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Book a Week in 2014 - BW47


Robin M
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Happy Sunday, dear hearts!  Today is the start of week 47 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 - Literary Birthdays:   A few literary birthdays this week to celebrate and  add weight to your wishlists and tbr piles for 2015. 


November 16 

Jose Saramago (Nobel Prize in literature in 1998 - Portuguese novelist) 
Chinua Achebe (Nigerian novelist) 
Alexander Aleksandrovich Blok (Russian Poet)


November 17

Joost van den Vondel (Dutch poet and playwright)


November 18

Margaret Atwood ( Canadian novelist)
Sir William Gilbert (British humorist and dramatist)


November 19

Allan Tate - American Poet


November 20 

Selma Lagerlof  (Nobel Prize in literature in 1909 - Swedish novelist) 
Nadine Gordimer  (South African novelist)


November 21

Voltaire  (French philosopher)
Beryl Bainbridge (English novelist and short story)


November 22 

George Eliot, aka Mary Anne Evans (English novelist)
AndrĂƒÂ© Gide  (Nobel Prize in literature in 1947 - French Novelist)

 

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History of the Ancient World - Chapters 66 and 67

 

 

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

Link to week 46

 

 

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I read And the Mountains Echoed - 5 Stars - I love all three Khaled Hosseini books and have to say that he is probably my favorite author. He has a true gift when it comes to storytelling and captivates you right from the get-go. You become emotionally invested in the characters like never before - or at least I do!

 

9781410458797_p0_v1_s260x420.JPG

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay Ă¢â‚¬â€œ nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish Ă¢â‚¬â€œ waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if theyĂ¢â‚¬â„¢re that bad.

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I finished the 2014 Rhysling Anthology, which was kind of grueling, but I wanted to vote for the winners.

 

I also finished On Writing by Stephen King. I have never read any of his novels, but I believe this is the best book about writing I have ever read. The first chunk of the book was memoir, and he successfully endeared himself to me. Then there was just a little bit about grammar. Then the chunk "on writing" laid out his method clearly. I feel like perhaps some authors of how-to books on writing are afraid to give their method for fear it will be taken as a prescription for the only good way. As a result, I feel like they are either too wishy-washy and mostly motivational or focused on particulars, like types of plots or POV. There is a place for those books too; I'm not saying they're bad. I just felt like the King book gave the best idea of what it's like to be a novelist - at least for one person - and I feel like the specificity and honesty is somehow more motivational than the "you can do it" and "write because you love it; don't worry about getting published" stuff in some other books.

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Last night we all watched a movie called 'Dean Spanley'. Dh and I saw it a few months ago and in light of our newest canine addition we thought it would be a fun movie to watch as a family so ds joined us. It's a strange and compelling bit of British erudition and quirk but with a deep message about our canine friends, reincarnation and the bonds of filial love. Peter O'Toole is brilliant in it. Nan, I think you'd enjoy this. And Pam and Jane, too. It was based on a book by Lord Dunsany...

 

'My Talks With Dean Spanley', first published in 1936, is certainly Lord DunsanyĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s funniest book and, in its unique way, a remarkable tour de force. Edward Plunkett, Lord Dunsany, was born in 1878. Early passions for chess, guns and dogs stayed with him on his path through Eton, Sandhurst and the Coldstream Guards. His untidiness and eccentricity set him apart from his fellow officers, and the Irish peer left the army after the South African war to concentrate on hunting, cricket and, increasingly, writing. He wrote nearly 50 books and plays between 1905 and his death in 1957.

 

As for my own reading I am finishing up Ursula LeGuin's 'Lavinia' and have enjoyed it for the most part though the long, complicated battle scenes I could have done without and I got to a certain point where I sped read through the more grim details. I picked up 'Airs Above the Ground' at the library yesterday and will read that this week thus completing my Mary Stewart focus in the 5/5 challenge leaving me two books each in Art Novels and Ancients from Women's POV to complete my 5/5.

Pam, your book arrived. Thank you! Along with Stacia's book I will look forward to dipping into it once my 5/5 is done. Your package is winging its way to you...chocolate is in your future ;)
 

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I came across this beautiful illustration of Old World language families and thought others here might enjoy seeing it.  Minna Sundberg, the artist, has a web comic called Stand Still. Stay Silent, "Stand Still. Stay Silent" is a post apocalyptic webcomic with elements from nordic mythology mixed in, set 90 years in the future.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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I came across this beautiful illustration of Old World language families and thought others here might enjoy seeing it.  Minna Sundberg, the artist, has a web comic called Stand Still. Stay Silent, "Stand Still. Stay Silent" is a post apocalyptic webcomic with elements from nordic mythology mixed in, set 90 years in the future.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

That 'Old World Language Families' illustration is gorgeous! Too bad her store doesn't sell it.

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I'm reading and listening to The Historian.  (Thank you to all of you who recommended it!)  

I'm still re-reading The Secret History.

And jumping into Paul Johnson's A History of the American People to read it along with my 16 yo son.

I'm also reading Volume 1 of Picturesque Tale of Progress with my youngest.

 

 

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I read An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris this week. It is the third in a series which I am really enjoying.

