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Book a Week in 2015 - BW2


Robin M
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Does that mean you are still looking for a "what happened to people after the war?" book? Not that I have a suggestion, just wondering if Dawn fulfilled what you were looking for.

 

 

Yeah, I'm kind of melding my interest in reading more about Russia in the Stalin-era in general, sparked by reading The Case of Comrade Tulayev, and the interest in reading more about the post-WWII experience of European Jews.  There actually seem to be a fair number of connections between the two topics.  So I'm reading 1984 and Darkness at Noon and probably some other things, and then I decided to read the rest of the Night trilogy because it seemed that it directly addressed the questions I had after reading Night.  I'm still open to other suggestions about either topic, or both. 

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I've got Loreena McKinnit's An Ancient Muse playing in while I sit with a pot of tea and some, wait for it, chocolate. The dogs have been walked, ds and dh are out at an all-day event. Dh will be back mid-afternoon so I have a few hours to myself to read and zentangle. Never mind the laundry, the dusting and the, ahem, Christmas tree that needs taking down. I'm more interested in punting along with 'The Steerswoman'. Really enjoying this book and wondering why Eliana disliked it so much. I hope I'm not in for a big disappointment as the story progresses. I seem to recall that you liked this, Eliana, up to a point and then it went south?

Here, I just took this for you. Tangles growing on my kitchen window!

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Does that mean you are still looking for a "what happened to people after the war?" book? Not that I have a suggestion, just wondering if Dawn fulfilled what you were looking for.

 

 

Spoiler Alert re: Dawn by Elie Weisel

 

 

It did provide one thread of an answer, for sure.  Dawn is about a concentration camp survivor and his experiences after the war.  He is asked by the Americans if he wants to go "home" but as home is in Russian-occupied Eastern Europe, and his family is all dead,, he has no reason to return there.  This is interesting - considering how the Jews were treated by many of their neighbors in Russia and other eastern European countries before the war, and before and after the German invasion, and the fact that presumably many of their homes and businesses were taken over by otheres when they were sent to ghettos and concentration camps, was there really a home to return to?  In any eveent, this boy Elisha is recruited to go to Palestine and fight, as a terrorist, against the English.   So in the sense that the book is about one boy's post-war experince, it does shed light on the whole issue.  In particular the motivations of the Zionists who were fighting to create Israel, and their motivations. 

 

The ending of the book shocked me.  Literally.  It completely shouldn't have, it was very clear what was going to happen, but I was still shocked when it actually did.  I'm still mulling.  I have Day to read, the end of the trilogy, but I am going to have to give it a few days rest before I get into it.  Meanwhile I've started 1984, for a little light reading  :001_rolleyes:

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An extended excerpt from my current book, Charles Siringo's autobiography A Texas Cowboy (1886):

 

--------------------

 

I wanted the boat, but how to get her I did not know. I finally studied up a scheme: Mr. Collier wanted to buy a horse in case he sold the boat, so I began talking horse trade. Nothing but a gentle animal would suit he said. I then described one to him and asked how much he would take to-boot if the pony proved to be as I represented? "Ten dollars" said he; "she pops" continued I. So I started over to Cashe's creek to trade Horace Yeamans out of an old crippled pony that he couldn't get rid of. He was a nice looking horse and apparently as sound as a dollar; but on trotting him around a short while he would become suddenly lame in both of his front legs.

 

Before starting to Cashe's creek next morning Mr. Collier told me to try and get the horse there that night as, in case we made the trade, he and Mr. Murphy would start next morning on a pleasure trip to Columbia, a town forty miles east. I assured him that I would be back by dark. You see, that was a point gained, making the trade after dark.

 

I succeeded in making the trade with Horace; he gave me "old gray" as he called him and fourteen dollars in money for my interest in three different brands of cattle. He afterwards sold the cattle for enough to buy a whole herd of crippled ponies.

 

I rode back to Grimes' ranch very slowly so as not to cause old gray to become lame.

