Robin M Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 Sunday is the start of book week 43 and the quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks. Have you started Book # 43 yet? Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 books blog and ready for you to link to your reviews. 52 Books blog - P is for procrastination. I've been procrastinating a lot lately, have you? Heard a wonder speaker at Bouchercon, Dennis Palumbo, psychologist to writers and he gave me just the kick in the seat of the pants I needed. Because Nanowrimo is coming up. Anyone else joining in? What are you reading this week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted October 24, 2010 Author Share Posted October 24, 2010 You'd think after a weekend of hanging around mystery writers and buying a bunch of their books, I'd be reading mysteries. Too brain dead. Mind is mush after all the panels. Day 1, 2, and 3 here is you are interested. Declan Hughes was a big highlight of the convention. What I read this week: Julie Lessman's Christian romance series books #2 A Passion Redeemed and # 3 A Passion Denied. And Gail Fraser's Lumby's Bounty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithr Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 I finished Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey. I also finished reading Little Men out loud to my 9 year old. I'd never read it before. What a delight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 I read a couple of YA novels yet again. I think I need to be banned from the library when my dc go. I have started a nonfiction book for adults, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 I enjoyed a book that I found in the Young Adult non-fiction section of my library -- Reel Culture: 50 Classic Movies You Should Know About (So You Can Impress Your Friends). It was fun to see what movies were in the book and also to quiz my family on which of them they've already seen. It was a fun read. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 (edited) 52 Books blog - P is for procrastination. I've been procrastinating a lot lately, have you? For reading, yes, I've been procrastinating. This week has been a whirlwind & my reading has gotten chucked to the side. :tongue_smilie: I have various books started right now & I'm not sure if I'll finish any of them. My book club is planning to read Embers (I'm waiting on my copy from the library), so that's one I'll probably read for sure. "In Sándor Márai's Embers , two old men, once the best of friends, meet after a 41-year break in their relationship. They dine together, taking the same places at the table that they had assumed on the last meal they shared, then sit beside each other in front of a dying fire, one of them nearly silent, the other one, his host, slowly and deliberately tracing the course of their dead friendship. This sensitive, long-considered elaboration of one man's lifelong grievance is as gripping as any adventure story and explains why Márai's forgotten 1942 masterpiece is being compared with the work of Thomas Mann. In some ways, Márai's work is more modern than Mann's. His brevity, simplicity, and succinct, unadorned lyricism may call to mind Latin American novelists like Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez, or even Italo Calvino. It is the tone of magical realism, although Márai's work is only magical in the sense that he completely engages his reader, spinning a web of words as his wounded central character describes his betrayal and abandonment at the hands of his closest friend. Even the setting, an old castle, evokes dark fairy tales. The story of the rediscovery of Embers is as fascinating as the novel itself. A celebrated Hungarian novelist of the 1930s, Márai survived the war but was persecuted by the Communists after they came to power. His books were suppressed, even destroyed, and he was forced to flee his country in 1948. He died in San Diego in 1989, one year before the neglected Embers was finally reprinted in his native land. This reprint was discovered by the Italian writer and publisher Roberto Calasso, and the subsequent editions have become international bestsellers. All of Márai's novels are now slated for American publication." YA Books I've read in 2010 (mostly read-alouds): The Anybodies; The Wee Free Men; The Nobodies; Something Wickedly Weird: The Wooden Mile; Zorgamazoo; A Hat Full of Sky; Where the Mountain Meets the Moon; Children of the Lamp: The Akhenaten Adventure; Alice's Adventures Under Ground; The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen; Wintersmith; Don't Stop the Music Edited October 24, 2010 by Stacia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 (edited) I enjoyed a book that I found in the Young Adult non-fiction section of my library -- Reel Culture: 50 Classic Movies You Should Know About (So You Can Impress Your Friends). Thanks for recommending this book. My nephew's birthday is coming up & this looks like a *perfect* book for him! :001_smile: 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; Clutter Busting; 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; The Dante Club; Conquering Chronic Disorganization; City of Thieves; Throw Out Fifty Things; Born to Run; 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; The Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein; C; Aura Edited October 24, 2010 by Stacia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 Funny you should mention procrastination. I've spent most of the week enjoying the newly cheerful weather by lying in the back yard reading romance novels, pretending to be on holidays. The "proper" book was "Why We Read What We Read: A Delightfully Opinionated Journey Through Contemporary Bestsellers" by Lisa Adams and John Heath. The books I wasn't going to confess to until I read about everyone else's procrastinations: "Thanks for the Memories" by Cecelia Ahern "Invitation to Provence" by Elizabeth Adler "One Night in Malibu" also by Elizabeth Adler. Having got that out of my system, I started a collection of short stories written by Iranian women. Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglei Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 A slow week for reading for me, too, and a very busy week. :001_smile: In a matter of minutes, I will conclude #57, Seventeen, by Booth Tarkington, a book I read a very long time ago and am reading it again for the last time. The first time I read it, I thought it was ridiculously funny - put the emphasis on ridiculous! It is still a hilarious book but viewed with more *mature* eyes is quietly funny for the undercurrent of adolescent psychology. This evening I will begin #58, David Brainerd: His Message for Today, by Oswald J. Smith, which is comprised of material compiled from Brainerd's personal diary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 Finished Mere Christianity and starting Fall of Giants by Ken Follet. This may take me more than a week. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawneinfl Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Just finished The Devil's Teeth by Susan Casey. No, it's not a horror novel, it's the story of a NYC journalist who travels several times to the Farallon Islands off the coast of California to live with the biologists who study great white sharks. I found it a fascinating read. But of course I love history and real-life drama. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 I finished Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey. I also finished reading Little Men out loud to my 9 year old. I'd never read it before. What a delight! I liked Little Men. I cried in several places. I've also procrastinated this past week. Well, not really. I spent my reading time researching candidates in the upcoming vote. So, I've been doing a good thing. :001_smile: That said I'm almost done with The Twilight of American Culture. I'll be glad when I'm done. It's depressing me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 I'm now reading It's a Boy by Michael Thompson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imprimis Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Completed Drood by Dan Simmons. What a trip! If you're a fan of Dickens, Collins, Victorian London, mystery, historical fiction, classic horror--this may be for you. It was a bit on the trippy side (Wilkie Collins "narrates" through a mostly opium-induced haze) but an interesting, fun read nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narrow Gate Academy Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 We spent the past week at the beach, so I actually had some time for reading for a change. Naturally it was all historical fiction or literature related to our current history period. I finished The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow by French (book 22 for me) and #23 Big John's Secret by Jewett. I've made some more progress on The Story of Roland by Baldwin. (I like the story, but am not extremely fond of the writer's style.) Hopefully, I'll finish the Baldwin book this week and squeeze in one more since I still have a way to go to reach 52 books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Yes, Procrastination has been a big issue in my life recently! As evidence, I offer today a backlog of book reviews. I have been reading, but not reviewing. I am posting reviews on David Livingstone Africa's Trailblazer and the Teenage Liberation Handbook today. Hopefully I will have more reviews coming later. I think I'll have to figure out how to work my reviews into my NaNoWriMo novel next month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 I also read and truly enjoyed Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry. I'd say it's a book geared towards upper elementary and early teens, but I found it moving. From Publishers Weekly In Parry's debut novel, 11-year-old Brother (his given name is Ignatius: "Guess they ran out of all the good saints by the time they got to me") helps manage his family's Oregon ranch. With his father in Iraq, his four older brothers at school or in the military, and his mother painting abroad, caring for family's livestock falls to Brother, his grandparents and some hired help. Though he is eager to prove to his siblings, grandparents and most importantly, his father, that he can handle it, Brother nonetheless struggles with the rigors of the job, his father's and brothers' absence and the stress of war ("I could never do it.... I could never take those salutes and the 'yes, sirs' and then take moms and dads into danger"). Slowly, Brother fills the shoes of his elders and realizes his own calling when he is literally tested by fire. Brother's spiritual growth and gentle but strong nature, in tandem with details of ranch life and the backdrop of war, add up to a powerful, unique coming-of-age story. Ages 8-12. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Finished It's a Boy." Of all his books I've read I was most disappointed with this one. Once he talks about boys age 5 and up it's all about school and peers. He mostly talks about how and why boys struggle in school and how peers become number 1 in the place of parents. He talks about peer attachment is inevitable and there's nothing parents can do about it. I'm not sure I agree. I've read Neufeld's Hold on to Your Kids and I agree with that book more where it concerns attachments. So I didn't find much of the book relevant for me as a home school parent. I've started Michel de Montaigne Essays. Oh, boy. I'm going to need a lot of notes! This book may take me awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 I have only read the first four essays by Montaigne. I started the book thinking it was going to be a chore just like Augustine and Kempe. However, I am enjoying the book. I like it. Cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Interesting article from the BBC News Magazine: Is modern fiction just not up to scratch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 I just finished Truthseeker, the first in a new series by C. E. Murphy; I'd classify it as urban fantasy. I enjoyed it. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Reel Culture: 50 Classic Movies You Should Know About (So You Can Impress Your Friends). Thanks for recommending this book. My nephew's birthday is coming up & this looks like a *perfect* book for him! :001_smile: I hope he'll enjoy it! Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Good article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted October 31, 2010 Author Share Posted October 31, 2010 Link to week 44 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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