Book a Week in 2014 - BW30

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday, my lovelies!  Today is the start of week 30 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 - World War I and II European Theatre:  Next month we are coming up on the 100th Anniversary of World War I and currently my son's personal interest of late is all things world war II. We've been watching Great Courses lecture series on WWII: A Military and Social History, plus the history channel just did a marathon run of their series, The World Wars. Hubby is reading John Toland's The Last Hundred Days and James just finished The Book Thief and is now devouring William Shirer's  Berlin Diary.   His birthday is coming up in August and one of the things on his list is the dvd of the tv miniseries War and Remembrance.  It aired back in the 80's and starred Robert Mitchum and Jane Seymour.  I remember reading Herman Wouk's book way back when and probably still have it on our shelves somewhere.  I'll have to see if I can find it.  

Several years ago I discovered Bodie and Brock Thoene's Zion Covenant and Zion Chronicles series which followed the struggle of  Jewish people from the time of Hitler's takeover through Israel's statehood in 1948.  After I read the first book, I was hooked, collected and read every single book.  The story has been on my mind of late, so think I'll be rereading  Vienna Prelude.  
 

Synopsis:  No one is safe. . . .  In 1936 Nazi darkness descends upon Europe. Every person is only one step away from being swept into the nightmarish tide of evil. Blond Elisa Lindheim, a violinist with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, adopts an Aryan stage name for protection. But her closest friend, Leah, a talented Jewish cellist, is in a perilous position.
There are those who choose to fight Hitler’s madness. Elisa’s father, Theo. A courageous American reporter, John Murphy. Winston Churchill, the British statesman. A farm family in the Tyrolean Alps. The Jewish Underground. But will all their efforts be enough to stop the coming Holocaust? And now Elisa must decide. If she becomes part of the Underground, she will risk everything . . . and put everyone she loves in danger.

 

Which brings us back to World War I and II and armchair traveling.  After hanging out for several months in England, it's time to move on.  And since the theatre of operations is so huge - from Poland,  to the Mediterranean to the Middle East and North Africa, it's a pretty broad range of countries from which to choose.  Dip your toes in, dive in with both feet or hang glide across the continents and see where the wind takes you.

Currently in my backpack are: Rebecca Cantrell's A Night of Long Knives, Thomas Keneally's Schindler's List and Mark Helprin's  A Soldier of the Great War.

Check out historical novels huge list of selections as well as the Goodreads World War II fiction and WWII Holocaust Fiction and Non Fiction. 

Read books set during World War I or II or just read books set in those countries - it's up to you. 

 

 

History of the Ancient World:  Chapters 32 and 33

 

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

Link to week 29

[Robin M]

Still plugging away on Jonathan Norrell and Mr. Strange.   Mixed in Exit Strategy by Kelley Armstrong about a female cop turned hitman. Interesting but not great.

 

Have been reading alot of books on my ipad lately, was getting kind of scritchy and discovered what was missing.  I was missing the experience of physically reading a book. Didn't know you could have hardbound book withdrawal.  :laugh:   Need to mix it up a bit more, every other one or so.

[Shawneinfl]

Good morning Robin et al. I wasn't able to get any reading done this week but I hope to catch up soon. Love the idea of reading Schindler's List. I loved the movie and never considered that there might be a book. Our beach plans are cancelled today do to typical FL summer showers but I think we'll watch Treasure of the Sierra Madre. My husband is on a Humphrey Bogart kick.

 

[Kareni]

 

World War I and II

 

My father read voraciously about these topics, particularly World War II.  His favorite series of fictional works on the subject was Upton Sinclair's World's End series of books featuring the character Lanny Budd.  Sinclair is perhaps best known for The Jungle; however, Dragon's Teeth (the third in this series) won a Pulitzer Prize in 1943.

 

From Wikipedia:

 

The Lanny Budd series includes:

• World's End, 1940
• Between Two Worlds, 1941
• Dragon's Teeth, 1942
• Wide Is the Gate, 1943
• Presidential Agent, 1944
• Dragon Harvest, 1945
• A World to Win, 1946
• Presidential Mission, 1947
• One Clear Call, 1948
• O Shepherd, Speak!, 1949
• The Return of Lanny Budd, 1953

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I recently finished A Body in Berkeley Square (Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries Book 5) by Ashley Gardner which I enjoyed.  I'd like to move on to book six; however, I'd only requested the library purchase the first five since I wasn't sure if I'd like it.  I've put in  purchase suggestions now for the remainder of the series.

