Book a Week 2015 - BW35: stifled september

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday Dear hearts:  We are on week 35 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 in my signature.

 

52 Books Blog - Stifled September: Welcome to Stifled September celebrating freedom to read and our author flavor of the month -  Marco Polo. 

Banned Books Week doesn't officially start until September 27th and runs through October 3rd,  however I figured the cause deserves a whole month.  According to ALA's  Office of Intellectual Freedom the most frequently challenged books for 2014 for a variety of reasons are: 


1)  The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
2)  Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi
3)  And Tango Makes Three, Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
4)  The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
5)  It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
6)  Saga, by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples
7)  The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
8)  The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
9)  A Stolen Life, Jaycee Dugard
10)  Drama, by Raina Telgemeier

There have been quite a number of classics that have been challenged over the years including The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, For Whom the Bell Tolls and a few other Ernest Hemingway titles, 1984 (kind of ironic), Gone with the Wind and The Lord of the Rings to name a few.

Check out the links, perused the titles and read one, two or maybe more banned and/or challenged books this month. 


Our Author Flavor of the Month is Marco Polo.  I originally planned it to be Michel De Montaigne, however I've talked about him time and time again so decided as an alternative it would be Marco Polo.  Especially since a number of you have been yearning to read the book and watch the companion movie In the Footsteps of Marco Polo.







I watched the movie a couple years back with my son and it was quite fascinating.  There are a number of books to check out via  Amazon List and Goodreads.  Find out more information about Polo through The Silkroad Foundation as well as informational videos about him on Bio., The History Channel and National Geographic.

 

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History of the Medieval World 

 

Chapter 40 Intersection 302- 306 

Chapter 41 Troubles of Empire 307 - 316

 

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What are you reading this week? 

 

 

 

Link to week 34

[Robin M]

I'm rereading book # 6 in Keri Arthur's Dark Angels series, Darkness Splintered and then on to the newest and last book in the series, Darkness Falls.   Still plugging away with Swann's Way.

 

 

In the midst of a number of writing books including Dinty Moore's Rose Press Field Guide to Flash Non Fiction and on the last chapter of Alice La Plante's The Making of a Story   

[Chrysalis Academy]

Well, that's interesting - of that list of modern challenged books, I've only read one of them, The Kite Runner.  Which I didn't like.  I'll have to check out some of the rest.

 

Of the banned classics on the page you linked, I've read many but not all of them.  Time for a new Goodreads to-read page!  I already know what I want to read this year - dare I admit, Stacia, that I've never read Slaughterhouse-Five?  :leaving:

 

This week, I finished listening to The Hangman's Revolution, book 2 in the WARP series.  It was just meh. I don't think I'll bother with the 3rd one which was just published.  I also read The Cobra Event by Richard Preston. I had to read that one as soon as I heard about it, because I've been playing with a related story idea for awhile.  Not much overlap, whew! It was a gripping page-turner, not unlike The Hot Zone if you like that kind of thing, which I do.  The girls and I finished The Rumplestiltskin Problem, which we enjoyed very much, and Morgan and I listened to Mr. and Mrs. Bunny, Detectives Extraordinaire.  

 

Current reads are The Wild Trees by Richard Preston, How to Be a High School Superstar, Napoleon's Buttons, and Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead. I'll probably finish that today so I will post about it later.

 

Books Read in August:

125. Goodbye Stranger - Rebecca Stead.

124. The Hangman's Revolution - Eoin Colfer

123. The Cobra Event - Richard Preston

122. The Rumpelstiltskin Problem - Vivian Vande Velde

121. Mr. & Mrs. Bunny - Polly Horvath

120. The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman

119. Your Child's Strengths - Jennifer Fox

118. People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks

117. The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury

116. The Story of Science: Einstein Adds a New Dimension - Joy Hakim

115. The LIbrary at Mount Char - Scott Hawkins

114. The Iron King - Maurice Druon

113. The Magus - John Fowles

112. A History of God - Karen Armstrong

111. War of the Worlds: Fresh Persepctives on the HG Wells Masterpiece

110. March - Geraldine Brooks

[Negin]

I read The Stand - 4 Stars - For me, there are a few indications when I love a book:

* I spend all day looking forward to my naptime and my bedtime, because I know that I can then squeeze in some chapters.

* Throughout the day, I spend a great deal of time thinking about the characters and plot. I lose myself in the book.

* When the book is completed, I’m still in that world for quite a while.

This book did all of that for me.

I loved the good against evil-type plot and the suspense. The characters were memorable and there were several that I connected with greatly.

Since I read this on a Kindle, I had no idea why it was taking me so long to get through, until I realized that this book is over 1000 pages. I’m not usually one for books that seem, at least to me, to be unnecessarily lengthy and overly descriptive. I remember feeling that way about “The Goldfinchâ€. There were parts that were tedious to get through and that’s why I’m giving it 4 stars rather than 5. The ending was a bit abrupt and slightly predictable.

I’m realizing that I really do enjoy Stephen King. I’d always been rather wary to read any of his stuff, since I cannot handle horror, not too much anyway. I need to start working on a list of books of his that I would like to read – the ones that are not excessively scary – and I am open to suggestions!

