Book a Week in 2015 - BW6

[JennW in SoCal]

Nan -- I simply cannot fathom the amount of snow you are describing.  It's been so warm here that I've been sitting outside at lunchtime and reading!  (Once again I wish we could ship some of that snow to our California reservoirs -- no rain in So Cal for 6 weeks now, and this is our rainy season.)

 

And Mazel Tov to Eliana on the engagement of dd #2!!  Wishing you a joyful 7 weeks of preparation and planning!!

 

 

After finishing yet another mystery in a day (Black Dog by Stephen Booth -- I both liked and disliked it), I decided I needed to change things up a bit. Lo and behold, I found Brandon Sanderson's Words of Radiance on the library shelf this afternoon!  Those of you who've read Sanderson will understand.  He writes the most readable fantasy that just lets you just sink effortlessly into his worlds.  This is the second of a series he is still writing, and at 1000+ pages, it should keep me away from British police procedurals for at least a few days!  

[Nan in Mass]

Felicitations, Eliana and daughter!!! Best wishes for a happy future.

 

I liked The Blue Sword, despite its harlequiny beginning, much better than The Hero and the Crown. More anthropology. More animals. : )

 

Nan

[mumto2]

Eliana, Congratulations! What happy news.

 

Jenn, I know. Black Dog was a bit odd for me too. You had already bought it at the point I started having issues. Many things were good about it but the ending really bothered me and the goat. Just yuk. I plan to try the next one simply because our library keeps lists for patrons on how far they are in different series behind the desk. There are several rather mild older than us ;) woman progressing nicely through these. Never expected ......suspect the rest are toned down.

[Jane in NC]

Congratulations to Eliana,her daughter and her most fortunate future son in law!

 

Nan, the salt marsh has been filled with migrating robins consuming the remains of holly berries, a spring harbinger.

[Stacia]

Still loving The Good Lord Bird. Here's a quote that tickled my fancy this morning... :laugh:

 

He had gotten a new set of clothes someplace, but they  were only worse new versions of the same thing he wore before: black trousers, black vest, frock coat, stiff collar, withered, crumpled, and chewed at the edges. His boots was worse than ever, crumpled like pieces of text paper, curled at the toes. In other words, he looked normal, like his clothes was dying of thirst, and he himself was about to keel over out of plain ugliness.

-- from The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

[-M-]

Hello, BaWers! *waving* Here's my second post of the 2015 program.

 

Books completed:

 

#10 Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data (Charles Wheelan; 2013. 302 pages. Non-fiction.)
#9 The Storm in the Barn (Matt Phelan; 2009. 208 pages. Graphic fiction.)
#8 Kayak Morning: Reflections on Love, Grief, and Small Boats (Roger Rosenblatt; 2012. 160 pages. Non-fiction.)
#7 Reading as Therapy: What Contemporary Fiction Does for Middle-Class Americans (Timothy Aubry; 2011. 268 pages. Non-fiction.)
#6 Dept. of Speculation (Jenny Offill; 2014. 192 pages. Fiction.)
#5 The Paying Guests (Sarah Waters; 2014. 576 pages. Fiction.)
#4 Vodou (Mauro Peressini and Rachel Beauvoir-Dominique; 2013. 108 pages. Non-fiction.)
#3 The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion (Meghan Daum; 2014. 256 pages. Non-fiction.)
#2 The Shining Girls (Lauren Beukes; 2013. 400 pages. Fiction.)
#1 Abroad (Katie Crouch; 2014. 304 pages. Fiction.)

 

Random remarks on the above list:

 

A neat serendipity / synchronicity / synthesis note: Abroad was inspired by the Amanda Knox case, just as Cartwheel, one of the first books I read last year, was. Now that book made it onto my "memorable books of 2014" list. I don't think that Abroad, which confines itself to a single narrative perspective, will make it onto the 2015 year-end list, but it was a competent effort.

 

The Shining Girls, set in Chicago, is a bit bloody, but I appreciated the genre mash-up (mystery with a dash of horror and time travel).

 

I must be too set in my stoic ways because Kayak Morning elicited more "Get on with it, already" than empathy.

