Book a Week in 2010 - week 41

[Robin M]

Today is the start of book week 41 and the quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks. Have you started Book # 41 yet? Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 books blog and ready for you to link to your reviews.

 

52 books blog - N is for national novel writing month. For the past three years I've spent the month of November writing like crazy. It's wild and crazy, fun and stressful, but amazing all at the same time. It's one challenge I'm happy I decided to do back in 2007. Didn't know I had one story in me, much less three. I discovered a new love - writing.

 

And speaking of writing, next week from the 14th through the 17th, I'll be in San Francisco at the Bouchercon world mystery writers convention. I'm going to be playing fan girl. If next sunday's post is a bit late, you'll know why.

 

What are you all reading this week?

[Mommyfaithe]

Reading Perelandra after finishing Out of the Silent Planet. Plan on That Hideous Strength this week. Also reading Flylady books Sink Reflections and Saving Dinner.

 

Faithe

[Robin M]

I just finished reading "Emotional intensity in gifted students' by Christine Fonseca" and my review will be posting on the 15th. She recently wrote a guest post for my blog and we are giving away a copy of the book, so you still have a chance to enter to win. Plus several other folks are having giveaways so more than one chance to enter. Excellent book - all about coaching your gifted child on how to deal with their emotions.

 

I'm also in the midst of reading "The Watchman" by Robert Crais.

[eaglei]

This week I finished #54, Her Daughter's Dream, by Francine Rivers (the sequel to Her Mother's Hope). Rivers' books always keep me glued and this was no different, especially since it is based on the lives of her mother and grandmother (not autobiographical, just facets of their lives were the basis for the theme of mother/daughter dissension).

 

I am currently reading #55, The God I Love, by Joni Eareckson Tada. Very inspirational. She is a gifted writer (some of her choices of verbs, e.g., have startled me with their accuracy), and her story is moving and faith-building. I will easily conclude this book today in a very short time, and have no clue what I will read next!

[Storm Bay]

I've been terrible about posting, haven't I? Dd, 12, and I read the Lion Boy trilogy in week 40, I read another kid lit book, Pies & Prejudice (did I already post that?), I read a pair of funny mysteries, The Crepes of Wrath and Gruel and Unusual Punishment. All light reading. I don't actually have time to read and have a growing pile of serious & nonfiction books to read. That's all for weeks prior to week 41. Now if someone would just crack the whip perhaps I might read something pithy or that I need to read.

[Storm Bay]

Reading Perelandra after finishing Out of the Silent Planet. Plan on That Hideous Strength this week. Also reading Flylady books Sink Reflections and Saving Dinner.

 

Faithe

 

 

Did you like Out of the Silent Planet?

[dangermom]

This week I did two books with long titles. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind and In Search of England. Both were great.

 

One of my favorite bits of the England book is near the end, when he's remembering his youth in Warwickshire and his zeal for Shakespeare, Fabianism etc. --this was all around 1900-1910. He recalls a man he admired:

"...[he told me that] only through Stratford, the common meeting-place of the English-speaking world, could we heal the pains of Industrialism and make England happy again. We were to make the whole world happy, apparently, by teaching it to morris dance and to sing folk-songs and to go to the Memorial Theatre. With the splendid faith of Youth we pilgrims believed that England could be made 'merrie' again by hand-looms and young women in Liberty gowns who played the harpsichord. Then, I seem to remember, shortly after that war was declared.

 

And thus, I suppose, ended romantic Fabianism.

 

 

Also, last week I was lame and didn't get my review up. It's Stories of the Faerie Queene and Sam I Am, which I loved. One of the very few novels for middle-grade kids that honestly addresses religion as something that real people actually do.

[Mommyfaithe]

Did you like Out of the Silent Planet?

 

Honestly, it took me 1/2 the book to get into it. I was determined to finish it because ds did and wanted to talk about it. Once I got past the archaic science fiction-y grade B movie feel of it, I ended up really enjoying the book and the ethical questions that it addressed. I am also encouraged to finally read some H.G. Wells and probably some Jules Verne too.

I do get stuck on these genres now, don't I?

 

Faithe

[Storm Bay]

Honestly, it took me 1/2 the book to get into it. I was determined to finish it because ds did and wanted to talk about it. Once I got past the archaic science fiction-y grade B movie feel of it, I ended up really enjoying the book and the ethical questions that it addressed. I am also encouraged to finally read some H.G. Wells and probably some Jules Verne too.

I do get stuck on these genres now, don't I?

 

Faithe

 

 

I've been like that. I read & liked Jules Verne when I was a kid. I hated H.G. Wells' book on time travel, but read it for an article I wrote, but you might like it. I read a lot of science fiction as a teen, but can't remember reading the series you're on. I never got into the Dune series, either, because of the huge worms in the first book.