 

 

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

[Negin]

2)  Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi

7)  The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

 To Kill a Mockingbird,

I haven't read Persepolis & most likely won't, since I've seen the movie. 

Loved The Kite Runner, as I do all Khaled Hosseini.

Also loved To Kill a Mockingbird, which I read as a teen. 

That's all I've read from the list.

[Jane in NC]

There is a surprising similarity between Steinbeck's non-fictional Log from the Sea of Cortez and what I have read so far in Karl Ove Knausgaard's first volume in the autobiographical series of novels entitled My Struggle.  Both authors accept life as it is, as it comes; both authors are obsessed with larger ideas outside of themselves whether it is Steinbeck's interest in the thought process itself (he addresses teleological vs. non-teleological thinking at length) or Knausgaard's musings on how art can move us.  

 

Steinbeck's Log is of a trip that he made with marine biologist Ed Ricketts to collect specimens in the Sea of Cortez, i.e. the Gulf of California in the spring of 1940, before the world as we know it is about the change.  The storm of war is brewing but it is more news headlines than reality for this adventurous group.  Their purpose is to learn something and they do.  Their insights on the species and landscapes of eastern Baja are shared along with the groups musings.  The recurring story of an obstinate outboard motor lends humor to the tale as do the party's foibles.

 

Critics of Steinbeck lack patience for his sermons.  I enjoy them.  In fact, reading this Log will inspire me to read more Steinbeck.

 

Knausgaard on the other hand brings us into the minutia of a life, a view into thoughts large and small but not narcissistic. We, like ideas themselves, are all connected.  The minutia may not be important yet each small act forms a cell in this thing we call life.

 

My biggest fear concerning this book is that I simply would not care what Knausgaard thinks about life, that he would be preaching to me. He is not.  There are no judgment calls.  The snow falls, coffee grows cold in his cup as he stares out the window.  His wife is about to give birth and he remembers the death of his father.  This is my life too, the small thoughts and acts.

 

At this point I am only 200 pages into the series that is to run 3500 pages once Don Bartlett's translation from the Norwegian is complete.  Early on I hesitate to use the word but it sits on the tip of my tongue:  brilliant.

 

Rabbit trails:  I was glad that the library copy of 1951 first edition of the Log from the Sea of Cortez included a glossary (thigmotropism?) and a map of Baja in the endpapers.  Nonetheless I turned to Google regularly for images of various crabs and fish. 

 

I have never been to Scandinavia and am woefully ignorant of the area's cultural and political history beyond the obvious.  Suddenly I am pining for the fjords.  Knausgaard is drawing me into a different geography, a new cultural experience.  The Law of Jante?  This was new to me. 

 

And here is a quote from Steinbeck, a note on a "hunting" trip the group made for a borrego or mountain goat:

 

Often a man who is afraid must constantly demonstrate his courage and in the case of the hunter, must keep a tangible record of his courage.  For ourselves, we have had mounted in a small hardwood plaque one perfect borrego dropping.  And where another man can say, "There was an animal, but because I am greater than he, he is dead and I am alive, and there is his head to prove it," we can say, "There was an animal, and for all we know there still is and here is the proof of it.  He was very healthy when we last heard of him."

 

 

 

[Kareni]

From last week's posts:

 

 

 

I <3 Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  That and The Dancing Wu Li Masters totally blew my Middle School mind. 

 

Oh, I loved Gary Zukav's Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics; I probably read it when it came out in 1979.  Another book I remember enjoying from about the same time was Douglas R. Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Kareni]

...

 

Also a new "Chronicles of St Mary's' book - time travel - idiosyncratic - random sex scenes...

 

Sadie, have you enjoyed any other time travel books?

 

 

The St. Mary's Chronicles look great. I have the first one on hold, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18456025-just-one-damned-thing-after-another?from_search=true&search_version=service because it is on order it may be awhile. It apparently started as a free Kindle offer, I enjoyed the author's blog regarding that experiencehttp://www.jodi-taylor.com/?tag=the-chronicles-of-st-marys.

 

That post was entertaining; thanks for sharing it.  I'll look forward to hearing your impressions of the book, mumto2.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Lady Florida.]

The 'spiritual but not religious' books reminded me that I once had a boyfriend who though Jonathon Livingstone Seagull was full of wisdom. Man, I hated that book!

 

 

 

 

I *loved* that book.....................I was twelve at the time though :lol:

 

Bringing these over from last week. In the early seventies when the book was written and the movie was made, it was considered wise and spiritual. We were just coming off the flower power love years.   :lol:

 

I read it in college (mid-seventies) and was perplexed about all the praise it was given. My mother, who considered herself spiritual, thought it was drivel. 

[Pam in CT]

...

Knausgaard on the other hand brings us into the minutia of a life, a view into thoughts large and small but not narcissistic. We, like ideas themselves, are all connected.  The minutia may not be important yet each small act forms a cell in this thing we call life.

 

My biggest fear concerning this book is that I simply would not care what Knausgaard thinks about life, that he would be preaching to me. He is not.  There are no judgment calls.  The snow falls, coffee grows cold in his cup as he stares out the window.  His wife is about to give birth and he remembers the death of his father.  This is my life too, the small thoughts and acts.

