. That means I've probably got about 54 years left. I generally read about 65 books a year. Likely I'm only going to be able to read 3,510 more books in my life. That makes it easier for me to put down a book that isn't capturing my attention. Oh Amy, never looked at it quite like that before and I am quite a bit older! Another great reason to discard what we don't love. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I brought home the book Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World by Mark Miodownik today for my husband; he did some reading in it and says that it's quite engaging. He shared the snippet that the Romans were the first (known) to make concrete and that the dome on the Pantheon is made of concrete and still standing after 2000 years. "An eye-opening adventure deep inside the everyday materials that surround us, packed with surprising stories and fascinating science Why is glass see-through? What makes elastic stretchy? Why does a paper clip bend? Why does any material look and behave the way it does? These are the sorts of questions that Mark Miodownik is constantly asking himself. A globally-renowned materials scientist, Miodownik has spent his life exploring objects as ordinary as an envelope and as unexpected as concrete cloth, uncovering the fascinating secrets that hold together our physical world. In Stuff Matters, Miodownik entertainingly examines the materials he encounters in a typical morning, from the steel in his razor and the graphite in his pencil to the foam in his sneakers and the concrete in a nearby skyscraper. He offers a compendium of the most astounding histories and marvelous scientific breakthroughs in the material world, including: The imprisoned alchemist who saved himself from execution by creating the first European porcelain. The hidden gem of the Milky Way, a planet five times the size of Earth, made entirely of diamond. Graphene, the thinnest, strongest, stiffest material in existence—only a single atom thick—that could be used to make entire buildings sensitive to touch.From the teacup to the jet engine, the silicon chip to the paper clip, the plastic in our appliances to the elastic in our underpants, our lives are overflowing with materials. Full of enthralling tales of the miracles of engineering that permeate our lives, Stuff Matters will make you see stuff in a whole new way." My dad is a retired chemical engineer, and this is the kind of thing he breathes. Materials! Look kids, here's paper that doesn't tear, a rubber ball that doesn't bounce, and why? Well really the intriguing question is why normal paper does tear, why a normal rubber ball does bounce.... I may have to tip him off about the book, so he can start his Christmas shopping for the grandkids. Those Ludmila Zeman books are just lovely, and the illustrations are great. I also read Geraldine McCaughrean's version with each of my kids in turn, also terrific for a slightly older audience. Bernarda Bryson's version is also a good older children's version. http://www.amazon.com/Gilgamesh-Bernarda-Bryson/dp/1477589864 50 Essential Cult Novels Have read some, some have been on my mental to-read list for years.... I Capture the Castle is on there, lol. I see Alasdair Gray's Lanark is on the list; that's the last book from my Scottish reading pile and probably a sign I should get to it soon! So did I which made walking on the The Cobb at Lyme Regis all the more wonderful! Paul Lehr and his wife came to dinner, a casual family meal more than a dinner party. Paul excused himself to use the facilities which proved to be for a bit longer than expected. When he returned, he admitted some embarrassment, saying that he was completely captivated by a book that was in our bathroom. Our son was about three years old at the time and the book was his copy of Everyone Poops. Sci Fi Illustrator Paul Lehr loved it! Anecdote wins the thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Last night I finished W. E. B. DuBois' The Souls of Black Folk, which (of course) was deeply moving and thought-provoking. If you haven't read it, it's a collection of essays, connected by the recurring symbol of the Veil, the barrier between black and white in America, but not in a sociological sense. Rather it's an obscuring of vision that prevents the races from seeing the lives of the other, and interferes with self-understanding. The chapter on the death of his infant son from diptheria made me want to go cuddle my girls and cry. Wee Girl just read Stuart Little for the first time. She said it was better than Charlotte's Web (death makes her anxious), but she wasn't sure about some of it and would have to read it again. That's my girl! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 This is the way I look at it ... I'm 32 and my grandparents lived into their 80's. That means I've probably got about 54 years left. I generally read about 65 books a year. Likely I'm only going to be able to read 3,510 more books in my life. That makes it easier for me to put down a book that isn't capturing my attention. Yes, life is too short to read books I don't really want to read. I want enough time to read every single book I want to read. I guess we always have some books that are more in the "should read" category that we must dig into our perseverance reserves. This book is not one of them. My older boys have read Stuart Little. Both were disappointed with the ending. They said it felt unfinished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I finished 'The Golem and the Jinni' last night. The ending was a bit of a disappointment but not enough to remove it from my 'top ten of the year' list. Apparently the author became pregnant part way through the writing of it and the due dates--for the book and the baby--were two weeks apart. Baby won and she finished writing the book amidst the exhilarating but exhausting first few weeks of new motherhood. I'm now between books. I looked over my 5/5 challenge and am doing fairly well with it. Most categories are 3/5 and some 2/5. I'm tempted to take a little 5/5 break with my next book and try the Victorian San Francisco mystery or else the second in the fluffy steampunk series, Magnificent Devices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Yesterday I read Not Quite a Wife (Lost Lords) by Mary Jo Putney. It's a historical romance, the most recent in a series. "James, Lord Kirkland, owns a shipping fleet, half a London gaming house, and is a ruthlessly effective spymaster. He is seldom self-indulgent...except when it comes to the gentle, indomitable beauty who was once his wife. Laurel Herbert gave James her heart as an innocent young girl - until she saw him perform an act of shocking violence before her very eyes. That night she left her husband, and he let her go without a word of protest. Now, ten years later, a chance encounter turns passionate, with consequences that cannot be ignored. But as they try to rebuild what was broken, they must face common enemies and a very uncommon love." It was a pleasant read. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onceuponatime Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I'm now reading Paris in the Twentieth Century, a "lost" novel by Jules Verne. It is utopian/dystopian. It takes place in Paris, 1960, one hundred years from the writing. Education has merged into a single entity with Industrialization and Capitalism. The arts and humanities are passe'. Spoken French is out, Chinese is in. Elevated bullet trains traverse the city. Underneath them, hydrogen powered "carriages" silently crawl the streets. Horse drawn vehicles are not allowed on the roads after 10 am. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I'm now reading Paris in the Twentieth Century, a "lost" novel by Jules Verne. It is utopian/dystopian. It takes place in Paris 1960, one hundred years from the writing. Education has merged into a single entity with Industrialization and Capitalism. The arts and humanities are passe'. Spoken French is out, Chinese is in. Elevated bullet trains traverse the city. Underneath them, hydrogen powered "carriages" silently crawl the streets. Horse drawn vehicles are not allowed on the roads after 10 am. :D That sounds pretty interesting. I'm looking forward to your final review too. After my foray last year into Antarctica with Poe, Lovecraft, & Verne (plus the mention of Verne's neat/tidy office in Nellie Bly's book), I still think of Felix Unger when I hear Verne's name. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Powell's has some summer reading on sale for 30% off: http://www.powells.com/subjects/fiction-and-poetry/summer-reading-sale/?utm_source=specials&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spec_summerreading_071214&utm_term=68200783&utm_content=SummerReading%20Sale%20IMG&j=68200783&e=svlinden@bellsouth.net&l=724544_HTML&u=587416376&mid=48972&jb=0 Quite a few goodies there like A Tale for the Time Being, The Golem and the Jinni, The Cuckoo's Calling, Life After Life, And the Mountains Echoed, etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 A History of the World in 6 Glasses is a kindle daily deal at $1.99. The premise looks interesting... From beer to Coca-Cola, the six drinks that have helped shape human history. Throughout human history certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. As Tom Standage relates with authority and charm, six of them have had a surprisingly pervasive influence on the course of history, becoming the defining drink during a pivotal historical period.A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. Beer was first made in the Fertile Crescent and by 3000 B.C.E. was so important to Mesopotamia and Egypt that it was used to pay wages. In ancient Greece wine became the main export of her vast seaborne trade, helping spread Greek culture abroad. Spirits such as brandy and rum fueled the Age of Exploration, fortifying seamen on long voyages and oiling the pernicious slave trade. Although coffee originated in the Arab world, it stoked revolutionary thought in Europe during the Age of Reason, when coffeehouses became centers of intellectual exchange. And hundreds of years after the Chinese began drinking tea, it became especially popular in Britain, with far-reaching effects on British foreign policy. Finally, though carbonated drinks were invented in 18th-century Europe they became a 20th-century phenomenon, and Coca-Cola in particular is the leading symbol of globalization. For Tom Standage, each drink is a kind of technology, a catalyst for advancing culture by which he demonstrates the intricate interplay of different civilizations. You may never look at your favorite drink the same way again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Well another week has went by without me finishing a book! Bummer! I was sick with a fever all week and just didn't feel like anything but surfing the internet and watching tv. Part of the problem is I'm reading The Monuments Men, which I am really enjoying, but I read non-fiction very slowly. I need to pick up a Georgette Heyer or Joan Smith, I think, to just get through a book. And as an aside, I love you guys! I was doing some searching out on the regular forum this week. :eek: I was reminded why I stay in this safe little section of the board where we can't discuss things that are disturbing to me! *Shiver* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Well another week has went by without me finishing a book! Bummer! I was sick with a fever all week and just didn't feel like anything but surfing the internet and watching tv. Part of the problem is I'm reading The Monuments Men, which I am really enjoying, but I read non-fiction very slowly. I need to pick up a Georgette Heyer or Joan Smith, I think, to just get through a book. And as an aside, I love you guys! I was doing some searching out on the regular forum this week. :eek: I was reminded why I stay in this safe little section of the board where we can't discuss things that are disturbing to me! *Shiver* Angel, I hope that you are feeling better now. There is something extraordinarily miserable about summer fevers! Forgot to mention that I finished listening to The Moon and Sixpence. I too tend to slog through non-fiction; the book that I was reading on olive oil (Extra Virginity: the Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil) had to be returned to the library. Will I borrow it again to finish it? Not sure but it is certainly not one of those pressing books (pun intended!