[Jane in NC]

This week I did two books with long titles. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind and In Search of England. Both were great.

 

 

 

I found The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind to be inspirational! Amazing young man.

[Rosie_0801]

I'm about half way through a book similar to the one Audrey recommended on another thread, but this week I finished Oracle Lake and Bill Bryson's Shakespeare. I really enjoyed Oracle Lake.

 

:)

Rosie

[Stacia]

Cool about the mystery convention! Any particular authors you're hoping to see there?

 

Yesterday, I finished Packing for Mars. It was fun, entertaining, surprising, & quite straightforward about some otherwise taboo topics.

 

Currently reading:

The Monsters (bio of Mary Shelley)

C

 

 

"Starred Review. Remainder established McCarthy as a contemporary champion of the experimental novel and heir to the postmodern stylists of the late 20th century, but it's difficult to come up with a suitable thematic or stylistic precursor to his unclassifiably brilliant latest. The enigmatic title signifies (for starters) Serge Carrefax, who grows up in early 1900s England on the grounds of the Versoie House, where his inventor-father Simeon runs a school for the deaf, using his pupils to test the copper-wire telegraphs and radio gizmos that are his obsession. There, Serge and his ill-fated sister, Sophie, enact strange experiments in chemistry and star in a school pageant depicting Ceres's journey to the underworld. More C-words follow, as an older, haunted Serge travels to a Bavarian sanitarium in search of the healing chemical cysteine and, following his enrollment in the 104th Airborne Squadron, enjoys flying reconnaissance while high on cocaine. The young century unfurls, bringing with it spiritualists, Egyptian espionage, and a fateful tryst in an ancient tomb, where Serge will at last discover the delicate wavelengths that connect him to the historical signals for which he is an ideal receiver. Each chapter of McCarthy's tour de force is a cryptic, ornate puzzle box, rich with correspondences and emphatically detailed digressions. Ambitious readers will be eager to revisit this endlessly interpretive world, while more casual readers will marvel at the high-flying picaresque perched at the crossroads of science and the stuff dreams are made of."

 

Books I've read in 2010: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; Good Omens; The Palace of Dreams; Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World; Lying Awake; The Remains of the Day; Iron & Silk; Lottery; The City of Dreaming Books; Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel; Clutter Busting: Letting Go of What's Holding You Back; The Power of Less; Stop Clutter from Stealing Your Life; The Bonesetter's Daughter; Life of Pi; Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend of the Pony Express; Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide; Waiting for Snow in Havana; The Happiness Project; Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable; The Dante Club; Conquering Chronic Disorganization; City of Thieves; Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life; Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen; Dead Until Dark; The Color of Magic; Fernande; Special Topics in Calamity Physics; Medicus; The Blind Contessa's New Machine; My Name is Red; The White Tiger; The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab; Parrot and Olivier in America; The Girl Who Played with Fire; Frankenstein; Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

[Faithr]

I just finished Roots of the Faith; From the Church Fathers to You by Mike Aquilina. Great book with clear explanations.

 

I just started The Maltese Falcon. Dh bought it when he was in San Francisco. He was at Johnny's Grill and the waiter told him the restaurant was mentioned in the book, so dh bought it for the plane ride home. Now it's my turn to read it! I've seen the movie many times (ages ago) but have never read the book! I keep hearing Bogie's voice whenever Sam Spade speaks. This is actually book No. 43 for me.

[Imprimis]

I wrapped up A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (amazing!), and started a YA book that belongs to my daughter---The Pale Assassin, but, after seeing this mentioned in a thread about "scary books for October," I thought it looked perfect for me, so I picked it up at Barnes and Noble today (btw,it's Educator Appreciation week, 25% off!), and will put The Pale Assassin aside for now :001_smile:.

[Rosie_0801]

I wrapped up A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (amazing!)

 

The book was amazing? Or you are amazed you have managed to finish it? My experience was the latter. :leaving:

 

Rosie

[MamaT]

I just read A Farewell to Arms because it has been a while and I wanted to be able to discuss it with my ds. It has been about 10 years since I last read it. It's still sad.

[Imprimis]

The book was amazing? Or you are amazed you have managed to finish it? My experience was the latter. :leaving:

 

Rosie

 

Oh, I loved it! I really enjoy Dickens' writing style. What didn't you like about it?

[Rosie_0801]

Oh, I loved it! I really enjoy Dickens' writing style. What didn't you like about it?

 

I can't tell you! I read it six or seven years ago. All I remember was a profound sense of boredom, annoyance at being told that I was too young to appreciate it, and much relief when my mil told me I wasn't romantic enough so I needn't bother trying it again. Too young, bah! I think the person who told me that thought I was a 16 year old, high school drop out. I didn't look at all mature or intelligent in my work uniform, but I still thought that was rude. :glare:

 

What on earth did you like about it? :lol: You must tell me, because I couldn't ever imagine!