 

"London, 1817

A Bow Street Runner summons Captain Gabriel Lacey to a Berkeley Square ballroom where a young dandy was stabbed to death during a society ball. The prime suspect: Lacey's former commander, Colonel Brandon.

Instead of denying the charges, Colonel Brandon allows himself to be arrested, and claims, to Lacey's shock, that the lady he'd stayed protectively near at the ball is his mistress. Lacey realizes that he is the only person not convinced of Brandon's guilt--all present, including Brandon's wife, believe that Brandon committed the murder.

Colonel Brandon's reticence to tell the truth proves to be Lacey's greatest obstacle in his race against time to prove Brandon's innocence. As Lacey's relationship with Lady Breckenridge moves forward, his hunt for evidence to clear Brandon uncovers dark secrets that go back to the Peninsular Wars and involve the origins of Lacey's and Brandon's private battle."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Ali in OR]

Finished Chester Nez's Code Talker which I enjoyed very much.

 

As part of planning/pre-reading for fall, I read Stephen Mitchell's Gilgamesh which was fine for me but I will NOT be reading that aloud to my 6th grader! Very explicit. I think we'll be going with Bernarda Bryson's Gilgamesh which Violet Crown recommended. But I'm not sorry that I read the Mitchell version for myself.

 

Made a little progress on Possession. No progress on HOTAW. Need to find something a bit lighter and easier for the treadmill.

[mumto2]

No progress on HotAW.  Hopefully this week.

 

Finished Evanovich's Takedown Twenty-one.  I still enjoy the series.  Total fluff but I find it funny. 

 

Currently reading Dissolution by CJ Sansom.  It kept appearing on all sorts of lists so I decided I was meant to read it.  Good mystery set in a monastery during Henry VIII reign,  right after Jane Seymour died.  It is good-- deserves the great ratings I have seen for it.

 

I gave up on my dystopian read, Never Let Me Go.  Just not liking it enough to continue.

[Kareni]

 

 

I gave up on my dystopian read, Never Let Me Go.  Just not liking it enough to continue.

 

 

Clearly that title was not accurate in your case!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Murmer]

So it turns out I don't read books when I am on vacation!  I only read when I am at home...that said while I have been home I have finished a couple of books...so my grand total is 84 for the year so far.  

 

I am currently working on:

Fiction:  The Girl with One Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

Kindle: Something that I can't remember right now

Non-fiction: Childhood Leukemia by Nancy Keene

Phone: Long Time Coming

Computer: 

Well Education Mind: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Angel Girl: Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Audiobook: Peter Pan by JM Barrie

[Jane in NC]

Hello Everyone!

 

Thanks again to Robin for keeping us organized and inspired.

 

Shaw's play Major Barbara was a fantastic read! Do include his prefaces should you choose to tackle Shaw--his sermons make fine reading.

 

Andrea Barrett takes on the theme of how scientific advancement adds and diminishes ordinary life in her short story collection Archangel. I was encouraged to first read the middle story, The Island, a fictionalized take on the experiential science school that Agassiz established on Penikese Island. Agassiz's legacy is tainted today but he was a rock star scientist in his time. The story paints well the thrill of scientific discovery and the confidence required to question the dominant paradigm, especially while sitting at the feet of the master.

 

In the first story in the collection, The Investigators, we see how science through inquiry can change an ordinary life into a very rich and fulfilling one. I look forward to reading other stories in the book.

 

Reading plans for the week also include more Shaw, Arms and the Man. Maybe I will open City of Thieves too.

 

Happy reading all!

 

P.S. Finally finished knitting one of my trekking socks!!

[MicheleinMN]

Just lost my entire post.

 

I read the Homeric Hymns to Demester and Apollo.

 

I'm re-reading Agamemnon for the mythology class.   And listening to the Count of Monte Cristo on my ipod at bedtime and for insomnia relief.  I'm watching Iphigenia today...does that count as a "reading" since it's subtitled?

 

I've also go another Flavia book from audible.com and on Kindle, plus a couple of other new books that were recommendations from here. :)

 

Still plotting what to use for composition this next year, so lots of reading and re-reading bits and pieces of all my choices.  

 

Not sure what I want to do about Master & Commander yet.  And I think I may shut off Iphigenia and read my Josephine Tey book for fun instead. 

