Thanks, Stacia. Noémi Szécsi looks like an interesting author. The first book you recommended sounds like a possibility. Too bad her other books have yet to be translated into English.

:lol: I've already read AK so this is appealing but yes, I'm thoroughly daunted by the length more so than its reputation.

That article...ridiculous is my instinctive reaction. And missing the point entirely both 'literarily' and from the standpoint of child development. If I know you the littlest bit VC I'm guessing that was posted tongue-in-cheek? And if not, well then you are a woman of far more complexity that I realized ;) My current reading has me interested in revisiting some of the Eastern European classics. Onto the list went Pasternak, Chekov and Tolstoy. Have to get some feminine energy in there. Any suggestions? All that's coming to mind is Anna Akhmatova whom I've dabbled in but not too deeply.

As per the norm this thread is buzzing on the first day of this new calendar year. I received a post-card from one of our BaWers here recently and was so touched that she took time to write to me as I've posted so sporadically these past two years. It made me think back on all the snail mail I've gotten and continue to receive from you wonderful ladies and realize that this group is pretty special. So while my intention with this group is to read 52 books I'm also motivated by the friendships that continue to bloom here, by the quality of heart that characterizes our dialogue. Onto books, continuing with my audiobook, Circling the Sun and really enjoying it. I listen mainly when I'm hiking with the pup or taking my own daily constitutional. Still not quite finished with The Firebird but I'm enjoying it enough to want to finish. Next up will be the book dh is urging me to read, Holding the Lotus to the Rock. I got a couple of pages in and my mind wandered to other realms. So it's back to the beginning with that one. I have the feeling I'll quite enjoy it but getting started with it is eluding me. I've got a good list going for the upcoming year, mostly fiction but some non-fiction sprinkled throughout mostly in the form of Tarot books. And I'm lately feeling the itch to read some Eastern European authors, mainly 19th and 20th century. I'm drawn to that part of the world and Bohemia in the Czech Republic is somewhere I'd love to travel to. Looking forward to this literary journey with you all :seeya:

Low-key here. Last night we watched The Man Who Knew Infinity with Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons. It was very good, one for the whole family. We've spent an afternoon playing Ticket to Ride Europe and noshing on pistachios, chocolate, clementines and other tidbits. Tonight we're thinking Dickens with sticky-toffee pudding for dessert. Wishing all you BaWers blessings as we step over the wall from from one year into another.

Moving along at a steady clip with The Firebird. Dare I begin to hope I've reclaimed my reading chops? Ds and I will have our own reading challenge going this year. He reads at about triple the pace I do but his academic workload is considerably more than mine so we'll be pretty evenly matched :lol: He's already finished the book I mentioned a day or two ago, Sea of Ink and Gold, Book 1 and is feeling quite chuffed about it as this mama plods along only 50% of the way through her current read. In other challenges to be met I'm hoping to finish dh's hat by the end of next week and will post a pic if I do

Wonderful, Robin! Wishing you ease in the transition.

Knitting a hat for dh currently and I went on a 'knitting oversized cowls with size 15s' run this summer. My grandfather used to call me 'old girl' but it often came out 'old gell' with his British accent. So from one old girl to another I look forward to BaW convo with you ;)

Here you go, Rose. It's not fiction but you can't get more banana-in-the-title basic than this :lol: Oops, cross-posted and didn't see that Jenn also suggested this.

I'm very much enjoying my current audiobook, Circling the Sun. The narrator is pleasing to the ear and that makes all the difference. I'm profligate with my attention, I realize. I've started the book that dh wants me to read, Holding the Lotus to the Rock, but am not in far enough for it to have captured my interest and my attention has wandered over to a book I started several months ago, The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley. It was here on the BaW group a few years ago that I discovered the name for my favorite kind of fiction, magical realism. I recall some good discussions around what defines this category. I'm not sure The Firebird fits it 100% but there's enough in there to hold my interest. It's more a time-travel book than MR. The first book in this series was, The Winter Sea, which I read a few years ago and enjoyed. This one is similar with the Jacobites as backdrop but this time adding Russian royalty in as well. Writing is ok but the story is holding my interest and I'm determined to finally finish it. I, too, have made a list of books I'd like to finish this upcoming year. I'm a mainly e-book reader, I really enjoy my Kindle Paperwhite but my reading has dropped off considerably despite being an English major and a voracious reader as a child, teen and college student. Internet is partly to blame but also life has asked other foci of me that haven't been conducive to chunks of time to read. We don't have a tv but we do have internet and I realize that prioritizing will be key for me wrt getting in the amount of reading I'd like to. I was quite active on this group a few years ago and so enjoyed the community and support of the 'old-timers', you know who you are ;) At this point I guess I'm beginning to consider reading an act of rebellion against the prevailing cultural climate of fast, insipid, unimaginative, digitalized one-dimensional mediocrity. Yes, it's rather a pessimistic view but sadly it feels like a realistic one as I look around and see what is unfolding nationally. And this kind of rebellious act appeals to my Aries nature On another note my ds is currently reading The Reader, book one of the Sea of Ink and Gold series, about a world where reading doesn't exist save for one book that is highly sought after. Highly recommended, he says.

