Angel Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 My college boy and I were in awe of all the trees up in Oregon when we were there visiting colleges. And in awe of all the tree trunks and branches stacked up on flat bed trailer trucks. He knew he wanted to attend college some place with "real trees" -- not palm trees that are all trunk, or those pesky and ready to burn eucalypts that surround our house. He turned down Willamette for a small school in Ohio -- I would have loved going to visit him in Oregon!! Do you mind sharing what school? Mumto2, the YA spin off must be why my husband found it in the teen section of our library. I was kind of surprised to see it there with all of the steamy scenes! I hope you don't mean Soulless was in the YA section :scared: It was most definitely NOT YA fiction . Etiquette and Espionage is the first in her YA series. I enjoyed it, and Aly has read all of them. I'm still reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I hope to finish it in the next two days and then start Out of the Silent Planet. I'm listening to Eragon on audio while exercising (I hate exercising :thumbdown: ). And I'll be rereading Wrapped soon as Aly has picked it for our co-op read. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Sorry for all the individual responses. I'm on a touchpad & can't multiquote. Sure, sure. You are just a girl in search of lots of "likes". ;) :D 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Do you mind sharing what school? That's right -- you're in Ohio! The College of Wooster has now had 2 BaW kids on campus, both well-read fans of Terry Pratchett and HP Lovecraft!! There is a 3rd WTM kid on campus as of this year. 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 That's right -- you're in Ohio! The College of Wooster has now had 2 BaW kids on campus, both well-read fans of Terry Pratchett and HP Lovecraft!! There is a 3rd WTM kid on campus as of this year. :thumbup1: So while I have not met Jenn, my son did when she and her kiddo toured the campus. (And he did not even think it odd when his mum asked him to meet up with one of her virtual buds.) 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoseInABook Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Yep, Angel, Soulless was in the teen section at the library! My husband was like, "Why did you send me there?" As I was reading it, I kept thinking that I would probably be annoyed if one of my kids pulled it off the shelf. I wonder if they had the author's YA books and then just assume everything else was YA too. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Mumto2, the YA spin off must be why my husband found it in the teen section of our library. I was kind of surprised to see it there with all of the steamy scenes! Festive In Death was pretty good. Nothing new for the series but it seems like after the first handful of books, it's pretty formulaic but I enjoy hanging out with the characters for a little bit so it's always worth it to me to pick it up. But I'm not at the bookstore the second it releases to buy it. ;) I'm starting Kevin Hearne's Hexed this morning. I just picked up the new Gail Carriger. Which is titled Prudence. I will be very careful what I say about it because of the series you are reading. I have to agree Soulless is not YA but I am so envious that your dh goes hunting for your library books for you. I feel lucky mine picks up reserves! Teacherzee -- I hope the doctor figures out why you have been feeling so yucky. I put the first of your football series on hold. Kareni -- You managed to add two books to my stack today! Thank you. ;) 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 :thumbup1: So while I have not met Jenn, my son did when she and her kiddo toured the campus. (And he did not even think it odd when his mum asked him to meet up with one of her virtual buds.) My family finds my virtual friends hilarious. My credibility on the subject of cyber security is poor. Not only do I have my BaW friends but I am also good friends with another WTM mom who we do things with frequently. We met on the boards. Lol 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera33 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I've been MIA due to various interruptions (stupid real life!) but I did manage to read the three Call the Midwife books. They were easy reads, since I'd already watched the series. :) And heart-wrenching reads. Now I feel like I need to read some the the suggested books in the afterward to learn more about the Victorian workhouses. What a tragic life for so many. :( In my spare time (okay, when I'm supposed to be cleaning) I have started spinning again on my drop spindle. Does anyone have any suggestions for good spinning or general fiber arts books? On my list are Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont and Women's Work: the First 20000 Years by….someone. lol 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I'm looking forward to meeting two of my long-distance boardie friends in person this spring/summer. At the same time, there is a boardie living in the next town who I correspond with a lot, but who I've never actually met IRL! :huh: Go figure. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 My family finds my virtual friends hilarious. My credibility on the subject of cyber security is poor. Not only do I have my BaW friends but I am also good friends with another WTM mom who we do things with frequently. We met on the boards. Lol Yep. My husband has just nodded without comment when I've included potential BaW meet ups in my recent trip planning. When my youngest son was 13, we'd drive him over to the house of someone I met on these boards just so he could play D&D with the adults in the family and their adult friends!! Their own boys were too young at the time to join. It was, for the old timers here, at the house of Kay in Cal, who started BaW back in 2009. (She's moved to Virginia and her kids are now in school, but we still keep in touch.) 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeacherZee Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 My family finds my virtual friends hilarious. My credibility on the subject of cyber security is poor. Not only do I have my BaW friends but I am also good friends with another WTM mom who we do things with frequently. We met on the boards. Lol But did you at least meet them in well lit public spaces the first time? I've meet virtual friends in real life several times. The one that loses me cyber security points is the one where I did meet her in a well lit public space but then promptly got into her car and drove all night (NJ to Chicago). So you aren't the only one who fails cyber security :D 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I'm currently making my way through the generation one books of The League Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I'm currently on Born of Fury. So far the only disappointment was Cloak & Silence. I love Maris, and my heart aches for the IRL person that inspired parts of his character, but for me the story was repetitive, weak, and rushed. I gave it 2.5 stars because we were given some interesting back story, and we learn what Phrixian means. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeacherZee Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Oh I saw this article on a friends fb page today (a friend who was a virtual friend first and is now one of my best friends) and I thought it sounded like colleges the WTM kids would go to, and look they do :D 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 But did you at least meet them in well lit public spaces the first time? I've meet virtual friends in real life several times. The one that loses me cyber security points is the one where I did meet her in a well lit public space but then promptly got into her car and drove all night (NJ to Chicago). So you aren't the only one who fails cyber security :D No one seemed worried when I met virtual friends for lunch; it was when I invited a family to spend the night that raised a few eyebrows. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaughingCat Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I am so envious that your dh goes hunting for your library books for you. I feel lucky mine picks up reserves! My DH never even goes to the library much less picks up my holds :glare: OTH I've told him I am going to start charging him by the pound for picking up his holds :lol: 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 That's right -- you're in Ohio! The College of Wooster has now had 2 BaW kids on campus, both well-read fans of Terry Pratchett and HP Lovecraft!! There is a 3rd WTM kid on campus as of this year. That's awesome. I was born and raised only 30-45 min from there. My cousin (and closest friend) is only 15-20 min from there. Yep, Angel, Soulless was in the teen section at the library! My husband was like, "Why did you send me there?" As I was reading it, I kept thinking that I would probably be annoyed if one of my kids pulled it off the shelf. I wonder if they had the author's YA books and then just assume everything else was YA too. I would let the library know it's in the wrong section! Not that some of the crap that they call YA now should be in that section either :glare: The author only has 3 YA books. All the rest are adult. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Awww, Robin. Thank you for this. Good morning, my lovelies. We are on week 13 in our quest to read 52 books. Welcome back to our regulars, anyone just joining in, and to all who follow our progress. Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 books blog to link to your reviews. The link is also in my signature. On March 28, 1941, Virginia Woolf filled her coat pockets with rocks and walked into the River Ouse. She had been battling depression for a very long time and decided to give up the fight. In a letter to her husband, she said: I feel certain I am going mad again. I feel we can’t go through another of those terrible times. And I shan’t recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can’t concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I don’t think two people could have been happier till this terrible disease came. I can’t fight any longer. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I can’t even write this properly. I can’t read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness of my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say that — everybody knows it. If anybody could have saved me it would have been you. Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can’t go on spoiling your life any longer. Another of those things I can't bring myself to "like." Can you imagine being the recipient of such a letter??!! Gah, it cracks my heart open. (And... I'm back. And totally absolutely fine. Sorry for the extended hiatus, and :001_wub: :001_wub: :001_wub: to the several of you dear ones who sent me PMs or ACTUAL SNAIL MAIL NOTES in my absence. Y'all are the best. Off now to read this week's thread in full -- I'm not even going to try to catch up on the prior ones...) 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 No one seemed worried when I met virtual friends for lunch; it was when I invited a family to spend the night that raised a few eyebrows. My daughter and I were picked up at the train station by one WTM board member (so not only did I risk my life but my daughter's as well). I've also met another WTM board member who picked me up at a different train station. I (we) have survived all in person WTM meetings to date. Perhaps train stations add to one's good chances?! Regards, Kareni 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Welcome back Pam!!!! :) 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 ...Thus I am adding something silly to the stack. Does Santa Exist? by Eric Kaplan (a writer for The Big Bang Theory television program and a PhD candidate in philosophy at Berkeley) is a humorous look at philosophical ideas. I have read two chapters and it is keeping my attention. Let's see if it is maintained. Oh this looks great. My attempt to read 5 philosophical tomes last year was an absolute BUST. I'm afraid I just don't have the proper constitution. However, at I believe Rose's (???) recommendation, I just got Rebecca Goldstein's (whose novels I love, and whose Betraying Spinoza actually sparked my nascent and thus far still unfulfilled philosophical ambitions) Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won't Go Away. That, and Santa, might serve as gateway drugs to the real thing??? The Jungle is the reason I am very suspicious of processed meat, especially when I am in the US. I read it in high school and I try very very hard not to think about it. Yeah. Pretty much once you've read it you have to decide either to forego such things forever, or walk around the rest of your life with your fingers in your ears going la la la la la.... Here's a fun piece from BookRiot ~ A Storied Stay for Literary Lovers: 10 Great Bookish Hotels by Kelly Jensen I like the sink in Wonderland House! Regards, Kareni Oh this is wonderful! I'd love to take my dh and son to the BatHotel in Taiwan! ...I also started an absolutely gorgeous book called Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees by Nancy Ross Hugo. It is a fabulously photographed book on trees - close-up, botanical drawing style photographs. I thought it would just be a beautiful coffee-table style book, and got it for the pictures, but it's actually a wonderful natural history/botany read. This looks wonderful... would it make a good gift for a Serious Gardener friend? That's right -- you're in Ohio! The College of Wooster has now had 2 BaW kids on campus, both well-read fans of Terry Pratchett and HP Lovecraft!! There is a 3rd WTM kid on campus as of this year. Oooh! Too funny! This is one of the schools I mean to take my son to visit this time next year. Is yours still there? 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 This looks wonderful... would it make a good gift for a Serious Gardener friend? It really would. It's slightly oversized, but not huge, and the photography is absolutely fabulous. But the real bonus for the Serious Gardener is that it is actually extremely well-written and a great read. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 So, I've returned from Singapore, where I was "helping" my brother and wife who've just had a baby girl :party: . My husband and younger kids joined me for a stint in Laos as well. Babies are glorious. Mystical. Transcendent. And... I realized I'm at a stage in life where I'm truly glad to be able to hand her back, as well. It was so dang HOT and I so wholly fell into the newborn vortex that I lost track of my books. Some of them were... Non-fiction: Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman, by Malidoma Patrice Some. This was for my interfaith book club; it is the memoir of a Burkina Faso man born into a traditional Dagara community; then forcibly abducted as a young boy and raised in a Jesuit mission school; from which he escaped as a young man. He made his way home, where he no longer fit in. After some time, he underwent a quite harrowing traditional initiation -- alongside much younger boys -- and, after its successful completion, was dispatched by his community elders back