[Stacia]

My reading time with my big pile is almost gone. I've made a list of books to check out again next time I am here.

 

In the meantime, I'm trying to finish one before I leave. It's a new urban fantasy called "Hot Lead, Cold Iron" by Ari Marmell. Quite entertaining so far -- kind of 1930s noir mixed with the Mob & supernatural creatures & happenings. Robin, this would definitely be up your alley if you haven't read it yet.

http://blog.mugglenet.com/2014/05/book-review-hot-lead-cold-iron-by-ari-marmell/

[shukriyya]

I finished My Notorious Life which was an entertaining read though the subject at times was sobering. The descriptions of the despair the women felt when they were 'trapped' by an unwanted pregnancy through an affair or because they were prostitutes or because it was baby number 9 for them and the last birth almost killed them was a grim reminder of the ambivalent and powerless relationship women had with their biology back then. The details of the abortions were difficult to read, they weren't particularly graphic more that the author detailed the emotional and physical pain the women endured as a result of their choices and how despite that pain they were grateful to the protagonist, Axie Muldoon...

"A brilliant rendering of a scandalous historical figure, Kate Manning’s My Notorious Life is an ambitious, thrilling novel introducing Axie Muldoon, a fiery heroine for the ages. Axie’s story begins on the streets of 1860s New York. The impoverished child of Irish immigrants, she grows up to become one of the wealthiest and most controversial women of her day.

In vivid prose, Axie recounts how she is forcibly separated from her mother and siblings, apprenticed to a doctor, and how she and her husband parlay the sale of a few bottles of “Lunar Tablets for Female Complaint†into a thriving midwifery business. Flouting convention and defying the law in the name of women’s reproductive rights, Axie rises from grim tenement rooms to the splendor of a mansion on Fifth Avenue, amassing wealth while learning over and over never to trust a man who says “trust me.â€

When her services attract outraged headlines, Axie finds herself on a collision course with a crusading official—Anthony Comstock, founder of the Society for the Suppression of Vice. It will take all of Axie’s cunning and power to outwit him in the fight to preserve her freedom and everything she holds dear."

This brings me to 4/5 for this particular subject, Midwifery Novels, of my 5/5 challenge. For my last book I'm contemplating one of the 'Call the Midwife' books by Jennifer Worth which are the basis for the eponymous BBC series or a sequel to one of my previous reads.

I started Tracy Chevalier's, 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' yesterday and I am finding it to be much like a Vermeer painting. The writing is intentional, precise, sober and luminous. There is weight to it, almost physical at times and there is a contained quality about the protaganist, a kind of silence from which rivers out possibility and mystery. This book is short, at 200 or so pages, so up also this week will be The Painted Kiss by Elizabeth Hickey.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I have 200 pages to go in Natchez Burning (which means I'm down to the last 20%).  I started listening to A Signature of all Things, which I'm enjoying so far.  I'm also still slowly working through Wherever You go, There You are, but I'm planning on reading that one very slowly. 

[JennW in SoCal]

I flew through The Golem and the Jinni last week.  I really enjoyed it, but looking back I'm trying to remember what happened to a couple of characters, and I'm not sure if my poor recollection is a function of having powered through it, or the rush to finish writing by the author due to the birth of her baby!!  It is a fun book, though, and fits with my collection this year of "fabulist" books.

 

I also read the most recent in the DCI Banks series, Children of the Revolution.  I haven't found the later titles as satisfying as the first, and I can't put my finger on why.  Some of it is that they are more predictable -- in every book our hero detective is going to have a hunch that no one else agrees with.  And I'm really annoyed with the writer for putting a younger woman in as a potential love interest for the 50-something detective. Why?? 

 

I haven't finished Mr. Fox yet as I want to savor it, and there won't be time for savoring anything until after next weekend.  I also have People of the Book in my tbr pile, a pile that will inevitably grow next week while I'm at Comic-con.  I generally find a new and interesting author at a panel or hear about something at the booth run by my local independent bookstore. I won't be at any of the movie-star or tv-star riddled panels you see on tv -- I avoid that scene entirely!!  So I won't be reporting from the Outlander panel, for instance. 

 

 

[shukriyya]

I flew through The Golem and the Jinni last week.  I really enjoyed it, but looking back I'm trying to remember what happened to a couple of characters, and I'm not sure if my poor recollection is a function of having powered through it, or the rush to finish writing by the author due to the birth of her baby!!  It is a fun book, though, and fits with my collection this year of "fabulist" books.