 

At this point I am only 200 pages into the series that is to run 3500 pages once Don Bartlett's translation from the Norwegian is complete.  Early on I hesitate to use the word but it sits on the tip of my tongue:  brilliant.

 

Rabbit trails:  I was glad that the library copy of 1951 first edition of the Log from the Sea of Cortez included a glossary (thigmotropism?) and a map of Baja in the endpapers.  Nonetheless I turned to Google regularly for images of various crabs and fish. 

 

I have never been to Scandinavia and am woefully ignorant of the area's cultural and political history beyond the obvious.  Suddenly I am pining for the fjords.  Knausgaard is drawing me into a different geography, a new cultural experience.  The Law of Jante?  This was new to me. 

:001_wub: Aww, this is beautiful, Jane.

[TeacherZee]

Oh that reminds me I need to pull something together for banned book week for my firsties.

 

I read a fantastic book this week: Carry the Ocean by Heidi Cullinan. 

 

 

Normal is just a setting on the dryer.

 

The Roosevelt, Book 1

High school graduate Jeremey Samson is looking forward to burying his head under the covers and sleeping until it’s time to leave for college. Then a tornado named Emmet Washington enters his life. The double major in math and computer science is handsome, forward, wicked smart, interested in dating Jeremey—and he’s autistic.

But Jeremey doesn’t judge him for that. He’s too busy judging himself, as are his parents, who don’t believe in things like clinical depression. When his untreated illness reaches a critical breaking point, Emmet is the white knight who rescues him and brings him along as a roommate to The Roosevelt, a quirky new assisted living facility nearby.

As Jeremey finds his feet at The Roosevelt, Emmet slowly begins to believe he can be loved for the man he is behind the autism. But before he can trust enough to fall head over heels, he must trust his own conviction that friendship is a healing force, and love can overcome any obstacle.

 

Warning: Contains characters obsessed with trains and counting, positive representations of autism and mental illness, a very dark moment, and Elwood Blues.

 

This week I am very much looking forward to The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett.

 

I won't be around much in the next few weeks, this week kicked my butt, and I am not sure that the next month will be easier. New job, new courses, students who are much more ambitious and, I suppose, able, than the ones I am used to. Plus REALLY long classes (the weeks achievement was running out of time before I ran out of prepared activities. 

[Loesje22000]

I read 'Barbe Bleu' from Nathalie Nothomb in Dutch (she writes in French),

A fun and light book.

And I finished a travelguide about Southern England.

While reading it, I discovered how much of Jane Austens books are based on real places.

 

Still enjoying Middlemarch.

 

Tomorrow we will start with the lessons within threes weeks French exam (written part)...

[Lady Florida.]

 

 

Office of Intellectual Freedom the most frequently challenged books for 2014 for a variety of reasons are: 

 

1)  The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

2)  Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi

3)  And Tango Makes Three, Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

4)  The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison

5)  It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris

6)  Saga, by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples

7)  The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

8)  The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

9)  A Stolen Life, Jaycee Dugard

10)  Drama, by Raina Telgemeier

 

There have been quite a number of classics that have been challenged over the years including The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, For Whom the Bell Tolls and a few other Ernest Hemingway titles, 1984 (kind of ironic), Gone with the Wind and The Lord of the Rings to name a few.

 

 

From the 2014 list I've read The Bluest Eye and The Kite Runner and loved both. I gave It's Perfectly Normal to ds to read when he was approaching puberty.

 

 

I read 18 from the classics list and have had several of the others on my TBR list for years. Hemingway and Faulkner will not make it to my list. I can't read either of those men's novels, though I tried many times. I'm done trying.

[Lady Florida.]

Still enjoying Middlemarch.

 

 

 

Middlemarch was one of those books I often found dreary while reading it but was determined to finish. After I finished it I realized how much I loved it.

 

 

I've been reading both IRL and online book club books and a few classics I told myself I would read. While I'm enjoying them all, sometimes it seems like a bit too much work. I decided I needed a diversion book, so I started Raven Black last night. I learned of it a year or so ago then forgot about it. A BaWer, though I can't recall who it was, reminded me of it recently when she said she was reading it. I put a hold on the ebook at my library and got the notice yesterday that it's available. I like it (for what it is) so far.

[JennW in SoCal]

I had a fabulous, action packed, few days in the Midwest. I met a couple of my son's professors and got to see the labs in the department where I looked at mineral slices under a microscope with different light filters and pawed through drawers of fossils.  I also took 10(!) college kids out for dinner the night before classes began. One of them happened to get a call from his dad during dinner who, upon learning that a mom was taking such a large group to dinner, insisted on talking to me.  He said, in a thick New York City accent, "What are you, crazy? 10 kids?! That's too much!!"  But most of the parents of the kids I was with had taken my son into their homes over the past 3 years or taken him out to dinner. I figured it was finally my turn to return the favor. And they are the nicest group of kids young adults. 

 

Then I went to the Chicago area for a few days.  This mural of the moose blowing a bubblegum bubble (and the noisy train) were part of the view from my hotel window. I loved all the public art in Chicago, especially the new Millennium Park and the stage and pedestrian bridge designed by Frank Gehry. 