 

Speaking of stoic, Daum's essay collection is, I have learned, divisive. Some feel it is too "hard." I thinks she manages to strike an interesting chord of self-awareness and telling-it-like-it-was.

 

Storm in the Barn contains artwork that can only be described as luminous, and, yes, Dept. of Speculation is lyrical but painful.

 

I wanted Reading as Therapy to be more inviting. I didn't expect Naked Statistics to be so. Miss M-mv(i) and I heartily recommend the latter.

 

What I'm reading right now:

 

:: Hamlet -- a reread for my latest Shakespeare MOOC

:: Odd Thomas -- for, well, it's a long story

:: two Roz Chast volumes, one a collection, one her recent memoir

:: Howards End Is on the Landing -- seems as if I've been reading this forever

 

Where I've been:

 

Since my last post, the Misses and I wrapped up our wonderful winter break, and they began their spring semester. I finished one Shakespeare MOOC and began another. Mr. M-mv and I returned to our literacy volunteer gig. I resumed my flute lessons, finished taxes and the dreaded FAFSA, accompanied my youngest on a scholarship interview event, and further settled into "retirement."

 

I always think there will be time enough -- at last! -- for more reading, but all of the odds and ends associated with mentoring the Misses through their college plans really form a parttime job (as, I guess, most guidance counselors would agree). I am happy to help. Related aside: They were both named to the President's List for their Fall 2015 work, and they've received invitations to the honor society. I am proud, of course, but mostly I am happy to learn that I was right: No matter where they go or what they need to do along the way, they are good people who are unafraid to work hard for the things they need and want. This would be an angstier time for all of us, if that weren't so true. Do you know what I mean?

 

Wishing all of you well. Now I'm off to catch up on your recommendations.

[Stacia]

Congrats to your dds, M-mv!

[TeacherZee]

Ducking in while dinner cooks to say Congratulations to Eliana and her family and M-mv and her daughters. Once I've eaten I am going to bury myself in Eve Dallas world again (I read while I walked to work today and told my colleagues who caught up to me outside the school doors "can't talk, new book" at which point they concluded that, no, despite staring at my phone I was NOT like the students :lol: )

[Kareni]

Last night I finished the book Losing Hope: A Novel by Colleen Hoover; I enjoyed it.  It's a companion piece to one of her earlier books, Hopeless, told from the viewpoint of the other main character.  The main characters are between 16 and 18, but I wouldn't call it a young adult book; it was cataloged as a fiction book in my library.  Trigger alerts: suicide and child molestation 

 

"#1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover held readers spellbound with her novel Hopeless, the story of what happened when a troubled girl named Sky encountered a long-lost childhood friend, Dean Holder. With Holder’s help, Sky uncovered shocking family secrets and came to terms with memories and emotions that had left deep scars.

Hopeless was Sky’s story. Now, in Losing Hope, we finally learn the truth about Dean Holder.

Haunted by the little girl he couldn’t save from imminent danger, Holder’s life has been overshadowed by feelings of guilt and remorse. He has never stopped searching for her, believing that finding her would bring him the peace he needs to move on. However, Holder could not have anticipated that he would be faced with even greater pain the moment they reconnected.

In Losing Hope, Holder reveals the way in which the events of Sky’s youth affected him and his family, leading him to seek his own redemption in the act of saving her. But it is only in loving Sky that he can finally begin to heal himself."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Lady Florida.]

Eliana - Congratulations on your family's happy news!

 

M-MV - Congratulations to your amazing daughters (and to mama for getting them to this point)!

 

 

I got a notice from my library that I have 3 days left on Wuthering Heights. What? It doesn't seem like I've had it for 2 weeks. Unfortunately I didn't start it right away either, so I didn't have the full 2 weeks. I'm hoping there's no one on a waiting list, so I can just recheck it out. You can't renew ebooks, you have to check them out again.

 

Of course, I could just avoid turning on my Kindle's wifi until I'm done. I know there are others in this group who understand that trick. :)

[idnib]

Despite my idea (promise?) that I wouldn't check out anything from the library this week, I ended up getting Philip Roth's Everyman. It's fairly slim so I'm going to fit it in before Pride and Prejudice. 