 

 

So glad you enjoyed it, Jenn. It was an easy read for a long book and I had no trouble sustaining attention right up to the end. Three books have made it onto my top ten this year, TGATJ being one, and they all fall under the category of Magical Realism.

 

[Just Robyn]

I finished The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, which was interesting in contrast to Life of Pi. They both talk about India, religion and the cages people are kept in by society, but they have totally different perspectives. IMO, the prose style in Life of Pi is more artful, but the message in The White Tiger is truer and more important.

 

I also finally read The Great Gatsby, which was beautiful and sad.

[Robin M]

My father read voraciously about these topics, particularly World War II.  His favorite series of fictional works on the subject was Upton Sinclair's World's End series of books featuring the character Lanny Budd.  Sinclair is perhaps best known for The Jungle; however, Dragon's Teeth (the third in this series) won a Pulitzer Prize in 1943.

 

From Wikipedia:

 

The Lanny Budd series includes:

• World's End, 1940
• Between Two Worlds, 1941
• Dragon's Teeth, 1942
• Wide Is the Gate, 1943
• Presidential Agent, 1944
• Dragon Harvest, 1945
• A World to Win, 1946
• Presidential Mission, 1947
• One Clear Call, 1948
• O Shepherd, Speak!, 1949
• The Return of Lanny Budd, 1953

 

Regards,

Kareni

What a great series. Looks quite interesting and will look into getting.

 

My reading time with my big pile is almost gone. I've made a list of books to check out again next time I am here.

 

In the meantime, I'm trying to finish one before I leave. It's a new urban fantasy called "Hot Lead, Cold Iron" by Ari Marmell. Quite entertaining so far -- kind of 1930s noir mixed with the Mob & supernatural creatures & happenings. Robin, this would definitely be up your alley if you haven't read it yet.

http://blog.mugglenet.com/2014/05/book-review-hot-lead-cold-iron-by-ari-marmell/

That does look good, adding to my wishlist. 

 

 

 

 

Check out 10 Famous Poems recited by Famous Actors

[Kareni]

... my tbr pile, a pile that will inevitably grow next week while I'm at Comic-con.  I generally find a new and interesting author at a panel or hear about something at the booth run by my local independent bookstore.

 

 

Enjoy yourself at Comic-con, and please do share your new and interesting author finds with us!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Uff Da!]

I'm reading Pride and Prejudice and am enjoying it. I'm trying to finish it before I pick up all the library holds.

[Violet Crown]

This week I finished Boccaccio, which I think brings me to 31 for the year. Next up, as I think I promised Stacia some time ago, is The Romance of Leonardo Da Vinci, by a Russian - Dmitri Merejkowski - reputedly a source for some much later book about a code, or something. It's pretty long, but looks like easy reading.

[Negin]

My reading has been very slow lately. I'm still on The House of Spirits. Love it, but just haven't had much time to read. 

Looking forward to reading everyone's replies later. Crazy busy this morning. 

 

 

[Onceuponatime]

I'm still reading The Evolution of God plus chapters in a Social Psychology book to go along with a Coursera course of the same name.

[welovetoread]

Hello BAWer's.  I feel like I haven't even had time to sit and enjoy a thread for months. I will start anew with this thread.  So much going on around this group. I see there are some sorrows and some joy.

 

I will post my good reads link and you can see what I've been reading.  I feel like I've hit a wall and need something new and refreshing.  Have any ideas?

 

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/19353871-chandi-meyer?shelf=book-club-2014

 

 

[Heather in Neverland]

Started reading:

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez

 

Still reading:

The Glory of Heaven by John MacArthur

 

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)

13. Winter of the World by Ken Follet (PRETTY GOOD)

14. The School Revolution: A New Answer for our Broken Education System by Ron Paul (GREAT)

15. Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen (LOVED IT)

16. Beyond the Hole in the Wall: Discover the Power of Self-Organized Learning by Sugata Mitra (GOOD)

17. Can Computers Keep Secrets? - How a Six-Year-Old's Curiosity Could Change the World by Tom Barrett (GOOD)

18. You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself by David McRaney (GOOD)

19. Hollow City by Ransom Riggs (OK)

20. Follow Me by David Platt (GOOD)

21. The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking by Oliver Burkeman (SO-SO)

22. Falls the Shadow by Sharon Kay Penman (OK)

23. A Neglected Grace: Family Worship in the Christian Home by Jason Helopoulos (GOOD)

24. The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan (DEPRESSING)

25. No Place Like Oz by Danielle Paige (SO-SO)

26. 84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff (DELIGHTFUL)