 

I also started but keep stopping Kiss of Surrender: A Deadly Angels Book by Sandra Hill. It is one of those books which I can't decide if I like it but am oddly drawn towards. Rather convoluted, which jumping in by accident at the second in the series is probably not helpinghttp://www.harpercollins.com.au/books/Kiss-Surrender-Sandra-Hill/?isbn=9780062063861.

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Mumto2, I love that series. You'll have to tell me your reaction to the main character finding love. Haha. 

 

I finished Moms Who Drink And Swear. Well, "finished" by skimming the last 25% of the book because I couldn't take it anymore. Also done with Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full.

 

I am not sure which book to start today. The four on the list to choose from are The Golem And The Jinni, The Goldfinch, Name Of The Wind, or Hounded (The first in the Iron Druid Chronicles). Which one should I start? Keep in mind that I'm all new-mom brain foggy and if I have to use my brain too much, it might not work out well. Haha. 

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Finished I am Malala early last week. Picked up Dear Committee Members from the library and read it in two days--enjoyed it very much. I think Eliana mentioned it a few weeks back. I'm not in the world of academia but I think many folks who have been exposed to bureaucracy, corporate politics, the shift in value of tech/finance/econ over the humanities, or a wide spectrum of student accomplishment may be amused by this novel of letters of recommendation written by a flawed-but-humorous, cynical English professor. I found myself reading a few out loud to dh and I think he'll probably finish this book himself before I need to return it to the library. Fun read.

 

Also picked up Possession this week after a several-month break--I expect to finish it today or tomorrow. I found the first half pretty slow going, but I'm flying through the end. Excellent book, much more of a brain workout for me than most. I'm so impressed with Byatt's work--her creation of two Victorian poets AND THEIR WORKS, plus a modern mystery/romance. So well done. I wish I had been able to complete it in a shorter time frame, but I am glad I made it through at any rate.

 

Don't know what's up next--need something relatively thin and easy for the treadmill. I'd like to pick up S. again, but with all of the inserts I need to be able to read it in a nice comfy chair with a bit of time on my hands. And I don't get much time like that! Most of my reading is on the treadmill or in the car waiting for a kid--not enough end-of-day comfy-chair reading.

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Shukriyya, lol probably not at all what you mean by "art novel", but I have three that I think of as (visual) art novels - Ngaio Marsh's Artists in Crime, Dorothy Sayer's Five Red Herrings, and Patricia McKillip's Ombria in Shadow.  I adore all three and have read them over and over.  I suspect you mean something much more sophisticated by "art" than simply painting and drawing. : )

 

Nan

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I finished Moms Who Drink And Swear. Well, "finished" by skimming the last 25% of the book because I couldn't take it anymore. Also done with Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full.

 

I am not sure which book to start today. The four on the list to choose from are The Golem And The Jinni, The Goldfinch, Name Of The Wind, or Hounded (The first in the Iron Druid Chronicles). Which one should I start? Keep in mind that I'm all new-mom brain foggy and if I have to use my brain too much, it might not work out well. Haha. 

I was also quite disappointed by Moms Who Drink and Swear. 

 

I say you go with Hounded. It's the only one I've read from your list and I enjoyed it. 

 

 

 

I finished Free to Learn by Peter Gray. Loved it. Lots of thoughts and I've had some good discussions with friends. 

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NoseInABook, I'll echo Mom-ninja & recommend Hounded too. It doesn't require lots of brain power, but is a fun, entertaining book. Perfect for new-mom brain fog.

 

I'm still working on the glorious Galore. It's really just an incredible book. I'm not even quite at the halfway mark & feel confident saying 'highly recommended' to my BaW friends. It's a novel to savor every morsel....

 

An excerpt from The Globe and Mail review:
 

The characters, plot and setting have been fused, in that this book isn't so much about the people and the events and places that affect them as it is the folkloric sum of Newfoundland, and the characters, as individual and real and compelling as they are, are, for all their strangeness, archetypes, an odd and wonderful mash of biblical and pagan touchstones. It's an incredibly difficult task to make characters such as these work as human beings as well as elements of folklore, and Crummey does it with as much skill and grace as Gabriel Garcia MĂƒÂ¡rquez does in One Hundred Years of Solitude , a novel very much the forebear of this book.
 

We eventually follow the descendents of young Mary Tryphena through the years, watch as Paradise Deep flourishes and flounders, see the ripples of events that happened years before, see history repeat and morph and repeat again. In Galore , the ghosts are real and the real people live as ghosts. Things that shouldn't happen do. You could, I suppose, call the book a sort of magic realism, though I'm not sure if that doesn't confine it in a way I'm not willing to do. There's something about the term "magic realism" that suggests that magic isn't real, and besides that, the magic that takes place in Paradise Deep isn't really magic, it's simply a part of the known world, like gravity or rainfall.

 

Another great review: http://journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/nflds/article/view/14418/15493

 

Winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book, Caribbean & Canada

Winner of the Canadian Authors' Association Literary Award

Finalist for the International Impac Dublin Award

Finalist for the Governor GeneralĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s Award for Fiction

Finalist for the Thomas Head Raddall Award for Atlantic Books

Finalist for the Winterset Award

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Mumto2, I love that series. You'll have to tell me your reaction to the main character finding love. Haha. 