 

I finished 1Q84 two nights ago. I really enjoyed it and it was nice to read a Japanese author. I don't believe I've ever read Japanese fiction. I avoid reading reviews until I've read a book and so it wasn't until yesterday that I went and read what other people thought. While I did think the ending was a bit rushed compared to the general pace of the book, and the sex scenes were ham-fisted, I loved reading the book and was surprised to read so much criticism after the fact. No accounting for taste and all that. Any recommendations for which Marukami to read next?

[Tress]

Multiquote thing...aaargh.

 

 

 

Nan, I can't imagine that amount of snow. We only have rain here. Lots of rain.

 

Eliana, congratulations!

 

M-Mv, congratulations!

 

 

[Stacia]

I finished 1Q84 two nights ago. I really enjoyed it and it was nice to read a Japanese author. I don't believe I've ever read Japanese fiction. I avoid reading reviews until I've read a book and so it wasn't until yesterday that I went and read what other people thought. While I did think the ending was a bit rushed compared to the general pace of the book, and the sex scenes were ham-fisted, I loved reading the book and was surprised to read so much criticism after the fact. No accounting for taste and all that. Any recommendations for which Marukami to read next?

 

My favorite Murakami so far has been Kafka on the Shore (even though I consider 1Q84 his masterpiece). I also really enjoyed A Wild Sheep Chase (even though I didn't finish my read of it this year, I do remember really enjoying it when I read it many, many years ago).

 

Have you seen the Murakami Bingo card? :lol:

 

FYI, when I read 1Q84, here's what I ended up writing about it on Goodreads (along with a note to myself of "I will miss Tamaru's character..."):

A masterpiece by Murakami.

 

I've been pondering my thoughts about this book. And, ultimately, the word I keep coming back to in relation to this book is... basket.

 

The construction of the story is woven like a basket. Murakami starts with various separate pieces, then starts weaving them together. As the story circles around & around, the weaving gets tighter, pulling all the pieces closer together while rotating again & again. (I realize that some have gotten bogged down in the repetition of the story, but I found it fascinating to watch his construction, to watch him carefully take one tiny design, include it somewhere else later, and continue sprinkling it through so that the final product produces a beautiful, cohesive design.)

 

The finished product is an epic, yet simple story, well-constructed. It is an impressive work created by a master craftsman. A universal story that, like baskets that have been used in most societies from ancient times to present day, can appeal across cultural divides, across time divides. Functional, useful, and beautiful at the same time. Universal themes such as love, ethics, religion, reality, and many more are woven into the story -- topics that would have been as appropriate a thousand years ago as they are today to people both far & wide. A design that is recognizable across cultures, yet has unique components that showcase Murakami's style & heritage too. And even though this story is like a modern-day basket, it pays homage to the ones before it, referencing some of the great works produced by artists, authors, and others from past times. A reflection of both old & new (& perhaps what is yet to come?).

 

And this book made me sure to look at the moon, more than once. And how can I not love a book that reminds me to be awed by the beauty of the moon? Our universal, shared moon... common to every person on the planet.

 

This is the third Murakami work I've read & I'd definitely rate it as the most mainstream of the ones I've read, yet it's not necessarily the one I'd recommend starting with if you've never read Murakami. Perhaps you can get a deeper appreciation for his skill if you're already a fan of his work. Otherwise, it might be to easy to dismiss 1Q84 as simple or basic, when in reality it may look simple, but is really a masterpiece created by a world-class artist.

 

{Spoiler ahead...}

 

Ironically, I was a bit surprised by the (happy) ending. Because, even though I saw the story being crafted through hundreds of pages, I was still unsure if Aomame & Tengo were heading toward happiness or not.... Did fate lead them there or was it their free-will? Once I saw where Aomame's & Tengo's stories ended in this book, I have to believe they will overcome any adversities they meet & enjoy a happy future together. They have already weathered the adverse, the strange, the mundane to get to the end, or beginning, of their story together. Time is a circle, watched over by the moon.

 

[Tress]

Once I've eaten I am going to bury myself in Eve Dallas world again (I read while I walked to work today and told my colleagues who caught up to me outside the school doors "can't talk, new book" at which point they concluded that, no, despite staring at my phone I was NOT like the students :lol: )

 

:lol: & I'm jealous! It's going to take ages before the new In Death will be at the library here. Fortunately I'm at book 23, so I still have some to go :D.