27. The Light Between Oceans by ML Stedman (WORST ENDING EVER)

28. Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor (SO-SO)

29. Mere Christianity by CS Lewis (BRILLIANT)

30. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker (WONDERFUL)

31. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (CAN'T-PUT-IT-DOWN-READ-IT-ALL-IN-ONE-SITTING BOOK)

32. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (SUPER CREEPY BUT REALLY GOOD)

33. A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout (WONDERFUL)

34. The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty (PRETTY GOOD)

[NoseInABook]

Finished Damien Echols' Life After Death which cemented my thought that this man is emotionally stunted at the age that he entered prison. Definitely a fascinating read though!

 

In the middle of The Graveyard Book which is so much fun that I cannot wait to read it with my kids. They should be old enough in a year or so! I'm glad I bought it. I also picked up Michelle DeRusha's Spiritual Misfit.

[aggieamy]

Finished:

 

Sylvester by Georgette Heyer - **** - Listened to this as an audiobook.  I think that might be my prefered way to do GH books now.  It just add something so wonderful to the experience.  

 

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett - **** - You gals were right.  I did love it.  The toad being the lawyer ... fantastic.  I ended up giving up on listening to is as an audiobook because DD and I are hardly ever alone in an audiobook situation so she's listening and I read it. Are there more Tiffany Aching books?  I haven't read any of his Discworld series so this is all new to me.

 

 

Finished Damien Echols' Life After Death which cemented my thought that this man is emotionally stunted at the age that he entered prison. Definitely a fascinating read though!

 

In the middle of The Graveyard Book which is so much fun that I cannot wait to read it with my kids. They should be old enough in a year or so! I'm glad I bought it. I also picked up Michelle DeRusha's Spiritual Misfit.

 

 

How old are your kids?  I've been debating putting it on DD's iPod for a long time now.  

[Robin M]

I haven't finished Mr. Fox yet as I want to savor it, and there won't be time for savoring anything until after next weekend.  I also have People of the Book in my tbr pile, a pile that will inevitably grow next week while I'm at Comic-con.  I generally find a new and interesting author at a panel or hear about something at the booth run by my local independent bookstore. I won't be at any of the movie-star or tv-star riddled panels you see on tv -- I avoid that scene entirely!!  So I won't be reporting from the Outlander panel, for instance. 

 

James is jealous - He'd love to go to comic con but can't stand the crowds.  He said you should go to the Archie panels and find out about Sonic the Hedgehog or see Ian Flynn, the creative director of Sonic and Mega man.   Have fun and look forward to hearing all about your adventures at comic-con when you get back.  Take lots of pictures.  

[NoseInABook]

4 months, 2.5, 4.5, 5.5, and 6.5. So when my oldest is closer to 8, we'll do it. They already enjoy scary stories so I think it would probably hold their attention now but we'll wait a smidge. 

[Stacia]

You can watch/listen to Neil Gaiman reading The Graveyard Book here:

http://www.mousecircus.com/videotour.aspx

 

Amy, there are four Tiffany books:

The Wee Free Men

A Hat Full of Sky

Wintersmith

I Shall Wear Midnight

 

All are good, but they do get more serious & a bit darker as Tiffany ages in the books. The first one is my fave.

[NoseInABook]

Oooh, Stacia that is FABULOUS! 

[6packofun]

Totally didn't plan it, but I finished The True Memoirs of Little K (World War I) and then moved on to All the Light We Cannot See (World War II).  I enjoyed the latter quite a bit, but it saddened me.

 

Now, I'm reading The Whole Five Feet by Christopher Beha and after that The Stone Boy, a French psychological thriller.

[Kareni]

I just finished an intriguing read, namely the graphic novel Saga, Vol. 1 by  Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. 