 

I arrived there about sundown, but remained out in the brush until after dark.

 

Mr. Collier, on being notified of my arrival, came out, lantern in hand, bringing his friend Murphy along to do the judging for him. He confessed that he was a very poor judge of a spanish pony, not having been long in America. He was from "Hengland."

 

After examining old gray all over they both pronounced him a model of beauty—an honor to the mustang race. You see, he was hog fat, not having been used for so long.

 

The trade was sealed that night and next morning Mr. Collier and Murphy, who already had a pony of his own, started on their forty mile journey. When within five miles of Elliott's ferry on the Colorado river, which was fifteen miles from [Columbia,] Grimes' old gray gave out entirely, so that poor Collier had to hoof it to the ferry where he secured another horse.

 

Now kind reader you no doubt think that a shabby trick. If so, all I can say is "such is life in the far west."

 

-------------------

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I'm smack dab in the middle of The Golem and The Jinni and have lost my steam. Definitely could have been edited down because I feel like we're reading pages upon pages about the same darn thing with nothing new introduced. Let's move on now. C'mon, author! I might have to speed read through a little bit and see if it draws me back in. 

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I'm just now catching up in my reviews of the books I've read so far in January! You can read the full reviews on my blog.

 

7295501.jpg?w=760

 

Shades of Milk and Honey is an alternate history where Regency ladies are expected to know how to work magic, as well as play the pianoforte and draw.

 

screen-shot-2015-01-03-at-4-51-34-pm.png

 

A Natural History of Dragons is yet another alternate history, this time taking place in the Victorian era. It's the memoir of a Victorian lady who spent her life on dangerous expeditions to learn more about the zoology of dragons.

 

howtoliveon24hoursaday.jpg?w=760

 

How to Live on 24 Hours a Day is a treatise on intentional living first published in 1910. The author laments how "modern times" are so busy that one hardly has time to pursue the higher arts. His observations about the human condition and practical advice about living a full life are still as applicable as ever.

Love your blog. All three sound intriguing, though the History of Dragons really grabs me.  Added it to my wishlist.

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I just finished Carla Kelly's historical romance Marriage of Mercy.  It was a pleasant read but not one of my favorites though it did share intriguing historical facts of which I was unaware.

 

The Amazon blurb is full of inaccuracies:  "From riches to rags, Grace has had to swallow her pride and get a job as a baker. But everything changes when she's the beneficiary of a surprise inheritance.

Her benefactor's deal comes with a catch: give up her life of toil and live in luxury only if she marries his illegitimate son, a prisoner of war. It's an offer she can't afford to refuse. But her husband-to-be is dying, and he begs her to take one of his men instead—to marry purely out of mercy….

A marriage of convenience with a complete stranger… Could this arrangement ever work?"

 

 

Rather than marrying the illegitimate son, she is instead a parole guard of an American captured during the war of 1812.  No marriage takes place during the book, so the title is poorly done.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

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I'm just now catching up in my reviews of the books I've read so far in January! You can read the full reviews on my blog.

 

 

7295501.jpg?w=760

Shades of Milk and Honey is an alternate history where Regency ladies are expected to know how to work magic, as well as play the pianoforte and draw.

 

 

screen-shot-2015-01-03-at-4-51-34-pm.png

A Natural History of Dragons is yet another alternate history, this time taking place in the Victorian era. It's the memoir of a Victorian lady who spent her life on dangerous expeditions to learn more about the zoology of dragons.

 

 

howtoliveon24hoursaday.jpg?w=760

How to Live on 24 Hours a Day is a treatise on intentional living first published in 1910. The author laments how "modern times" are so busy that one hardly has time to pursue the higher arts. His observations about the human condition and practical advice about living a full life are still as applicable as ever.

In A Natural History of Dragons, does the scientist kill or dissect the dragons, or just observe them?

 

Nan

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In A Natural History of Dragons, does the scientist kill or dissect the dragons, or just observe them?