 ] 

 

My sister-in-law took me to the 9th floor of the wonderful old Fine Arts building, where an elevator operator still closes the cage door and runs the elevator up and down all day, so I could visit this wonderfully musty sheet music shop.  I found several nice collections and the proprietor told me they specialize in researching and finding unusual music and would be happy to track anything down.  (There is very little written for organ, violin and cello, for instance!)  Then I took the bus a couple hours out of town and spent the afternoon, evening and next morning playing violin/piano sonatas with my brother with good food, wine and conversation in between. It was such bliss!  

 

 

 

 

[Kareni]

I read a fantastic book this week: Carry the Ocean by Heidi Cullinan. 

 

I've heard good things about this book and am hoping my library will take my suggestion to purchase it.

 

 

I need suggestions for a book for a friend who didn't pass English in high school here in Sweden. It is limiting her in life as she can't get into university without it and she is making another attempt. She needs an easy to read book (but not an abridged or simplified) that is at least 100 pages long. ...

 

Did your friend decide on one of the titles suggested here?

 

I hope that work will soon settle down into a more manageable schedule.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

I've been reading both IRL and online book club books and a few classics I told myself I would read. While I'm enjoying them all, sometimes it seems like a bit too much work. I decided I needed a diversion book, so I started Raven Black last night. I learned of it a year or so ago then forgot about it. A BaWer, though I can't recall who it was, reminded me of it recently when she said she was reading it. I put a hold on the ebook at my library and got the notice yesterday that it's available. I like it (for what it is) so far.

Jenn started the Raven Black readathon for me. I am now on the third in the series and so far enjoying it. I am reading them in hardcover because that is all I can find at the library so it is taking me longer than some.

 

I am reading Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale. It was on the list of great romance novels. So far very different then the norm. I have read many romances where the hero is suffering from some sort of physical affliction, usually blind, but never a stroke.

[JennW in SoCal]

I also read books while I was away, including a couple of books I bought at the wonderful used book store in the college town where the college boy resides.

 

On the flight out I finished The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks, which is easily my favorite book of the year.  It is beautiful, touching, fascinating and totally engrossing. 

 

At the used bookstore I bought Voices, one of the Icelandic mysteries by Arnaldur Indridadson, which I really liked.  I will definitely be looking for others by him, though I seem to recall my library doesn't carry them. I also picked up one of the WWII thrillers by Alan Furst, Spies of the Balkans. Almost finished with it -- I get really engrossed and nervous for the safety of the characters so have to take breaks from it.  Such good writing. Jane, I figured you'd appreciate that I bought one of your favorite authors at a bookstore we've both adored!

 

Right before I left town the first Camille Verhoeven title, Irene, arrived on the hold shelf for me at the library, so it is next on my must read list.

[idnib]

Hmmm, I'm having trouble bringing forward something from last week. Shukriyya, do happen to have any of the titles for the maze books your son has been reading?

 

 

Knausgaard on the other hand brings us into the minutia of a life, a view into thoughts large and small but not narcissistic. We, like ideas themselves, are all connected.  The minutia may not be important yet each small act forms a cell in this thing we call life.

 

I forgot to mention last week I signed up for the Archipelago subscription and requested Knausgaard's first volume as my freebie. I had thumbed through it at the bookstore and put it back but I'm going to give it a real try.

 

I had a fabulous, action packed, few days in the Midwest. 

 

Sounds wonderful. I love visiting the Midwest.

[Stacia]

Hey, I'm right on track with Marco Polo! :lol:  (Please overlook the fact that I already started it a month ago & have just now finished Book 1 of his tales....) A few years ago, I read part of Marco Polo & was fascinated by his recollection of a miraculous white fabric that could survive fire, 'salamander's fur' (asbestos). The version I'm currently reading mostly omitted his tale, except for a slight mention in the footnotes. Too bad because I enjoyed the flavor it gave his story. If you are curious, here is a link to the chapter that has his description of what we know as asbestos. I know life spans weren't incredibly long back in the 1200s, but you have to wonder about locations where they harvested & processed asbestos for a living.... And, in addition to Marco Polo himself, I'm reading the book Robin shows, In the Footsteps of Marco Polo; it has some lovely photos. So, still slowly chugging along w/ Marco Polo & enjoying my lengthy travels with him.

 

Re: the 2014 banned books, I've read only The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Rose, I'm getting ready to dig out my copy of Slaughterhouse-Five to read again because my book club has chosen to read it since our meeting will be at the end of September during Banned Books Week. I will probably try to find at least one new (to me) banned book to read this month.

 

Jane, you are making me want to read Knausgaard. I've been eyeing his series of books ever since the first one was translated & available in English.

 

ETA: Jenn, love the mural! Sounds like a great trip.

 

TeacherZee, hope life settles down soon & you find reading & down time for yourself.

[aggieamy]

I finished two book today.  Yay.