 

From Booklist

*Starred Review* "Vaughan, writer of the hugely successful Y: The Last Man, isn’t one to think small. In this opener to his ambitious new series, bits of sf space opera and classic fantasy mesh in setting a sprawling stage for an intensely personal story of two lovers, cleverly narrated by their newborn daughter. Though recently soldiers from opposite sides of a massive intergalactic war, moth-winged Alana and ram-horned Marko simply want peace and anonymity to raise their daughter (an abomination to the powers that be) away from conflict and hatred. Vaughan’s whip-snap dialogue is as smart, cutting, and well timed as ever, and his characters are both familiar enough to acclimate easily to and deep enough to stay interested in as their relationships bend, break, and mend. While Vaughan will be the star power that attracts readers, do-it-all artist Staples is going to be the one who really wows them. Her character designs dish out some of the best aliens around, the immersive world-crafting is lushly detailed and deeply thought through, and the spacious layouts keep the focus squarely on the personal element, despite the chaotic cosmos they inhabit. Add another winner to Vaughan’s stable of consistently epic, fresh, and endearing stories." --Ian Chipman

 

 

It's an intriguing combination of science fiction and romance with definite adult content.  I'll be reading more of the series which currently stands at three volumes.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[LostSurprise]

Finished A Scandalous Life, Lovell's biography of Jane Digby. 

 

 

 

 

I like biographies and I've read a few of Mary Lovell's biographies (Richard Burton and his wife, Beryl Markham, the Mitford sisters). Lovell as a biographer has a strength which is also a weakness. She only writes about people she loves. Generally I admire that and keep it in mind while reading her. However, with Jane Digby I think she found someone who sounds much more interesting in summary than reality. 

 

Digby is not the modern, independent woman Lovell wishes she was. She was a very beautiful, somewhat spoilt, and extremely romantic woman who moved from man to man seeking someone attractive who would also give her their complete attention. Quite a few tried. She had 3 husbands and several lovers. It was not an easy task. By the end of the novel I wondered if she was bipolar. She was extremely impulsive and seemed to run from manic (honeymoon stage) to jealous depression. Unfortunately, even the Bedouin angle...which covered half the book...was made dull. Other than a single chapter where Digby first explores Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq the entire section is taken up with house building, important European visitors, her frantic jealousy. 

 

Somewhat interesting. She did lead an adventurous life. I just didn't agree with Lovell that it was a modern life or one that was particularly admirable. 

 

Taking a break this week and playing with: 

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure Deliverance Dane will get finished...and the Tacos, Tortas, and Tamales book is great...but I'm not sure of anything else right now. If I get stuck, I'll take a break and read something light. 

[LostSurprise]

I just finished an intriguing read, namely the graphic novel Saga, Vol. 1 by  Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. 

 

From Booklist

*Starred Review* "Vaughan, writer of the hugely successful Y: The Last Man, isn’t one to think small. In this opener to his ambitious new series, bits of sf space opera and classic fantasy mesh in setting a sprawling stage for an intensely personal story of two lovers, cleverly narrated by their newborn daughter. Though recently soldiers from opposite sides of a massive intergalactic war, moth-winged Alana and ram-horned Marko simply want peace and anonymity to raise their daughter (an abomination to the powers that be) away from conflict and hatred. Vaughan’s whip-snap dialogue is as smart, cutting, and well timed as ever, and his characters are both familiar enough to acclimate easily to and deep enough to stay interested in as their relationships bend, break, and mend. While Vaughan will be the star power that attracts readers, do-it-all artist Staples is going to be the one who really wows them. Her character designs dish out some of the best aliens around, the immersive world-crafting is lushly detailed and deeply thought through, and the spacious layouts keep the focus squarely on the personal element, despite the chaotic cosmos they inhabit. Add another winner to Vaughan’s stable of consistently epic, fresh, and endearing stories." --Ian Chipman

 

 

It's an intriguing combination of science fiction and romance with definite adult content.  I'll be reading more of the series which currently stands at three volumes.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Have you read Y: the Last Man? 

[shukriyya]

For some reason tonight my mind is on Isaac Bashevis Singer...I loved his novels as a young woman in my twenties and read and reread them...Shosha, Enemies:A Love Story, In my Father's Court, The Magician of Lublin...such a rich and magical world he created but always grounded in the practical, the everyday, the prosaic. Have any of you read him?

[Kareni]

Have you read Y: the Last Man? 

 

No, I haven't.  Do you recommend it?  (I only rarely read graphic novels.  I'd seen mention of Saga on one of the romance sites that I read thus my interest.)

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

For some reason tonight my mind is on Isaac Bashevis Singer...I loved his novels as a young woman in my twenties and read and reread them...Shosha, Enemies:A Love Story, In my Father's Court, The Magician of Lublin...such a rich and magical world he created but always grounded in the practical, the everyday, the prosaic. Have any of you read him?