 

Nan

 

There is at least one dissection, if memory serves. However, they don't go around killing dragons for that purpose. The dissection is described in a very clinical way, nothing gory. A main thrust of the conflict in the book centers around the fact that dragons in this particular area are unusually aggressive toward humans, so they shoot at them when they are attacked. There is violence throughout the book, leading to severe injury or death in some cases. I think the book would be suitable for ages 13 and up. Possibly younger, if the kid wasn't overly sensitive and didn't mind the slightly antiquated prose.

 

EDIT: Wait, I just remembered that they hunted and killed one dragon for the express purpose of seeing if they were falling prey to a disease, like rabies. And the author killed and preserved very small dragons (only a few inches long) to try to classify their species, but it never actually describes her killing them...just that she's collected so many in jars.

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There is at least one dissection, if memory serves. However, they don't go around killing dragons for that purpose. The dissection is described in a very clinical way, nothing gory. A main thrust of the conflict in the book centers around the fact that dragons in this particular area are unusually aggressive toward humans, so they shoot at them when they are attacked. There is violence throughout the book, leading to severe injury or death in some cases. I think the book would be suitable for ages 13 and up. Possibly younger, if the kid wasn't overly sensitive and didn't mind the slightly antiquated prose.

 

Thank you! : )

Nan

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A couple of days ago, I finished Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher.  This was an engaging (often funny, sometimes poignant) epistolary novel composed solely of letters of recommendation written by an English professor.  JennW mentioned having enjoyed reading this last year.

 

 

"Finally a novel that puts the "pissed" back into "epistolary."

Jason Fitger is a beleaguered professor of creative writing and literature at Payne University, a small and not very distinguished liberal arts college in the midwest. His department is facing draconian cuts and squalid quarters, while one floor above them the Economics Department is getting lavishly remodeled offices. His once-promising writing career is in the doldrums, as is his romantic life, in part as the result of his unwise use of his private affairs for his novels. His star (he thinks) student can't catch a break with his brilliant (he thinks) work Accountant in a Bordello, based on Melville's Bartleby. In short, his life is a tale of woe, and the vehicle this droll and inventive novel uses to tell that tale is a series of hilarious letters of recommendation that Fitger is endlessly called upon by his students and colleagues to produce, each one of which is a small masterpiece of high dudgeon, low spirits, and passive-aggressive strategies. We recommend Dear Committee Members to you in the strongest possible terms."

 

Regards,

Kareni

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Kareni, that sounds great. I wrote lots of letters of recommendation every year. It goes along with being a AP Calculus teacher. Adding this book to my list.

 

While I am enjoying my book about Bell Labs, it makes me sad to think that places don't exist anymore. The brain power there(1500 PhD scientists all together), the idea that everything wasn't about profit for AT&T, the idea that science was important just for learning and understanding, the push to create a collaborative global society... I'm not sure if there is a place like that now. They haven't mentioned one woman scientist yet in the book. I wonder when women scientists started working there.

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Kareni, that sounds great. I wrote lots of letters of recommendation every year. It goes along with being a AP Calculus teacher. Adding this book to my list.

 

While I am enjoying my book about Bell Labs, it makes me sad to think that places don't exist anymore. The brain power there(1500 PhD scientists all together), the idea that everything wasn't about profit for AT&T, the idea that science was important just for learning and understanding, the push to create a collaborative global society... I'm not sure if there is a place like that now. They haven't mentioned one woman scientist yet in the book. I wonder when women scientists started working there.

 

I'm quoting so you'll see this, then moving over to the new thread to answer.

 

: )

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  • 2 weeks later...

I finished the most disturbing book, The Giver. Unfortunately, I read it after my sons, 12 and 10, read it. I would not have let them read it so early. It is the most haunting book.

Please discuss it with me if you have read it.

 

If you'd like to discuss, come on over to the new thread. Might as well wait til tomorrow morning when the new thread goes up for the week.  See you then.

 

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