 

What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets by Peter Menzel - This is similar to the book of what families eat in a week around the world.  It's not the book you read cover to cover but flip through and read what interests you.  Highly recommend to anyone interested in different cultures or food.  ****

 

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen - I listened to this as an audiobook and it wasn't a great book but it was still fun. (Great narrator on the audiobook.) I think it was the author's first book so I expect the series will get better as it goes.  I recommend it with the caveat that it is just an easy fun silly book.  If you take your books seriously then this isn't for you.  *** 

 

As soon as I log off the internet I'm going to start re-listening to an old favorite audiobook - Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer. 

[Stacia]

Amy, did you bluff your way through your book club meeting???

[aggieamy]

Amy, did you bluff your way through your book club meeting???

 

I couldn't bluff my way through because of how the meeting started off.  There were only four of us.  We sat down with coffee and snacks and two of the members almost simultaneously said "I hated it!"  and "Best book this year!"  Then there was a lively discussion between the two of them and then they both turned to me and wanted my opinion.  Eek.  After listening to the comments I probably won't read it. 

[Jane in NC]

At the used bookstore I bought Voices, one of the Icelandic mysteries by Arnaldur Indridadson, which I really liked.  I will definitely be looking for others by him, though I seem to recall my library doesn't carry them. I also picked up one of the WWII thrillers by Alan Furst, Spies of the Balkans. Almost finished with it -- I get really engrossed and nervous for the safety of the characters so have to take breaks from it.  Such good writing. Jane, I figured you'd appreciate that I bought one of your favorite authors at a bookstore we've both adored!

 

Loved your story of treating the boys to dinner, Jenn.  I have happy memories of meals with my son and his friends in both the college dining hall and off campus. 

 

And that is one heck of a great bookstore, isn't it?

 

I should have suggested that you wave north.   The archaeologist's current assignment places him about 30 miles from campus. (It is just coincidence that his job weaves a path around his alma mater; we tease him that there is no escape.)

 

 

I forgot to mention last week I signed up for the Archipelago subscription and requested Knausgaard's first volume as my freebie. I had thumbed through it at the bookstore and put it back but I'm going to give it a real try.

 

Oh goodie, another Archipelago subscriber!  I am successfully proselytizing!  ;)  I have a bit of a backlog with my books so I don't know if I'll be reading them with you as they arrive but it might be fun to try.

[Just Robyn]

I finished The Legacy of Luna. The book got better further on because she became more focused on giving information, like what this particular logging company was doing wrong and how the government was aiding/allowing it. I would not have read this book if a friend hadn't given it to me, so I'm glad to have felt obligated to read it since I found it informative and easy to read, and at a few points intriguing, like when she was talking about climbing barefoot through the tree so she could feel the bounce of the branches and make use of the sticky sap.

 

I also read William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. There were a few poems I enjoyed, including the well-known "The Tyger", but I don't believe this is a book I would have finished if it weren't a classic and on my ought-to-read list. Cute and sweet, I guess, but I've pretty much already wiped it from my memory to make room for things I like.

 

I am still reading Jane Eyre, and I started another book of poetry, Easy Math by Lauren Shapiro.

 

Here's the first poem from Easy Math (and the one I like best, so far).

 

The Conversation

 

There is always a woman eating a sandwich.

Today she is large as everything

that wasn't said. It is a ham and cheese.

Who cares. You're watching me, she seems

to say. Being aloe is unlike a chess move.

It is unlike hanging out at the bowling alley

with Dale Hickey. A hundred stuffed animals

the size of a fist and I can't make the claw catch.

Turkey, says Dale Hickey. The lights

are making turkey shapes all over

the place. Turkey. I heard you.

The woman has finished eating her sandwich

and is on to another one. Now she is tiny

as a shrimp. She is eating the smallest

egg salad sandwich in the world. I think,

Maybe I will speak to her. But she does it first.

I've wanted to talk to you for ages, she says,

but instead I keep eating all these sandwiches.

I know, I say. And I keep going to the bowling alley

with Dale Hickey. It's been hell.

[Ali in OR]

I finally finished Americanah which will probably make it to my "best of the year" list (but even so I say it could have been shorter). I'm reading a short book on treating your own back pain--a classic by Robin McKenzie, but I can't quite remember the name correctly. My back went out in July due to carrying a 76 pound child (now an adult) incorrectly. The acute pain is gone but it still twinges on me, especially if I try to jog or walk too far.

 

Next up: Uprooted which was a long wait from the library, so I want to get to that before it's due. Philosopher Kings will probably have to go back to the library unfinished again. Also need to start The Boys in the Boat which is our September book club selection. Go Tell a Watchman is now our October book and I still have GlimmerGlass waiting for me too. Plus all of the books I've assigned dd for this year.

 

I've read four of the banned books which kind of surprised me since I think of myself as a somewhat conservative reader. I'm guessing a lot of these books are on the list from parents trying to keep schools/teachers from selecting them--Part-time Indian was challenged locally. I could see the same for Wallflower if any school tries to select it. My kids read Persepolis at a young age when I had it checked out. I did manage to keep the sequel from them which I think had drug use and other things I didn't want to explain to them yet. I think it's okay to not want kids exposed to some things too young.

[Kareni]

I am reading Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale. It was on the list of great romance novels. So far very different then the norm. I have read many romances where the hero is suffering from some sort of physical affliction, usually blind, but never a stroke.