[Lady Florida.]

I really enjoyed it and it was nice to read a Japanese author. I don't believe I've ever read Japanese fiction. 

 

Now that you mention it, Murakami is the only Japanese author I've read. I might want to seek out other Japanese fiction just to compare. I could be wrong, but I doubt they're all like him.  :lol:

[Stacia]

Other Japanese authors...

 

I read Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto a few years ago. Mostly I wanted to read it because her pen name is Banana.

 

:lol:

 

 

[JennW in SoCal]

.

 

 

 

This. Makes. My. DAY!!!  

[shukriyya]

Rousing myself out of non-multi-quote apathy to respond to a few posts individually.

 

Congratulations to Eliana,her daughter and her most fortunate future son in law!

Nan, the salt marsh has been filled with migrating robins consuming the remains of holly berries, a spring harbinger.

 

Jane, I couldn't help but re-arrange your evocative and hopeful sentence into a bit of verse...

 

Nan, the salt marsh has been
filled with migrating
robins consuming
the remains of holly
 

berries, a spring harbinger.

 

[Nan in Mass]

Nan, the salt marsh has been filled with migrating robins consuming the remains of holly berries, a spring harbinger.

My mum saw a robin yesterday in the storm, looking for juniper berries in the juniper. She can only get to one feeder to fill but she was excited because a chickadee was desperate enough to brave the sparrows. The neighbor has a disconsolate duck in his bathtub. A hawk got him in the breast. He bled all over mum,s driveway then hid on her porch, drank the water she put out for him (easy to track a bleeding duck) , spent the night, stopped bleeding and disappeared. Mum feared the worst until the neighbor called asking what he should do. The snow is amazing. I,ll send photos. We,re hearing the surf, too, even in the house, even with 5 miles of woods and salt marsh between. Sounds like the shore is getting pounded. I just watched a what looked like a wren hop under the tarp covering our woodpile. Do they eat bugs?

 

After trying a few things that didn,t stick, I have settled on reading Dragonsinger in French. I know the book so well I don,t need a dictionary for the unknown words.

 

I found the passage in Pride and Prejudice about homeschooling. It is in chapter 29. Or was it 30? Grrr... I was so careful to remember...

 

Nan

[aggieamy]

 

 

Some of you were talking last week about not liking historical fiction that is about real historical figures, and someone mentioned that is why she's not read Susan Howatch.  Ah, but you can read Cashelmara!  It is a retelling of Edward II, but it isn't actually about him -- it is loosely his story set in the late 1800s.   

 

 

 

That was me and ???.  I wish my memory was better!  Alrighty then!  I've added Cashelmara to my to-read list.  

[shukriyya]

I got a notice from my library that I have 3 days left on Wuthering Heights. What? It doesn't seem like I've had it for 2 weeks. Unfortunately I didn't start it right away either, so I didn't have the full 2 weeks. I'm hoping there's no one on a waiting list, so I can just recheck it out. You can't renew ebooks, you have to check them out again.

 

Of course, I could just avoid turning on my Kindle's wifi until I'm done. I know there are others in this group who understand that trick. :)

 

Hey, that's the e-version of not bringing books back on time :lol:

[shukriyya]

Eliana and MMV, congratulations!

 

The other night I had a window of a couple of wee, small hours and among other things put some effort into firing up the reading sparks again. No End to Snowdrops is a wonderful biography about the poet, Kathleen Raine. I think a number of BaWers would enjoy it. Right now she has just arrived at Cambridge, circa 1920, a heady time in England in academe particularly for a woman. I'm reminded of the mention upthread of Sylvia Townsend Warner who was a member of the Bloomsbury group, I think. At any rate it's a good read in spite of my own current literary disinclination.

 

 

[Kareni]

Those who like books in the new adult genre might wish to try this (currently) free Kindle book.  I haven't read this book, but I did read and enjoy Archer's Voice  by the same author.  (Adult content.)

 

Leo (Sign of Love Book 1) by Mia Sheridan

"Evie and Leo met in foster care as children and formed a bond of friendship. As they grew, their bond turned to love, and they vowed to make a life together when they turned 18 and were no longer a part of the system.