 

Rosie

[Mom-ninja.]

I've picked The Twilight of American Culture back up.

[Imprimis]

I can't tell you! I read it six or seven years ago. All I remember was a profound sense of boredom, annoyance at being told that I was too young to appreciate it, and much relief when my mil told me I wasn't romantic enough so I needn't bother trying it again. Too young, bah! I think the person who told me that thought I was a 16 year old, high school drop out. I didn't look at all mature or intelligent in my work uniform, but I still thought that was rude. :glare:

 

What on earth did you like about it? :lol: You must tell me, because I couldn't ever imagine!

 

Rosie

 

Well, first of all, the themes---social injustice, redemption, and, of course, The French Revolution.

 

I loved how he tied all these seemingly different threads together by the end of the book. And, the ending, itself, was a wonderful surprise.

 

I adore Dickens' biting wit and sometimes quirky humor. I also appreciate his detailed narratives (which, I know some write off as excessive wordiness).

 

I do think he has a writing style that just doesn't appeal to some. But, it works for me.

 

Have you read (and enjoyed) any other of his works?

Edited October 11, 2010 by Imprimis

[Rosie_0801]

Have you read (and enjoyed) any other of his works?

 

Weeellll, Dad read 'A Christmas Carol' to me when I was about 8. I thought that was great, but that probably had more to do with it being the only book I think Dad ever read to us ;) I have read Oliver Twist and Great Expectations. I almost enjoyed the latter. It was enough to prevent me giving up on Dickens, in print, completely :tongue_smilie: I'm of a mind to read David Copperfield and read A Christmas Carol for myself, one of these days. I tend to prefer Dickens on the screen, I'm afraid, and there it is quite good.

 

D'you know, I had an English teacher once who'd never heard of 'A Christmas Carol.' Not even the Muppets' version :001_tt2:

 

Rosie

[Negin]

I wrapped up A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (amazing!)

I think that I already mentioned that this is one of our favorite books, by our favorite classic author. :)

Our 2nd favorite is Jane Austen.

 

The book was amazing? Or you are amazed you have managed to finish it? My experience was the latter. :leaving:

Rosie

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

I just started Codex 632 and really don't know if I like it yet or not. So far, I've read just over 10%, which usually means that I won't be giving up on it so fast. We'll see ... Sort of like The Da Vinci Code, but about Christopher Columbus, I guess.

[Lizzie in Ma]

And it has been a delightful week. I participated in the Dewey 24-hour Read-a-Thon Saturday, though only for 15 hours. I read "Saving Gracie", about puppy mills, "Whatever You Do, Don't Run", a rip roaring travelogue about a safari guide's adventures and ended up in and am still reading, Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.

 

Someone on the boards had some thread going for humorous reading and I chose a few of them. Bill Bryson is absolutely hilarious. A Walk in the Woods is about his adventures hiking the Appalachian Trail.

 

I am also still reading the Temeraire series and am on Book Five

 

http://www.aworkinprogress.net/p/2010-100-reading-challenge.html

[Mom-ninja.]

I just read A Farewell to Arms because it has been a while and I wanted to be able to discuss it with my ds. It has been about 10 years since I last read it. It's still sad.

 

For Whom the Bell Tolls is also sad.

 

 

 

I've read A Walk in the Woods. It was funny.

 

 

As for Dickens so far my fave book of his is Our Mutual Friend. Nice little mystery that everything ties into. I actually used that book when I took the AP English Lit exam.

[laughing lioness]

I am reading a preview copy of "Bittersweet; thoughts on change, grace, and learning the hard way" by Shauna Niequist.

I'm liking it. The first book I've read in weeks. I'll review at the end of the week.

Faithe- I love the Space Trilogy by Lewis. Good stuff.

[Storm Bay]

I can't tell you! I read it six or seven years ago. All I remember was a profound sense of boredom, annoyance at being told that I was too young to appreciate it, and much relief when my mil told me I wasn't romantic enough so I needn't bother trying it again. Too young, bah! I think the person who told me that thought I was a 16 year old, high school drop out. I didn't look at all mature or intelligent in my work uniform, but I still thought that was rude. :glare:

 

What on earth did you like about it? :lol: You must tell me, because I couldn't ever imagine!

 

Rosie

 

I liked the book better than I thought I would and particularly liked the ending. Sure, there were some things in it I didn't like, but over all I liked it well. I realize you didn't ask me, but thought I'd jump in. That said, I found Don Quixote boring and there are others who love it.

[Robin M]

Cool about the mystery convention! Any particular authors you're hoping to see there?