 

It's definitely a different romance, I agree.  (I'd also not read many books featuring Quakers.)  My next favorite of hers, though it's quite different, is My Sweet Folly.

 

Here's a post you might also enjoy ~

If You Like Laura Kinsale…. Hosted by Janine

 

Regards,

Kareni

[idnib]

Oh goodie, another Archipelago subscriber!  I am successfully proselytizing!  ;)  I have a bit of a backlog with my books so I don't know if I'll be reading them with you as they arrive but it might be fun to try.

 

Yes, you were successful! I don't know how long it takes to receive the first book. I agree it would be fun to try and read together. 

[mumto2]

Ali :grouphug: I hope your back is completely better soon!

 

Teacherzee- Hope you have a good week next week with your new students. Please check in with us even if you are too busy to read much.

 

Aggieamy - :lol: That's what happens to me with an organized book club, I am always the kid who didn't do her homework. I never manage to read a book when I feel pressured. I even have problems here sometimes. My library runs three very active book clubs and my absence has apparently been noticed ( blush, mainly because I am a volunteer and board member) and someone recently asked me why publicly(while I was standing behind the desk working, trapped). All of you would be amazed at what an active group of readers my online bookclub is (that's you). We actually really are thanks to Robin but my explanation about no time for more was interesting. I just do not want to look at a book and know I must read it, takes the fun out. Imo

 

Jenn - Glad you had such a nice time on you trip. I love Chicago. I hope you enjoy Irene. I think you will be the first one who starts at the beginning. I will be interested in your view from where much of the story starts.

 

Negin - The Stand sounds good too ( last week someone was talking about 11/22/63). I am going to have to be brave and read a Steven King book again.

 

Banned Books - None on the current list but have read quite a few on the larger list. I have never read The Great Gatsby. Dd is reading it this year so I will try that, I think. I can't commit too firmly! ;)

[Just Robyn]

 

 

52 Books Blog - Stifled September: Welcome to Stifled September celebrating freedom to read and our author flavor of the month -  Marco Polo. 

Banned Books Week doesn't officially start until September 27th and runs through October 3rd,  however I figured the cause deserves a whole month.  According to ALA's  Office of Intellectual Freedom the most frequently challenged books for 2014 for a variety of reasons are: 

 

 

1)  The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

2)  Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi

3)  And Tango Makes Three, Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

4)  The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison

5)  It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris

6)  Saga, by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples

7)  The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

8)  The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

9)  A Stolen Life, Jaycee Dugard

10)  Drama, by Raina Telgemeier

 

There have been quite a number of classics that have been challenged over the years including The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, For Whom the Bell Tolls and a few other Ernest Hemingway titles, 1984 (kind of ironic), Gone with the Wind and The Lord of the Rings to name a few.

 

Check out the links, perused the titles and read one, two or maybe more banned and/or challenged books this month. 

 

 

 

I have read the first two books on the 2014 list and 14 from the classics list. One of my kids has read the Sherman Alexie book and two of them (or three?) have read Drama.

 

I guess I don't feel compelled to read a book just because it was banned or challenged . As Ali said, a lot of these books are here because parents don't want their kids reading them for school (or perhaps because they don't want them in the school library), but that doesn't make me feel like a book is more important or more engaging, and it doesn't make me feel like I or my kids aren't allowed to read them. We go to the public library, use ILL and buy books from Amazon. 

 

It would be different if there were a federal ban on a book. (And I did find this list that shows one currently federally banned book in the U.S. - a book about how to get out of paying income taxes. But since it says the author was in prison for tax evasion when he wrote it, I don't see myself taking his advice.)

[Stacia]

Ali, hope you don't have lasting back issues! :grouphug:  (My dh has back issues & it can really be a pain sometimes.)

 

mumto2, I totally know what you mean about not doing homework for book club. I've often felt that way & honestly, often did book club more for the dinner out than the books. :leaving:  Plus, when my dc were little, I didn't have much time to read, so I often showed up w/out reading the book. But, I keep plugging away & end up reading some books I wouldn't normally read, so I guess it's all good (except for the books I end up hating).

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead.  It was a wonderful book, one of the best I've read in a long time. Highly recommended. Shannon read it based on her reaction, I knew I had to read it. I'm glad I did. It's a beautiful book about the meaning of life, friendship and love as experience when you are in the 7th-9th grades. Yet still relevant for any age.

[Stacia]

It would be different if there were a federal ban on a book. (And I did find this list that shows one currently federally banned book in the U.S. - a book about how to get out of paying income taxes. But since it says the author was in prison for tax evasion when he wrote it, I don't see myself taking his advice.)

 

Interesting. I didn't know about that. Perhaps the author has learned from his mistakes & that's what's in his book? :lol:

 

[6packofun]

 

I guess I don't feel compelled to read a book just because it was banned or challenged . As Ali said, a lot of these books are here because parents don't want their kids reading them for school (or perhaps because they don't want them in the school library), but that doesn't make me feel like a book is more important or more engaging, and it doesn't make me feel like I or my kids aren't allowed to read them. We go to the public library, use ILL and buy books from Amazon. 