When Leo unexpectedly gets adopted as a teen and moves to another city, he promises Evie that he will contact her as soon as he gets there and come back for her in a few short years. She never hears from him again.

Now eight years later, in spite of the odds, Evie has made a life for herself. She has a job. She has friends. She's content. Then a man shows up out of the blue, claiming that her long lost love, Leo, sent him to check up on her. The attraction between them is undeniable. But, should she trust this sexy stranger? Or is he keeping a secret about what his connection to Leo is really all about and why Leo disappeared all those years ago?

THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SIGN OF LOVE NOVEL, INSPIRED BY LEO. New Adult Contemporary Romance: Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Sherri in MI]

Hi I am new to Book A Week (though not to WTM Forums), can I jump in now? Though I love to read,  I am a little hesitant about being able to read a book a week.  I feel like I'm always reading, but I barely manage a book a month for the book club I attend (irregularly).  I think I start a lot of books, but don't always finish.  I've always wanted to do this when I saw your posts in previous years, so I want to give it a try. 

 

This week I'll be rereading The Two Towers, since we are rereading it for book club, which meets on the 20th.  Then I'll read The Princess Bride, and The Red Tent also for book club.  I will read others in between, don't know what yet, though. I have more than 52 books on my library wish list.   If I read a book club selection too soon before book club, I tend to forget the details.

 

Love the months theme, but not sure I will get to any of those books this month.  Love Jane Austen and have read all her novels, thanks to book club.  We just reread Mansfield Park for January.

 

I am amazed (and a little intimidated) to see that many of you are reading three and more books at a time!  How do you manage to find the time?  I have a friend who listens to audio books while she works but I could never do that unless I was doing something mindless like dishes or ironing or driving on a long trip.

 

Would love to read History of the Medieval World along with you, but I need to tackle the Ancient World first.  Maybe I will try both.  Not sure yet.

 

Wish I could MultiQuote, because I cannot recall the posts I wanted to comment on.

 

Someone mention that it is Love Your Library Month & I soooo appreciate that heads up, because I do love my library and our librarians, so I need to show them some love in February.  Our librarians are the greatest!  They are so friendly and helpful and know us by name.  If we have books on order, they see us coming and sometimes have them all checked out before we even get to the counter!

 

Someone read The Kite Runner. I saw the movie, but didn't read the book.  However I did like A Thousand Splendid Suns by the same author.  Such beauty and love in the middle of such harsh circumstances.

 

Best get off the forums and start reading.  I see I am going to have to use my crockpot a lot this year to save me some reading time.

[NoseInABook]

Eliana, congratulations! That is so exciting!

 

I'm halfway through Jeannie Cunnion's Parenting The Wholehearted Child. The Kindle says I'm 30% into The Outlaw Demon Wails. I'll confess I'm watching too much TV on Netflix and reading too little. I'm super distracted lately which is probably why. We went to court for our little foster baby and found out they're sending him home next month. If you're a praying person, please pray. This is very, very bad news for him. However, I should be getting more reading done because pretty much everything out of the home has been wiped off of my schedule today as my van broke down! February is not being the kindest month to me. ;) 

[Stacia]

Welcome, Sherri! :seeya:

 

:grouphug: :grouphug: , NoseInABook.

 

[Stacia]

I managed to score a few good books at the friends of the library sale:

The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich ($1.50)

and two travel adventures...

New Wind in a Dry Land by Margaret Laurence ($0.50)

The Crossing of Antarctica by Sir Vivian Fuchs and Sir Edmund Hillary ($0.50)

 

 

[Just Robyn]

 

I found the passage in Pride and Prejudice about homeschooling. It is in chapter 29. Or was it 30? Grrr... I was so careful to remember...

 

Nan

 

Chapter 29

 

"No governess! How is that possible? Five daughters brought up at home without a governess! I never heard of such a thing. Your mother must have been quite a slave to your education."

 

Elizabeth could hardly help smiling as she assured her that had not been the case.

 

"Then who taught you? who attended to you? Without a governess, you must have been neglected."

 

"Compared with some families, I believe we were; but such of us as wished to learn never wanted the means. We were always encouraged to read, and had all the masters that were necessary. Those who chose to be idle, certainly might."