Wonderful!

Thanks for this. Lab Girl just went onto the kindle :D

Oh my! This is gorgeous. It resonates so deeply. I was brought up on Inuit art during my Canadian childhood and I never fail to be moved by the stark, smooth, evocative soapstone creations. Thanks for sharing this, Stacia, going to try and find this.

Boxing Day here with mellow music on the computer, fab chocolate, and the perfect cup of my fave Chinese Breakfast tea with its barest hint of woodsmoke, at hand. I had planned to read something else entirely but dh has been urging me to read Holding the Lotus to the Rock for a while now so that'll likely be my first book for 2017. It's been on my tbr list for some time so now's as good a time as any to start it. In the audio realm I'm listening to Circling the Sun. The narrator is very good and that often bodes well for book enjoyment. Hoping to get more reading in in 2017. Y'all are very inspiring :thumbup:

Another vote for New Moon magazine. Oops, just reread your original post, OP, and see that it's not an option. I'll leave the link up for others who may be looking.

Thanks to my 'more British than the British' father, my childhood Christmases involved Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, the Queen's message on Christmas day, mince pies, turkish delight, Christmas crackers and my grandmother's Christmas pudding and her rich, dark fruitcake made in England in October, laced with brandy through the next two months and sent over to Canada in time for Christmas. The Christmas crackers contained particularly bad-good puns and for some reason this one has stayed with me decades later, What is the difference between a phrase and a cat? One has claws at the end of its paws and the other has a pause at the end the clause :smilielol5:

Finished up The Novel Habits of Happiness in the early hours this morning as the rain came down in buckets. Like the nine preceding books in the series not a lot happened and yet it still managed to hold my interest. But that's about my pace these days :lol: Thinking I'll read The Alphabet of Thorne next but these days my reading depends on my mood which is as mutable as the tides so that choice is not set in stone. I've already got a list of definite tbrs for 2017 and I'm hoping to get to all of them.

Smoked salmon, cream cheese, Montreal bagels, clementines, panettone, coffee and dark chocolate.

Of all dates Medjools dates are the best to eat on their own. You can stuff them with an almond or with a dab of marzipan if you really don't want to eat them solo. They are also delicious eaten with clementines, which are in season right now. The tartness of the orange complements the rich sweetness of the date beautifully. This is often dessert in our home.

Interesting and eclectic best of list from Maria Popova of Brainpickings fame. From the same site, Susan Sontag on reading as an act of rebirth. Glad to hear our Jane is faring well. Sending good strong tea and ginger shortbread of the virtual kind her way :grouphug:

This has been on my tbr list forever. I begin it and enjoy the beginning lol and then get sidetracked. Everyone here has thoroughly enjoyed it IIRC.

I checked out the bolded and it has gone onto the TBR list along with its sequel so thank you for that! I'm settling into The Novel Habits of Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith. This is the last book in the wonderful Isabel Dalhousie series. I've read the previous nine and enjoyed each of them immensely.

She might be interested in the fascinating movie, Tim's Vermeer All of us enjoyed it immensely as a family. From Wikipedia :: "Tim Jenison, an inventor, engineer and art enthusiast, becomes fascinated with the paintings of Johannes Vermeer, a 17th-century Dutch painter, whose paintings have been oft cited to have a photographic quality to them; Jenison, spurred by the book Secret Knowledge by British artist David Hockney and Vermeer's Camera by British architecture professor Philip Steadman, theorizes that Vermeer potentially used a camera obscura to guide his painting technique. His initial idea, that Vermeer used a simple light projection to paint, is quickly discarded after concluding that painting over a projection makes it nearly impossible to match the colors correctly. Jenison then has an epiphany of using a mirror to monitor parts of the picture. Jenison becomes convinced that he is able to reproduce The Music Lesson as a painting with this technique, and plans to physically recreate the original scene. After seven months, Jenison finally finishes painting the picture, and after adding a layer of varnish, he has an emotional moment taking a final look at his work. Observing the results of his work, Steadman and Hockney both feel confident in their theory that Vermeer has been using the same (or similar) tools to create his paintings, noting that "the painting itself is a document". The final shot of the film is Jenison, with his copy of The Music Lesson above his fireplace."

While meditating on The Milkmaid :rolleyes:

Finding myself resisting starting another book. The atmosphere of The Miniaturist lingers...of linen, muted earth tones, damp, sober speech, hush, spices, wool, half-light, water, beeswax polished wood, marriages built on silence and conformity, women whose artistic vision can only flourish obliquely, behind closed doors, in the between places. All of it filtering through me like smoke as I go about my day.