into Western society, to act as a sort of ambassador / bridge between the two worlds. He writes brilliantly. The first two thirds of the narrative were fascinating to me. The last third, describing the initiation, I found too disturbing really to read. Tradition in a Rootless World: Women Turn to Orthodox Judaism, by Lynn Davidman. I had read another book by the same author earlier in the year; that one was a sociological study of Hasidic Jews who left their communities; this one, which was written first and which seems to be a reworking of her doctoral thesis, looks at the opposite phenomenon: women who were raised Jewish but not observant, who were drawn towards one of two, very different but both observant, communities (Chabad and Lincoln Square Synagogue in NYC). Quite interesting if you happen to be in the itty bitty teeny tiny niche who's into that sort of thing, lol... The Hebrew Prophets: Annotated and Explained, by Rami Shapiro. This was on the reading list of one of my college daughter's courses, and we share a Kindle account, so there it was. She liked it a good bit. I thought it had some interesting insights but I couldn't stand the way it was organized. The Art of Pilgrimage - The Seeker's Guide to Making Travel Sacred, by Phil Cousineau. This is a lovely little book, not really about big-P Pilgrimages but more about very concrete practices to make any, ordinary travel experience more intentional and meaningful. The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir, by Kao Kalio Yang. A memoir of a whole extended family, with the narrative starting in Laos, then moving to a series of refugee camps in Thailand, then finally onto St Paul Minnesota. There's a scene towards the end, during the weeklong series of ceremonies following her grandmother's death, in which an elder guides the spirit of her grandmother back to the hut in which she was born, tracing the whole of her life, backward, that took my breath away. No Regrets: How Homeschooling Earned a Masters Degree at Age 16, by Alexandra Swan. I'm not quite sure how this made its way onto my Kindle, but it was an easy plane read. Fiction: A Replacement Life, by Boris Fishman. One of my favorite novels thus far this year -- Fishman's first effort; I expect great things from this man. The protagonist is an American Jew of Russian descent, plunged into a complicated plot involving survivors' claims on Holocaust restitution funds. A host of similarly complicated characters (who deceptively appear to be mere caricatures for the first few chapters) and Big Russian-Literature Morally-Ambiguous Themes. I loved it. The Chosen, by Chaim Potok (reread). Not my favorite Potok (Asher Lev), and I had not noticed before how few points of entry there are from a woman's perspective -- it's really, really, really a boys' book -- but still soooo good. I feel like I read a handful of other novels in the weeks I've been away, but none come to mind just now. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Oooh! Too funny! This is one of the schools I mean to take my son to visit this time next year. Is yours still there? When you make your trek to Wooster next spring, my ds will be finishing his senior year and he will gladly do as Jane's son did and give you an insider's look at the college. He has offered to do so for a couple of other WTMers but none have yet taken him up on the offer. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoseInABook Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 So not feeling Hearne's Hexed. I put it down after 50 pages and I'll return to it after reading a few of the others. I'm a couple of chapters into Obsession In Death now as the kids play outside. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 When you make your trek to Wooster next spring, my ds will be finishing his senior year and he will gladly do as Jane's son did and give you an insider's look at the college. He has offered to do so for a couple of other WTMers but none have yet taken him up on the offer. Will do! That'd be awesome. Thank you (and him). 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I have so many things I should be doing today, but I keep sitting down to check in on the board and of course am compelled to chime in... So not feeling Hearne's Hexed. I put it down after 50 pages and I'll return to it after reading a few of the others. I'm a couple of chapters into Obsession In Death now as the kids play outside. I only read the first in Hearne's series (is that Hexed?) and while it was o.k., I like the Dresden Files much better. But, I must say the big action sequence at the end of the Hearne book was really well written -- as a reader I could picture the scene and keep track of all the different characters. I think his love of comic books helped him out as it was like he had the scene broken down in his mind into little pictures, and he just wrote out what he saw. Too many sci-fi/fantasy battles are an overblown, disorganized mess. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Pam, I'd love to hear more about your travels & see photos, if you want to share! What an amazing trip. I thoroughly enjoyed Hearne's Hounded & Hexed (the first two), but haven't read the rest of the series yet. (Dd & dh have read all of them.) I did try the first Dresden Files once, but it didn't pull me in much & I've never really felt interested in reading more of them. For fans of either or both series, though, you might like a relatively new book that I read (last summer?) that is the first of a series: Hot Lead, Cold Iron by Ari Marmell... Hot Lead, Cold Iron is the first novel in a brand-new fantasy detective series that will appeal to fans of Rivers of London and The Dresden Files Chicago, 1932. Mick Oberon may look like just another private detective, but beneath the fedora and the overcoat, he's got pointy ears and he's packing a wand. Oberon's used to solving supernatural crimes, but the latest one's extra weird. A mobster's daughter was kidnapped sixteen years ago, replaced with a changeling, and Mick's been hired to find the real child. The trail's gone cold, but what there is leads Sideways, to the world of the Fae, where the Seelie Court rules. And Mick's not really welcome in the Seelie Court any more. He'll have to wade through Fae politics and mob power struggles to find the kidnapper – and of course it's the last person he expected. Also, one I read a few years ago is The Rook by Daniel O'Malley. I think it was also the start of a series, but I'm not sure if a second book has ever come out or not. Myfanwy Thomas awakes in a London park surrounded by dead bodies. With her memory gone, her only hope of survival is to trust the instructions left in her pocket by her former self. She quickly learns that she is a Rook, a high-level operative in a secret agency that protects the world from supernatural threats. But there is a mole inside the organization and this person wants her dead.As Myfanwy battles to save herself, she encounters a person with four bodies, a woman who can enter her dreams, children transformed into deadly fighters, and an unimaginably vast conspiracy. Suspenseful and hilarious, THE ROOK is an outrageously inventive debut for readers who like their espionage with a dollop of purple slime. Lastly, another one that I read years ago that might appeal is the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust. I read The Book of Jhereg, which contains the first three books of the series (Jhereg, Yendi, Tekla). A welcome addition to any fantasy fan's library, The Book of Jhereg follows the antics of the wise-cracking assassin Vlad Taltos and his dragon-like companion through their first three adventures: Jhereg, Yendi, and Teckla. From his rookie assassin days to his selfless feats of heroism, the dauntless Vlad will hold readers spellbound?and The Book of Jhereg will take its place among the classic compilations in fantasy. Figured some of you fans of fantasy might like some of these, if you haven't already read them. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Pam, I'd love to hear more about your travels & see photos, if you want to share! What an amazing trip. I'm unlikely to get to photo organization until after Passover, which starts this weekend :willy_nilly: ... but I will put some up thereafter. Well, ok, here's Sarah: ETA: hmm. Well, evidently Sarah will wait as well. Soon! 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Just popping in to say that I finished The Good Lord Bird. If you are considering it, I highly recommend it. There were parts that I read very quickly and then other parts that brought me up short because they were like pure gold. I don't do well with books that have lots of descriptions of landscape and moving over said landscape. It all blends together for me, lol. There were quite a few battle scenes and crossing territory and I am afraid the author just plain lost me on those parts. But the heart of the book was worth it. I have "Brown Girl Dreaming' up next. I am not a huge YA reader, but I enjoy it occasionally and this one sounds like one not to miss. I think maybe it is written in verse? I am not sure. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 That's awesome. I was born and raised only 30-45 min from there. My cousin (and closest friend) is only 15-20 min from there. Fellow (former, once one always one) Ohioan here. :seeya: While I no longer live there, I was born and raised a few hours southwest of Wooster. My dad is still in the oil & gas industry and does business up that way. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeacherZee Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 So, I've returned from Singapore, where I was "helping" my brother and wife who've just had a baby girl :party: . My husband and younger kids joined me for a stint in Laos as well. Babies are glorious. Mystical. Transcendent. And... I realized I'm at a stage in life where I'm truly glad to be able to hand her back, as well. It was so dang HOT and I so wholly fell into the newborn vortex that I lost track of my books. Some of them were... Non-fiction: Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman, by Malidoma Patrice Some. This was for my interfaith book club; it is the memoir of a Burkina Faso man born into a traditional Dagara community; then forcibly abducted as a young boy and raised in a Jesuit mission school; from which he escaped as a young man. He made his way home, where he no longer fit in. After some time, he underwent a quite harrowing traditional initiation -- alongside much younger boys -- and, after its successful completion, was dispatched by his community elders back into Western society, to act as a sort of ambassador / bridge between the two worlds. He writes brilliantly. The first two thirds of the narrative were fascinating to me. The last third, describing the initiation, I found too disturbing really to read. Tradition in a Rootless World: Women Turn to Orthodox Judaism, by Lynn Davidman. I had read another book by the same author earlier in the year; that one was a sociological study of Hasidic Jews who left their communities; this one, which was written first and which seems to be a reworking of her doctoral thesis, looks at the opposite phenomenon: women who were raised Jewish but not observant, who were drawn towards one of two, very different but both observant, communities (Chabad and Lincoln Square Synagogue in NYC). Quite interesting if you happen to be in the itty bitty teeny tiny niche who's into that sort of thing, lol... The Hebrew Prophets: Annotated and Explained, by Rami Shapiro. This was on the reading list of one of my college daughter's courses, and we share a Kindle account, so there it was. She liked it a good bit. I thought it had some interesting insights but I couldn't stand the way it was organized. The Art of Pilgrimage - The Seeker's Guide to Making Travel Sacred, by Phil Cousineau. This is a lovely little book, not really about big-P Pilgrimages but more about very concrete practices to make any, ordinary travel experience more intentional and meaningful. The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir, by Kao Kalio Yang. A memoir of a whole extended family, with the narrative starting in Laos, then moving to a series of refugee camps in Thailand, then finally onto St Paul Minnesota. There's a scene towards the end, during the weeklong series of ceremonies following her grandmother's death, in which an elder guides the spirit of her grandmother back to the hut in which she was born, tracing the whole of her life, backward, that took my breath away. No Regrets: How Homeschooling Earned a Masters Degree at Age 16, by Alexandra Swan. I'm not quite sure how this made its way onto my Kindle, but it was an easy plane read. Fiction: A Replacement Life, by Boris Fishman. One of my favorite novels thus far this year -- Fishman's first effort; I expect great things from this man. The protagonist is an American Jew of Russian descent, plunged into a complicated plot involving survivors' claims on Holocaust restitution funds. A host of similarly complicated characters (who deceptively appear to be mere caricatures for the first few chapters) and Big Russian-Literature Morally-Ambiguous Themes. I loved it. The Chosen, by Chaim Potok (reread). Not my favorite Potok (Asher Lev), and I had not noticed before how few points of entry there are from a woman's perspective -- it's really, really, really a boys' book -- but still soooo good. I feel like I read a handful of other novels in the weeks I've been away, but none come to mind just now. Pam have you read Mystics, Maverics and Merrymakers: An Intimate Journey among Hasidic Girls? I think it might be right up your alley. I read it a few years ago and really enjoyed it. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Pam have you read Mystics, Maverics and Merrymakers: An Intimate Journey among Hasidic Girls? I think it might be right up your alley. I read it a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I have not -- I'll try to track it down. Thank you. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onceuponatime Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I'm late posting to the BAWThread this week. I finally finished Encore Provence, which was fun but didn't flow as well as A Year in Provence. It was more like a collection of essays about various topics. I'm currently reading The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I have declared this my year of the short classic. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 My mother asked me to say thank you for the Curve of Time recommendation. She enjoyed it very much. It will be awhile before I get to read it because she gave it to my sister, thinking it might be helpful to her. I just read Fifth Continent and enjoyed it very much. (Thank you for the book!) And my husband read Good Omens and is almost through Fifth Continent and sends thanks. He went through them at an astonishing rate, for him. There was even a bit in Fifth Continent that he thought was so funny that he read it aloud to me, something I do but he seldom does. Anyone who remembers the book can probably guess which bit lol. He wondered where the author was going to visit next and was not pleased to hear he had just died. I read Clutch of Constables and am most of the way through Photo Finish. Ngaio Marsh is an old friend