I finished The Art of Description by Mark Doty. This little book contained many musings, observations or short essays on description. Here are a couple of things I marked in the book. I also finished The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. Interesting, terrifying, hopeful, then just nothing. :crying: I continue with Sin and Syntax and Narrative Design and I started How to Haiku and The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction. All those writing books are my excuse for still not having finished Orlando. I've got about 50 pages left (the last chapter). I'm still enjoying it; I'm just making slow progress with fiction this year. Oh, and I also just barely started a book of poetry. No Matter the Wreckage by Sarah Kay. The VanderMeer book is on my to-read list. I got as far as flipping through it once. Great pictures. Glad you brought it back to my attention.

Didn't finish anything last week. I'm not quite half way through Orlando, and I really love it. This is like the other Woolf books I've read in that it has very long sentences, but unlike them in that it doesn't get inside everyone's head. I'm also still reading The Diary of a Young Girl and The Art of Description.

:hurray: I finished Shakespeare's Henry IV Part 1. I usually read Oxford School Shakespeare books because I like that their footnotes are actually in the sidebar. That makes reading the notes faster and easier, more fluid, for me. I am disappointed that they didn't make an edition of Henry IV Part 2. I'll have to read whatever's at the library, I guess, with footnotes at the foot of the page. :closedeyes: I started The Art of Description by Mark Doty and just yesterday ds and I started reading The Diary of a Young Girl. Anne is charming. She reminds me of Kendall Hailey (The Day I Became an Autodidact). I have Virginia Woolf's Orlando sitting here waiting for me. I'll probably start reading it today.

Well, I will still read Woolf with you, and it looks like Stacia might not be totally against it. ETA: Oh, and now I'm feeling like I should say something like - So you wouldn't be a lone Woolf reader.

I loved this book and the two sequels. Very funny. Oh, I see. I had thought you were taking votes on those three, and I was waiting to see which author won. Since it's all three and take your pick or take them all - I'll probably end up with Agatha Christie.

I finished three short books. The Art of the Poetic Line by James Logenbach - This talks about different types of lines based on how they end (complete sentence, parsing, annotating) and about creating tension in a poem by varying the types of lines. I found it illuminating. Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino - This is a book of short stories. I think Calvino calls them science fairy tales or something like that. From the back: "During the course of these stories Calvino toys with continuous creation, the transformation of matter, and the expanding and contracting reaches of space and time." But they are also about love, fear, human nature. Bluets by Maggie Nelson - This is labeled on the back as Essay/Literature, but I would add prose poetry and memoir to the list. It is written as 240 small (numbered) statements or musings, separate but linked. Some random examples: 1. Suppose I were to begin by saying that I had fallen in love with a color. Suppose I were to speak this as though it were a confession; suppose I shredded my napkin as we spoke. It began slowly. An appreciation, an affinity. Then, one day, it became more serious. Then (looking into an empty teacup, its bottom stained with thin brown excrement coiled into the shape of a sea horse) it became somehow personal. 39. The Encyclopedia does not help. "If normally our perception of color involves 'false consciousness,' what is the right way to think of colors?" it asks. "In the case of color, unlike other cases," it concludes, "false consciousness should be a cause for celebration." 220. Imagine someone saying, "Our fundamental situation is joyful." Now imagine believing it. I have started in on Narrative Design and Sin & Syntax. I'm not sure what I'll start next. Was a new author picked for March?

These two interest me. I've got Miramont's Ghost on my kindle, so I'd be interested in what you think of that. I think I must have gotten it as a Kindle First deal.

I got Funny Girl by Nick Hornby. That was fun, thanks!

I believe March is Virginia Woolf. I'm looking forward to trying out Orlando.

I finished Dynamic Characters by Nancy Kress and Sense and Sensibility by Austen. S&S I finished yesterday, which I thought a nice coincidence and a great way to spend Valentine's Day when your dh has to work. Then last night and today I was totally sucked in by a poetry/essay book Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine. This book was very moving, and I know nothing I say will do it justice. From the back: And here is one part that struck me. And another part because I loved this book and am overflowing with the desire to share it. I am still reading Calvino's Cosmicomics, and have started The Art of the Poetic Line by James Logenbach. I also have a few books I'm deciding between: Henry IV Part 1, Medea, Wired for Story, Fight Club and Jane Eyre.