 

I finished Moms Who Drink And Swear. Well, "finished" by skimming the last 25% of the book because I couldn't take it anymore. Also done with Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full.

 

I am not sure which book to start today. The four on the list to choose from are The Golem And The Jinni, The Goldfinch, Name Of The Wind, or Hounded (The first in the Iron Druid Chronicles). Which one should I start? Keep in mind that I'm all new-mom brain foggy and if I have to use my brain too much, it might not work out well. Haha. 

 

The only one I've read on your list is 'The Golem and the Jinni' and I really enjoyed it.

 

Shukriyya, lol probably not at all what you mean by "art novel", but I have three that I think of as (visual) art novels - Ngaio Marsh's Artists in Crime, Dorothy Sayer's Five Red Herrings, and Patricia McKillip's Ombria in Shadow.  I adore all three and have read them over and over.  I suspect you mean something much more sophisticated by "art" than simply painting and drawing. : )

 

Nan

 

Ombria in Shadow has been on my tbr list for a while now. What I meant by 'art novels' is fiction that takes as its plot a famous work of art. So for example I've read 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' which focuses on Vermeer's painting of the same name, 'The Lady and the Unicorn' which focuses on the Cluny tapestries and 'Girl in Hyacinth Blue' which focuses on another of Vermeer's paintings, more specifically the possibility and probability that it may be one of his.

 

 

I finished Free to Learn by Peter Gray. Loved it. Lots of thoughts and I've had some good discussions with friends. 

 

I, too, enjoyed this. He's also got a blog.

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Mumto2, I love that series. You'll have to tell me your reaction to the main character finding love. Haha. 

 

I finished Moms Who Drink And Swear. Well, "finished" by skimming the last 25% of the book because I couldn't take it anymore. Also done with Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full.

 

I am not sure which book to start today. The four on the list to choose from are The Golem And The Jinni, The Goldfinch, Name Of The Wind, or Hounded (The first in the Iron Druid Chronicles). Which one should I start? Keep in mind that I'm all new-mom brain foggy and if I have to use my brain too much, it might not work out well. Haha.

 

I have read them all but Name of the Wind which dd is actually reading right now I think, needs to update her goodreads ;). I was going to recommend Golem because I really liked it and found it an easy read, probably good for mommy brain. I really like the Iron Druid books also and Hounded was possibly the best. So much for a clear answer. I would definitely wait on Goldfinch,very long and personally not a fan of the second half but adored the first 300 pages.
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I have read them all but Name of the Wind which dd is actually reading right now I think, needs to update her goodreads ;). I was going to recommend Golem because I really liked it and found it an easy read, probably good for mommy brain. I really like the Iron Druid books also and Hounded was possibly the best. So much for a clear answer. I would definitely wait on Goldfinch,very long and personally not a fan of the second half but adored the first 300 pages.

 

I'm wondering about 'The Name of the Wind' for ds. Would be curious to know whether your dd feels this would be appropriate for a middle-schooler. It's just his kind of story.

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I am not sure which book to start today. The four on the list to choose from are The Golem And The Jinni, The Goldfinch, Name Of The Wind, or Hounded (The first in the Iron Druid Chronicles). Which one should I start? Keep in mind that I'm all new-mom brain foggy and if I have to use my brain too much, it might not work out well. Haha. 

Of those, I've only read Golem & Jinni, and Goldfinch; and of those two, I preferred Golem & Jinni.  Goldfinch has a nice plot that keeps you engaged Dan Brown style, but the evolution of the protagonist didn't quite hold together as true to me.  Golem & Jinni has a bit more to it, but not so much that all the neurons have to be firing, lol.

 

 

The only one I've read on your list is 'The Golem and the Jinni' and I really enjoyed it.

 

 

Ombria in Shadow has been on my tbr list for a while now. What I meant by 'art novels' is fiction that takes as its plot a famous work of art. So for example I've read 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' which focuses on Vermeer's painting of the same name, 'The Lady and the Unicorn' which focuses on the Cluny tapestries and 'Girl in Hyacinth Blue' which focuses on another of Vermeer's paintings, more specifically the possibility and probability that it may be one of his.

 

 

I, too, enjoyed this. He's also got a blog.

I can't remember whether I mentioned before that I enjoyed Susan Vreeland's novel about Artemisia Gentileschi?  It's not the story of one specific work, but a number of her painting wend their way into the story.  And her life was... bigger than life, let's say.

 

I'll keep an eye out for the Dean Spanley.  My husband recently signed us up for Netflix but I haven't the vaguest idea how to work it.  In point of fact, I have to call one of the kids if I want to watch an old-fashioned DVD.  No one has ever been able to explain to me why we have seven, count them seven, clickers when there are only two (identical looking) gizmos attached to the TV?

 

 

Kareni, that illustration of the origins of languages is lovely - thank you.

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I'm wondering about 'The Name of the Wind' for ds. Would be curious to know whether your dd feels this would be appropriate for a middle-schooler. It's just his kind of story.

 

Hey there everyone!

 

More to say on books later but a quick note to Shukriyya. My husband says Name of the Wind is fine for your middle schooler, but the sequel is not.

 

Also--we went to see a film with a literary connection today.  In Birdman, a washed up Hollywood actor (played by Michael Keaton) writes, produces and stars in a Broadway play based on Raymond Carver's short story What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.  It is a black comedy with a taste of magical realism that might appeal to Stacia.  It amused us but I don't think this is a film that would appeal to all.