 

I've read some of his short stories (particularly some of those for children), but I've not yet read any of his novels.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[aggieamy]

No, I haven't.  Do you recommend it?  (I only rarely read graphic novels.  I'd seen mention of Saga on one of the romance sites that I read thus my interest.)

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

I'm not a fan of graphic novels but DH has read Saga and Y: The Last Man and thought both were fantastic.

[Kareni]

... Y: The Last Man ...

 

Fortunately, my library has the book, so I've put a hold on it.  Thanks for the mention, Amy.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Violet Crown]

As I predicted, The Romance of Leonardo Da Vinci is going pretty quickly (for me, that means I might finish it in a week ... or so...). But I wanted to put in a book recommendation from Wee Girl, who asked what my book was about, then ran to get her Leonardo Da Vinci pop-up book. This is not your ordinary pop-up book! You remember our discussion a week or so ago of the Provensen-illustrated Homer? This was written by Alice Provensen, and illustrated by both Provensens. Besides the standard pop-ups, there are clever "three-dimensional movable pictures." It's all very well done, interesting, and attractive. Wee Girl gives it two thumbs up.

[Stacia]

Oh, yes, VC, we'll second the Leonardo pop-up book by Provensen. We had that at one time & it was quite nifty. Thanks, also, for reading the other Leonardo book per my request, lol! Hope it is enjoyable & worth your time.

 

Made my deadline of finishing Hot Lead, Cold Iron. 1930s detective noir, the Chicago Mob, & Fae, along with plenty of other supernatural creatures. Fast-paced thriller that marks a great new entry into the urban fantasy category. If you are looking for a Sam Spade/Philip Marlowe/Mike Hammer hard-boiled PI with the mystical powers of belonging to the Fae, this is a book not to miss. Fun & recommended if you're a fan of urban fantasy. 4 stars.

[-M-]

Oh, Vaughan! Saga! Y: The Last Man! What a delight to see these in my favorite thread! I heartily recommend Y, if you haven't already picked it up. His Ex Machina should also be available at the library. Good stuff. As for Saga, that Issue #21 arrives in comic stores tomorrow is an item on my calendar should tell you what sort of fan I am.

 

If you're interested in trying other writers, consider Jeff Lemire's Sweet Tooth, which should also be available at the library.

[Kareni]

Last night when I checked my library account, I had one book on the hold shelf.  This morning I had nineteen!  Most of these are books that I had requested the library purchase, so I guess that they were all in the same order.  Talk about being awash in books.  Life is good!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

 

If you're interested in trying other writers, consider Jeff Lemire's Sweet Tooth, which should also be available at the library.

 

I've added that one to my hold list, M mv.  (Clearly one can never have too many books on one's hold list.  This makes 131.)

 

Regards,

Kareni

[-M-]

I finished Monument 14 (Emmy Laybourne) while at regional championships on Saturday, which brings me to fifty-four books to date.

 

Our family book club went off the path we charted for this summer in order to add Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)*, so I brought that, the latest Scientific American, and the text for my current MOOC to the meet on Sunday. Two other families "found" us in the cool, well-lit sanctuary we had carved out in the din, though, so I had to set aside my books and play nicely with others. Wry grin.

 

I think other BaWers may be interested in In the Basement of the Ivory Tower: Confessions of an Accidental Academic, so I'm going to paste my commonplace book entry here.

 

p. 38

Over the years, I have come to think that the two most crucial ingredients in the mysterious mix that makes a good writer may be (1) having read enough throughout a lifetime to have internalized the rhythms of the written word, and (2) refining the ability to mimic those rhythms. It is very difficult to make up for gaps in a lifetime of reading and practice over the course of a fifteen-week semester. As Mark Richardson, an assistant professor of writing and linguistics at Georgia Southern University, says, “Writing involves abilities we develop over our lifetimes. Some students are more advanced in them when they come to college than are others. Those who are less advanced will not develop to a level comparable to the more-prepared students in one year or even two, although they may reach adequate levels of ability over time.â€

 

p. 88

I am actually surprised that a larger sprinkling of good students doesn’t turn up in my Huron State classes. I have come to think of two-year colleges as a great bargain. If you are a particular type of good student – someone who is in it for grades and low cost, someone who can sit through rudimentary lectures without falling asleep, who can listen to the rambling and disconnected answers of your fellow students without wanting to bludgeon them, who can listen to your teacher’s repeated attempts to pull answers out of a class without wanting to scream out the bleedingly obvious response – if you are someone who can avoid falling into despair when college classes have high-school-type problems, and the library is so lightly usesd, and no one really ever reads of word of anything, then a place like Huron State is a great buy.