I've got Narrative Design and Sin and Syntax loaded on the Kindle and ready to read too. :)

Chapter 29 "No governess! How is that possible? Five daughters brought up at home without a governess! I never heard of such a thing. Your mother must have been quite a slave to your education." Elizabeth could hardly help smiling as she assured her that had not been the case. "Then who taught you? who attended to you? Without a governess, you must have been neglected." "Compared with some families, I believe we were; but such of us as wished to learn never wanted the means. We were always encouraged to read, and had all the masters that were necessary. Those who chose to be idle, certainly might."

I finished Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid by Wendy Williams, which was interesting, readable and inspiring. I also read a YA graphic novel Henni by Miss Lasko-Gross. You can see/read a bit of the beginning here. A little shocking, maybe because of how fast an unexpectedly events/words are dumped on you. The ending is hopeful. I continue to read Dynamic Characters by Nancy Kress. I am nearing the end of this one, and I think it's very helpful and thorough. It may be partly due to my reading the book at the right time, but I feel this book is much better than the other one I read by her - Characters, Emotion and Viewpoint. I confess that I didn't make a single zentangle all week, but I haven't officially given up the goal of making 42 and going through the whole book. Unfortunately, I believe they take me much longer than the 30 minutes claimed by the book's author, and so far they haven't seemed to inspire me or otherwise help my writing as I had hoped. I also know that, having drawn a mere 13 zentangles, I haven't given them much of a chance. I started Sense and Sensibility, which is very comfortable and entertaining. And I just started Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino. There is a funny interview with Gore Vidal talking about Calvino.

I finished Lyrical Ballads by Coleridge and Wordsworth. Not really my cuppa'. But I think this was my favorite poem in the book: The Dungeon And this place our forefathers made for man! This is the process of our love and wisdom, To each poor brother who offends against us -- Most innocent, perhaps -- and what if guilty? Is this the only cure? Merciful God! Each pore and natural outlet shrivell'd up By ignorance and parching poverty, His energies roll back upon his heart, And stagnate and corrupt; till changed to poison, The break out on him, like a loathsome plague-spot; Then we call in our pamper'd mountebanks -- And this is their best cure! uncomforted And friendless solitude, groaning and tears, And savage faces, at the clanking hour, Seen through the steams and vapour of his dungeon, By the lamp's dismal twilight! So he lies Circled with evil, till his very soul Unmoulds its essence, hopelessly deformed By sights of ever more deformity! With other ministrations thou, O nature! Healest they wandering and distempered child: Thou pourest on him thy soft influences, Thy sunny hues, fair forms, and breathing sweets, Thy melodies of woods, and winds, and waters, Till he relent, and can no more endure To be a jarring and a dissonant thing Amid this general dance and minstrelsy; But, bursting into tears, wins back his way, His angry spirit healed and harmonized By the benignant touch of love and beauty. I am burning out on zentangles. I think I probably only did one last week. But I am still loving Kraken; I have read 10/15 chapters. Every day dh hears Oh, oh, listen to this! Did you know that squid...? I am still reading Dynamic Characters, and I have been re-reading a little Ferlinghetti while I wait for the library to obtain a copy of No Matter the Wreckage by Sarah Kay. Right now I'm thinking I will probably read Sense and Sensibility for this month's author challenge, but there are many Austen/Bronte sisters books I would like to read, so I may change my mind by the time I am finished with Kraken.

I read Why Read Moby-Dick? by Nathaniel Philbrick - wonderful book. Thank you for the suggestion, Robin. In addition to talking about themes in Moby-Dick, it gives biographical information about Melville and Hawthorne. And I just finished Shakespeare's Richard II. This was very easy to read and understand, and it left me eager to read Henry IV. I also started Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid. I can't remember who here recommended it. I have only read one chapter, but am enjoying it so far. I am still reading Dynamic Characters by Nancy Kress and One Zentangle A Day by Beckah Krahula.

Just wanted to stop in a share this bit of Why Read Moby-Dick?

I remember reading about the distinction between a romance and a novel when I was doing Intro. to Lit. Studies on Saylor.org and my thought was that the distinction does still exist but with different terminology. What in the past people called a romance or a novel, we call a genre novel or a literary novel. I'd be happy to hear others's thoughts on it.

Okay, as proof of my continued Zentangle efforts, here's the one I just finished.