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I'm wondering about 'The Name of the Wind' for ds. Would be curious to know whether your dd feels this would be appropriate for a middle-schooler. It's just his kind of story.

Dd hasn't actually started the Name of the Wind, it's on her kindle and somehow my kindle showed someone was 72% done. :lol: Obviously we have a ghost reading at our house too. She will try and start it later this week.

 

Jenn and Jane both told me first is fine but the second I need to preread. Someone else weighed in too, maybe Onceuponatime.

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Shukriyya - Now I remember.  I think I might even have asked earlier.  Ombria in Shadow has elements of Cinderella in it.  Just elements.  It is its own plot, a very rich one, I found.   It is a fairy tale, not a fantasy which explores social problems.  Thinking about it, I wish I hadn't read it too recently to be able to read it again now.

 

Pam - I sympathize about the clickers.

 

Nan

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Also--we went to see a film with a literary connection today.  In Birdman, a washed up Hollywood actor (played by Michael Keaton) writes, produces and stars in a Broadway play based on Raymond Carver's short story What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.  It is a black comedy with a taste of magical realism that might appeal to Stacia.  It amused us but I don't think this is a film that would appeal to all.

 

You're right, Jane. We saw it & thought it was great. It is definitely different & so well done. Great acting, imo.

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I came across this beautiful illustration of Old World language families and thought others here might enjoy seeing it.  Minna Sundberg, the artist, has a web comic called Stand Still. Stay Silent, "Stand Still. Stay Silent" is a post apocalyptic webcomic with elements from nordic mythology mixed in, set 90 years in the future.

 

The webcomic looks like fun, though it is daunting to start when there are 200 entries already...

 

I read a lot of musicnotes last week...

 

 

Wait, have I been oblivious to there being another musician here in BaW land?  I've been reading lots of music notes recently, too, so many that, sadly, I have nothing to report about book reading or listening.  Or movie watching.  Hoping to remedy that Thanksgiving week. 

 

Lets see, I'd recommend the Iron Druid books for mommy fog and the Name of the Wind is ok for middle schoolers, but not it's sequel.  The newly published novella set in the Name of the Wind world would be fine for middle school, too, though it might be boring to some teens.

 

Picked up Dear Committee Members from the library and read it in two days--enjoyed it very much. 

 

 

Ali, I enjoyed this one, too!!

 

It's been so busy recently that when I get a chance to read the thread midweek it feels like I'm chasing a train that's left the station. It's so easy on Sunday afternoon when there are only 20 or so posts to read!

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I finished the 2014 Rhysling Anthology, which was kind of grueling, but I wanted to vote for the winners.

 

I also finished On Writing by Stephen King. I have never read any of his novels, but I believe this is the best book about writing I have ever read. The first chunk of the book was memoir, and he successfully endeared himself to me. Then there was just a little bit about grammar. Then the chunk "on writing" laid out his method clearly. I feel like perhaps some authors of how-to books on writing are afraid to give their method for fear it will be taken as a prescription for the only good way. As a result, I feel like they are either too wishy-washy and mostly motivational or focused on particulars, like types of plots or POV. There is a place for those books too; I'm not saying they're bad. I just felt like the King book gave the best idea of what it's like to be a novelist - at least for one person - and I feel like the specificity and honesty is somehow more motivational than the "you can do it" and "write because you love it; don't worry about getting published" stuff in some other books.

I loved On Writing. Read it a year or two ago, so probably time to reread.  It was only after reading the the book that I decided to read some of his fiction. I don't like horror but do like scary thrillers.   Found some great psychological thrillers such as Duma Key which really enjoyed.  Also liked his Dark Tower series.  

 

 

 

Mum, if you are enjoying the deadly angels books, you'd probably like Larissa Ione's Lords of deliverance series in which the main heroes of each book are the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse series -  paranormal romantic suspense.  She actually made it work. 

 

 

 

Just found this site - 50 awesome literary tshirts for booklovers -  love the one with Annie Dillard quote  Ă¢â‚¬Å“She reads books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live.Ă¢â‚¬Â Â Â  Zazzle also has a cute one - quilter by day, book lover by night for those among us who love to quilt and sew.

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Mum, if you are enjoying the deadly angels books, you'd probably like Larissa Ione's Lords of deliverance series in which the main heroes of each book are the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse series - paranormal romantic suspense. She actually made it work.

 

 

I just put the first one on hold, thanks. You probably already know that there is a fifth one available with a prerelease status. I am now curious how the four horseman turn into five books.....

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Over the last couple of weeks, I have read two books that were found in the 900 section of the library (history, geography, travel) but could, I suppose, have been shelved under biography.  Both Bitter Lemons and The Minaret of Djam are memoirs; both are geographically specific (Cyprus and Afghanistan, hence the shelving in the 900 section). Both were very moving to this reader.

 

Thinking about memoirs for a moment, I must mention my favorite, The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchet.  If Nan has not read this, she must!  After Blanchet's husband dies in the 1920's, she spends her summers with her five children on a sailboat exploring the islands of British Columbia.  Blissful days for these children with their adventures!  What a wonderful book!