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 A History of the World in 6 Glasses is a kindle daily deal at $1.99. The premise looks interesting... I used this book as the core of my youngest's high school history class one year. It was a handy way of dividing the timeline of world history with an interesting perspective and clever connections. We'd read a section on a particular beverage then read literature associated with the time, watch related teaching company lectures. It was one of my all time favorite mommy-designed courses and was our last official year of full-time homeschooling before he "fired" me and finished up at community college, lol! The book makes for good cocktail party conversation (for all those cocktail parties I know y'all have) and is the sort of book you can just open to a random page and become quickly absorbed in reading. And, by the way hello strangers! I've tried to keep up reading and hitting "like" along the way to let you know I'm alive. Been a crazy busy week. I've started listening to The Golem and the Jinni, (have it in ebook format, too) and am enjoying it, am almost done with Children of the Revolution, the most recent DCI Banks mystery, and have not finished Mr. Fox yet. Sitting right here next to my computer is People of the Book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I too tend to slog through non-fiction; the book that I was reading on olive oil (Extra Virginity: the Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil) had to be returned to the library. Will I borrow it again to finish it? Not sure but it is certainly not one of those pressing books (pun intended!) Where is the "groan" button to click when you need it? :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I used this book as the core of my youngest's high school history class one year. It was a handy way of dividing the timeline of world history with an interesting perspective and clever connections. We'd read a section on a particular beverage then read literature associated with the time, watch related teaching company lectures. It was one of my all time favorite mommy-designed courses and was our last official year of full-time homeschooling before he "fired" me and finished up at community college, lol! The book makes for good cocktail party conversation (for all those cocktail parties I know y'all have) and is the sort of book you can just open to a random page and become quickly absorbed in reading. I thought that this was the book you had used with your lad. What a brilliant idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 A History of the World in 6 Glasses is a kindle daily deal at $1.99. The premise looks interesting... I read this book a few years ago after I read posts by Jen in which she described how she put together a course for her son. I enjoyed it. I am thinking of having dd read this book next year for her school reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleinMN Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 I did finish The Odyssey. I did write a sad little essay for class. I did do 6 peer reviews. I did read Theogony, which I finished this week, so it probably belongs on Week 29. I think I will read Works and Days before starting next week's readings. I enjoyed Theogony more after watching the lectures and rereading it. It's still reading a lot of genealogy lists, but it was fun to see which names I knew and how they connected to each other. I also finished The Once and Future King on audio book. Now I'm looking for a decent ipod dock and speaker for my VERY old ipod, so that I can share the book with my children. The reading is SO much better than I could ever do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 Will have to look for Dunmore's book. I know some of us BaWers mentioned it before, but I'd highly recommend City of Thieves by David Benioff while you're in Leningrad-mode anyway. It seems to be a mix of fiction & non-fiction (based on the author's grandfather's accounts of the time). I thought it was a great story. Stacia, I just finished this -- I really enjoyed it, and my 19 yo daughter is currently speed-reading it, as she's heading back to NY tonight and I am unable to renew it. I noticed that in his afterword Benioff credited another book on the siege, The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad, by Harrison Salisbury, as the best historical resource on the siege... now I've added that to my list... So did I which made walking on the The Cobb at Lyme Regis all the more wonderful! Paul Lehr and his wife came to dinner, a casual family meal more than a dinner party. Paul excused himself to use the facilities which proved to be for a bit longer than expected. When he returned, he admitted some embarrassment, saying that he was completely captivated by a book that was in our bathroom. Our son was about three years old at the time and the book was his copy of Everyone Poops. Sci Fi Illustrator Paul Lehr loved it! OK, you win... :laugh: We had that book for years, and my then-(slowly and fitfully)-pooty-training son demanded that I read it to him 43,287 times a day, because: And we, too, owned that book! Still do! In fact we still quote it today, much to dd19's dismay... A one hump camel makes a one hump poop... a two hump camel makes a two hump poop.. Just kidding! :lol: Ahh, memories. ... so every so often I attempted to "disappear" it, but my husband kept retrieving it from the library donation box (he thought it was hilarious) :banghead: This is the way I look at it ... I'm 32 and my grandparents lived into their 80's. That means I've probably got about 54 years left. I generally read about 65 books a year. Likely I'm only going to be able to read 3,510 more books in my life. That makes it easier for me to put down a book that isn't capturing my attention. This. And: the number of NEW books being published each year that I want to read exceeds the number I'm actually able to read, so there is no way, ever, to narrow the gap. Last night I finished W. E. B. DuBois' The Souls of Black Folk, which (of course) was deeply moving and thought-provoking. If you haven't read it, it's a collection of essays, connected by the recurring symbol of the Veil, the barrier between black and white in America, but not in a sociological sense. Rather it's an obscuring of vision that prevents the races from seeing the lives of the other, and interferes with self-understanding. The chapter on the death of his infant son from diptheria made me want to go cuddle my girls and cry. This is such an astounding insight... Where is the "groan" button to click when you need it? :laugh: You know, a GROAN button is exactly what we need. Because so often, you don't want to hit "like" when, say, Angel has a fever or VC has lost her luggage or Heather has had dengue. You want to commiserate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 Link to week 29 - please continue discussion in new thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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