Just finished Kafka on the Shore. For me, this was the most consistently entertaining Murakami book (so far). 1Q84 and Wind-Up Bird had too much tedium and boredom mixed up with the interesting and entertaining bits. Kafka kept moving along. I had hoped to finish this Saturday or Sunday, but there was a Renaissance festival at my library, which turned out to be pretty good and took up a big chunk of my Saturday. The best part was when I learned about manicules - pictures of pointing hands that Wikipedia calls a punctuation mark, but they were explained to me as a symbol commonly drawn in manuscripts to point out important parts. Then, realizing this was a three-day weekend, I decided to go to the Zen center on Sunday though I knew that would definitely push Kafka out for another day. It was a full weekend, if not a weekend full of reading. I did not do well with Zentangles last week, only finished two (or three?), but plan to make one after I finish typing this and make lunch. 8/42 Zentangles complete. I started Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge. Parts of it are re-reads, others parts new-to-me. I plan to pick up Why Read Moby-Dick? and if I don't like that, I may start some Shakespeare. Shukriyya - Your Zentangle is gorgeous! I missed last week's and it isn't there anymore. I'll have to be quicker from now on! I did see your ds's. Awesome! I'm glad to see some children joining in. My middle ds said he made on at his friend's house a couple days ago, but he left it there and I didn't get to see it. :(

:laugh:

re: finishing bad books I do abandon books, but not often. Sometimes I finish a book I don't like because it's a classic, and though I'm not enjoying reading it, I want to have read it. This can pay off later as these books are referenced in other books I read. Sometimes I think a book is poorly written but is still full of good ideas, and I'm willing to deal with the story structure, prose style, flat characters, etc. for the sake of the interesting ideas.

Are they all really weird? Yes. Some are much more weird that this one. Are they all based on tales? Well, I didn't realize this one was based on a tale, so i guess I wouldn't know.

Open a new tab. In the new tab, go to the page to which you want to link. Copy the url. In your post, highlight the words you want to turn into a link. Press the link button in the toolbar (the ninth button from the left in the bottom row - right after the numbered list button). Paste the url into the form that pops up.

I could not keep up with last week's thread, so I am glad to start a new week. I finished a book of poetry. Crow: From the Life and Songs of the Crow. These poems are best read together and in order, not taken out of the book, but I'll put one at the end of the post anyway. I believe I am quitting on Ulysses. I find it interesting at times, but as someone else said, not engaging. Time-wise, I think it would have to be my only fiction for the 12 weeks, and I'm not doing that if I don't enjoy it. I am still reading and enjoying Kafka on the Shore. It is weird and creepy, and I wonder how things will come together. I have started in on A Zentangle A Day and have made five Zentangles so far. Nan, are you still going to choose a book to inspire doodles? Poetry books that got a 5-star rating from me: Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman (the original edition - haven't gotten to the deathbed edition yet) Goblin Market and Other Poems by Christina Rossetti Complete Poems by Stephen Crane Selected Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay If the Tabloids Are True What Are You? by Matthea Harvey And though I gave this book 4 stars, I'll add What Narcissism Means to Me by Tony Hoagland since the poem I posted by him last year seemed to affect so many. Crow's Fall When Crow was white he decided the sun was too white. He decided it glared much to whitely. He decided to attack it and defeat it. He got his strength flush and in full glitter. He clawed and fluffed his rage up. He aimed himself to the centre of himself. And attacked. At his battle cry trees grew suddenly old, Shadows flattened. But the sun brightened - It brightened, and Crow returned charred black. He opened his mouth but what came out was charred black. 'Up there,' he managed, 'Where white is black and black is white, I won.' And of the Zentangles I made last week, here is my favorite.

Man! I'm not sure if I'll ever get caught up on this thread. I have finally joined the out of likes club. I finished my first book of the year, a barely countable graphic novel/sonnet sequence. I helped fund their Kickstarter campaign and just received my pdf copy (though it is entirely free to read online). 1.Sonnet by Lindsey Rodgers I would like to join in on the Moby Dick read. I just put Why Read Moby Dick on hold at the library. I'll try to read along for the Vonnegut read, too, because I've got Mother Night on my shelf still waiting to be cracked. And I'll likely join in for all the Author of the Month or Author Flavors (I can't remember what we're calling it) except Anne Rice. I did Interview with a Vampire last year, and it was fine, but also enough. I'm going to finally read a Stephen King book this year for my spooky read. I have read the first two episodes of Ulysses so far. I think I'll have to read at least three more before I'm really committed to finishing it. It is feeling like a chore already in the "easy" episodes, but I would like to have read it. My zentangles book is supposed to be delivered on Tuesday.