 

As I mentioned in a previous post, the intrepid Freya Stark is in her 70's when she embarks on a drive via Land Rover from Kabul to Herat in Afghanistan with a goal of seeing, among other things, the Minaret of Djam.  Upon reaching this objective, she writes:

 

 

Extraordinarily remote, without a house or a human being, the place seemed to be quivering with life:  the river, the breeze, the brambles of wild roses, the trees and their shadows, the bits of castle wall that hung upon the rock across the water, the Past trampling through the defiles, and the minaret itself  soaring into the sky with the impetus of its design still active upon it--a volume seemed shut there in a language no human key could open, a joyous strangeness whose natural laws we shared but could not understand.  I have often come upon this feeling, breaking upon some torrent in uninhabited valleys, or secret sanctuary of the hills--the song of the world that goes on where man is not around; and always its huge exuberance fills me with a delight no human average reason can explain.

 

Later she offers a comment on the relationships between rivers and life:

 

 

One can share many things with one's loved ones, but not this. To them our removal is a departure, old age a breaking of companionship as the years have made it, a darkness, a humiliation, often an end; in their kindness they try to smoothe it for us, out of sight. But these efforts, to us, are nothing but a discord, involved as we are in so intimate a separation, a disentanglement of which, in the measure of our spirit, the chrysalis within us is aware.  It seems right that towards the end of a long journey our interest should be more tender towards the landscape of our life, and towards that intractable, enjoyable part of it that is our own, the imperfect but exquisite machine whose wheels are running down.  Yet we need not walk backwards out of Time, in a sterility like that of Lot's wife, fixed on our past; our compelling interest at the turn of the journey must ever be the adventure to come. Through all obstacles we draw near it, and are Ulysses to ourselves. At our prow, the voices whisper from the night, our weaknesses are the tackle of our voyage and Time is our horizon and beyond it the new horizon must appear:  with what eyes we see it, who can tell? At this second threshold, from birth to death, life indeed is such a river as we can watch through the whole of its length at a glance, from source to sea, speedy in its beginning and boundless at its end; and of all natural symbols which the world can write, the flowing stream is nearest to our mood.

 

Not exactly a Michelin travel guide....

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Jane - Wow to the last quote.  Only some of it matches our recent experience, but a different perspective is interesting.  I haven't read the sailing book.  Perhaps I will take it sailing next summer.  Or read it to get me through that fearful week I always have while I am packing and am so scared to go and sad about what I have to leave behind.

 

Recorder players - I need a recommendation.  I need a Christmas piece to bring to our Christmas party.  SATB or SAT.  The altos, sopranos, and tenors can have a first and second line but it is better if the basses don't, and we can't have more than six parts total because we don't know who is going to be there, unless some can be skipped.  I tried ordering a book online but I hate it.  It is modern harmonies (sorry - not enough musical education to describe it better than that) to traditional carols. Eric Haas arranged them, if that means anything to you.  Some other time, I might have thought the arrangements were interesting, provided I didn't have to play too many of them, but not for Christmas.  I need a name to look for that is NOT like Haas.  Our local music store, who might have been able to help me, is gone so I am stuck ordering sight unseen.  I can't sightread more than a single line so a peek-inside feature isn't going to do me any good.  Any ideas?  While you are at it, would you please send me some reverse-aging powder that I can bake into the Christmas cookies.  Our group is diminishing at an alarming rate.

 

Nan

 

 

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Over the last couple of weeks, I have read two books that were found in the 900 section of the library (history, geography, travel) but could, I suppose, have been shelved under biography.  Both Bitter Lemons and The Minaret of Djam are memoirs; both are geographically specific (Cyprus and Afghanistan, hence the shelving in the 900 section). Both were very moving to this reader.

 

Thinking about memoirs for a moment, I must mention my favorite, The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchet.  If Nan has not read this, she must!  After Blanchet's husband dies in the 1920's, she spends her summers with her five children on a sailboat exploring the islands of British Columbia.  Blissful days for these children with their adventures!  What a wonderful book!

:iagree: I loved this book, which I very appropriately discovered when we chartered a trawler to take around Vancouver Island and it was on the shelf of our cabin alongside the bird books and musty galley cookbooks.  Some of the sailing scenes managing nighttime storms with her kids are... remarkable.  And there's one scene at the end on a wholly different subject that just takes the breath away... Go for it, Nan.

 

 

Jane: We're waiting for Shelley.

Violet: (despairingly). Ah! (Pause.) You're sure it was here?

Jane: What?

And you said the jokes write themselves!

 

 

Negin and Stacia, thanks for the Kindle tip!  Just loaded Galore onto the long list of unread titles...

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:iagree: ... Some of the sailing scenes managing nighttime storms with her kids are... remarkable. ...

 

Day is done

Gone the sun

From the sky

From the hill

From the sea

All is well

Safely rest

God is nigh

 

You sing that as you watch the light fade, then you climb into your bunk because it is too seasicky to do anything else, keeping your clothes on just in case, and then you spend the night listening to the wind rising and feeling the anchorline stretch and jerk and try not to think about the little one foot by two foot chunk of metal stuck in what you hope is mud and not kelp keeping your five tons off the rocks.  Definitely have to read it.