[Stacia]

This. Makes. My. DAY!!!  

 

It's just the type of day where you need a banana dancing on top of a piano!

 

At least, it's that kind of day for me....

[Nan in Mass]

Rousing myself out of non-multi-quote apathy to respond to a few posts individually.

 

 

Jane, I couldn't help but re-arrange your evocative and hopeful sentence into a bit of verse...

 

Nan, the salt marsh has been

filled with migrating

robins consuming

the remains of holly

 

berries, a spring harbinger.

 

Oh!  How lovely!

 

It could even be a haiku, too:

 

Migrating robins

Eat saltmarsh holly berries

Harbingers of spring

 

I like yours better, though.  When you leave me out of it, it loses some of its meaning for me.

 

Jane, my mother is wondering if spring will ever come.  Just wondering, not necessarily unhappy about it.  In mid-February, there should be plenty of signs.  Instead, we have snowbirds.

 

Nan

[JennW in SoCal]

Eliana, congratulations! That is so exciting!

 

I'm halfway through Jeannie Cunnion's Parenting The Wholehearted Child. The Kindle says I'm 30% into The Outlaw Demon Wails. I'll confess I'm watching too much TV on Netflix and reading too little. I'm super distracted lately which is probably why. We went to court for our little foster baby and found out they're sending him home next month. If you're a praying person, please pray. This is very, very bad news for him. However, I should be getting more reading done because pretty much everything out of the home has been wiped off of my schedule today as my van broke down! February is not being the kindest month to me. ;)

 

Just wanted you to know that my clicking of the "like" means I'm sending you and your family hugs and prayers. I don't by any means "like" that February is not being the kindest month.  :grouphug:  :grouphug:

[Stacia]

Just wanted you to know that my clicking of the "like" means I'm sending you and your family hugs and prayers. I don't by any means "like" that February is not being the kindest month.  :grouphug:  :grouphug:

 

Me too, NoseInABook.

[Nan in Mass]

Sherri, welcome!  I asked the same question about how people find the time to read as much as they do.  There are some amazing people here.

 

Thank you, Crstarlette!

 

Stacia, I just wanted to tell you that I really enjoy going and looking at the books you are reading.  I really appreciate the links and all the trouble you take to post new and interesting things.  I'm not actually reading them but there will come a time when I do.  Just not this year.  I am keeping a list. : )

 

NoseInABook, words fail... definitely praying for that things come right for the wee one... sending strength and hugs...

 

Kiterunner... I actually have read this, as unlikely as it seems.  It was a gift and I felt I had to.  Then I felt I had to lie about liking it.  I wish I had told the lie in the first place and said I had misplaced it.  It isn't that I don't know about all the awful stuff in the book.  I've read enough nonfiction accounts of life in that area not to be surprised.  I just don't need to add fictional accounts on top.  It made me feel that the author was profiting from the interest generated by a great tragedy.  Hopefully I am wrong and he was just trying to raise awareness.

 

Nan

 

 

[beckster]

 

 

Would love to read History of the Medieval World along with you, but I need to tackle the Ancient World first.  Maybe I will try both.  Not sure yet.

 

 

 

I jumped in this year with Medieval, but decided just this week to go back and add Ancient.  We can do it together!  It is still early in the year - easy to catch up!

[beckster]

Eliana, congratulations! That is so exciting!

 

I'm halfway through Jeannie Cunnion's Parenting The Wholehearted Child. The Kindle says I'm 30% into The Outlaw Demon Wails. I'll confess I'm watching too much TV on Netflix and reading too little. I'm super distracted lately which is probably why. We went to court for our little foster baby and found out they're sending him home next month. If you're a praying person, please pray. This is very, very bad news for him. However, I should be getting more reading done because pretty much everything out of the home has been wiped off of my schedule today as my van broke down! February is not being the kindest month to me. ;)

 

Praying!!!  :grouphug:

[beckster]

Reading has slowed down this week.  Too many big books going at the same time!!