 

I'm looking forward to meeting and seeing James Scott Bell, Lee Child, Brenda Novak, Michelle Gagnon, Lisa Jackson, David Baldaci, and some of the authors who blog at murderati just to name a few. Also meeting up with an old roommate haven't seen in 20 years. :)

 

And it has been a delightful week. I participated in the Dewey 24-hour Read-a-Thon Saturday, though only for 15 hours. I read "Saving Gracie", about puppy mills, "Whatever You Do, Don't Run", a rip roaring travelogue about a safari guide's adventures and ended up in and am still reading, Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.l

 

 

I didn't have time to do the read-a-thon this year. Glad you had fun.

[Daisy]

I'm reading Breath: A Lifetime in the Rhythm of an Iron Lung: A Memoir by Martha Mason.

 

Fabulous book. I'm almost finished.

[Daisy]

Well, first of all, the themes---social injustice, redemption, and, of course, The French Revolution.

 

I loved how he tied all these seemingly different threads together by the end of the book. And, the ending, itself, was a wonderful surprise.

 

I adore Dickens' biting wit and sometimes quirky humor. I also appreciate his detailed narratives (which, I know some write off as excessive wordiness).

 

I do think he has a writing style that just doesn't appeal to some. But, it works for me.

 

Have you read (and enjoyed) any other of his works?

 

Ahhh, we are kindred spirits! I ♥ Dickens.

[Kareni]

I recently finished The Thieves of Manhattan: A Novel by Adam Langer which I enjoyed. It does have a cute aspect though which I could imagine some might find off putting. The author uses author and characters' names throughout the text to refer to something (i.e., poppins (n) to refer to an umbrella, salinger (v) to refer to living in seclusion, faulkner (n) to refer to whiskey).

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

I finished The Monsters: Mary Shelley & the Curse of Frankenstein today. It was an interesting biography; Mary Shelley definitely led a life filled with sadness & tragedy.

 

When running by the library this evening, I saw a book on the shelf & picked it up: The Casebook of Victor Fankenstein. It looks like a perfect book to read after having just finished both "Frankenstein" and "The Monsters". It is apparently a combination of the story of Frankenstein with Mary Shelley's actual life, including her relatives & friends who helped influence & shape her as an author.

 

 

"Ackroyd merges historical fiction with literary license to create an alternative reality in which Victor Frankenstein is one of Percy Shelley's schoolmates and close friends. In this retelling of the legend, Shelley is the one who first gives Frankenstein the idea of creating a monster. Soon, both Frankenstein and the Monster are deeply entwined in the lives of the Shelleys and Lord Byron, becoming the cause of many of the strange occurrences that take place in their lives, including the inspiration for Mary Shelley's book. Ackroyd's characters are intriguing, and his depiction of the time period reveals careful research. This book is a fascinating blending of Shelley's original novel, pulling occasional direct quotes from it, and a speculation about the real-life people who were involved in its creation. This is an excellent choice for anyone who enjoys Gothic, historical, or alternative fiction."

I am also still reading (& enjoying) C.

 

Oh, and today, I also finished Wintersmith (which I was reading aloud to the dc). :thumbup1: We have now started The Hobbit as our next read-aloud.

[WiseOwlKnits]

I finished #39 Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Next up I think is Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

[LaissezFaire]

Just finished The 19th Wife which is my 47th book of the year. Now I am not sure what I want to start next, I have an ample selection on my nook to choose from. Perhaps too much to choose from!

[Kareni]

I read and enjoyed Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah; it's a poignant book about two sisters and their relationship with their mother. The story within a story is set during the siege of Leningrad, and I feel as though I learned a lot about that time and place in history.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

I read and enjoyed Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah; it's a poignant book about two sisters and their relationship with their mother. The story within a story is set during the siege of Leningrad, and I feel as though I learned a lot about that time and place in history.

 

If you're interested in another book set during the siege of Leningrad, I recommend City of Thieves. I read it earlier this year & really enjoyed it.

 

Last night, I read Don't Stop the Music. My dd read it earlier this week for her book club, so I wanted to read it & see what it was like. On one hand, I like that the author showcases two great teens (who happen to have cerebral palsy)... and that they are smart, caring, fun people who happen to be locked inside their uncooperative bodies. Otoh, the writing is mediocre at best, the story development is very choppy (underdeveloped in some places, overdeveloped in others), etc.... It's definitely not literature or even very good writing. I'd haltingly recommend it, though, esp. for those who may be uncomfortable around (or who have never encountered) someone with a disability such as cerebral palsy, as the book does a decent job showing that even those who appear physically different really are not -- we are all humans, after all, with similar hopes, fears, & dreams.

[Kareni]

If you're interested in another book set during the siege of Leningrad, I recommend City of Thieves. I read it earlier this year & really enjoyed it.

 

 

 

Thanks, Stacia. I'll keep an eye out for it.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

 

Link to week 42