 

Would my husband like the book, do you think?  Could I give it to him for Christmas?  Does it have lots of sailing details (they usually do) or is it a woman's reflections on life (in which case he probably wouldn't enjoy it)?

 

Jane - Remember that hawk photo?  Did you take it?  Can I have a go at painting it?

 

Eliana - What are you studying and why?  Your youngest is how old now?  Will your studies be interrupted by elder care?  You amaze me!

 

Nan

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Day is done

Gone the sun

From the sky

From the hill

From the sea

All is well

Safely rest

God is nigh

 

You sing that as you watch the light fade, then you climb into your bunk because it is too seasicky to do anything else, keeping your clothes on just in case, and then you spend the night listening to the wind rising and feeling the anchorline stretch and jerk and try not to think about the little one foot by two foot chunk of metal stuck in what you hope is mud and not kelp keeping your five tons off the rocks.  Definitely have to read it.

 

Would my husband like the book, do you think?  Could I give it to him for Christmas?  Does it have lots of sailing details (they usually do) or is it a woman's reflections on life (in which case he probably wouldn't enjoy it)?

 

Jane - Remember that hawk photo?  Did you take it?  Can I have a go at painting it?

 

Eliana - What are you studying and why?  Your youngest is how old now?  Will your studies be interrupted by elder care?  You amaze me!

 

Nan

 

Nan, I have a hard time recommending books for people I don't know.  I know that you would love The Curve of Time--and even though I don't know your mother, I suspect she would love it too.  Oh heck, I think your Dad would have loved it so therefore it probably is a book for your husband too! 

 

My husband took the photo of the hawk and would not mind if you painted it.  I can send you a larger file of it if that would be helpful.

 

 

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I finished Book #52 last night  :party:

 

The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic by Jennifer Trafton was our co-op read for this month.  Ironically, I finished it after 9pm last night, and co-op was cancelled today because of snow  <_<  It was our youngest girl's pick.  The story was cute enough, and the premise of a giant being asleep under the mountain (hence the rise and fall was his breathing) was pretty unique.  However, I really felt that the characters fell flat.  Really flat.  I couldn't connect to any of them, and actually I was a few chapters from the end and still trying to figure out if the potter and Theodore were the same character or two different people.  I enjoy reading children's books, so that was not the reason I couldn't connect.  The characters were just there to move the story along, not to draw you into the story and their lives.  Overall, it just wasn't consistent or grabbing.  Aly liked it well enough, and I believe the little girl who picked it was really enjoying it (she's 9).  I'll definitely have to be careful with my comments as we discuss this one  ;)   The girls are still learning how to have discussion without getting their feelers hurt  :D  Because we ask the kids to write down their favorite quotes, I do have a couple...

 

"Persimmony felt as if every heroic tale she had ever told herself under the quilt at night was suddenly bursting out into daylight."

 

"Perhaps there are some things that we are not meant to understand.  Without a few mysteries and a few giants, life would be a very small thing, after all." - the potter.

 

"Life is a mess and a miracle."

 

I had started a Mr. Darcy book at the same time as the Mount Majestic book, but it, too, is not grabbing me.  So I am thinking of putting it aside and beginning one of the other books I picked up at the library.

 

*1 Ă¢â‚¬â€œÂ The Women of Christmas by Liz Curtis Higgs (Isarel)

*2 Ă¢â‚¬â€œÂ Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans (USA)

*3 Ă¢â‚¬â€œÂ The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis (Dusty, Narnia,)

*4 Ă¢â‚¬â€œÂ Michael Vey:  The Rise of the Elgen by Richard Paul Evans (USA/Peru)

*5 Ă¢â‚¬â€œÂ Soulless by Gail Carriger (England, BaW rec)

*6 Ă¢â‚¬â€œÂ Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley (England)

*7 Ă¢â‚¬â€œÂ A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters (12th Century, England/Wales,BaW rec)

*8 Ă¢â‚¬â€œÂ Michael Vey: Battle of the Ampere by Richard Paul Evans (Peru)

*9 - Divergent by Veronica Roth (USA, Skye rec)

*10 - Anna of Byzantium by Tracy Barrett (Turkey, 11th/12th Century, Dusty Book, re-read)

*11 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Austenland by Shannon Hale (England, Dusty Book)

*12 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (Narnia)

*13 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger (England, BaW rec)

*14 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The MagicianĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s Nephew by C.S. Lewis (Narnia)

*15 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury (England)

*16 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Imprudent Lady by Joan Smith (England, BaW rec)

*17 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Beorn the Proud by Madeleine Polland (Denmark, 9th Century, re-read)

*18 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan (audiobook) (USA/Italy)

*19 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The Dead in their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley (England)

*20 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis (Narnia)

*21 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (USA, dusty book)

*22 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The Mysterious Marquis by Eileen Ainsworth Ramsay (England/Scotland, dusty book)

*23 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Agenda 21 by Harriet Parke and Glen Beck (USA)

*24 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Persuasion by Jane Austen  (audiobook, England, re-read)

*25 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer (England, dusty book)

*26 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer (England)

*27 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Mr. KnightleyĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s Diary by Amanda Grange (England, dusty book)

*28 - Classics Illustrated Macbeth (Graphic Novel) by Shakespeare (Scotland)