 

finished this year:

How to be a High School Superstar

Wuthering Heights

You're Already Amazing

Trusting God

Death Comes for the Archbishop

The Hope Chest (by Rebekah Wilson)

Treasure in the Hills

The Quilting Bible

Complete Guide to Quilting

Genesis in Space and Time

A World Without Cancer

Confessions of an Organized Homemaker

Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness

What's Best Next

The Granny Square Book

Kids Knitting

Homespun Bride

Make Over: Revitalizing the Many Roles You Fill

Seven-Minute Marriage Solution

Invisibles:  The Power of Anonymous Work in an Age of Relentless Self-Promotion

Pollyanna

 

currently reading:

The History of the Medieval World

The History of the Ancient World

East of Eden

Jane Eyre

Ivanhoe

[Stacia]

Beckster, why are some of your titles in red? Just curious! (Is it by week?)

[beckster]

Stacia, you guessed correctly!  I just do that so I can see at a glance what the weekly breakdown is.

[Nan in Mass]

Oh, and MM, congratulations!

[SunnyDays]

Okay, let's see if I can remember all I wanted to...

 

Kathy, that's genius on the wifi.  That never occurred to me!!

 

Nan, I simply can't fathom that much snow.  I'm a lifelong midwest girl, so no stranger to snow or long winters.  But I've never sunk up to my armpits.  Not since I was five or so anyway, LOL!!  Our snow has been melting a bit and I have my fingers crossed that Mother Nature isn't planning a sequel.

 

Shukriyya, love the poetry!! 

 

Noseinabook, I'm so sorry.  How awful for all of you.  :grouphug:

 

Eliana, many congratulations to your daughter and family!!  And MMV, congrats to your young ladies as well.  :)

 

Sherri, welcome to the thread!  I also have been looking at starting Ancient World, so maybe we can all read along together!!

 

 

I'm quite sure I've forgotten some things, but hope all the rest of you are doing well! 

 

[Robin M]

I went on a kind of weird tangent. Neighbor challenged me to read on the origin of species. Crazy thoughts, but honerstly he's got it all wrong... we didnt come from apes or whatever. Darwin is not a good author in my opnion.

Erm, troll or not??? What does the group think?

 

Eta: reported

[idnib]

My favorite Murakami so far has been Kafka on the Shore (even though I consider 1Q84 his masterpiece). I also really enjoyed A Wild Sheep Chase (even though I didn't finish my read of it this year, I do remember really enjoying it when I read it many, many years ago).

 

Have you seen the Murakami Bingo card? :lol:

 

FYI, when I read 1Q84, here's what I ended up writing about it on Goodreads (along with a note to myself of "I will miss Tamaru's character..."):

 

Thanks, I'll check out both books. And I hadn't seen the bingo card. Perfect!

 

I  miss Fuka-Eri and the dowager as well.

[idnib]

Now that you mention it, Murakami is the only Japanese author I've read. I might want to seek out other Japanese fiction just to compare. I could be wrong, but I doubt they're all like him.  :lol:

 

Yes, I do have a vague idea in my mind that I'll read other Japanese fiction to compare, after I read more Murakami first. Maybe Banana, then. 

[mumto2]

MMV. Congratulations to your wonderful girls!

 

Noseinabook - :grouphug: So sorry for all the stress. You do such a wonderful job with the little ones.

 

Nan - I grew up in serious snow country so :grouphug: It will make spring feel much more glorious. But I know the challenges are huge.

 

Kathy - I am pretty sure WH is out there for free. You just can't buy it until the other one is returned. Only saying this because when I can't turn my kindle reader on I always really want to!

 

Sherri - Welcome! The trick to multiple books is very different books. Settings need to be totally different. If I discover that my books are overlapping in my brain I quickly finish one of the problem ones.

 

Sure there is more but that is all I can remember.

 

Just an odd comment....Yesterday I never read a single page of a book. That doesn't happen often. I did watch 8 hours of telly.....

[mommymilkies]

FBI monitored and critiqued African American writers for decades

 

The book mentioned in the article is published by Princeton University Press:

F.B. Eyes: How J. Edgar Hoover’s Ghostreaders Framed African American Literature by William J. Maxwell

 

And, the digital archive related to the book: http://digital.wustl.edu/fbeyes/

 

I may have to add some of these authors to my to-read list. I read Langston Hughes for the first time last year & loved his book of short stories that I read.

Fascinating.  Thanks for sharing!