 

 

Well said.  :)

 

I restarted Unbroken for the third time (not the book's fault, lol) and am probably the last book lover to get into it but I was up until 4 a.m.!  Oh, such cruelty. I think I kept reading because I was waiting for one of the hopeful bits.  Glad there are some!  I love how the human spirit can be so strong, how the prisoners find their own ways to avenge their captivity by sabotaging even mundane things to make their uncrushed spirits heard!  Awesome.  About halfway through.

[Violet Crown]

Finished A History of Private Life, Volume 1: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium. Two Amazon reviews pretty much capture this book:

http://www.amazon.com/History-Private-Life-Volume-Byzantium/dp/0674399749

If you read the reviews "A Classic of the Annales School" and "A Disappointing Read" (2 and 3 on the page right now), you get an idea of the series; it's a specific French approach to history that is very different from what Anglophone readers are accustomed to. I enjoyed Volume 1 and plan to continue the series; but I can see how others might find it confusing and disappointing.

 

Today is dh's birthday, and you'll be shocked to learn that he got books, too:

 

Philip K. Dick & Roger Zelazny, Deus Irae

 

Francis Beaumont & John Fletcher, Philaster

 

John Fletcher, The Tamer Tamed

 

John Fletcher, The Island Princess

 

And for some reason, he got quite a lot of Magic Treehouse books, too....

[Kareni]

It would be different if there were a federal ban on a book. (And I did find this list that shows one currently federally banned book in the U.S. - a book about how to get out of paying income taxes. But since it says the author was in prison for tax evasion when he wrote it, I don't see myself taking his advice.)

 

That was an interesting list; thanks for sharing the link, crstarlette.  I liked this line (emphasis mine): "While not a full ban (Schiff and his cohorts got around it by offering the book for free), the case stands out in the otherwise “anything goes†approach of U.S. law to book publishing."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Today is dh's birthday, and you'll be shocked to learn that he got books, too:

 

...

 

And for some reason, he got quite a lot of Magic Treehouse books, too....

 

Because, clearly, one can never have too many Magic Treehouse books! 

 

 

I’m in the midst of a massive purging of books in the house. (Family is expected in nine days, and those stacks of books in the living room had become something of an eyesore!) So far, I have almost four grocery sacks of books awaiting trips to two used bookstores, a women’s shelter, and/or thrift stores. Many, many books still remain on the shelves.

 

As a result of all the book shuffling, I picked up and re-read a book that I've been schlepping around for (cough, cough) thirty years.  The hero of the book has amnesia (a topic that has always interested me).  I'd say the story has held up well and does not seem dated.  I enjoyed re-visiting it.

 

Home at Last (Harlequin Superromance No. 161)  by Barbara Kaye

 

"FATE KEPT THEM FREE FOR EACH OTHER

 

Leah Stone was a single mother...but still a wife. In the six years since her husband had vanished, she had accepted her strange role, though she had missed Jim every day of those six years.

 

When Leah met her husband again he was Jacob Surratt, a prominent Phoenix physician. He didn't know her at all.

 

Yet this fine man fell deeply in love with her, so that Leah was tempted to play a dangerous game.

 

She urged Jacob to remember, while someone else worked to lock the past away forever...."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Oliver Sacks Dies at 82; Neurologist and Author Explored the Brain’s Quirks

 

I've enjoyed a number of Sacks' books over time including The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales, Awakenings, and Seeing Voices.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[NoseInABook]

Still here. Still digging through The Sparrow and Longing For Paris. I'm pretty surprised by the lack of reading coming from my corner. I just got back from a weekend of camping with my best friend which was fun. I thought we'd read more because we were caught in the rain and unseasonable cold for the most part but we decided to be crazy and brave tubing a river when it was like 60 degrees. Hot showers,  hoodies, and yoga pants were very much needed after that and the rain slowed enough that we were able to sit around a fire and talk. We even had an adventure with a family of skunks who were under our camper... *snort* Only the baby skunk sprayed when it got into a fight with its parent so thankfully, it wasn't that bad! 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Ugh - having recently survived a back-of-the-house-and-dog skunk spraying, all I can say is you're lucky it wasn't that bad! I have a whole new respect for the power of a skunk to foul its surroundings.

[LaughingCat]

Missed last week (for no special reason) so:

 

The Hundred Kingdoms (BaW rec) -- started out not my style but ended up enjoying -- could even end up a re-read but too early to tell

The One and Only Ivan (mom/daughter book club) -- I liked it all the way through (which says a lot compared to some books we've read)

The Teenage Brain - eh --I think my expectations were too high for this book and it didn't live up to it

Emilie & the Hollow World (author rec on BaW) -- good, felt a bit too middle school/YA to me (as compared to some books that are considered YA but don't feel YA to me -- so I apparently use a different criteria than publishers :lol: )

 

This week:

Uprooted (BaW rec) -- LOVED it

 

[Negin]

The Stand sounds good too ( last week someone was talking about 11/22/63). I am going to have to be brave and read a Steven King book again.

 

Yes, I need to look inot 11/22/63. Thanks for that reminder, mumto2. 

 

I guess I don't feel compelled to read a book just because it was banned or challenged .

:iagree:. I seldom choose a book based on that either.