*29 - Inferno by Dante (14th Century, classic, BaW read along)

*30 - Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter by Nancy Atherton (England, dusty book, BaW rec)

*31 - The Heiress of Winterwood by Sarah E. Ladd (England)

*32 - Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (Costa Rica, dusty book, re-read)

*33 - The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett (Scotland, audiobook, BaW rec)

*34 - The Lost Sisterhood by Anne Fortier (Algeria/Greece/Turkey/England/Crete/Finland)

*35 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Strange Capers by Joan Smith (England)

*36 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina (England, 19th Century)

*37 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Famous Men of the Middle Ages by Rob Shearer

*38 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (England, 14th Century, re-read)

*39 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (USA, 19th Century, classic, re-read)

*40 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson (England, 19th Century) *biggest disappointment 

*41 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (Aly rec)

*42 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (classic)

*43 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut (banned book, USA & Germany, BaW rec)

*44 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The Giver by Lois Lowry (banned book)

*45 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (England, spooky read, BaW rec)

*46 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving (USA, classic, dusty book)

*47 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (England, 19th Century, classic, re-read)

*48 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Michael Vey: Hunt for Jade Dragon by Richard Paul Evans (Taiwan, USA)

*49 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (USA)

*50 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (USA)

*51 Ă¢â‚¬â€œ Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (USA)  

*52 - The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic by Jennifer Trafton

 

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Jane - Please thank your husband for me. I'll let you know if I want the bigger file. I'm just going to mess about with it a bit and sometimes smaller and less detailed makes that easier. Some of the winnowing work is done for me lol. Think I'll try the book on my husband. If he doesn't like it, someone else surely will. I can probably figure out pretty quickly once it is in my hands and I'm going to get it anyway so I can read it.

 

Nan

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I finished The Interestings, by Meg Wolitzer. It hard to say what I thought about this book.  On the one hand the writing was superb.  I don't say that often about a book, but Meg Wolitzer is an excellent writer.  The characters are well drawn out.  They felt so real, that I went to sleep thinking about their problems and issues.  

 
On the other hand, there was no overarching plot.  This book is about the characters lives, that's it.  So the ending is a bit odd too.  I like odd, and I like that modern writers don't neatly tie up every plot point, but still the ending felt strange. Maybe I just didn't want it to end.  I also didn't like the very angry political digs (and I'm more on the liberal side, so it's not that I disagreed!). They just seemed out of place with the tone of the rest of the story, and they remarks felt forced.  
 
But I liked the book. I am ready to read something different. I got Tana French's,   In The Woods.  Everyone was raving about her newest one, so I thought I'd try the first one in the series, and my library had it.
 
And now I'm thinking about Galore. I don't know.  Right now may not be the time for it.  I'm also looking at Everything I Never Told You: A Novel, by Celeste Ng. It was Amazon's pick of the year.  I will wait on it, because last year their pick of the year went down to $2.99.   I'll wait and see if this one does. 
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Recorder players - I need a recommendation.  I need a Christmas piece to bring to our Christmas party.  SATB or SAT.  The altos, sopranos, and tenors can have a first and second line but it is better if the basses don't, and we can't have more than six parts total because we don't know who is going to be there, unless some can be skipped.  I tried ordering a book online but I hate it.  

 

What clefs do your tenor and bass recorder players read?  If you want traditional sounding carols, I'd suggest just reading from one of the many standard hymnals, though it will be only 4 part and only the sopranos will always get the melody.  The tenors and bass players would have to read bass clef, though.  

 

There are a couple of recorder quartet collections on this page at virtualsheetmusic.com.  When you click on the first collection of Christmas tune, scroll down the page and there are midi samples of each song to listen to. Greensleeves sounds pretty good, for instance.  Oh Come All Ye Faithful is fairly similar to the standard hymnal arrangement, but Silent Night and First Noel are more modern.  But take a listen, and check out the second collection.

 

Is there a particular carol you are looking for?  

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Well done, Angel!!    :hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray:

 

 

Day is done

Gone the sun

From the sky

From the hill

From the sea

All is well

Safely rest

God is nigh

 

You sing that as you watch the light fade, then you climb into your bunk because it is too seasicky to do anything else, keeping your clothes on just in case, and then you spend the night listening to the wind rising and feeling the anchorline stretch and jerk and try not to think about the little one foot by two foot chunk of metal stuck in what you hope is mud and not kelp keeping your five tons off the rocks.  Definitely have to read it.

 

Would my husband like the book, do you think?  Could I give it to him for Christmas?  Does it have lots of sailing details (they usually do) or is it a woman's reflections on life (in which case he probably wouldn't enjoy it)?

Hmmmm, well, as Jane says, it's hard to gauge how well someone I don't know even on the Interwebs would like something... there is a good bit of sailing escapades (and her kids were still little when they started, so it's essentially solo sailing on a fairly modest jerry-rigged boat) but there's also a lot of mother-kid scenes.... Mama Bear, literally...  my own husband would like the sailing scenes and appreciate the descriptions of how she made repairs out of twine, chewing gum and a bit of spit, but he would I think gloss over the extended more contemplative philosophical bits that I adored... ymmv!