but I managed not to read these two for long enough to have half forgotten them, which is fun. I will not be joining the wolf pack. I am going to go back to my French after this. There is actually a bit of grass to be seen! Not in my vicinity, but in town. We still have feet of snow and I am worrying about the bulbs. The snow won,t bother them, but their blanket of frozen beech leaves will. Nan 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 That looks really interesting, I just put it on hold. I've always been bothered by the portrayal of Tituba in The Crucible and other things I've read/seen from the period. You know what I've decided? I don't like reading books featuring Puritans. I never liked The Scarlet Letter or The Crucible, & while I, Tituba is an interesting premise, I can't take reading about her Puritan master. Not in the mood for the Puritans! :willy_nilly: Sheesh. Puritans... what killjoys. ;) Still, I am seriously giving up the book. It's one I could perhaps tackle at another time, but now is not the time for me. :leaving: 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 You know what I've decided? I don't like reading books featuring Puritans. I never liked The Scarlet Letter or The Crucible, & while I, Tituba is an interesting premise, I can't take reading about her Puritan master. Not in the mood for the Puritans! :willy_nilly: Sheesh. Puritans... what killjoys. ;) Still, I am seriously giving up the book. It's one I could perhaps tackle at another time, but now is not the time for me. :leaving: I think you're on to something here. Maybe that's why it took us something like 4 months to make it through The Witch of Blackbird Pond! 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 You know what I've decided? I don't like reading books featuring Puritans. I never liked The Scarlet Letter or The Crucible, & while I, Tituba is an interesting premise, I can't take reading about her Puritan master. Not in the mood for the Puritans! :willy_nilly: Sheesh. Puritans... what killjoys. ;) Still, I am seriously giving up the book. It's one I could perhaps tackle at another time, but now is not the time for me. :leaving: :lol: I just finished listening to The Scarlet Letter. I am again left wondering why it is so prominent on many high school reading lists. I like Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories, but I think he should have stuck to that. A novel offers him way too much scope for his long-windedness. Was the book well-written, at least? I get dropping it due to subject matter. But since I put it on hold, I want to hear whether it was at least readable. (I won't blame you if I don't like it, of course! I just realize life is too short to read something that isn't actually well written, unless it has some other really, really redeeming quality.) 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I have not read a single book so far this week (though I did finish a few before the wedding that I'll have to share later), but I danced at my daughter's wedding and spent a lot of time snuggling my grandbaby... It has been the most amazing week. ...and now I need to get folks off to the airport and get to serious work getting reading for Pesach (Passover) I wish you could all have been here to dance at the wedding with us! Here's my second daughter with me and the groom's mother: The fathers with the groom: Under the chuppah (wedding canopy): the couple: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Eliana, so beautiful! Thank you for sharing your joy! 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Eliana! :001_wub: :grouphug: 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I think you're on to something here. Maybe that's why it took us something like 4 months to make it through The Witch of Blackbird Pond! :lol: I just finished listening to The Scarlet Letter. I am again left wondering why it is so prominent on many high school reading lists. I like Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories, but I think he should have stuck to that. A novel offers him way too much scope for his long-windedness. Glad to see some others in my camp! :seeya: :laugh: Was the book well-written, at least? I get dropping it due to subject matter. But since I put it on hold, I want to hear whether it was at least readable. (I won't blame you if I don't like it, of course! I just realize life is too short to read something that isn't actually well written, unless it has some other really, really redeeming quality.) Ummm, yes...? Not totally my style, but decently written, imo. The idea/voice of the story was interesting to me, but I'm just so over reading the Puritan mindset. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Eliana, thanks for sharing your photos! Mazel tov! (I hope that's appropriate.) 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Eliana, what a beautiful, blessed, joyful day! Thanks for sharing the photos with us. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeacherZee Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Congratulations and best wishes for you and your family Eliana. The happiness really radiates from the pictures. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Thank for sharing the lovely photos Eliana. I have to agree with Teachzee, those photos do radiate with happiness! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 My mother asked me to say thank you for the Curve of Time recommendation. She enjoyed it very much. It will be awhile before I get to read it because she gave it to my sister, thinking it might be helpful to her. <snip> I will not be joining the wolf pack. I am going to go back to my French after this. There is actually a bit of grass to be seen! Not in my vicinity, but in town. We still have feet of snow and I am worrying about the bulbs. The snow won,t bother them, but their blanket of frozen beech leaves will. Nan Oh, I'm so glad your mom liked Curve. I think you will too. Love, laughter, sailing and duct tape, who could ask for anything more? You know what I've decided? I don't like reading books featuring Puritans. I never liked The Scarlet Letter or The Crucible, & while I, Tituba is an interesting premise, I can't take reading about her Puritan master. Not in the mood for the Puritans! :willy_nilly: Sheesh. Puritans... what killjoys. ;) Still, I am seriously giving up the book. It's one I could perhaps tackle at another time, but now is not the time for me. :leaving: :lol: Eliana!! Mazel tov! You all look beautiful! 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Thank you for sharing your photos, Eliana. I wish much joy for your daughter and her husband. Regards, Kareni 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Eliana! Love to see a joyous couple on a joyous occasion! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Oh Eliana--Thanking you for sharing the photos which do indeed radiate happiness. Sending the young couple best wishes for the future. My mother asked me to say thank you for the Curve of Time recommendation. She enjoyed it very much. It will be awhile before I get to read it because she gave it to my sister, thinking it might be helpful to her.Nan I knew that your Mom would love Curve of Time--and am surprised that it had not crossed your paths before. (While I have never met Nan's Mom, I somehow feel that I know her!) You know what I've decided? I don't like reading books featuring Puritans. I never liked The Scarlet Letter or The Crucible, & while I, Tituba is an interesting premise, I can't take reading about her Puritan master. Not in the mood for the Puritans! :willy_nilly: Sheesh. Puritans... what killjoys. ;) Still, I am seriously giving up the book. It's one I could perhaps tackle at another time, but now is not the time for me. :leaving: Add me to the list of those who can't quite deal with the Puritans. The boys hear me rant on this topic every Thanksgiving. That said, last year I read Hawthorne's Blithedale Romance, and wondered on this thread why his works are promoted among high school students. Violet Crown gave the following response: Right, first thing is not to start with The Scarlet Letter. A good approach is to start by reading aloud The Wonder-Book and Tanglewood Tales to children; that will correctly calibrate your Hawthorne irono-meter. Because he has a very dry ironic wit, and generations of high school students (and too often their teachers) badly misread him as a result.Then some of his short stories. "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Maypole of Merry Mount" give Hawthorne's views on Puritans and their ideological successors, another essential aspect for The Scarlet Letter.The Blithedale Romance was my last read-aloud to Great Girl. Why don't they teach that one in high schools? That scene near the end, where Zenobia, um, turns up (don't want spoilers) was greeted by Great Girl with cries of "Awesome!" And the novel shows the reader that Hawthorne's distrust of ideology wasn't limited to the Puritans.By the way, did you know that Hawthorne's daughter, Rose, became a nun (a thing that just wasn't done in their society) and founded the first cancer hospice? We have a children's book about her that my girls really liked. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I finished a contemporary romance ~ The First Kiss (Sweetest Kisses) by Grace Burrowes. I'd enjoyed this author's historical romances, but I'm also enjoying this new contemporary series of hers. This is the second book, but it stands alone fairly well. "In the second novel of the Sweetest Kisses series, classical pianist Vera Waltham is quiet, cautious, and fiercely protective of her young daughter, but she lets down her guard enough to strike up an unlikely friendship with business law expert James Knightley. James's past comes between them when Vera learns exactly how big a tomcat he has been, but when she and her daughter are in danger, it's to James she turns..." I see that the author has a free novella available in this series for Kindle readers ~ A Kiss for Luck: A Novella (Sweetest Kisses Book 0) She also has a free historical romance ~ Douglas: Lord of Heartache (The Lonely Lords Book 8) by Grace Burrowes Regards, Kareni 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.