 

I think that overall I'm becoming a bit more selective (or at least I hope that I am) as to what to read, particularly what to purchase. There are far too many books that I already want to read & too little time! I saw something on Pinterest of somewhere where it said something to the effect of "I'm sure I'll die with a stack of books by my bed". :D

 

I totally know what you mean about not doing homework for book club. I've often felt that way & honestly, often did book club more for the dinner out than the books.   

Stacia, I've never had the opportunity to be in a book club. Few people read here, and if they did, I don't think our tastes would be similar, to say the least. I'm not sure if I'd enjoy being in a book club or not. I think it would have more to do with the people in it, obviously. And yes, no dread factor or homework for me, thank you very much  :lol:! The dinner would definitely be far more appealing if that were the case!

[Negin]

My back went out in July due to carrying a 76 pound child (now an adult) incorrectly. The acute pain is gone but it still twinges on me, especially if I try to jog or walk too far.

:grouphug:  I hope you feel better soon, Ali.  :grouphug:

[Negin]

I just came across this list on Good Reads for Stephen King books that are not horror. I love the description: "Stephen King books that won't scare the crap out of me because

1. I already have a sleeping disorder

and

2. I cant afford to keep the lights on every night for the rest of my life."  :lol:

[mumto2]

I just came across this list on Good Reads for Stephen King books that are not horror. I love the description: "Stephen King books that won't scare the crap out of me because

1. I already have a sleeping disorder

and

2. I cant afford to keep the lights on every night for the rest of my life." :lol:

Thanks for the interesting list. I am now wondering about the Dark World series for ds. I would love to find something he loves to read again. He read a bit of Under the Dome to see if it was like the show (the part he read was) and enjoyed it. I think Stephen King may be one of my spooky reads......

 

Stacia - A full dinner might make a bookclub worthwhile :lol: but not a cup of tea and a biscuit! They actually do read some pretty good books. We have a wall in the conference room where they meet displaying the book covers the groups have read. Many of them are either favourites or by authors I enjoy. But there are enough up there that I know I don't want to read.....I think I am happier with our type of book club. ;)

[mumto2]

I just finished Flowers From A Storm by Laura Kinsalehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/360259.Flowers_from_the_Storm. This book totally deserves it's place on the Best Romatic Fiction list. She is a Quaker who becomes intrigued by a Duke because he shares a gift for mathematics with her father. This brilliant man ends up in an asylum after a stroke (loss of language and appears mad as opposed to frustrated). She becomes his caregiver and companion. I really am not giving serious spoilers because the book goes on from there in an interesting fashion. Lovely romance. Very different, between the stroke victom and the Quaker parts I have never read a similar romance.

[Kareni]

I just finished Flowers From A Storm by Laura Kinsalehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/360259.Flowers_from_the_Storm. This book totally deserves its place on the Best Romatic Fiction list.

 

Glad you enjoyed it; it's a favorite of mine.  (Did you see my earlier post at #27?)

 

 

Last night I finished Jayne Castle/Jayne Ann Krentz's paranormal romance Siren's Call.

It was a pleasant light read.  It's the most recent addition to a series which I'd suggest reading in order.

 

"In the mysterious world of Harmony, there are places filled with unexplored marvels. But Rainshadow Island isn’t about to give up its secrets…

 

In the alien catacombs of Rainshadow, there are creatures whose compelling songs lure the unwary to their death. That’s why Rafe Coppersmith, hired to clear out the catacombs for exploration, needs a music talent. He’s knows the perfect one, but she probably doesn’t want anything do with him...

 

Ella Morgan had once fallen hard and fast for Rafe, but then he disappeared for months…and he’s not about to tell her why. Ella, too, has secrets that only her dust bunny knows. She’s not just a music talent, she’s a Siren: a paranormal singer capable of singing men to sleep—or to their deaths.

 

But once on Rainshadow, Rafe and Ella will learn that surrendering to passion doesn’t come without risks—and fighting fire with fire only adds to the flame…"

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Ali in OR]

I read the first hundred pages of Uprooted last night and I'm loving it! Sometimes you just need to read for the pure pleasure of the story--this is one of those books. Thanks for the recs here--I believe it was Kareni's review a few months back that got me to place a hold.

[JennW in SoCal]

I do so enjoy this book club format.  I love hearing about a wide range of books, many of which I add to my reading lists, some of which I eventually read. There are others discussed which I won't ever touch, but I still love hearing what y'all have to say. I enjoy book reviews and author interviews for the same horizon-broadening reasons.

 

The 3 books I read last week were found thanks to these threads. The Shepherd's Life was through one of Kareni's links, the author Alan Furst is a favorite of Jane's and I don't know which of you mystery lovers mentioned the Icelandic author Arnaldur Indridadon.  I highly recommend all 3, by the way.

 

Don't know if I can handle even gentle Stephen King.  I had to put down the Balkan Spies book several times because I was getting nervous for the main, and side, character's safety!!

[Kareni]

I read the first hundred pages of Uprooted last night and I'm loving it!

 

I'm glad you're enjoying it.  The second half of the book takes a somewhat different turn.  I'll be interested in hearing your thoughts when you finish it.

 

Hope your back will soon heal.

 

Regards,

Kareni