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What clefs do your tenor and bass recorder players read?  If you want traditional sounding carols, I'd suggest just reading from one of the many standard hymnals, though it will be only 4 part and only the sopranos will always get the melody.  The tenors and bass players would have to read bass clef, though.  

 

There are a couple of recorder quartet collections on this page at virtualsheetmusic.com.  When you click on the first collection of Christmas tune, scroll down the page and there are midi samples of each song to listen to. Greensleeves sounds pretty good, for instance.  Oh Come All Ye Faithful is fairly similar to the standard hymnal arrangement, but Silent Night and First Noel are more modern.  But take a listen, and check out the second collection.

 

Is there a particular carol you are looking for?  

 

They do play bass clef.  I am ashamed to say I am one of the only people in the group who doesn't.  Most of the group show up with four or five recorders and can sightread any of the parts.  It does't matter if the melody is always in the soprano.  It usually is.  We just switch off so one person isn't always doing it.  We sound pretty horrible, but it so much fun!  They are sweet to put up with me.  I can sightread well enough for most of the stuff they bring, but I can only play some of the parts.  I am getting better at this and they are getting worse as they advance into their nineties, so we have just about met in the middle.  I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me to write out the ones out of my hymnbook.  I do have a good hymnal, not the dreadful UU one.  Well, dreadful from a musical point of view.  (You know that joke about UU's?  Why can't UU's sing?  Because they are too busy reading the words to see if they agree with them?)  Anyway, I have a good one that would work.  What I probably will do, though, is order one of the ones you found.  The arrangements are pretty and sound very easy, which means we'll get them right the first time, which means we can play more of them. : )  I love Christmas music.  More is better.  I wasn't looking for anything in particular.  Other people will supply the more difficult and unusual stuff.  We each bring something.  Thank you SO much!

 

Nan

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Mum, if you are enjoying the deadly angels books, you'd probably like Larissa Ione's Lords of deliverance series in which the main heroes of each book are the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse series - paranormal romantic suspense. She actually made it work.

 

 

I just put the first one on hold, thanks. You probably already know that there is a fifth one available with a prerelease status. I am now curious how the four horseman turn into five books.....

There were a couple major angels in the stories who get their own story.  You know how it goes when there is a sub character who steals the show.   

 

 

I finished Book #52 last night  :party:

 

 

Yeah, Congratulations

 

 

Perhaps one of the horsemen was riding an equine variant of the pushmi-pullyu.

 

Regards,

Kareni

:lol:

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Well done, Angel!!    :hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray:

 

 

Hmmmm, well, as Jane says, it's hard to gauge how well someone I don't know even on the Interwebs would like something... there is a good bit of sailing escapades (and her kids were still little when they started, so it's essentially solo sailing on a fairly modest jerry-rigged boat) but there's also a lot of mother-kid scenes.... Mama Bear, literally...  my own husband would like the sailing scenes and appreciate the descriptions of how she made repairs out of twine, chewing gum and a bit of spit, but he would I think gloss over the extended more contemplative philosophical bits that I adored... ymmv!

 

I can't wait to read it lol.  We've sailed with ours since they were newborns, so I suspect my husband would appreciate some of those mother-child scenes.  He certainly dealt with enough of them.  He's pretty good at skimming through contemplative bits.  Maybe we can read it aloud?  We haven't done a read-aloud together for awhile. Well, other than bits and pieces we just had to share.  No bears.  I have not dealt with any bears while sailing.  I hope I don't deal with any bears while sailing.  Worrying about eagles getting the cat is bad enough.  Sigh - she even comes with a handy carry strap when she's on the boat.

 

Nan

 

ETA - Jerry-rigged is good.  Well, good in a book lol.  We can identify with that.

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And books...

 

I finished listening to Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys, which was hilarious; and the audio version brilliant.  I notice now that Amazon has bargain booked it for $8.50; if anyone is planning a long car ride, something to consider.

 

Also, Jane Hirschfeld's Come Thief, recommended here several times.  I have greatly enjoyed her poems when I've come across them elsewhere, but this swing didn't really move me... I think it was my own state of mind, not the collection, so I will return again...

 

One More River by Mary Glickman, a novel with two stories, both set in/around Mississippi, one involving a trio of Jewish and black characters during Prohibition-Depression era; the other also weaving between black and Jewish characters in the civil rights era.  I read this for an IRL book group and most of my comrades loathed it.  I actually liked it -- it tackled Faulkner-worthy themes; and while the writing didn't quite hold up to its aspiration, better to set standards high, and fail always to meet them, then not to set them at all, KWIM?

 

And lastly, Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof, by Alisa Solomon.  This was for another IRL book group and turned out to be an unexpected delight -- one of those illustrations of the principle, which I keep rediscovering over and over again, that an engaging writer can put just about anything at the center of a historical study -- cod, salt, mapmaking, beer -- and that thing can emerge as a fascinating lens.  So this brings us Sholem-Aleichem's biography, the story of Yiddish, the progression of theater at large and in New York, a little Marc Chagall, an insightful biography of Jerome Robbins, a remarkable story behind the Broadway scenes of the original musical, the development of an international copyright structure enabling theater productions to go global, a bit of reconciliation of Israeli sabras with the shtetl story, a history of musical films, and on and on.  Very fun.

 

 

 

Not ready to report yet re: progress on dusty philosophical tomes.  No promises.

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