 

I'm trying to catch up!  I'm renovating a good portion of my house and everything is messy and covered in dust and paint and a disaster, so I haven't been on much.  

 

1. I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett

2. Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

3. American Gods by Neil Gaiman (re-read)

4. White Night by Jim Butcher

5. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

6. Cress by Marissa Meyer

 

I'm on a dystopian/fantasy kick still.  I started reading Time's Edge (Chronos Files) but it seems very...disjointed from the first. There's a lot going on that was skipped over and I spent 5% of the book going WHAT HAPPENED in between the first book and this?  So I gave up for now.  I'm reading The Dead Tossed Waves now. 

 

And congratulations, Eliana!!

[shukriyya]

Just an odd comment....Yesterday I never read a single page of a book. That doesn't happen often. I did watch 8 hours of telly.....

 

Okay, I'll bite, what could have you kept you engaged for 8 solid hours? Movies? A fabulous historical series? Do tell.

[shukriyya]

Sharing a poem by Kathleen Raine whose biography I'm currently reading. Such a beautiful evocation of Immanence...

 

The Wilderness

I came too late to the hills: they were swept bare
Winters before I was born of song and story,
Of spell or speech with power of oracle or invocation,

The great ash long dead by a roofless house, its branches rotten,
The voice of the crows an inarticulate cry,
And from the wells and springs the holy water ebbed away.

A child I ran in the wind on a withered moor
Crying out after those great presences who were not there,
Long lost in the forgetfulness of the forgotten.

Only the archaic forms themselves could tell!
In sacred speech of hoodie on gray stone, or hawk in air,
Of Eden where the lonely rowan bends over the dark pool.

Yet I have glimpsed the bright mountain behind the mountain,
Knowledge under the leaves, tasted the bitter berries red,
Drunk water cold and clear from an inexhaustible hidden fountain.
 

[Angel]

I've been down with a cold all week.   :thumbdown:  I've had a little more time to read, though.  I finished Northanger Abbey yesterday.  After trying three times to write a review that adequately describes my feelings, I have given up.  My mind is too fuzzy, and I'm not making sense.  :rolleyes:  I'll give my thoughts when can concentrate  ;)

 

I'm almost done with two other books and then I'll be moving on to Harry Potter and my Bronte choice, Villette.

[Vida Winter]

Catch-up time. It's been a busy year so far.

Currently reading: As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes - much fun for Princess Bride fans, a bit too much detail for me but interesting trivia.

 

Current Read alouds for my 10yo:

South Sea Island Rescue - John Paton (missionary story) - just okay so far, 2/3 of the way through - fairly violent and gory for a kid's book

Behind the Attic Wall - Sylvia Cassedy - we've had this book sitting around for years - finally reading it and it is turning out to be a favorite.

 

Just finished To Truckee's Trail by Celia Hayes - historical fiction about pioneers headed west to Oregon and California. Nothing like a good pioneer read to make me appreciate modern-day comforts. Highly recommend.

Also finished Michael Crichton's Micro - published posthumously and written in large part by Richard Preston -- sorry to say, badly written (characters were so flat you did not care one whit about them), although the premise was good and overall an okay read. I would have expected more from Preston, though. Can't bring myself to recommend it but it does have some interesting description of insects and plants at a micro-level.

 

Other 2015 books, most but not all on audio:

The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd

In the Woods - Tana French

The Likeness - Tana French

The Sleuth Sisters - Maggie Pill

The War - Glen Tate

The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins

The Iliad - Homer (started in 2014 but finally finished in January 2015)

 

[mumto2]

Okay, I'll bite, what could have you kept you engaged for 8 solid hours? Movies? A fabulous historical series? Do tell.

It was our travel day and I normally read about 3 light books instead I found myself transfixed by 2 Bollywood films ( http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpty_Sharma_Ki_Dulhania, and the lead actress appeared in the second one 2 States also, 2 episodes of Bones, and a few episodes of The Missinghttp://www.theguardian.com/tiv-and-radio/2014/oct/19/the-missing-bbc-drama-parents-nightmare-james-nesbitt. All were very enjoyable. I normally hate watching anything on planes, I detest wearing headphones. Also don't normally just watch without a craft.