 

p. 93

There are many things to love about teaching writing and literature. It happens that I enjoy nothing more than trying to convey to a class something of my passion for a great short story, or the satisfaction a writer can feel upon nailing a point with a phrase that tells.

 

p. 135

First of all, twenty-first-century American culture makes it difficult to fail people. Our society, for all its blathering about embracing diversity and difference, really has no stomach for diversity and difference when it constitutes disparity. We don’t like to admit that one student may be smarter, sharper, harder working, better prepared, more energetic, more painstaking – simply a better student – than another. So we level the playing field. Slow readers get extra time on tests. Safe harbor laws protect substance abusers. […] Our quest to provide universally level playing fields has made us reluctant to keep score.

 

p. 150

I understand how we got to such a place. I understand the impulse to make college a welcoming and unthreatening environment. I can’t even say that I think, in theory, it’s a bad idea. Who would endorse the idea of anyone, under any circumstances, being frightened? And I understand the economic factors: that if we’re admitting to college hordes of students who have no business being there, college really has to be welcoming. The effect, though, is to leech all authority from the instructors by having them dance attendance on the students, and to render them impotent.

 

p. 152

I find myself viewing the study of literature as one more indignity visited upon the proletariat, like too-frequent traffic stops and shoes with plastic uppers and payday loans.

 

p. 154

I had an art teacher in high school who once said something I think is very important. He was teaching us to sculpt clay, and he said as we began, “There are several important things you want your sculpture to do.†I was young at the time, and enraptured with my newly acquired vocabulary of art. I thought he was going to talk about form and function, about depth and resonance. He went on: “Here’s the first one. Your sculpture has to stand up solidly. It can’t wobble.†I was disappointed at the time, but have since come to see his instruction as profound, and the words of not just an art teacher but an artist. Art can’t wobble. We expect our houses to plumb, our tables solid – why not our paragraphs?

 

_______________

 

* Edited to add: I last read Brave New World in April 2005 with my son and husband, when our family book club was called "The 5'7" and Over Book Club." If ever there were examples of how books change when you return to them, the books I read and discussed with him certainly qualify.

[shukriyya]

Finished 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' yesterday. I have a small post card size of GWAPE sitting in my kitchen, which I'm looking at right now as I drink my excellently revivifying latte made with 1/2 & 1/2 no less. It's been interesting to look at the picture afresh through Tracy Chevalier's eyes with her narrative in the background. It has been such a part of my life for decades that I tend not to see it at all.

 

Next up 'The Painted Kiss' by Elizabeth Hickey. Somewhat ambivalent about this one.

 

VC's post of the Provensen book has reminded me how much I like vintage children's books. I scored an entire set of Golden Book Children's Encyclopedias from the early 60s at our local second-hand book store. The science is no longer complete, nor is the geography but the pictures are wonderful, the font is satisfying and the descriptions innocent. Sadly I seem to be the only one who enjoys them. Ds tolerates them but being the science lover he is gets exasperated with the partial view. I also have this book which I saw mentioned on WTM so I hunted it down and bought it because really....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mom-ninja.]

Done with Psalms and making my way through Proverbs. So much better. Psalms seems to be a bunch of whining and begging. Proverbs actually has good stuff to say. I'm writing down a bunch to use for our weekly quote study.

[Murmer]

 

Finished 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' yesterday. I have a small post card size of GWAPE sitting in my kitchen, which I'm looking at right now as I drink my excellently revivifying latte made with 1/2 & 1/2 no less. It's been interesting to look at the picture afresh through Tracy Chevalier's eyes with her narrative in the background. It has been such a part of my life for decades that I tend not to see it at all.

I am currently working on this book and I am finding it very interesting.  I agree it really creates a new way to look at the picture.

[Kim in Appalachia]

So I finished Natchez Burning last night and I'm a bit disappointed.  I hadn't realized it was the first of a trilogy.  I expected it to end, and instead none of the main plot points were tied up. None.  I've read a lot of trilogies, but I've never had one end so badly.  Almost 800 pages and nothing was concluded.  Blah.  

 

It was a good thiller, and the writing was decent; I just wish it had finished.